Tiny settlement looks for new approach

Wilkin River Jets and Backcountry Helicopters owner operators Harvey Hutton and his daughter...
Wilkin River Jets and Backcountry Helicopters owner operators Harvey Hutton and his daughter Danyel Watson with Oliver Watson (3). PHOTOS: KERRIE WATERWORTH
Tourism hot spots have attracted national attention due to the impact of Covid-19, but there are many small tourist communities just as battered and bruised. Kerrie Waterworth reports how Makarora, halfway between Wanaka and Haast on State Highway 6, is trying to survive in this post-Covid-19 world. 

The Makarora Country cafe used to be the rest and break stop for 20 or more buses carrying international tourists from the glaciers on the West Coast to Wanaka.

Before the Covid-19 crisis owner-operator Sue Howard said they had up to 500 customers a day, but now there were no buses and she was happy if 20 people came through her door.

"Yes, it is a horrible, horrible change.

"People are hurting everywhere, I am not denying that, but saying it every day and getting down about it doesn't solve the problem."

Ms Howe said they had had to "think differently" as their clientele had gone from 80% international tourists to predominantly New Zealanders.

Makarora Country cafe owner operator Sue Howe is happy ‘‘to meet the 
challenging times head-on’’.
Makarora Country cafe owner operator Sue Howe is happy ‘‘to meet the challenging times head-on’’.

"We have changed things such as instead of doing the big bacon and egg pies cut into slices, we are now making smaller ones which are more attractive for Kiwis to eat in or take away."

Bookings for Wild Earth Lodge bed and breakfast in Makarora, with panoramic views of the mountains, were "crazy" before the lockdowns.

Lodge co-owner Pete Phillips said people travelling from Franz Josef to Queenstown would stay one night, go on to Queenstown and then ask if they could come back.

"We offer something different here. We are a wilderness destination where you can unplug, chill out and just get away from it."

Many bookings from overseas visitors had come through a travel agency run by a New Zealander in Holland.

Harvey Hutton in the Backcountry Helicopters log cabin booking office on SH6, 
West Makarora.
Harvey Hutton in the Backcountry Helicopters log cabin booking office on SH6, West Makarora.

Domestic bookings often came through their own website with local promotion provided by Lake Wanaka Tourism, he said.

"I rang Lake Wanaka Tourism because they were doing this ‘Love Wanaka’ campaign and I said how does Makarora fit into that?" Mr Phillips said.

Promotion ideas with Makarora tourist operators had started before the Covid-19 lockdown, according to Lake Wanaka Tourism general manager James Helmore.

He said since the lockdown the overwhelming feedback from tourist businesses and communities around the district was ‘they don't want to return to how tourism was pre-Covid’.

"We plan to take the team around each of the towns in the Wanaka region to help inform and develop the right activity and support for each place as we rebuild and reimagine tourism," he said.

A sign heading north from West Wanaka on SH6.
A sign heading north from West Wanaka on SH6.

Five kilometres down the road in Makarora West, new owners bought the cafe and accommodation in August, rebranding it Wonderland Lodge, Makarora.

Director Tom Elworthy said despite road closures over the summer and the Covid-19 lockdowns, they were optimistic and planned to upgrade the 32 A-frame chalets.

"We think this area has a lot of potential. It sits right on the boundary of Mt Aspiring National Park, it has incredible walks, both long and short right from the lodge door and the Blue Pools are about 8km up the road, attracting more than 100,000 visitors a year.

"With numbers like that we thought there was an opportunity to increase the quality and quantity of accommodation and to get people to stop and enjoy what is here."

Back Country helicopters and Wilkin River jet-boats are one of the biggest Makarora tourism operators.

Wild Earth Lodge host Pete Phillips with his dog Cash, sitting on the bath on the veranda of ‘...
Wild Earth Lodge host Pete Phillips with his dog Cash, sitting on the bath on the veranda of ‘‘The Cottage’’.


Owner Harvey Hutton bought the jet-boats in 2000 and started the helicopter operation soon after. Not only had the business been expanding 15% each year but he was also looking forward to his "biggest winter season ever", flying hunters to and from the NZ Mountain Hunting Lodge in the remote Ahuriri Valley.

Makarora Community Board chairwoman Danyel Watson is Mr Hutton’s daughter and is also involved in the jet-boat and helicopter operation.

"In terms of business, it is pretty much as if someone flicked a switch and turned everything off overnight," she said.

A lot of people were now worried about keeping their jobs or finding work, as many jobs had gone, she said.

The recently opened car park at Cameron Flat on SH6, 8km north of Makarora, was built before the...
The recently opened car park at Cameron Flat on SH6, 8km north of Makarora, was built before the Covid-19 crisis to cater for the huge numbers of tourists stopping to take the short walk to the Blue Pools.

Makarora has a permanent population of about 80, rising to 120 in the summer months.

"You have quite a broad range of people that live up here. Some work in Wanaka, some don’t, some are retired, some are working families and so the lockdowns have affected them a lot, whether it was their business, financially or their mental health," Ms Watson said.

Tourism was the main economic driver of the town.

"If people don’t stop in Makarora there will be just be retirees and farmers living here, and there are only three farms," she said.

A major issue the community board has been working on since before the Covid lockdowns was the lack of cellphone coverage between Hawea and Haast.

Rural Connectivity Group spokeswoman Tanya Hansen said planning for tower sites at the Blue Pools, Makarora, Makarora South, Windy Ridge and The Neck was under way.

She said the sites would rely on a new fibre link from Haast to Hawea back to the main network.

Ms Watson said having cellphone coverage would make it easier to promote and market Makarora.

Although reopening the borders would ease their pain, some Makarora tourists operators believe there were positives from the Covid-19 lockdowns.

Makarora Country Cafe owner Sue Howe said "the grey-haired brigade" had decided to explore their own country and were glad to be able to do it without camper vans on the roads.

Wild Earth Lodge co-owner Pete Phillips said because of the way "we knocked Covid over" a lot of Europeans would want to come here.

"It really is an interesting time for tourism. I reckon New Zealand could be the goose that laid its own golden egg," he said.

kerrie.waterworth@odt.co.nz

 

 

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