Kylie Bailey enjoys an outdoor honeymoon on the Kaikoura Coast
We are big fans of the rugged wilds of New Zealand. Throughout our eight-year relationship, we’ve lived on Auckland’s windswept West Coast, rung in New Year’s Eve in the heart of the Southern Alps, partied high on the hills above Nelson and taken camping trips far off the beaten track. So it seemed fitting to celebrate our recent transition to married couple by packing up my beloved’s racing machine and heading south for what we called our “campmoon” (camping honeymoon).
But as much as I love the great outdoors, a girl’s still gotta have a little romance. So we also booked a weekend of luxury at Hapuku Lodge & Treehouses in Kaikoura. The small South Island town of Kaikoura is renowned for seafood, abundant marine life and great New Zealand music. And as we pulled into the driveway of Hapuku Lodge, nestled snugly between the Seaward Kaikoura oountain Range and the legendary surf break oangamaunu Bay, it was love at first sight.
The lodge’s five tree houses, perched up high as if on stilts, are a feat of architectural brilliance, set among a working deer farm and gorgeously untouched surroundings. While we weren’t lucky enough to secure a berth in the tree houses, we bedded down in style in one of the lodges’ six main bedrooms where the friendly staff had thoughtfully placed a bottle of champagne. There was a lot to celebrate. It was exactly one week to the day since we’d become “or and ors Bailey” – and we’d spotted seals sunbaking on the road into Kaikoura. Now the sun was melting into the endless horizon, bathing us in a warm pink glow.
Toasting continued in front of a roaring fire at the Lodge’s restaurant. It specialises in local and organic fare and we enjoyed our seared South Island duck (for me) and terakihi (for him) washed down with a robust New Zealand red. Next day, we took a trip to the seal colony, then drove south around Goose Bay to sit and watch more “lazy dogs of the sea”, as we dubbed the fat basking seals.
That evening, on the romantic Kaikoura Night Sky Tour, we sat under the stars at the top of the ridge on a local farm, with the tiny lights of the town shining below us. In this elevated location on the Kaikoura Peninsula, we were in a natural 360-degree observatory.
As I watched my favourite star cluster – the Jewel Box, a twinkling mass of changing reds, blues and greens – I snuggled into my beloved. What a memorable start to this new chapter in our rugged Kiwi romance.
FactfileKaikoura visitors’ guide www.kaikoura.co.nz.Hapuku Lodge & Treehouses www.hapukulodge.com or phone 0800 KAIKoURA.Kaikoura Night Sky Tour www.kaikouranightsky.co.nz. Nin’s Bin phone (03) 319 6454.The Kaikoura Food Company www.kaikourafoodcompany.co.nz.
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