The experience was fantastic! Did the U-Drive Mustang and had an ball of a time. Instructor was fantastic and clear with the guidance and encouragement to push myself in the car! Then headed to the Karts and they are fun and fast. Kart track is a good size and good level of difficulty. Ended up having lunch and had a Lamb sandwich which was really nice with a Berry smoothie. Then went though the Museum which was really well laid out with heaps of info about cars on display. Has upstairs area with a lot of history and info about drivers in Nee Zealand. I would recommend you make it a must stop if you enjoy Cars! Also worth saying to head to the loo with a view as well.

we had a wet day to fill in. sadly they dont go cart in the wet. we did the museum. it had fun interactive things for the kids to do. I'm not a motor sport fan but found it very interesting, well laid out and exhibits well documented. in the end we did taxi ride that had me squealing from the back seat. lots of fun thanks Steve. recommend using the loo's with a view, I won't spoil the surprise by posting photos. family pass $60 and a discount off the taxi ride cost. very friendly front of house staff. an enjoyable family activity.

Do something New New Zealand! Awesome experience. Amazing museum.... those exhibits! Great food great coffee and Dog friendly. What could one ask more for? Nothing! Just go do it NZ!

If you are a car fans, you’ll love this place, here are make me so exciting when we just arrived, you can drive like V8 mustang or small F1, I mean the Radical, or if you’re just wanna have a fun, you can by track taxi or some experience for one lap and they drive, have fun in here, and enjoy the cafe and exhaust 😝

We got a family pass ($199) for the Go Karts, Fast Taxi & museum inc VR experience. We had to buy two more Carts for 4 of us to do, which came to $269 all up. A super hot day but we still spent a good 4 hours there including a great lunch at their cafe. The toilets are worth the visit alone and if your lucky the carpark may have a few gems parked up as well.

Wow, the presentation of this facility is tops. Museum. I was passenger in a BMW car race (priviledged). Outside garden ornaments range from aliens giraffes rhino old cars.... Go-karts were so much fun.

Great activity for the individual or family. Museum and coffee shop with something for everyone. If you do an activity you will get into the Museum for half price $15.00. The loo with a view is EPIC!

Booked in for the radical U-drive. Was everything a person who loves Formula 1 could ask for. 7 Laps is not enough! First 2 laps are for memorising the braking and corners and the rest the instructor will push you hard. Paul is the instructor for the day and was the reason I enjoyed the drive so much.

Seriously excellent. An awesome museum and I managed 3 drives. The Ferrari was good (could have been faster in my opinion). The U drive mustang was excellent and the coaching given by the staff is excellent. You must also drive the Radical U drive which was simply awesome.

Amazing go karting experience in South Island. The track was well-maintained and long enough for a good ride. The karts were petrol powdered and have very good pickup unlike some of the electric ones. Make sure you ask for the weekday price of $39 if not they'd bill you the usual price of $49 😅

Had a great day here today. 🙂 A stunning all round experience set up in a way that you don't necessarily have to be a racing enthusiast to enjoy it. ❤️ MASSIVELY RECOMMENDED.

Absolutely loved visiting Highlands. We did the track laps breakfast and had so much fun. Although the laps weren't very fast, it was awesome to drive the track and have a good look around. The staff were lovely and we loved sitting outside to have breakfast, the views from the Cafe are awesome.

Four of us spent the day here doing most of the activities on offer. Awesome staff, from the front desk to the people running the activities they were all friendly and super helpful! Thanks everyone for giving us a great day out. We will definitely be back, next time hopefully we will book two sessions in on the radicals!

Amazing place. Everyone should visit even if you aren't a car fanatic. Worth just visiting for the loo with a view.

Such an awesome experience. My husband did the u drive and Ferrari fast laps for his 50th birthday and the family went in the Taxi. The staff were very friendly and the driver was amazing! Thankyou!

This is a great spot to reflect on the early European history in New Zealand. Walk through history, explore the horse stables and enjoy a picnic near the lake where there's plenty of seating areas. I'd return here in winter, as would have a different feel. Lots of Vintage equipment and bakeries for display, even life sized mannequins

It's a walk you must do . Character in every building with a view of the lake

Nice place for a look through with old shops and period history displays. I visited during new years holiday time and most of the shops were shut till the 4th Jan. Close to the river with stunning views of the cliffs on the opposing side. Well kept walkway and plenty to look at. Bicycle hireage and small jet for kayaks or boats. Close by is some heritage homes and old churches in the close by streets. Well worth the stop and will revisit again.

This was a great place to see and was very well done. There are a lot of historic buildings and old objects. There are a few shops and galleries. It's definitely worth visiting if you're in Cromwell!

Nice area where old heritage buildings have been amassed together, renovated and repurposed, i.e. cafes, art galleries, shops. It is in a lovely setting alongside the water and was a peaceful place to enjoy on the day we visited. In addition to looking at the buildings there are also walking and biking tracks that can be accessed from here.

Always an excellent spot to grab some food and beverages. Get down early and watch the sun climb into that azure big sky and the place come to life.

The Heritage Precinct of Cromwell town is an interesting place. It showcase the old buildings of the gold mining era. These old buildings were converted into souvenir shops and cafes. Located by the scenic lake side which is another attraction. Worth visiting.

Beautiful old buildings, although not all original. Some refurbished / recreated from elsewhere in the district. Some interesting history inside a few of them. Not a huge area so doesn't take long to go round. Love the stonework more than anything.

This place is fantastic to hike around and see the restored buildings. Most eateries here are cafe's. Good place for photos on the shore line.

One of the most beautiful place in the Cromwell. It's a tranquility place to enjoy the view of the lake and to the cycling. People can use the free BBQ Machine donated by Lions Club. Massive thanks for them. 👍

When the V alley was flooded most of the town was flooded but this is what remains. Interesting place to look around with great views over the lake

What a lovely setting and most interesting! The buildings have been moved from their original places and restored and repurposed into mini museums, cafe, art galleries and gift shops. Well worth a visit.

