Ohakune businesses hope for busy winter season

Residents of the central North Island town of Ohakune are optimistic a booming winter is on the way after two years of Covid-19 uncertainty.

And although warnings about volcanic activity on Mt Ruapehu are posing some concern, the town's economy is moving away from a reliance on skiing.

Drive past the giant carrot that welcomes visitors on State Highway 49 and the main street is pretty sleepy.

May is a quiet month, but soon the town's population of more than 1100 will double or triple for winter.

Tourist towns have taken a hammering over the pandemic, but Ohakune business owners told RNZ they have weathered it better than most because they are not dependent on the overseas dollar.

Allan Nation, who until recently was an owner at family business Johnny Nation's Chocolate Eclair Shop, said older domestic tourists kept pumping money into businesses' coffers.

"The old, grey brigade is keeping the country going. Everywhere you go there're elderly people out spending their money.

"A lot of the oldies decided that they were going to trip around the country and they'll pop in and they'll have a couple of eclairs and a bag of Ohakune's finest carrots."

The shop always closed over summer, but winter trade for the past two years was steady.

"Once people came out of lockdown they wanted all their favourite things. We had queues up the footpath for probably 200 metres on the weekend - people wanting to get an eclair."

Ruapehu mayor Don Cameron said Mt Ruapehu's alert level 2 was a gnawing issue in the background, however, there was a good feeling among Ohakune residents.

And although the winter ski season was still the town's busiest time, tourists now visited all year for other pursuits such as biking the hundreds of kilometres of tracks developed in the area

"Most people have that feeling of, 'Let's plan for the worst and hope for the best,' and a lot of that is just around making sure that there are other things that people can do other than going up the mountain."

TCB Ski, Board and Bike managing director Ben Wiggins said business had been good thanks to New Zealanders exploring the country by bike, or spending more time on the ski slopes.

"Lots of Kiwis who do some skiing in the winter in New Zealand and then go and have two or three weeks somewhere else in the world skiing haven't been able to that, so they're a lot more hungry for New Zealand skiing."

The town's Carrot Carnival on the Saturday of Queen's Birthday Weekend and Mardi Gras headline a winter of festivals, and many visitors will stay at the historic Kings Ohakune, on the railway station-side of town.

Its storied history includes a period as a brothel, and it's said guests walking the corridors could bump into Gladys the ghost.

Like many, its acting manager Nikki Ross can't wait for a drop in temperature and a bump in tourists.

"I think our winter season is going to be super busy because people are wanting to get out and about, and those Aucklanders that have been locked up during Covid will actually be able to go and use their ski passes this year."

Apart from the seasonal closures, businesses have stayed open in the town.

The Kitchen restaurant owner Paul Stieglbauer said the area held its own.

"We actually had a strong last couple of years because we've had a captive audience, but the Ruapehu district has always been largely domestic [for tourists], say, compared to Wānaka and Queenstown."

Now, locals were waiting for the cold to bite, said La Pizzeria owner Conrad Stephens.

"This time of the year we're always just sitting here wondering, 'Are we going to have enough snow for the season?'

"That's always a little bit in the back of you mind, but the reality is every year we always get snow. It comes at different times of the year, but we always end up with a ski season."