Take a Moment With Heatwave, Wānaka.
🫧 Almighty Flavour Lab
Almighty Flavour Lab is our new flavour-creating playground where you can have your say on our next sparkling water flavour! You get to mix, match, and visualise your perfect combo on a can. Choose up to two flavours, which we'll take to the lab and may end up being our next flavour!
Welcome back to our series where we hand a roll of 35mm film to someone from our community and ask them to shoot the moments that make up their days.
Next up we have Fionn, part-owner of Heatwave, Wānaka. An independent outdoor lifestyle store and community project based in the small town of Wānaka, New Zealand Aotearoa.
We talked about the origins of Heatwave and the move back home from London, chasing sunrise rides in sub-zero mornings, the outdoorsy community that gathers around bikes, books and good coffee, and the Wānaka spots he swears by for a proper day out.
It's a goodie and makes us want to get down south ASAP.
Can you please tell us a bit about Heatwave and how it all came about?
Heya, for sure! We are an outdoor lifestyle store in Wānaka. We actually started Heatwave from London in 2023, we were based back there for the summer and were feeling pretty inspired being back in the city. We’ve got a big love for run and bike and take a lot of inspiration from the culture around that. Coming back to NZ, we really wanted to do something we felt was positive and something we knew us and our friends would enjoy. It just spiraled from there!
I love the collection of images you send through, makes me want to get to Wānaka asap. What timeframe did you use to shoot these images, and how typical is this of your day-to-day life?
Haha, yeah we are pretty lucky, it’s whimsical year round here! We shot this over about 3 days, mostly in the mornings before work. We had a bit of a cold snap that week, I think we were around -5c most mornings so it was chilly rides and runs! It’s a pretty standard week for us (which feels surreal) but when you’re here it’s hard not to want to be outside as much as possible when we’re not in the shop.
What’s your favourite thing about your community in Wānaka?
We're super lucky down here, I love the diversity of outdoorists we get in Wānaka, from bikers to rock climbers and all the other activities in between. Most people live here to live slow and spend time outside and everyone is super keen to get out there. You could want to ride and within 5 minutes there is a crew together keen to get out for an adventure. In the shop, everyone is always keen for a chat as well, I think that’s the beauty of having a cafe in the shop, it brings heaps of people through who you may not normally cross paths and you end up with some pretty sick conversations and getting to hear everyones stories.
When you’re not at the shop, where would we find you / what would you be doing?
I’ll always try to get a jog in on my days off. I like switching it up between road and trail but Mt Iron is a stone’s throw from pretty much anywhere in town, so it’s usually a top pick. Alice spends a lot of time in her studio making shoes which is pretty cool! If she’s not in there, she’ll be out on a ride or locked into a book.
I can see you’re keen bikers! Where are your favourite tracks in Wānaka at the moment?
Alice has been riding heaps this year, I’ve been pretty slack on the two wheels. From Wānaka out on the Hāwea River Track never gets old and there’s heaps of side quests depending on how you’re feeling from that one. Out to Mt Aspiring National Park on the gravel bikes is a stunner, it’s super scenic and feels like you go into another world. That’s definitely a top pick!
If someone were visiting Wānaka for the first time where would you take them?
Rocky Mountain is my #1 best bang for buck trail around here, it’s got amazing nature and awesome views without the full hustle of Roy’s Peak (and it’s not as crowded). Lunch at Alleyway or The Good Spot always hits and then hands down Muttonbird for dinner.
When times are busy, how do you take a moment for yourself to recharge?
If we’re strapped for time, even something small like taking a book out to Hawea is an amazing reset. If we have a day or so, Alice is always keen to get to the coast, whether it’s out to Haast or Dunners. A ride with friends is always a fix, you always finish up feeling refreshed and with a big smile on your face!
Find out more about Heatwave here.
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