Kiwis running short of ‘staycation’ ideas should check out Nelson-Marlborough’s NZ Antique & Classic Boat Show. Held annually since 1999 at Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes National Park, the show delivers the quirky – just as you’d expect from a boating event 640m above sea level.
Boaties tow their prized originals, restorations and rebuilds from right around New Zealand, each boat with its own story to tell.
It’s worth staying a night or two in St Arnaud, an alpine village set among the glaciated ranges of the national park. As well as two days of Glorious Hydromatic Relaxation you can check out the dawn chorus from the successful ‘mainland island’ nature restoration project and tackle the walking tracks of the park.