Top lodge has been true labour of love

TOP LODGE: Darren Gamble, owner of the winning YHA Ohakune Station Lodge. PHOTO/LIN FERGUSON

For the owners of the spectacular YHA Ohakune Station Lodge - voted New Zealand's top YHA lodge for 2015 - it has been six years of hard work since they bought the business.

Darren and Jane Gamble are exuberant, positive and keen outdoors enthusiasts who describe their work at the lodge as a labour of love and a whole lot of determination to get it to its present state.

Before buying the lodge they were working as Outward Bound instructors in Australia and Langkawi in Malaysia.

When they returned to New Zealand, Darren originally from Invercargill and Jane from Whangamata in the Coromandel, decided to take a nine-month bike tour through the length and breadth of the country to find a place to settle.

"We didn't even know about Ohakune.We knew about Mt Ruapehu but never knew there was a great little town that is fabulous in winter and summer," Darren said.

The big thing for them was that there was so much to do in Ohakune. "Skiing is just part of it," Darren said, adding that it was heaven for outdoors lovers.

A big drawcard is the five-day Mountains to Sea cycle trail which starts at the Mt Ruapehu-Ohakune Old Coach Rd, and takes in Ruatiti Valley on day two, then the Bridge to Nowhere, the Whanganui River Rd and on day five, the city of Whanganui and on to the sea.

At the lodge the couple have set up a mountain bike station, renting out 65 top-notch bikes.

They transport their guests to bike tracks around the region with the keen cyclists heading back to the lodge after a day on the tracks.

Another huge attraction is the Tongariro Alpine Crossing which Darren said had been a big catalyst for summer tourists.

And, of course, there are the unique, historic Whanganui River trips which are "mindblowing", according to the couple.

The lodge is listed by the Lonely Planet guide as "Best Choice" and is just two minutes from Ohakune railway station where the Wellington/Auckland scenic train, the Northern Explorer, stops each day.

Darren reckons many passengers don't seem to know about Ohakune.

The lodge and three two-bedroom luxury chalets and can accommodate 80 guests.

One of the comments from the 2015 annual guest survey which shot the lodge into top place said: "Very well managed hostel. Beautiful property."