During our journey back to Christchurch from Wanaka, we made a brief stop in Cromwell. With few locals around, the atmosphere was tranquil and serene. The partially demolished dance halls and schools, blended seamlessly with other heritage buildings. Although the shops were closed, I anticipate a vibrant atmosphere when they're open. My colleague also recommended the excellent bike trails in Cromwell, perhaps something to explore on our next visit!

Such an interesting and lovely place to visit. So much to see, but has a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere around it. Good stores and service. The views are brilliant. Toilets are clean and easy to find. Great place to visit.

A stop on the road at Cromwell will take you to their past in the area... About 100 to 120 years... Their living way. Nice to see.

Good place to visit if you drive pass Cromwell. We joined the guided tour, which gave us lots of information about nz gold mining history (a little bit bored for young kids). At the end of the tour, we had a chance to try gold mining ourselves. You may get some gold if you're lucky 😂

We loved visiting goldfields. Our tour guide Christopher was excellent, he is so knowledgeable and explained everything really well. We learnt a lot and had lots of fun, panning at the end was a highlight.

A great place to visit and experience gold panning. Also great to hear the guide talking about the history in the Otago regions. A must do if you are staying at Queenstown or nearby

Nice walk, and you can pan for gold if you have the time. Really fun activity, pity I couldn't stay longer.

Kept us entertained for a couple of hours whilst travelling through. The space itself is amazing, especially with the river crossing, and the history there is pretty fascinating. It is all a bit run down though and obviously hasn't been updated in years. The self guided tour was some dots on a map of mostly semi-interesting objects. I feel the place needs some work to make it a bit more fun. Gold panning was cool, but didn't find any gold!

Me and my partner did the premium wine tasting this morning and got quite disappointed. The person that serve us was very formal and for some reason ignored my partner and only made eye contact with me. It was quite uncomfortable for both of us that's she did not even acknowledge his presence. We had our tasting in the reception room where all the restaurant guests are welcome so it feels like being on a hallway. Overall it was not the expectation we had for Mount Difficulty Cellar room but was way beyond unfortunately. On the side of it, the wine tasting was good.

We drove a long way from Queenstown here for lunch and wine tasting. Food and wine are fantastic, I give full mark. But the whole experience was very unwelcoming. The person in charge (not sure if she was the duty manager Claire?) immediately turned us down when we arrived saying there was definitely no indoor seat today, all are reserved. We fully understand and tried to take the seat outdoor. But it was too windy for my kids. Then I went to ask again if we can queue for the indoor seat. The other male staff said OK. But the lady in charge asked us to stay outside as she declared that there is no space inside the restaurant. Fine! After queuing for around 30mins, we finally got the indoor seat. During this waiting time, there were at least two indoor tables remained untaken, and these two tables remained untaken throughout the time we were having our meals. This is the so called “all reserved”??? The worst thing happened during the time we are having the meals. We offered our kids phones with minimum sound from the phone. There were two staff came to ask us to reduce the volume of the phone. The fact is the whole restaurant is full of laughters, loud talkings. The table next to us cannot hear the sound from our phone at all, why the staff are so particular to us??? By the way, i still have to say thank you to the lady in charge who brought back my bag left behind as we went for post meal wine tasting. That was sweet. Owner of Mt Difficulty Wines, if you are not welcoming tourists (especially from Asia), and if you are not welcoming kids, please declare it, we will definitely help share in our public platform and let more people know about this. Otherwise, train your staff well in terms of basic service standard. Don’t let them ruin the beautiful wine and food and your reputation! Written by Andrea Hang from Singapore

We headed to mt difficulty en route to queenstown from wanaka. We opted for one of the wine tasting experiences and lunch. All of the food was excellent - delicious and presented beautifully- we opted for the Camembert starter on special, followed by pasta, salmon and brownie. All of which tasted wonderful. The wine was also delicious. It might have been nicer to have them served in wine glasses rather tumblers- but that is just my personal preference. However, we found the servers to be a little cold and unwelcoming. Offering some wine suggestions or just having a chat would have made them more approachable/ friendly.

We LOVED the experience ! The winery tasting was lovely. COLLIN was AMAZING, really informative and smiling all the time. I can tell she loves what she does. The food was excellent. I am from Spain and when I was eating the muscles, I had a flaixback of my old times in France with my family eating muscles. Thank you over all for such a lovely experience. I hope that I can come soon. Thanks Miriam and Josie.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Our recent visit to Mt. Difficulty Winery was nothing short of a remarkable experience. We had recently met Marcus and it was a great recommendation. From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with warm hospitality,, the staff played an instrumental role in making our visit extraordinary. The winery's setting is breathtaking, with expansive, picturesque views that set the perfect backdrop for an unforgettable day. We couldn't help but admire the beauty of Central Otago as we savored our meal. Speaking of the meal, it was a culinary delight. The star of the show was undoubtedly the amazing eye fillet. Cooked to perfection, it was tender, succulent, and bursting with flavor. Paired with a glass of their finest wine, it was a match made in culinary heaven. We also indulged in a plate of delicious fresh olives, which were a delightful prelude to the main course. The olives were perfectly seasoned and served as a fantastic appetizer while we enjoyed the stunning surroundings. One more highlight of our meal was the gnocchi. It was a bowl of pure comfort food, with each bite being a burst of flavor and texture. It was evident that the chefs at Mt. Difficulty put a lot of care and expertise into their dishes. What truly sets this winery apart, though, is the combination of exceptional food and wine with those awe-inspiring views. It's a place where you can truly relax and savor not just the flavors of the cuisine but also the beauty of the land. In conclusion, our visit to Mt. Difficulty Winery was an experience we'll cherish forever. Marcus's recommendations, the amazing eye fillet, delicious fresh olives, and delightful gnocchi, all enjoyed against the backdrop of those expansive, beautiful views, created a day that was nothing short of perfection. If you're in Central Otago, this winery is an absolute must-visit. We're already planning our return!

