Lake Brunner Lodge

Lake Brunner Lodge is the oldest South Island fishing destination, famous for its outstanding brown trout since the turn of the century. It's history pre-dates the introduction of trout to NZ, as the Lodge was a base for travelers to explore New Zealand's ancient forests from around 1868. This is a gracious old place in a private setting overlooking the largest of Westland's lakes, surrounded by immense forest clad mountains. The Lodge has the old fashioned comforts of polished native timber paneling and open log fires, spacious and comfortable accommodation; excellent cuisine consistently rated by the many regular guests as some of the finest in the country, and informal, relaxed New Zealand hospitality. The Lodge is proudly family owned by Gary and Janice Hopper.

The Lodge has the best guiding for trophy brown trout on the West Coast. The specialty is clearwater stalking with light rods and dry flies in the outstanding and demanding local meadow spring creeks and remoter wilderness streams, but also includes streamer fishing for the country's best sea run brown trout in spring, excellent kahawai in the middle of summer, and lake edge stalking of cruising browns all year. There is also good sport available for the spin fisherman particularly for the sea run browns, kahawai, and salmon late summer.

The season starts with sea runs in September, excellent dry fly through the summer months and big trout in the fall months of March and April. There is a vast amount of water with something like 50 streams and rivers. Local knowledge and experience and time on the water is really essential to get the best of the fishing and the average stay is around four days.

The Lodge is surrounded by an enormous protected area of some of the last remaining primitive podocarp forests that once covered NZ, and is equidistant from two National Parks. It has developed an outstanding eco tourism and activity program of forest interpretation, rare native birds and remarkable land and seascapes.

Immediately from the Lodge there are 800-1,000 year old trees on the walk to the spectacular Mitchells falls and other local hikes, glow worms, canoes on wilderness streams and boating on the Lake, and whitebait (local rare delicacy) fishing in spring. In the local area, guests can take 4WD trips to remote mountain valleys, visit spectacular limestone (karst) landscapes and cave formations, sea seals and dolphins on the nearby coast, the White Heron sanctuary, take day trips to the Glacier country, tours of local artisans studios where they are making jewelry and sculpture form nephrite jade (greenstone) and beautiful bowls from some of New Zealand's ancient woods.

The world famous Trans Alpine train through the Southern Alps stops near the Lodge at Jacksons, and the Lodge is only 3 hours by road transfer from Christchurch.