The first long weekend since alert level two began was a busy one for some Wanaka retailers, accommodation providers and tourism operators.

Enquiries and bookings started picking up about a week and a half ago, Lake Wanaka Tourism general manager James Helmore told the Wanaka App.

James said by the end of last week most holiday homes were “filling up nicely”, and operators were getting reasonable bookings.

A lot of local operators were offering special deals and “sharp pricing”, James said.

Crowds gather on Wanaka’s foreshore in the last sunlight of the day during Queen’s Birthday weekend.

Many local businesses reaped the rewards of the influx of visitors.

Ash Miller, general manager of the Big Fig, said the cafe had been “crazy, like really busy” with a lot of people - mostly Kiwis - in town. 

Hardy souls queue to access Puzzling World on Monday morning during the long weekend.

“We weren’t anticipating how busy it’s been, and today we’re calling staff in a bit earlier than we thought we’d need them,” she said.

The brief afternoons of sunshine on Sunday and Monday meant the Lake Bar’s outside tables were busy for the first time in a while.

A family enjoys cycling Wanaka’s lakefront on Monday afternoon, despite the inversion layer.

“We’ve had a great weekend with plenty of people inside,” Lake Bar owner Peter Byrne said. 

Abiding by the social distancing and table service requirements made it “intense” but with so many customers “busting a gut to get out and enjoy the long weekend” it was worth the effort and Peter expected his numbers to be up on previous Queen’s Birthday weekends.

He said he was surprised, however, at the number of local businesses which did not operate through the long weekend. 

Wanaka Lakeview Holiday Park’s premium sites with lake views were popular with visitors during the long weekend despite the cool temperatures.

“I’m amazed that some businesses didn’t take the opportunity with so many visitors to town,” Peter said.

Mandy Enoka, who operates Te Wanaka Lodge and manages a large number of visitor rental properties, said across the board they were 70-75 per cent full, which was probably better than their usual Queen’s Birthday weekend average.

Mandy said most were first time visitors to their accommodation and many had jumped at the discounts being offered, such as staying for three nights but paying for only two.

She had been worried the guests, many of whom came from Dunedin, Queenstown and the lower South Island, might be put off by Wanaka’s gloomy inversion layer but it didn’t affect them. 

“There was a nice lighthearted buzz amongst the guests at the lodge. They were all lovely and just seemed really happy to be enjoying a change of pace,” Mandy said. 

Wanaka’s national transport and toy museum director Jason Rhodes said the museum had more visitors than a normal Queen’s Birthday weekend “by a long way”. 

“The weekend has been very kind to us. We’ve had more visitors than a normal,” he said.

Jason said the visitors were “a real cross-section of people”, from overseas tourists still stuck in New Zealand, through to hundreds of Kiwis from all over the South Island.

“It’s been really nice to see so many people over the long weekend and everything is a bonus right now but is it enough to carry us through to the next school holidays - that’s the $64,000 question,” he said.

Despite social distancing restrictions which meant visitors had to queue to access Puzzling World, the numbers who visited the popular attraction were on a par with previous Queen’s Birthday weekends, Puzzling World operations and marketing manager Duncan Spear said.

He said Saturday (May 30) was the busiest day. With a maximum of 100 visitors exploring the attraction at any one time, others had to wait outside for up to 20 minutes. 

“We probably lost a few who didn’t want to queue but we’re pretty happy with how the weekend has gone. It puts money in the kitty which helps us afford to stay open seven days a week,” he said. 

It’s also been “inspirational” for the staff to have such a lot of customers especially as he expected the next few weeks leading up to school holidays to be relatively quiet, Duncan said.