Paradise

Paradise is “just that”. There is no cafe, no shop, just an amazing setting on the diamond lake below Mount Earnslaw and Mount Alfred.

 

No-one can say with certainty how Paradise got its name, though within the area of Paradise you have the ‘Rock of Eden’, Heavens Gate and you have to cross the River Jordan to get there. Some also say Paradise gets its name from the Paradise duck.

Paradise is 20 kilometres from Glenorchy, 8 km is sealed road and the last 12 km is unsealed. Rolling farmland changes to beech forest as you enter the Mt Aspiring National Park and drive past Diamond Lake. From the road, you can see Arcadia House, Greek for Paradise, originally built by Patrick Fenn in 1906 to attract his fiancee to New Zealand. Further along the road you reach Paradise Trust from a driveway to the left. Privately owned, guests are welcome to walk the grounds of the trust, picnic and enjoy the area for a small fee. Paradise has a rich history and was one of the key excursions for early travelers to New Zealand. If you pass Paradise, the road continues on to the Chinamans Bluff and the start of the Dart track.