Central Otago: Central to everything

If you want to escape the rat race and crazy real estate prices, Central Otago could be the place. 

With the Dunstan Range as a backdrop, the 18 lifestyle blocks grouped around the McArthur Ridge Vineyard near Alexandra are about 4ha in size and are priced $225,000 to $300,000. 

Caption2: This architect-designed stacked stone three-bedroom house on 1.1ha of gently contoured land overlooking Alexandra has an asking price of $790,000. 

Caption3: Curling could become your newfound winter pastime. 

Once a sleepy backwater, Central Otago is undergoing a renaissance on the back of the wine industry and a growing tourism market. 

And with that comes a real estate boom. It might not be in the same league as the headline grabbing price rises in Queenstown and around the lakes, but it is happening. 

One of the breakthroughs for the area has been the success of vineyards in growing grapes to make highly regarded pinot noir wine. 

As real estate agent Shaun McLellan, of Alan McLellan Real Estate, says, "There's a bit of culture coming in with the wine - there's people coming down here with money and looking around at what else is needed in the area. That leads to cafes and things like cheese-making to go with that boutique wine industry." 

McLellan, based in Alexandra, Central Otago's largest town (population 4400), says the area's other great attractions are affordability and the easily accessible outdoor activities based around the region's stunning mountains and rivers. 

"Alexandra used to be a place where farmers from Southland and Otago would retire to because of the climate," says McLellan. "But now the buyers we have coming in here, if they're not British they're Aucklanders - just because you get more for your buck down here. 

"Anyone who's into outdoor sports like fishing, hunting, skiing, mountain biking or water skiing can have it all down here. There are 14 golf courses in a 20-mile radius. And you can knock off work at 5 and be up at Coronet skiing at 5.30. 

"We all think we're millionaires down here because of the lifestyle we've got, but you don't have to have a million dollars." 

Initiatives like the 150km Otago Central Rail Trail have started to bring tourists into the area. Once a railway route, the gravel track is now open for people to hike, bike or horse ride and allows an insight into the area's goldmining past. 

McLellan says being able to work remotely via the internet had also made it possible for people to make a living while enjoying the lifestyle of this most sparsely populated region of the country. 

"I've got mates who sit in the middle of vineyards but are working in New York on their computers," he says. 

McLellan says the marked change of seasons and the way the landscape morphs dramatically over short distances add to the area's charms. 

And if you factor in a low crime rate, good schools, no traffic lights and no parking meters, the attractions to city refugees seem obvious. 

As an example of what your money will get you, an architect-designed stacked stone three-bedroom house on 1.1ha of gently contoured land overlooking Alexandra is being sold with an asking price of $790,000. This home has two bathrooms, two double garages and that all-important gas central heating and double glazing. 

If you're looking to build, a 745sq m serviced section on the fringes of Alexandra in a new subdivision will set you back about $165,000. If that's too rich for you, there are sections going for $60,000-$75,000 as part the Quail Haven subdivision at Roxburgh overlooking the Clutha River. 

But if you really want to get away from it all, McLellan says you can choose from 18 lifestyle blocks grouped around the McArthur Ridge Vineyard in Springvale, eight minutes' drive from Alexandra. They are all about 4ha and range in price from $225,000 to $300,000. They have services to the boundary and an irrigation allowance. 

One of the more expensive sections has a building platform and has been landscaped with a variety of native trees as well as poplars, eucalypts and silver birch. It is fully fenced and has a sprinkler system, stonework features, and an established driveway & access road. The properties have a spectacular backdrop in the Dunstan Range. 

For more information, contact Shaun McLellan, ph 021 909 525, or Alan McLellan Real Estate, ph 03 448 9134.