Naseby

Naseby's own sign describes it as 2,000 feet above worry level, which tells you most of what the village thinks of itself. It was a gold town of five thousand in the 1860s, is a few hundred now, and kept a compact centre of mudbrick and stone buildings surrounded by a forest of larch and Douglas fir planted to stabilise the sluiced ground. Its distinction is ice. The Maniototo basin is cold and still enough in winter that outdoor curling has been played here since the 1870s by Scottish settlers and their descendants, and Naseby now has the country's only indoor curling rink alongside outdoor ice, a luge track and a natural ice skating dam - which makes a village of a few hundred the national centre of a sport. In summer the forest carries mountain bike and walking trails, and the old sluicings and water races are walkable.

What you actually see

• The mudbrick centre - the compact 1860s village core.
• The curling - indoor and outdoor ice, the sport's national home.
• The forest - larch and fir planted over the sluiced ground.
• The old sluicings - workings and water races on the walking tracks.

When to go

June to August for curling, ice skating and the luge - that is when the village is doing its distinctive thing. Summer for the forest trails.

Honest expectations

Winters here are severe - this is one of the coldest inhabited parts of the country. Services are limited to a hotel and a cafe. Curling and luge need booking in season.

Nearby

Ranfurly and the Rail Trail are south; St Bathans is north-west.