A Million Dollar View from a Wooden Hot Pool

Last night we were picked up by a friendly English gent and taken to Arthur’s Point to one of the newer and nicer attractions of this adrenaline-fueled town by the lake. Instead of bungy jumping or skydiving, we opted for soaking at Onsen Hot Pools, which provide wooden tubs, total privacy, and sweeping views of a curve of the Shotover River and the beautiful untouched mountains for miles all around.

Tony Williams and his wife Mitsi Morikawa were inspired by the soaking tubs in her native Japan and hence came the name, meaning hot pools. They could have opened up right in Queenstown, (which would have been much easier to find) but instead choose a location perched on a hillside with each of the six pool rooms affording this million dollar view. A garage door can be opened once you’re warm in your tub and you get the experience of the open air all around your wooden deck as you turn up the jets.

Tony’s dad told us that few locals ever come out to these pools; they consider them a tourist thing. Plus, as Janelle here at the Dairy said, staff in any one of these places gets offered free skydiving, jetboating, bungy jumping and all of the other adventures. We kicked back in the swirling warm waters and watched the southern hemisphere slowly darken as night fell. Wow, wouldn’t you come out here if you lived here? Maybe if we did we’d be the only locals who are regulars!