Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell: Inside 'Loo with a View', New Zealand's craziest toilet

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

This was published 2 years ago

Highlands Motorsport Park, Cromwell: Inside 'Loo with a View', New Zealand's craziest toilet

By Brook Sabin
Updated
Donald Trump features in the bathroom.

Donald Trump features in the bathroom.Credit: Brook Sabin/Stuff

I've stepped inside one of the most unusual places I've ever seen. I'm in a row of instrumental urinals. One is a drum, another a trumpet and the last a bass violin. When you use it, it starts playing music. Things get seriously interesting (and weird) when three men are using them at the same time. It could be the world's most unusual symphony.

I'm in Cromwell, at Highlands Motorsport Park, which is a world-class racetrack created by Tony Quinn, a Scottish-Australian-Kiwi entrepreneur. As the park's website explains, he "also happens to have a thing for toilets. We came up with a lot of different ideas about what we could do with the toilets, and Loo with a View floated to the top." Unofficially, it's known as Cromwell's No.2 attraction.

The bathroom attendant, Riza Valentin, gave us a tour of this porcelain palace, and the first thing you notice is every loo has a view – as the name suggests. Some have floor-to-ceiling windows looking over the racetrack, and thanks to one-way glass, your business stays, well, your business.

You can play music and watch a race.

You can play music and watch a race.Credit: Brook Sabin/Stuff

Valentin shows us around the musical urinals with a large squirter bottle in hand (to simulate the real thing). She also explained they work if you pour beer in them, but not water.

She points to an enormous caricature-like head of Donald Trump, with its mouth wide open, and sprays the bottle in its mouth. A Donald Trump-like voice shoots back, "This is the very best in New Zealand, tremendous". I can only imagine how off-putting that would be using it.

Next, we head to a line of instrumental urinals. Valentin rapidly squirts her bottle into the bass, saxophone, and drums. An unusual symphony begins to float through the toilets, with the Trump urinal continuing to randomly shout messages like "welcome to my wall." It is hilarious. And on the extreme end of unusual.

The palace gives new meaning to “using the throne".

The palace gives new meaning to “using the throne".Credit: Brook Sabin/Stuff

"Imagine when three men are peeing at the same time, we have the urinal band," Valentin says with a giggle.

Advertisement

Watch the video below.

Our tour is far from over; there is a series of other toilets for men and women. One is set up like a miniature palace, playing orchestral music. When you flush the throne, the chandelier starts flashing and the room erupts into applause.

Another tells you a series of dad jokes, which are so bad, it's hard not to laugh.

Tourists have started to pop into Highlands just to visit the toilets – which opened earlier this year– although the racetrack is still firmly the crowd-pleaser. There are more than 10 different experiences you can choose from, including a "Supercar Fast Dash" which sees you in a Ferrari 488 GTB alongside a professional driver, reaching 100 kmh in just three seconds. After that, you might just want to use the loo. Luckily, I know a good one.

More information:

Using the Loo with a View is free. There are more than 10 attractions at Highlands. Go Karting starts from $49, and a Ferrari Fast Dash starts from $179. See: highlands.co.nz

Getting there: Cromwell is a 50-minute drive from Queenstown or 40 minutes from Wānaka.

Staying there: Stay overwater at Heritage Collection Lake Resort Cromwell from $139 a night. See: lakeresort.co.nz

The author was hosted by Tourism Central Otago.

Sign up for the Traveller newsletter

The latest travel news, tips and inspiration delivered to your inbox. Sign up now.

Most viewed on Traveller

Loading