NZ Alpine Lavender

DELICIOUS ICE CREAM + AWESOME PHOTO OPS

27 DECEMBER 2022

Sienna eating her ice cream like a boss!

I'm Purple Da Ba Dee Da Ba Die

The New Zealand Alpine Lavender Farm is a fully certified lavender farm (and one of the largest in the Southern Hemisphere), situated beside New Zealand's bluest lake - Lake Pukaki, in Canterbury, New Zealand.

We heard about the lavender farm and knew we had to visit to try some lavender ice cream (it was really good, by the way!) and get some photos in the lavender.

We decided to make a day of it from Lake Tekapo where we were staying, by visiting Lake Pukaki, the lavender farms and the Omarama Clay Cliffs just south of Twizel. We had been to the clay cliffs the previous year in autumn but wanted to visit again in summer and do more exploring. Check out our blog for the cliffs here.

When we rocked up, we noticed how eeeeverything was purple which looked really cool against the landscape. We had no idea there would be bikes to ride up and down the lavender rows and a cool purple tractor for the kids to play on.

There's plenty of shade to eat your delicious ice cream under

Entry into the lavender field is $5 per adult, kids are free

Did you know that lavender is a part of the mint family?

There is a wide range of beautiful smelling lavender items to purchase at the shop

How cute are those sheep?

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream For Ice Cream

We were all pretty excited to try lavender ice cream. We love the smell of it and we were curious to try it - may as well try it once, right?

There were a few flavours to try the day we visited - chocolate, mango, blueberry vanilla and mixed berry and all the flavours can be made with or without lavender.

The ice creams were $9 each and the girls chose a mixed berry & lavender to share and Lath and I chose a chocolate & lavender ice cream to share. They were delicious and so refreshing on what had to be one of the hottest days this summer - we had to eat them quickly so they didn't turn to soup!

We were burping up lavender for the rest of the day - yummy!

We visited again 2 weeks later after doing the Kea Point Track and the Tasman Glacier View Track at Mt Cook and the lavender was SO much more purple, it was amazing! We also tried the honey and lavender ice cream with bee pollen sprinkles - it was SO DAMN GOOD and the girls got the chocolate and lavender.

The swing chair has the perfect backdrop for photos

You can order the ice cream without lavender in it, but it's super yummy with it!

Eating lavender ice cream like a boss

Last bite - all gone!

Stop & Enjoy

The whole area surrounding the lavender farm is beautiful, from the snow on the alps to the layout of the land. As a photographer, I absolutely loved all the layers of colour and the gradients. I like places that don't have a whole lot of human impact surrounding them ie powerlines, buildings, so the lavender farm is a great place to stop and enjoy that.

It's a super pretty place to take photos and everyone we saw walking around had a camera in their hand! (And an ice cream).

The colours and tones in the area are so beautiful

I spy some snow on the mountains

The right end of the fields is the quietest with less people walking through

Sienna loved running through the lavender

We picked the perfect day to visit!

This is one of my favourite photos from our trip to the lavender fields

Best Seat In The House

There are a few wooden seats in the lavender rows, I think we counted around 4 or 5 and they are mostly on the left side of the field. It's definitely an Instagram worthy spot for taking photos! And an even better spot for mum and dad to sit and enjoy the place while the kids run and bike up and down the rows.

People don't tend to stay too long on the chairs, so even if it's super busy, you won't need to wait too long to grab a chair.

Queen of the lavender

Best seat in town!

You'll find a few chairs around the fields

Wheeeeeeeeeee!

The bikes are such a great addition to the lavender farm and our girls had a lot of fun of them- even Lath had a go! I was way too hot to be even thinking about biking that day! Plus, I had an ice cream to eat (priorities).

The bikes are all adult bikes but Bella managed to ride around on one, but she did struggle with getting on and off them so she needed our help.

The bikes are all free to use and you can ride up and down the rows, or around the field with them.

If you're going to bike, you can only turn around right at the end

There are no kids' bikes, but it's fun for them to hop on the adult bikes if mum or dad are helping

Bella did really well considering it was an adult's bike

Go on, you know you want to

There were no bees on the lavender which made walking and biking through it easy as!

We had a great time together as a family

The Purple Tractor

As any parent knows, kids LOVE anything with wheels that they can pretend to drive! As soon as we went into the field, Sienna was straight on the tractor, turning the wheel and pulling the levers. We love finding things like this on our travels and it reminded us of the cargo ship Sienna got to 'fly' at The Runway Cafe in Blenheim.

We love how it's also painted purple - everything there is including the guide ropes, umbrellas, shade cloths etc, a lot of thought has gone into the place and it shows.

The kids loved this tractor!

We loved how everything at the farm was purple

The lavender farm is open 1st Dec - 31st March (excluding Christmas Day)

We visited at the end of December and the lavender was full of colour

Know Before You Go

The lavender farm is open 1st Dec - March 31st (closed Christmas Day and if the weather is super bad). For hours and update dates, click here
Entry is $5 per adult and kids are free
They stock a wide range of lavender products such as certified organic oil, fragrances and skin care products
You can choose to have your ice cream without lavender (but it's yummy and a unique flavour!)
There is plenty of parking on site
There weren't any bees on the lavender when we were there, which made it easy for us to walk and bike down the rows
The bikes are free to use

Mappy McMap Face

Getting There

When you're heading along State Highway 8 from Lake Tekapo or Queenstown, turn into State Highway 80 and the NZ Alpine Lavender Farm is just 4-minutes' drive and you'll find it on the left. There's plenty of parking on site.

Conclusion

We had a great time at the lavender farm. The ice creams were delicious and the $5 entry fee was a reasonable price. I loved taking photos here, Sienna loved running through the lavender and playing on the tractor, Bella really enjoyed riding the bikes and Lath loved the ice cream!

It's the perfect spot for photos and is the perfect place to stop for an ice cream in summer after you've done the Hooker Valley Track at Mt Cook!