The rooms have all been redecorated and the gardens are been cleaned up after the winter.

The reservation book is filling fast for the Christmas period, so now is the time to get your accommodation request in for this period.

We love the summer.

This property consists of an accomodation facility with 7 bedrooms (3 doubles, 2 twins and 2 shared rooms) with a total bed number of 18. Camping is also allowed.

The accomodation consists of a 4 bedroom house with an extension wing. The house also contains a large commercially registered kitchen, dining room and lounge together with a laundry and two seperate showers and toilet washrooms. The outside extension also has a seperate shower and toilet washroom.

In addition to the dining room there is an outside covered eating and BBQ area that can seat 20 people and has Swamp Kauri slab tables. During the summer most guests eat out here.

The property consists of 14 acres of land, with 6 acres in grass and the rest in native bush. The native bush has a number of walking tracks through it with mature kauri, totara and other native trees and bush. There is a glow worm bridge over the stream, and a glow worm grotto on the property. The local ranger also tells us that we have a live Kiwi nesting in our bottom bush block – a number of guests have told us they have heard it outside their rooms.

The managers house consists of a two bedroom house next to the accomodation block and is completely self contained and seperate. It has its own patio to enjoy the odd glass of wine on at the end of a restful day . and enjoy the stunning views.

In the gardens of the property are a number of fruit trees, quiet areas, and a vegetable garden. There are also chickens which provide large fresh eggs every day, two kunekune pigs which act as garbage disposal, 4 cows and 4 sheep – all are hand reared and very friendly. There is also Buster, the dog, who has been here since he was a pup, and is part of the furniture, and a couple of outside cats.

The other businesses associated with this property are guided walking tours through the local forests, beaches and lakes, and in the winter we operate a health farm together with hosting USA school groups. All domain names and websites are included in the sale. There is also the opportunity to offer fishing and hunting trips based here. Down the road is a 365 day Trout Fishery and there are feral pigs, deer and goats in the surrounding forests.

The complete operation is being offered as a going concern as the owners want to retire. The only things you will need to bring is the furniture for the managers house, although we could leave stuff if required.

There is the opportunity to build chalets to increase the accomodation available.

We have plenty of water from rainwater tanks, a bore, and three ponds.

The property is North facing and gets the sun all day.
The grass paddocks could be turned into growing areas if you want to become a farmer.

The property is ready for immediate sale so that we can get off on our travels to see the kids. All you need to do is to move in and start taking money from the guests.

For more information contact the owner directly at kaihufarm@ihug.co.nz and we will forward more details.

The guests for this weekend ride will arrive on Friday night, be fed a lovely home made meal using local produce, and be accommodated in either double or twin rooms.

A route briefing will take place before heading off in the morning with a packed lunch and plenty of energy from the breakfast provided.

The ride will be on virtually unused back roads around the area to the Maunganui Bluff. There are all types of terrain for the riders to content with , the majority of the ride will be easy to moderate although there are a couple of long uphill parts (and downhill – as well).

Once at the Maunganui Bluff there are two options – climb the Bluff or go down to play on the longest beach in New Zealand.

The climb up the Bluff is steep and long – it takes approx 1 hour to climb the 480m to get to the top. Amazing views reward the climber, and this is the perfect place for a picnic lunch.

The beach is also an unspoilt expanse of clean golden sand. At low tide mussels can be picked from the rocks below the Bluff for an entree at the evening meal.

Then there is the ride back to the farm for a well-earned shower and maybe a quick lie down before dinner.

The following day can be lazy or another local ride can be taken to enjoy the countryside and the amazing views. Perhaps a swim in the fresh water Kai Iwi lakes, or a trip to Trounson Forest to see the Kauri trees and the Kiwi at night.

For those who are really keen we can take you through the forest on a 2-day ride, camping overnight.

The cost for the weekend is $360 per person, including 2 nights accommodation, all meals, a complimentary bowl of fresh fruit, bike and safety equipment hire, a professional guide and GST. An extra nights accommodation with all meals and use of the bike (no guide) is available for $85.

Contact Kaihu Farm (+64 9 439 4004) to book your place on this amazing adventure to places you might not readily visit. There is a limit of 6 people per ride so get in early.

Jenny seems to think that the Kunekune’s are pregnant. We will need to wait and see – somewhere around end of September she reckons. It would be good if they are – it is a long time since we had some piglets around.

Come September we will be borrowing a bull to service our 4 cows. With a bit of luck we may have some calves at hoof next year.

At least with all the rain the streams in our bush are working well. The bush has recharged its water levels since the very hot weather we had last summer and are expecting again this summer. After the extreme heat in Europe this year we are told by the climatologists that we can expect the same. Time will tell.

