Watershed: a floating sauna on Lake Whakatipu

Watershed is a sauna that floats on Lake Whakatipu in Queenstown, about a five-minute walk from the town centre. The founders, former TV presenter Dominic Bowden and entrepreneur Andrew Glenn, picked the site for uninterrupted southwesterly views across the Remarkables.

The purpose-built pontoon opened this past December and was designed with a nod to the simple agricultural architecture of the Otago region. It can accommodate 20 guests across two saunas: a larger space open to walk-ins for a communal experience, and a private north sauna reserved for bookings of up to six.

Both saunas are clad in Scandinavian aspen and heated to about 185 degrees, with a design by Helsinki-born sauna specialist Petri Knuuttila.

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