The driveway up to the Mt. Difficulty Winery is worthy of its name. After a wine tasting at the bar, we had a most delicious lunch. It was November, unfortunately, so we were unable to eat outside to enjoy the beautiful view. My husband had the duck, while I had the salmon accompanied by a farro and fennel salad with a miso and dill dressing. The salmon was excellent, but the salad was the star on the plate. A thoroughly delightful meal. (And we love the logo!)

Oh. My. Goodness. Amazing wines...superb food and service. And that chocolate mousse! Just do it!

A wonderful winery with a great selection and lovely staff. We were en route from Lake Tekapo and running a tad late. They let us move back our reservation, encouraged us to relax and enjoy our wines upon arrival, and stayed open an extra thirty minutes for us to finish. We were so thankful and we will never forget the lovely service. A must visit in Otago NZ.

We did the tasting and the lunch today and we loved it. The view is great and contributes to the happy feeling. Staff is super friendly and the wines are interesting. We bought two bottles (we were on the bike and could not carry more)

Lovely impromptu stop on the way to Queenstown, the women at the front of the restaurant were so friendly and tailored a tasting for us as soon as we mentioned a preference for sweeter wines. Served us a few more drinks and a cheeseboard even though it was only 30 minutes till closing time. View is amazing. Highly recommend stopping in!

We had a most enjoyable lunch lamb roast potatoes mint sauce gravy yummy.Our wine 2015 Mount Difficulty Bendigo Pinot Noir beautiful wine to drink.We bought 2x bottles plus 4x 2017 Mt Difficulty Pinot Noir.Excellent service clean bathrooms good off street parking.We will be back.

Thoroughly enjoyed our experience here. From the views to the award winning wines. Accompany by the one of the nicest lunches. Lamb with duck fat potatoes what’s not to love.

Singaporean here, in response to an earlier review by a fellow Singaporean. We ate at the restaurant and did not visit the cellar door. My family had a very delightful experience here and the staff was super friendly to us the entire time! The photos posted by other reviewers do not do the restaurant any justice. The restaurant is situated at the top of a mountain, it is very nice and windy on a sunny day and has a great view of the surrounding area. The food is on point, you have to try Panna Cotta. If you’re a fan of sweet wines, the sweet wine sampling plate here for $20 was amazing. Super underrated place. Call and reserve a seat at the restaurant beforehand if you’re going at peak hours!

We enjoyed delicious food and great wines while enjoying stunning views at the winery restaurant on the hill. 　Mt Difficulty's wines are highly praised in Japan, and it was great to be able to have them at the winery. We had Riesling, Pinot-gris, and Pinot-noir. Of course, all of them were unique and delicious.

We were really looking forward to our lunch here, as we had enjoyed Mt. Difficulty wines at our home in the US. We arrived just before noon for our lunch reservation, and were asked if we wanted to do a tasting first. That sounded like a great idea, so we proceeded to take a barrel on the terrace. We're not sure what we said or did, but the young man pouring wines for us seemed to have a dislike for us. Minimal time was spent with us, and we seemed rushed through the tasting. I understand that we had agreed to relinquish our table 90 minutes after the reservation time, thus, we did not plan on having desserts. We were given no option on a table for lunch, but placed at one in the sun. We made the best of it, moving it slightly backwards (nearer an empty table) to gain a small bit of shade. Service at first was fine, but then there was a very long delay between our starter and mains. We were never checked on during our meal. We had the salmon and duck mains, and as another reviewer noted, the farro salad accompanying the salmon was the star of the whole meal. Location 5* Food 3.5* Service 2*

Was able to get an early lunch booking when I rang ahead on the day. All staff were extremely professional, friendly and knowledgeable. The platter we got for the 2 of us was beyond our expectation, we had to leave a few bites behind we were full! Everything on it was delicious. The pilot noir taster was great and very helpful with all the notes. I bought one of the wines I'd tasted and will save it for a special occasion! I then did some additional wine tasting with Markis and he was very personable and helpful. A great stop on our road trip.

Mt Difficulty Winery in New Zealand offers a fantastic experience, highlighted by their delicious Target Gully Pinot Noir. The host, a knowledgeable New Zealand lady with long hair, was exceptional, serving as a great bartender and sharing valuable insights about the wines. A must-visit for wine enthusiasts.

Fantastic wine tasting experience with a breath taking view! Our host, Michael is so friendly and he gave us a very detail introduction to the wines.

Plenty to choose from when it comes to fresh fruits and vegetables (majority of it from New Zealand with some addition of imported goods). Prices are very reasonable. Other stuff like various nuts and local honey is for sale as well.

We stopped here for some real fruit ice cream. Not only was it delicious, but we were able to eat it in a gorgeous garden! what a wonderful little break in the day.

Just visited here to purchases their family made Fruit Ports and wine. Served by Christina very friendly and helpful. You cannot go past here for a special tteat. Including fresh fruit and vegetables.

Amazing fruit store with great variety of fruits. Very impressed by hybrid fruits I hadn't seen before in Australia. Pluot: plum+apricot. Peacharine: peach+nectarine. Fruits and flowers beautifully presented!😃👍

The fruits are delicious! I especially loved the cherries so much that I stopped by on my way to Queenstown. The kernels are big and the flesh is sweet and delicious! I will definitely visit again.

If you would like to have some fresh fruits on the way during your trip, it's one of the places to stop by. The fruits are demonstrated in a good and orderly way, but they also come slightly expensive than usual supermarkets. Consider it as a small tourist spot to spend an hour with, such as go to restrooms, have fresh fruits, taste fruit wines, wander around the orchard, take a rest for a while. Since it is one of the stops for tourist vans/buses, expect waves of tourists come around frequently.

Plenty of choices for fresh fruit, snacks and gifts. Lovely garden adjacent that is nice for a stroll. Real fruit ice cream as well.

