This summer Old School Tours has hit the scene, offering visitors guided walks paired with a stay at the Old School Enfield and a ride in classic old school bus. The tours are the creation of Craig and Blanche Sturgess, who transformed an abandoned schoolhouse, 15 minutes from Ōamaru, into a boutique B&B before turning their attention to guided walks. 

Craig, a former farmer with no hospitality experience when he renovated the abandoned schoolhouse, has now, despite pushing 70, launched his latest venture after noticing how little time cyclists spent in the area. 

Guests stay at the couple’s B&B, the Old School Enfield, which they renovated from a former school building, and spend three days walking sections of the Alps to Ocean trail and exploring the region. 

The trails wind through working farms, dairy, sheep, beef, and cropping, offering an intimate glimpse of rural Waitaki life. 

“The walks are designed to be accessible for anyone who can manage a gentle hill. Most eighty-year-olds would be fine doing the walks,” Craig said. 

Unlike traditional tramping, walkers don't carry packs because Craig’s vintage school bus is just a call away to pick them up. The school bus started as a passion project, and now serves as a shuttle, collecting guests and dropping them off along the trail. 

For Craig, who was born and raised in Masterton, the South Island had been calling since he stumbled across it as a 17-year-old hitchhiker. 

“I was just amazed at how beautiful Waitaki was with the rolling hills. I’ve been trying to make my way back ever since,” he laughed. 

The couple’s journey into tourism started when they sold their North Island farm nearly two decades ago and headed south. 

After buying the Old School Enfield in 2016, which had sat empty for eight years, they spent 14 months renovating it together. Craig, who serves on the board of the Waitaki Whitestone Geopark, Australasia's only UNESCO Global Geopark, sees the walking tours as a way to showcase the region’s unique geology and spread visitor activity throughout the year. 

“Experiencing winter on the walking trails would be just spectacular. Those crisp, sunny, windless winter days we get here in Waitaki, they might only be seven degrees, which can be too cold for cycling but great for walking.” 

Old School Tours can accommodate groups of up to 12 people and welcome everyone from solo travellers to groups looking for a shared adventure. 

Find out more about Old School Tours at https://oldschooltours.co.nz/.