Glenorchy's already got a great name for sustainable tourism.
Think the likes of Headwaters Eco Lodge, Kinloch Lodge, The Great Glenorchy Alpine Base Camp and the head-of-the-lake’s recent certification as an International Dark Sky Sanctuary.
That reputation will now be turbocharged with The Future is Wild @ The Hillocks opening in about a year’s time, now it has been issued with a resource consent.
Based around a well-known cluster of conical hills, called The Hillocks, it’s being entirely driven by the principles of regenerative tourism.
It comprises three elements:
- A 1300m-long loop walk — for groups of up to 15 including a guide — on an elevated wooden trail, between the hillocks, going up to a viewing platform;
- Structures including a visitor centre/check-in point and four ‘hides’; in which visitors, using virtual reality (VR) headsets, will go back in time to view the ice age shaping the valley, rockfalls creating the hillocks and the extinct moa roaming the valley;
- Selection from an on-site nursery of a native tree that’ll be planted on behalf of each visitor, who’ll then be updated on its progress every six months.
The project — understood to be a world-first linking of an outdoor experience with VR and also augmented reality (AR) — is a collaboration between Dart Valley Station owner Gerhard Sieber and Arrowtown’s Jeremy Railton, who met up about five years ago.
Sieber — "between bottle three and four", Railton quips — explained how he owned the intellectual property for the global TV and publishing franchise, The Future is Wild.
It dates back to a 2002 TV series of the same name projecting how the world might look in millions of years’ time.
"I said I always wanted to bring this into a more contemporary context, corresponding with what we have to adapt to as humans facing climate change."
A priority for the tree-planting plan was teaming up with Queenstown iwi-owned conservation charity Te Tapu O Tane.
"But then you come here and actually leave a tree, and you have some ownership of it."
He thinks once they’re updated, they might want to buy another tree or two — from the $150 ticket price, $25 pays for their tree.
He estimates 115,000 trees a year will be planted on the flat, by the Dart River bed and around wetlands which they’ll enlarge.
Sieber adds the trees will also encourage a native bird corridor between the Greenstone and Mt Alfred.
Another sustainable aspect is they won’t lay on transport from Queenstown.
"Our maximum capacity equals the amount of people who are coming up here in organised tours already."
The experience — lasting a minimum 75 minutes — could be an add-on, therefore, for visitors doing jet boat trips or horse trekking.
Railton hopes it’ll also encourage more overnight stays in Glenorchy, including from school and university groups.
"There’s no reason why Glenorchy can’t be the global leader for good environmental practices and learning."
He says developing the physical component of the attraction is the minor part.
"The larger part is content and technology development."
The pair are working with Dunedin’s Burning Fish Productions along with their specialists around the world.
"The [VR] production will be the highest quality possible", Sieber says, instancing their use of the highest display resolution possible, 8K.
"We want to change at least one experience every year — if we have a hurricane, we can actually say, ‘OK, next year’s season we will have a hurricane’."
And for people who don’t travel here, "they can actually have the experience virtually".
They’re hoping local-based film star Sir Sam Neill can provide the narration.
"If you want to get the VR experience from the hides we have here, then that would be an in-app purchase."
Railton notes "the virtual tourism market globally is about $US6billion, growing at 25% per year."
Sieber adds: "We can actually have the ultimate sustainable tourism."