Use of the YHA hostels may be a problem because there are not a lot in New Zealand. The biggest group of backpackers hostels are the BBH hostels. Info can be found at www.backpack.co.nz . If they get to the North Island we have a backpackers at Kaihu which is in Northland. The name is Kaihu Farm. If the boys want to go into the skiing areas then they need to make sure that they book ahead for accommodation, and they won't be cheap.

Passenger trains in New Zealand are not very frequent or even that many. They have been described as an endangered species by a UK travel writer. The tourist routes still exist but there are only a few of them. If they are backpacking the best bus service is the Magic Bus which picks up and drops off at backpackers hostel in a circular route. There website is www.magicbus.co.nz. They are also the best priced.

To get from the South Island to the North Island they will need to catch the ferry at Picton and they will arrive at Wellington. There is a train service from Wellington to Auckland, but it only runs at night. This service goes through the most spectacular country that you can't see any other way, but now they only run at night they won't see it. The other option is a coach service. Whatever they choose they must realise that although the distance on a map isn't very far it takes a long time to actually get anywhere. The trip from Wellington to Auckland is 400 miles, but it takes between 10 -12 hours to make the trip either by road or train. Air flight takes an hour.

There isn't anything special they need to be concerned about. The Kiwi's are friendly people and will help if asked. There are always the rat bags who will steal and try to cheat you, so you need your wits about you.

There is much to see in New Zealand. It has been described as the whole of Europe rolled into a smaller package. This is true – we have the amazing countryside, but not a lot of grand buildings. Take plenty of photographs and keep a travel diary. Instead of trying to do the whole of New Zealand in a short time, they probably need to look on this as the first visit where they have a whistle stop tour, and then come back later for a more detailed stay in places of interest. The real New Zealand is in the country, not the cities.

To see the country you will probably need a car. The cheapest place to buy one is Christchurch because this is where most of the backpackers end up before they leave NZ. Sometimes, cars are just left at the airport with the keys in for the next group of people to take away. Be warned though, some of these vehicles cost a lot in maintenance.

Come and enjoy. Be friendly and ask for help if you need it. You will be surprised at the generous welcome they will receive.

This is probably not what you wanted, but hopefully it will help.

One of the guests (actually a couple from Frankfurt), decided that they would cook a meal and invited me to join them. Normally we cook meals for the guests, not the other way round.

Another couple turned up with no food and were also invited to the meal. There was plenty. I think they could have fed another 6 or more with the food they had.

We had a curried vegetable soup, followed by a fresh salad with homemade dressing. The main course was goulash with pasta spirals, and the whole thing was finished off with a fruit medley with a honey sauce. I thought that it was marvellous what could be put together from the basic supplies that most backpackers carry. I suggested that maybe they write a small cookbook for backpackers who seem to survive on pasta and boil in a cup noodles.

The evening was lovely, a couple of glasses of wine from our cellar, good conversation and a good meal. We cleaned up the dishes and the kitchen so that the chefs could enjoy a rest.

As the host I must admit that having someone cook for me was a real treat. I can only hope it will happen more often. yeah right!

Last night the guests spotted two Kiwi's in the bush at Trounson Park which is just up the road from us. We think that we have at least one Kiwi nesting in our own bush beside the bush walk.

Tonight the meal being prepared for the guests is Chicken Cordon Bleu, with scallopped potatoes, brocolli and roast kumara. Dessert will be boysenberry cheesecake and ice cream. It is really no wonder that I am not losing weight.

The North Island gets mostly lots of wind and rain, and the South Island cops the snow and wind. Some of the roads are shut due to the weather and the power in Auckland is off.

Up here on the farm we have had lots of wind and rain all night, and this morning the power has been on and off. We will need to wait and see what damage has been done, but being sheltered by the hill we seem to have missed most of the serious damage others have suffered.

The bush is eerily quiet. No bird noise. They are probably all hiding waiting for the wind to drop. Even so the bush is noisy with the wind rushing threough the tops, but the trees near the ground are not moving. There is an incessant drip of rain through the canopy and the streams are certainly filling up and rushing through the stream beds.

The animals don't seem to worry too much about the wind and rain. They are all out in the paddock eating to fill their bellies.

He was upset when he found out that our “feral pigs” were in fact, Kunekune pigs that were pets. He left reasonably quickly, but tried to make sure by checking himself. He was not too impressed when we told him to leave.

We have no idea where he came from, but obviously someone had told him to come along to the hostel because there were “feral pigs” running around in our paddock. Now we will have to put notices up stating “No hunting. No shooting”. What a pain!

I suppose this is one of the delights of living in the country, there are lots of others around who regard an animal running around on someone elses property as fair game.

We wonder what would have happened if we were away shopping in town. It doesn’t really bear thinking about.

Tonight we are cooking for 10 people in the hostel. Guess what! It is Pork with stuffing balls, crackling and all the trimming. And no, it is not from one of ours.