Rotorua country lodge guests live off the land

By GERALDINE McMANUS

Set among the greenness of farmland and small lifestyle blocks, Te Ngae Country Lodge is quiet and peaceful - yet close to all the action that Rotorua has to offer.

Te Ngae is an area on the shores of Lake Rotorua and the view from the Mokoia Suite is grazing animals and the green, bush-clad island - famous for its romantic love story of Hinemoa and Tutanekai. The island is now a sanctuary for kiwi recovery and other endangered native birds.

The lodge is close to huge bush scenic reserves and lakes nearby include Okataina, Tarawera, and the Blue and Green Lakes, all with ready access to good fishing and boating.

Hosts of the country lodge are Anne Earley and Sandy Cooper, and as soon as I shook hands with Sandy I guessed he was an enthusiastic gardener. His hands tell a story of love for the land, and food served at the lodge reflects his passion. Guests enjoy the fruits of his labour - freshly harvested vegetables and fruit straight from his garden.

Neat rows of vegetables fill half a hillside and a large hot house; each row carefully labelled - from Rua and Jersey Bennes potatoes through to heirloom tomatoes, exotic chillies and vines of raspberries. If guests stay for dinner they get to enjoy the bounty of seasonal, and often exotic, produce.

I enjoyed the complimentary manuka and honey home-smoked trout served before dinner, followed by basil and tomato soup made with garden produce.

Served with the fish main course was a huge vegetable platter including zucchini, Japanese green cauliflower, carrots and fennel followed by a salad of unusual lettuce varieties. Dessert was homemade berry icecream and yes, even these, were from the blueberry bush and raspberry canes in the garden.

The spacious, two-bedroom Mokoia Suite has a large lounge with doors opening outside. It is designed for people with restricted mobility, with no steps from the car. There are wide doorways and a shower with disabled access.

Inside the home another suite of two bedrooms, including the Garden Room and the Library Room, has a lounge opening to a wide deck overlooking trees and greenery.

Guests often stay two days, and if they do Sandy and Anne offer a free guided ecological walk around Lake Okataina. Clean and fresh, the lake is surrounded by a scenic conservation estate with no farming or houses. There are many safe and relatively easy walking tracks. The native bush includes punga, rewarewa, kahikatea and totara. We enjoyed finding other fascinating natives including tiny flowering tree orchids.

Scottish-born Sandy has lived in New Zealand for many years and has become fascinated by native plants and the range of edible and medicinal plants used traditionally by Maori.

Our walk included a visit to the historic Te Koutu ancient pa site of the Ngati Tarawhai with its hand-worked terraces and well-preserved, hand-dug, Maori food-storage pits. Jutting into the lake, this peninsula affords views of the water highway used by Maori paddling between Lake Tarawera, Rotorua and Rotoiti.

Just around the corner from the lodge are the magnificent, 12ha Tikitere Gardens. The extensive rhododendron collection was blooming.

The breathtakingly beautiful garden has a charming river walk edged by displays of maples, bog iris and rare tree peonies.

I'll be dining on exotic lettuce salads this summer care of Te Ngae. I had admired the unusual lettuces served at dinner and Sandy promptly dug out some lettuce plants that he had seeded. He put them into a pottle for me to carry home, carefully watered and ready to plant.

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Geraldine McManus was hosted by Te Ngae Country Lodge.

Where to find it

Anne Earley and Sandy Cooper, Te Ngae Country Lodge, No 54 State Highway 33, Te Ngae, Rotorua.

Ph (07) 3454153.

Fax (07) 345 4153.

Email: enquire@tengae.co.nz

Getting there

12km from Rotorua centre. Drive out of Rotorua towards the airport. Continue past the airport and past the turn to SH30 to Whakatane. Te Ngae Country House driveway. No 54 SH 33, is 300m on the right.

What it costs

$100 to $295 double including breakfast

Dinner: $55 a person (five courses and wine)

A two-night stay includes a guided ecological walk option.


Smoking

Outside

Wheelchair access

Yes

What else to do

Visit Tikitere Gardens - 12ha of outstanding garden.

Walk or mountain-bike on trails through The Redwoods, a forest of huge exotics.

Try your luck trout fishing with a guide on nearby lakes and rivers.

Te Ngae Country Lodge

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