Lake Hawea Station

A working merino sheep station on the shores of Lake Hāwea in New Zealand’s Central Otago, Lake Hāwea Station makes regenerative travel its entire reason for being. Australasia’s first certified carbon-positive farm, it pairs genuine heritage with considered luxury across four intimate residences. Shepherd notes on cottage walls dating back to 1941, dinners eaten in a paddock at sunset, a quiet conviction that a stay here should give more to the land than it takes – this is a place where the landscape isn’t just a backdrop. It’s the whole point.

LOCATION

Set on the shores of Lake Hāwea in Central Otago, the station sits about 15 minutes from the township of Wanaka, with Queenstown Airport roughly 90 minutes away. Alpine, tussock, and beech forest ranges rise to the east, while the lake opens out to the west and north.

YOUR ROOM

Four distinct residences blend heritage charm with modern luxury. The Lake House offers three bedrooms, a movie room, and a hot tub with panoramic lake views. Packhorse Cottage carries decades of shepherd history on its walls – notes dating to 1941 – with two bedrooms, a chef’s kitchen, and a sprawling deck. Homespur is the intimate studio option, its pot belly stove and lake-and-mountain views best suited to couples. Little L is a completely off-grid, tiny lakeside cocoon – outdoor bathing included – for those wanting full disconnection and a closer connection with the land. All residences have outdoor fire pits and hot tubs.

WHO IT SUITS

This is a property for travelers who want their stay to mean something beyond four walls and a view. Families will find Packhorse Cottage an ideal base – the master bedroom and bunks sleep a family comfortably, and nature-based educational activities led by the resident guide keep younger guests genuinely engaged. Couples gravitate toward Homespur or Little L for unhurried days and spectacular evenings. Groups can book the Lake House as a three-couple retreat or a family residence sleeping six adults and two children. The curious, the nature-minded, and the sustainability-conscious will all feel deeply at home here.

WHY WE LIKE IT

The “Deeper Dining” experience alone makes this place unforgettable: guests are led into the pastures at sunset for a meal that is locally and seasonally sourced, with dishes drawn from station foraging. A backcountry ATV journey traverses The Castles rock formations across 16,000 acres, moving along the mountain spine with the lake on one side and undulating valleys on the other. At the end of it, stargazing on the crescent deck – wine and platter in hand under some of the clearest skies in the Southern Hemisphere – rounds off any evening perfectly.

SUSTAINABILITY

Australasia’s first certified carbon-positive farm, Lake Hāwea Station captures around 2.5 times the carbon it emits through regenerative farming, soil nutrition, biodiversity conservation, and renewable energy. It’s also the first farm in New Zealand – and the first merino sheep farm in the world – to earn B Corp status. The station has fenced all seven kilometers of its lakefront to protect waterways and planted strips of native trees to improve biodiversity. Every dollar raised through eco-tourism goes directly toward expanding that work on the land.