A nice, litte fruit grocery with a wide assortment of local products. There is also plenty of dried fruits and local sweets. Some products are overpriced in Kiwi terms, however we haven't found a ripe enough avocado for two weeks and they were plentiful in Joney Family Fruit Stall.

i think they deserve 6 stars, very friendly staff, talkative and helpful. Visited here several years ago and Ms Jones didn’t even age! Tasty and fresh produces at very reasonable price. Highly recommended!

Excellent family variety fruits stand for affordable price . And her beautiful Rose 🌹 Garden .

Wonderful place to visit..A must see.....super friendly staff, absolutely beautiful English garden next door. Huge variety of fruits grown locally.....only one regret.....they don't ship to the USA

Really amazing pit stop along the drive - there is a public toilet nearby as well. The fruits here are amazing and very affordable. We bought the value packs of kiwi and mandarin oranges and they are lovely. The outstanding purchase was the sparking cherry juice, which we wished we had bought more- it was slightly tart but really refreshing with the sofa and we have never tasted anything like it! They also sell dried fruits and marsh honey, and we paid a higher price at the gibbston valley cheese deli shop than the prices here, so learn from our experience and buy here instead!! 😅

i love real fruits icecream here! but it dosent open while winter season lots of tourist bus stop by here

Good selection of fruits, fresh and dried, honey, jams, and other yummy stuff

pretty ken oath place, funny & kind staff! adorable little helper (shoutout to billy). not sure why there are 1 star reviews, it seems completely reasonable to guarantee that all pickers pick at least 1kg... defs cheaper than supermarkets... so many different cherry varieties, some will be crunchier than others but all the cherries are good quality and you can tell by the taste.

Great PYO Cherries activity for weekends. You can eat cherries during the picking and pay for the take away. I paid $17/kg which is better price than before Xmas. Big size cherries with medium sweetness.

Hugh place for cherry and other fruits such as apricot, peach. Staffs are very kind. Real ice cream is so good and yummy. Highly recommended for cherry picking. Must try the ice cream.

Do try ELSEWHERE! NOT recommended. We went cause they were the only one with ripe cheeries. $17/kg minimum 1kg per adult. What a rip! Others I called were cheaper. They didn't even allow our back packs in making some lame excuse of it might break the branches, what a load of BULL S#%^! Just say u had theft problem before.. At the end we got a large ice cream $6, and man was it a large for a baby! Pathetically small. Worst of all, the cheeries were all very soft and not very sweet or big, had picked way better ones b4. Started going rotten in 3 days even after cooling it straight away. DON'T COME HERE, go else where later in season.

great activity. full of cherries when we got there end of December. per person must get 1kg cherries. which is only $17 and the cherries are so sweet and big! we can also enjoy the cherries as many as you want for free! while picking the cherries. 4 of us bring home 7kg of cherries. not sure how that happened, but absolutely enjoy it. they provide ladder around so you can settle on a tree that produce a sweet and big cherries. they also have white cherries which is a bit more expensive and some other fruits such as plum, apricot, and nectarines. after picking, would recommend you to enjoy their real fruit icecream. they have option for yogurt icecream. very enjoyable activity. would highly recommend.

this is my second time at cheeki cherries and it was just as fun as the first! the different types of cherries they had were all so delicious and sweet!! it is also a very beautiful and iconic photo spot :)) the whole experience was also absolutely a blast, especially when I would find trees full of cherries to pick from :) the real fruit ice cream they have is also very sweet and yum, honestly was quite saddening after finding out that I had already unknowingly eaten the whole ice cream- the staff/service is also so so wonderful and friendly~ ultimately made the whole atmosphere so warm and perfect. 🍒🤍

I’ve been a regular customer here for years but yesterday was not a good experience. I arrived in a group of 3 with 2 adults and one young teen. They told us that we needed to grab three buckets each and pick a minimum of 1kg each. I explained that this was going to be way too many cherries for us and asked if we could please share two buckets between us instead. She refused and said that it’s just the rules. I also explained how I’ve never had an issue with this before as me and my partner regularly come here and we mostly share a bucket between us as they’ve always been nice about this. The worker didn’t care and sent us on our way because we weren’t going to take 3 buckets. We went down the road instead and found a place that has the exact same rules as them. But when we explained our situation to them they happily let us share one bucket between three which was even better anyway. We have now found our new favourite place. (I went to Cherry Tree Farm down the road instead!) Update: looking at how this company responds to customers with issues, I expected a rude response and that’s exactly what I got. What an unreasonable response considering that’s not what happened nor what I was told. I clarified that we were only there for red cherries and yet I was still expected to grab 3 buckets and pick 1kg each. Real fruit icecream is provided at many other pyo orchards even in Cromwell too. If it was charity day like you say, why were we sent away instead of giving us two buckets? You could’ve made more money towards your charity that way. You wouldn’t have as many bad reviews if you learned how to treat everyone with respect and try to work through issues rather than getting defensive. Just my advice.

Great activity to do, cherries were in abundance, both red and white. It's good to get there early to avoid crowds and use of ladders. Real fruit icecream is a must

It's a pity that there's no PRO today. Owner is nice enough to let us in to have a look in the orchard and take some pictures. Bought some cheeris too.

I SUPER LOVE IT!!! They have a wide range of cherry trees where you can pick as much cherries as you want. Also, one of the staff show to us his secret spot, where we get our BIG and DELICIOUS cherry!!! Awesome experience and friendly staff. We will come back again next time!

What a lovely Cherry Orchard! Both dark and white cherries are super big and sweet, highly recommended!

