Creeksyde Oast House officially opens

Magic and double celebrations are set to cast a spell over Queenstown’s Top 10 Holiday Park ‘Creeksyde’ next Thursday (26 May) to mark the official opening of its brand new Oast House – not your ordinary ablutions block, and 23 years of practicing sustainability.

The Christchurch Wizard, who has a long history of association and magic with the property, will open the building with a special spell as part of the birthday celebrations.

The Oast House-inspired building is exemplar of the artistic and sustainable enthusiasm of owners Erna and Tonnie Spijkerbosch, who believe the ablutions block has the potential to become Queenstown’s newest tourist attraction as the ‘Hundertwasser toilets of the south’.

“Innovation, sustainability and creativity are our major passions here at Creeksyde,” said Mrs Spijkerbosch. It’s exciting after 23 years of successful business in Queenstown to know we are still innovating with projects such as the Oast House. We’re both thrilled with the results and, while it’s hard to convince people that an ablution block is worth a special visit aside from usual purposes, we think people will want to come and look once the word spreads.”

Unique features of the Oast House include its top door which is re-worked from the framework of the former Buckham’s Brewery shed that previously stood on site, and its brass door knobs and hinges which are all recycled too. The interior decorating stayed in the family with Erna and Tonnie’s nephew and trompe l’oeil artist Marc Spijkerbosch creating the stunning artwork within.

Inside, the ablutions block takes personal hygiene to a whole new level with life-size trompe l’oeil paintings welcoming guests to a three-dimensional world. Female visitors step into the Oast House through an image of a larger-than-life sized ballet dancer into a day spa environment with rock pools painted on the floor. Males pass a larger than life doorman to enter a Speight’s Ale House complete with bar stools and local barflies.

In addition to the interior decoration Queenstown adventure operators have rallied round to advertise inside the shower and toilet cubicles with amazing, larger than life, wraparound imagery.

They include Skyline, Ziptrek, DartRiver Jet Safaris, Nomad Safaris, Appellation Wine Tours, AJ Hackett Bungy and Elevation Hang Gliding.

People can enquire about the public viewing times for the Oast House ablutions block with the reception team at Creeksyde.

For more than two decades Creeksyde has proudly demonstrated its title as the world’s first environmentally certified Holiday Park through dedicated recycling, reusing and being a successful, sustainable tourism business. The ablution block artwork joins several unusual findings around the Creeksyde holiday park, such as recycled mosaics, sculptures, playgrounds and outdoor kitchens creatively made from everyday objects well reused.