26 | REGIONAL GREEN TO GOLD LTD SPECIALISTS IN ARABLE CONTRACTING Silage & baleage | Hands-on arable farming experience | Minimum tillage, optimum cultivation, moisture retention, seeding, harvesting | Cutting edge, top-performance machinery Cereals, brassica & grass | Maximise your yield | Latest GPS technology 027 221 9501 230 Mt Barker Rd, Wanaka | greentogold@xtra.co.nz Proud to be associated with Glen Dene Holdings. www.f reshchoice.co.nz Open 7 days - 7am - 8pm. 5-7 Bodkin Street 03 443 1655. Where fresh meets local Wedding & Event Table linen & Chair cover hire (Nationwide) Accommodation Linen hire & Customer owned linen servicing (Southern Lakes District & Central Otago) Household linens, Curtains & Garment Cleaning (Cromwell & Wanaka) Repairs & Alterations, Yarns & Haberdashery (Cromwell & Wanaka) EVENT RENTAL SERVICES 03 445 1382 south@pacificlinen.co.nz www.pacificlinen.co.nz Glen Dene Holdings T T Richard Loader Living the dream at Glen Dene Sarah and Richard Burdon took over running Glen Dene in 2001. Glen Dene Station is first and foremost a working high-country sheep and beef farm wedged between Lakes Hawea and Wanaka in Central Otago, but its landscapes, wildlife and family history have also made it a natural base for hunting, fishing, camping and glamping tourism. Hunters come from around the world to Glen Dene for red deer, fallow deer, chamois, Awapawa rams and South Pacific goats, while the lakes and streams attract freshwater fishers. Alongside the station, The Camp Lake Hawea and Cross Hill Lodge & Domes offer a range of accommodation, from camping, cabins and cottages through to higher-end hosted glamping. Their hosts are Sarah and Richard Burdon. Glen Dene was originally part of the wider Mount Burke Station, owned by Richard’s family. In 1979, the property was split between the two sons, with Jerry and Lesley Burdon moving to the eastern side now known as Glen Dene where they continued to operate as a high-country station. Sarah and Richard took over Glen Dene in 2001, after a difficult decade for the meat and wool industries and following tenure review, which had considerably reduced stocking rates. Diversification became an important part of building a more resilient future for the property, while still keeping farming at the heart of the operation. Another important step came in 2009 when the Burdons purchased The Camp business from the Cotter family, including the existing buildings, services and council lease. They then continued improving the lakeside accommodation and visitor experience. Hunting had long been part of Glen Dene’s story, with outside outfitters using the property over the years because of its deer, game animals and high-country terrain. Around 2012, once their children were a little older, Sarah and Richard began developing their own hosted hunting operation. In those early years, hunting guests were hosted through The Camp accommodation and hospitality offering, with Jerry and Lesley also helping host guests through their homestay. Cross Hill Lodge & Domes came later, in 2022, adding six self-contained luxury 40m2 geodesic domes and lodge facilities. Cross Hill has since lifted the hosted guest experience and now complements both the hunting season and the wider glamping and visitor market. Guided hunting parties are hosted from mid-February until the end of June, with clients seeking carefully managed red stag, fallow deer and other high-country hunting experiences. Sarah and Richard also travel to hunting expositions in the United States, a market they say has changed steadily since Covid. “Covid was a major turning point, but the change is broader than that,” Sarah says. “Technology, global uncertainty, the state of the economy, rising travel costs, health and family circumstances all affect how and when people commit to a trip like this.” “That is also why the shows still matter. “A hunting trip to New Zealand is not something people book lightly. “For many clients it is the hunt of a lifetime. They want to meet the people they will be spending a week with, know they are a good fit, and feel confident they are in experienced hands.” The farm itself remains a major point of interest for guests, and Sarah and Richard also offer occasional homestead lunches, with farm tours planned more regularly through spring and summer before hunting begins.
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