PYO Cherries near Cromwell. This place seems to be the most popular and I can see why. Excellent friendly service, juicy sweet cherries to pick from, both red and white varieties. They also have ice cream and a kids playground. If you pick too much, you can also send it back home by courier

I’m traveling from United state. I came to Queenstown NZ. One of my best interest is to taste the New Zealand cherry. I found Cheeki cherry from the internet, however when I got there it is closed. I got off my rental car and walked around the outside of the shop . From the distance there is a farm trailer approaching with a dog running in front of the trailer. I waved to him and he stopped for me and kindly told me the season is over , come back next year. He was very friendly and asked me where I am coming from. I told him United state. Then he said follow me . He took me to his farm and told me there is some left over and still very good, eat and take as many you want. I’m not only got to taste cherries and make a friend . His name is Martin. Thank you Martin. I hope I spilled your name correct. I hope I can visit New Zealand again. I will definitely come visit Cheeki Cherries

We loved our experience at Wooing Tree! We did a wine tasting first - the gentleman serving us was very friendly and knowledgeable. Then we enjoyed a glass of our favorite wine and a huge platter of meats, cheese, bread and other goodies. It was beyond delicious!! The patio is also very nice with a great view. We highly recommend visiting!

Excellent service and a warm smile as we walked in for a Wine Tasting. The tasting was just $5 and we bought a couple of bottles which wiped off the tasting charges. Quite a variety of Wine was offered and an enthusiast would love it. Had a short walk around the property and went up to the Wooing Tree as well. 5/5 for this trip.

A fantastic location for a cellar door. Excellent, award winning wines served up by a passionate and knowledgeable team. They also do super tasty platters that are a perfect fit wine a glass (or two) of your favorite Pinot. They are part of the 4 barrels wine tour which is a region highlight! And you MUST try their newest wine, Blondie & Co.

Wooing tree is such a cute winery in the Central Otago region. We visited during a wine tour (Roaring Tours). This was our lunch stop, and we thoroughly enjoyed it. After sampling a few delicious Pinot and Rose wines, we were served the delicious platter lunch, pictured. This featured two delicious cheeses, which were among our favorites in New Zealand! and several high-quality meats. The picturesque location itself is worth a stop. I highly recommend it!

♿️✅ wide open doors in summer, easy flat surface all around the tasting room. Easy to take a seat at the tables, the counter wasn't too high either. Wine tasting for $5 the people presenting the tastings had a decent knowledge of the vineyards and the flavour profiles of their wines. Most wineries raved about the platter here but I never got to try it, the smoked salmon sounded amazing, they smoke it with their own old barrels!

Barb was a great host. Very knowledgeable and a lovely soul. Tasty selection of wines to suit different pallets. My favourite was the Pinot Gris.

Popped into wooing tree during our Cromwell stay and were left a bit disappointed. $15 per tasting (8 wines). Our host was knowledgeable but not overly friendly. We were the only ones in the winery, a shame about all the construction too. Not a bad experience but wouldn't go back.

Found this place on AllTrails. Wasn’t listed in any guidebooks I read but should be. This place is amazing! Great views. Feels very much like a slice of the American Southwest with the badlands and cliffs. Juxtaposed with the wineries surrounding it and it’s truly a special location. The trail is a loop. The most interesting part of the loop is to the left, so I’d walk in a clockwise route.

Gorgeous area! Definitely go for a short or long walk along the sluicings. The landscape looks kind of unreal! Heaps of lovely spots to stop and to enjoy the views 😊

Felt like New Mexico, expected to see Heisenberg stashing his 80mil nearby! Great little 3k walk

Cool walk off the beaten track and frequented by locals. It’s so interesting finding out what mining does to the landscape.

You can choose from multiple tracks here as seen on the sign at the start of the track. The Bannockburn Sluicings Loop is a very exposed gravel track, bringing you across many areas where sluicing used to be done. It isn’t a Bush walk, or a lakeside walk. You see mainly rockfaces - not my first choice for a hike but it has its own beauty. You get to a high point where you can see a large section of Bannockburn, and the view is amazing. There are uphills and downhills and flat sections, it’s an easy walk.

Excellent walk and great views Lots of history on gold mining. Really enjoyed this

As a local, it's still one of my favourite walks in our area, away from the lake. It's great walking( except after there's been rain when the ground becomes slippery clay). Excellent views. Very popular for people and dog walkers.

Indrukwekkend voormalig goudzoeker gebied, waarbij gebruik werd gemaakt van waterkracht. Het resultaat was een verwoest gebied wat nu geëvolueerd is in een mooi natuurgebied met een wandeling van ca. 4 km (~ 1,5 uur) met uitleg door middel van informatiepanelen. Zeer aanbevolen. (Translated by Google) Impressive former gold prospecting area, using hydropower. The result was a devastated area that has now evolved into a beautiful nature reserve with a walk of approximately 4 km (~ 1.5 hours) with explanation through information panels. Highly recommended.

Fantastic hiking trails, amazing views, interesting terrain. Wild thyme everywhere and all were in bloom with the purple flowers. Parking was plenty.

This site is amazing. The views are great from the top. History of the area is mind blowing the signs give you a brief look into what it was like. Goldming in such a baron place would have been so hard, all for GOLD. Sad that they didn't have to return the land to the way it was. The smell of thyme was lovely.

Went here lovely walk and great to see and appreciate the views and the wild thyme scattered everywhere

The walk around the Bannockburn Sluicings is pretty darn good. The loop track is around 3.5 to 4 km and takes a good hour or more if you explore a bit and stop for a few snaps. It's amazing to think that this landscape was modified do much by mining efforts around 150 years ago. It looks like something in a desert from the movies. Reading the information panels is worthwhile if you like history, particularly gold mining history. The Stewart town ruins are pretty cool and make you wonder what life would be like up here all those years ago. Be careful to follow the trail as it's easy enough to wander off onto other tracks. Just follow the markers and check for them regularly. The walk is quite hilly so a reasonable degree of fitness is required as us being reasonably sure footed. Nothing is too difficult though. Take water on a hot day. The views are panoramic and truly stunning as you get to the top. It feels like you can see 100 miles as you look out over the vineyards, across Cromwell and all the way down Lake Dunstan to the mountains. Beautiful.

Staff are great, friendly, hospitable and make the best coffee in Cromwell without a doubt. Wifi is great and is a great place to chat, have meetings or work remotely.

Best cafe in Cromwell! We’ve gone so many days in a row for weeks because the wifi and environment is fantastic for working. The staff are SO kind and welcoming; we’ve really appreciated service from Ritchie and Sophie in particular. On top of that, the coffee is delicious and cabinet food is really good — their passionfruit friand has lowkey changed my life, and the gluten-free scones don’t even seem obviously “GF” (take with a grain of salt as I’m neither a scone nor GF aficionado, but all I can say is they’re delicious!!). We’ve had plenty of other good food from the cabinet: teriyaki chicken, potato salad, bagels, everything is fab. 110% recommendations for food, coffee, service & vibes !!!

Here fore breakfast on 30th May21. Cannot at all fault the table and serving staff. Courteous, pleasant and helpful. Food wise I was a bit disappointed. Had the Forage Breakfast - bacon was overcooked as was the eggs made the bacon a bit tough. Chef might have been having an off day. Good coffee however. Only 3 stars from me for this visit. ⭐⭐⭐

Coffee with friends over Easter. Busy but well organized. Very good mousetrap on a burger bun lid. Someone else got th bottom, thank goodness. Lunch on 1 piece of bread

If you want to have an amazing hot drink and food to impress someone, this is the place for you! It has plenty of space for the mum's with strollers, or can have an intimate 2 seat table at the back for you and your date. Highly recommend this Cafe! Yum!

Incredible service, friendly and chatty, always exceptional value. Our family love coming here. The big breakfast is AMAZING! If I’m here for lunch I always get the calamari salad and it’s insanely good too. Thanks Forage!

Great selection of fresh fruit and other produce. First time I have come across peacherines - a cross of peaches with nectarines. I was instantly converted 👍👍

Great pit stop place passing through cromwell. Coffee was hot and the right consistencies. Had the big breakfast which wasn't really big though, although the potato rosti was delicious. The meal wasn't photo worthy, service is attentive and friendly. Toilets some what clean.

Chicken Burger was great and coffee as well. Recommend this place.

Delicious food - the avocado smash was amazing! You might have to wait bit longer if crowded but the food is definitely worth the wait! It's a nice place too!

Super delicious coffee, nice staff & great Wifi for working! I spent a couple of hours here to work remotely and loved the atmosphere. Thanks guys :)

Great coffee and atmosphere! ✨ staff were super friendly from the morning and food was great too, iced coffee was cheaper than other cafes and free wifi as well so i could work 👌🏻👌🏻

Best service & hot breakfast we’ve had in a while! Big breakfast, eggs on toast & eggs Benedict were absolutely delicious. Coffee was 5 star too! Highly recommend anyone passing through or staying in Cromwell.

Disappointed to be told they were closing in 5 minutes (2pm) Young woman who served us was very pleasant. We sat outside Town was full of visitors We weren't the only ones there I'm keen to see the new development Unsure where disabled parking is located now. Always has great staff I'll be back Cheers Catherine

Excellent and hearty breakfast, but they forgot to serve our tea. Not busy at the time either. Just a slight delay for our day's travels.

A great stop. Kids playground next to it. Restaurants within 100m walk. Petrol station around the corner. A great stop. And made some new friends helping each take some photos.

While the Cromwell Fruit Sculpture makes a good spot to get a shot of quirky small town kiwiana for your Instagram stories, there’s much more to Cromwell than meets the eyes. This includes the Cromwell Heritage Precinct, the history of the town’s relocation with the Clyde High Dam and the creation of Lake Dunstan and Cromwell being a great base for the awesome new Lake Dunstan and Cromwell Gorge cycle trails. So take a shot of the sculpture but do stop awhile to see all that Cromwell has to offer.

They're super big and tall. I loved it! The playground next to the sculpture had lots of equipment and was fun. It would be a great place to stretch your legs or have a quick picnic with kids (or adults). There were restaurants in the area and it was easy to get in and out of the parking lot. Worth a quick visit!

Worth the stop! Such a cute and unique playground here. They have a life sized hamster wheel & also a fun playground for kids. We also enjoyed the town and grabbed a coffee. Cromwell is a beautiful little town!

Drove past it, looked like fruit. Would recommend.

A very good location with a good play area for the children. There is a skate park, sand pit, slide and swing to keep the little ones engaged. Yes, there are ample of photo opportunities too.

Good place to pull over when driving back from Queenstown, let the kids out to stretch their legs and have some fun on the playground. the human hamster wheel is fun my girl loves it.

A little beautiful town, not much tourist spots that you could spend lots of time to visit but still good to stop by and take a picture or have a lunch here. It has a nice Middle East restaurant nearby( strongly recommended!!). Plenty of parking spaces here, for normal cars or motor home.

Super iconic place to stop! Got our tourists pics then continued to travel on our way. The drive through was beautiful.

Great setting for photographs and the tourist info stat is right across the street. Children's playground and skate park is on the sight as well.

Absolutely beautiful vineyard..wine is amazing. Their Chardonnay has completely changed my view of this type of wine. Lucie was amazing to talk to and was full of passion explaining their wine and the process. Delicious platter to compliment the wine tasting.

Celler Door Certified organic $10pp for the personalised tasting of 5 wines a range of wines to enjoy

Lovely place, but more importantly lovely people running it. The roses in the garden make it worth the stop alone... you will be overwhelmed by the fragrance as soon as you step from your vehicle. Both the red and whites were good. Make sure you try the desert wine even if you normally don't like the sweet variety. It isn't too sweet and has a nice finish. So glad we made the stop and chatted with the owner. A special place!

Beautiful and lovely vineyard but staff. Free tasting was pretty nice but if that's the reason the staff treats customer like nothing. That's a shame. Wines are very interesting so I asked few questions. Staff answered but seemed like she wanted me to get out quickly.

Beautiful old cottage surrounded by roses and peonies. The French lady who runs the place was a bit grumpy with us. She was polite but reserved and didn't share anything about her wines -spoiled our experience. Great Pinot Gris and views though.

I had the pleasure of visiting Aurum last month on holiday. Between winery visits and restaurant purchases, I sampled pinot noirs from atleast 10 wineries in Central Otago, and Aurum was my favorite. They were fresh, well structured and impeccably balanced wines. My lengthy conversation with the owner, Lucie, brought me even closer to her wines. I would recommend any wine in her portfolio.

Merci pour cette belle dégustation (blancs et rouges) de très bon vins fait avec passion. N'hésitez pas à vous y arrêter, l'accueil y est chaleureux. (Translated by Google) Thank you for this beautiful tasting (white and red) of very good wines made with passion. Don't hesitate to stop there, the welcome is warm.

This was our favourite winery in Central Otago. Lovely wines. Make sure you include Aurum on you "must do" list.

Lovely quiet spot, with a lovely selection of central Otago wines... We only went in to have a look, and came away with 5 bottles! Recommend checking it out...

ここは中心部から遠出してでも行くべきリアルアイスクリーム屋さん。ここの美味しさは感動ものです🥹ベースのミルクがいいのか濃厚なのにくどすぎずGood◎少しでもさっぱり食べたい方は酸味のあるフルーツを選ぶといいです。あとフルーツを選んだらその場でスマッシュして作ってくれるので、店名通りリアルフルーツ。とてもフレッシュです。アイスの色もフルーツオリジナルの色が出てかわいい。　そしてお気に入りはここの近くにある木々に囲まれたphotogenicな場所。ここでアイスを食べながらグリーンに癒されました🍃 (Translated by Google) This is a real ice cream shop that you should go to even if you have to go far from the city center. The deliciousness here is impressive 🥹 The milk base is good. It's rich but not too strong ◎ If you want something a little refreshing, choose fruit with a sour taste. Also, once you choose your fruit, they will smash it for you on the spot, so as the name suggests, it's real fruit. It's very fresh. The color of the ice cream is also cute as it is the original color of the fruit. And my favorite is the photogenic place surrounded by trees near here. I was soothed by the greenery while eating ice cream here🍃

I placed a mixed fruit box order on Waitangi Day online. Today a box filled with apricots, peaches and nectarines arrived to our North Island address. Less than 48 hours later. Fantastic service and communication. Delicious fruit. Highly recommend

Beautiful orchard, have a walk behind the store along the rows of trees. Such a refreshing and tranquil environment 😍 also the fruits are much cheaper than in the commercial supermarkets. Pears were going for $1.99 per kg and apples at $2.50 per kg

Just stopped by the general store to buy fresh fruits and nuts. The door had a really wide selection of fresh produce, nuts, dried fruits, snacks and drinks. They also have a fresh fruit ice cream stand that looked really tasty. Clean, public bathrooms are also available.

Stopped for oranges which are yummy and for a good price. Good selection of fudges and dried fruit. A Try Me stand for the dried fruit. Friendly staff. Also sell ice cream

-Visited in Dec. 12th 2023 with my kids. -Located in Cromwell. -Picked up some cherries & apricotes. -Nice and kind guide Jully.Took about 1hour. -Highly recommended for family with kids.

I have had cherries and Black Doris plums supplied and delivered from Jackson Orchards. The ordering is hassle free, great communication re fruit availability and delivery times. Delivery from the South Island to us in the North Island was about 30 hours. The fruit was well packed and protected - but more importantly was in the best condition you could as for. When you are dealing with things like fickle weather and an unreliable workforce because of Covid - I think Jacksons do a fantastic job. Thank you!

Our visit to Jackson Orchards during autumn was an absolute delight! The fall foliage was absolutely stunning, so much so that some thought my photos were photoshopped – but they weren't! The natural beauty of the place is simply breathtaking. And to top it off, indulging in their real fruit ice cream was a delicious treat that perfectly complemented the picturesque surroundings.

The staff are rude, no smiles on their faces and have a bad attitude. Bought a large ice cream and threw the ticket through the desk to me. And we found no matter what size you ordered it looks all the same. The ice cream tasted good but we just felt not happy and disappointed with the size and the staff.

Real fruit ice cream…Yummy, WOW and a divine delicious experience! We drive 30 mins out of our way to have an ice cream here! And the team is friendly and fun and lots of other fresh, local yummy produce to choose from!! 👏👏💖

Nice staff. Open and wide store. It's understandable that there is not much fresh fruit in winter. Next time, I would like to join the Orchard Tour.

This place is GORGEOUS, beautiful trees surrounding the shop. Good stop for ice cream and toilet run too. I bought some dried fruits that were tasty. Was hoping to buy fresh fruits but they only sell boxes of them (except for apple). Not many staff members around when I went.

we did the one hour tour and it was awesome, Isabella is very knowledgable and passionate about the work at jackson orchards and is really friendly. highly appreciated and fun tour.

Beautiful sit down area overlooking the vineyards. Delicious wines and gorgeous dogs. Highly recommend!

Great little boutique winery. Beautiful views. Nice hosts.

This is one of the best (if not the best) wineries in the area. Amazing wines and stunning views. The best perk for me is their service, the wine tasting experience is superb. Thank you, we'll be back next time we're in the area.

AMAZING experience! Beautiful views and the best service, Thanks Fede for being the best cellar door. 100% recommended!!

Amazing winery. Great service made by Fede from argentina! Wines are delicate, precious and very interesting. Make sure to not miss It! Stunning view as well

Jennie and Marie were great hosts. Lovely wines. The Pinot noir rosé is probably the best kiwi rosé I've tasted. Visit highly recommended.

One of the best wines I’ve ever tried! Beautiful place and great service. Highly recommended!

The setting is deceptively simple: four stools, a table, and a few chairs off to the side. Free tasting. You wonder "how good can this be?" Then the the wines come out, and WOW. The wines are great across the board, and staff are so nice. Standouts for us were the rosé (world class for sure) and the pinots. Reasonable prices, too, so take some home - you'll be so glad you did.

One of the few places where you can still taste six wines for free. All the wines we tasted were absolutely wonderful and the Rosé is probably one of the best in New Zealand. Stunning views and welcoming host.

Lovely little cellar door with such wonderful knowledgeable people taking you on Domain Road's journey. Thanks again Jenny and Frederico.

As a part of my Sperm Donation World tour of New Zealand I visited Central Otago and came across this lovely place, great views, wines and Mariah was a lovely host.

Beautiful location, lovely wines with a personal touch from the staff in the tasting room. Highly recommend as a stop on your tasting tour.

Great spot to sit and taste wine with a very knowledgeable lady Loved the pilot gris Bought more when I got home delivered this morning Thanks

A fantastic concept of a winery. Bio, organic, sustainable. Great wines and great hosts. Oh don't forget to bring your wallet.

Beautiful vineyard, great wines and friendly people ~ love this winery ❤️ *better book in advance for your visit~

This is a stunningly great winery! You will not be disappointed. They offer free, seated tastings and tours. They are a biodynamic vineyard and winery, and make incredible wines they are passionate about. This is one of the best wineries in New Zealand and have some of the best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

Loved our wine tasting here. It is seated and they talk you through all the wines so it is nicely paced and you can tell how passionate they are about their wines. Couple of things we found a wee bit odd was that one wine we tried you couldn’t buy and another wine you could buy but you couldn’t try. Still enjoyed it anyway and the sad thing was that we did buy one bottle of the 2020 Chardonnay (which we couldn’t try) and opened it last night and loved it but now you can’t buy it anywhere. Will need to wait for the next vintage.

Great experience. You must book but it is because they do a personalised tour of the winery and cellars. This is followed by a wine tasting. Fortunately for them but unfortunately for us their wine is so good much of it sells out very quickly. In the case of their best 2 wines they are sold out in 5 weeks. This winery embraces a biodinamic farming model. Planting between their vines to attract friendly bugs and deter pests. They have mountain goats to eat pest plants and provide natural fertilizer. Additionally they have solar panels to provide for all their electricity needs. Felton Road winery live and breath sustainable business practices. Refusing to overgrow their business so they are able to maintain complete control of all aspects of their winemaking. Hats off to you for producing one of the best NZ wines and at the same time maintaining environmental sustainable farming practices.

Amazingly beautiful winery. You must book before you visit as there are no walk-ins. The producers that made New Zealand Pinot-Noirs known throughout the world, lovely winery, tour is interesting and can't fault the tasting at the end!

The best wine tasting we have been to as so informative with a walk around the vines and the whole process from grape to bottling. The wines were delicious too.

As a part of my Sperm Donation World tour of New Zealand, I arrive in Cromwell, Central Otago region. Absolutely loved the whole range of wine here and the service was great.

Let us start with a positive it was a lovely setting. We had a table of 4 women, we waited for an unacceptable time for all our plates to come out (15mins) between the first plate and last plate being delivered. The salmon dish $85 for 2 people looked like it had come out of the packet and was dry and underwhelming, the 2 sides of asparagus and tomatoes showed no flair or flavour. We had to walk up to the counter to ask for water, our wines never got refreshed unless we asked for more. $112 per person. Not a great experience considering the great food we have experienced elsewhere.

Waste of our time - came by around opening time. Walked in, and no one to be seen. Waited for about 10 minutes, but no one to be seen, though could hear someone in the other room having an intense conversation. There was no way we could call for anyone's attention. Walked out, and saw some staff were in a meeting in the other part of the building, but seemed to avoid eye contact with us.

This place was Akarua Wines & Kitchen by Artisan, not to be confused with the winery. Lovely place, great atmosphere we are only giving this three stars because of the extras on the menu, we ordered Beef Cheeks to share which was nice, small portion for what you paid for two people. My friends ordered a portion of potatoes cost $14 crazy, we ordered the corn for $18 for four small pieces burnt Dissatisfied with the price of the sides be warned well over the top of any sides we have ever ordered and with a small main made it a very expensive lunch. Would go back only fir the wines and selected meals, in Queenstown no need for overcharging for sides like that. Four of us eat out a lot and we were all disappointed overall

We came here for breakfast and I must say it was outstanding. I had the big breakfast and it was delicious - the hollandaise sauce was the best I've ever had, sooooo yummy. My husband had the smoothie bowl and really enjoyed it. The waitress remembered me from a previous wine tasting and stopped to have a chat. We had a really great experience and would recommend them to anyone visiting them area.

Booked a lunch here after a recommendation and although the food, wine and outdoor setting was amazing the service was parallels apart. We asked to sit in the sun as there were many tables available and this didn’t seem to impress one waitress who hardly spoke to us while serving us the whole time we were there. When the food came out she failed to say a thing, meaning I touched the fish pie plate having no idea it had been in the oven and now have a massive burn on my hand. We then asked another waitress about the wine tasting and she replied she didn’t know because she was new. Unfortunately we cut our visit short and had a much nicer experience at Amisfield down the road.

We went to Akarua for lunch on Saturday. It has a lovely outdoor area and the food was pretty good but the service was very poor. The waitress who was serving us was plain rude. It was probably the worst service we've ever had. We went to Amisfield for lunch the following day, which is only 2 minutes away from Akarua, and the service, food and atmosphere were absolutely sensational. The contrast between the two experiences makes it hard to see Akarua being able to compete long term. It's a shame because otherwise it could be a great place with great wines.

Love their wines and we are on the mailing list. In visiting yesterday I bought a bottle of the rose for $30 (highest discount available) only to discover that it is available elsewhere for up to $10 a bottle less!! Very disappointing.