Swapping the thrifty family holiday for something more luxurious. Photo / Getty Images
Swapping the thrifty family holiday for something more luxurious. Photo / Getty Images
A previously frugal traveller, Anna Sarjeant discovers the many merits of spending double the money but getting 10 times more fun out of your holiday.
Camping can be a lot of fun. But sometimes, when you look at the 2m by 2m patch of grass you’re paying $70 to sleep on, you wonder if you should have paid the extra $70 for a roof over your head.
But, once inside a 2m by 2m cabin with the wind howling through a door that hasn’t been sealed in a decade, you wonder why you’re paying a hefty Auckland mortgage to holiday in a shed.
When it comes to an uber-thrifty getaway, my breaking point occurred while attempting to breastfeed in a bunkbed – at midnight – crippled under some creaky bedsprings which then grabbed my hair and began garroting me.
Camping can be a lot of fun. But sometimes... Photo / 123RF
Against all my husband’s protests, any future mini-break would involve saving harder and spending more.
As the chief instigator of our new bougie lifestyle, this also led me to become chief holiday organiser. Fine by me: show me a family joint account and I’ll show you a good time.
Soon, I had us heading to Martinborough for two nights. And I threw in a bike ride for good measure. While this might sound nonchalant from someone who months earlier considered a non-timed hot shower “flash”, I am getting savvier at making the most of company loyalty programmes. For this trip, I used Booking.com’s Genius programme which gave me some good discounts on the accommodation, and I could book our flights and car rental at the same time.
When the day came for our getaway, we jetted off, drama-free from Auckland Airport on a 50-minute flight to Wellington.
In the capital, we picked up the car from Ezi Car Rental, based right inside the airport.
Driving over the Remutaka Range.
We’re now looking at approx. 4 hours from the time we left our house where I (the mother and therefore the most stressed) remained cool, calm and collected.
A holiday miracle.
So far, zero regrets about our new, hassle-free lavish lifestyle.
Having navigated the notoriously twirly Remutaka Range, we do experience one hiccup on arrival in Martinborough - but I’m now so bougie and zen, it doesn’t even phase me.
We can’t get into our accommodation. The pin provided is a dud.
Black Barn Modern is situated on a fancy estate named ‘Pinot Grove’.
Black Barn Modern is situated on a fancy estate named Pinot Grove (no boom barrier reception in sight). I ring the number provided and the lovely lady is helpful but hesitant. She knows the pin for the door, but she doesn’t know anything about new guests.
“Could you check it’s been cleaned?” she inquires.
Judging by the empty box of Sol beer on the driveway, I can guess the answer.
Within 20 minutes, two lads arrived with the Dettol and fresh sheets. It was no big deal for us - the barn is beautiful with a hot tub in the garden and a communal swimming pool within walkable distance – and warm enough for an enjoyable late-November dip.
Black Barn Modern is beautiful inside and out.
My son played with a collection of provided toys while the last pillows were fluffed and we were left to enjoy the rest of the balmy afternoon; mostly spent poolside before dinner at Little Square Pizza in the village.
The following day, we wake to another bluebird day and sizzle some sausages on the barbecue for breakfast, while the boys enjoy the hot tub again and I take a bath before hooking up to the Wi-Fi.
Hot tub. Bath. Wi-Fi – three things we don’t usually wake up to in a tent; after a night on a blow-up mattress that is inevitably flat by 1am.
Also, I made a midnight toilet dash without jandals or a torch. Now that’s luxury.
By 10.30am we’re back in town, which is all of three minutes away in the car. Green Jersey Explorer Tours has been expecting us for our self-guided vineyard bike ride. I expected a baby seat attached to the back of a pushbike but instead, we’re handed an electric tuk-tuk. Or rather, my husband is, while my son and I climb in the back to be chauffeured.
An electric tuk-tuk courtesy of Green Jersey Explorer Tours.
We have it for the entire day but by midday we’ve only made it to the coffee shop (20m away) and the playground (30m away).
Eventually we make it to Ata Rangi Vineyard for wine tasting. As two clueless wine novices, we’re kindly and patiently introduced to the region’s history, climate and varietals without being made to feel as lowbrow as we know we are.
However, the child’s patience wears thin by the fourth glass and it’s back to the playground we go.
Vineyard views from the back of a tuk-tuk.
By naptime, two-thirds of the contingent are asleep in our cool, air-conditioned barn while I eat cheese from famed ‘C’est Cheese’ artisan deli in nearby Featherston.
Included in the bike tour is a flash lunch at Palliser Estate Winery, which we descend on late afternoon. A casual wine tasting takes place while we play petanque, hide-and-seek in the gardens and beanbag diving – such is the nature of a vineyard visit now we have a toddler.
The staff are astounding; as patient and as fun as a troupe of daycare staff, unfussed that we have a child in tow. They delight our son with his own (unbreakable) wine glass and a selection of coloured straws, before we sit al fresco to dine on ragu, fish croquettes and strawberry meringue.
Palliser Estate Winery drenched in sunshine.
Before day’s end, we stop off at the iconic Martinborough Hotel where the hipster bar staff are well-moustachioed but less enthused with children, so we sit outside with hot chips. An enormous knickerbocker glory arrives for the boy.
Tomorrow we will depart early and retrace our route over the ranges to fly home.
While the locals flutter around us, mingling in and out of Martinborough’s curbside bars dressed in golden-hour sunshine, my husband remarks on what a good holiday it’s been.
I nod in agreement while stealing the cherry on top of my son’s icecream; it’s been a cherry-topped kind of holiday. It may have cost twice as much as we’ve ever dared pay in the past, but the enjoyment has easily quadrupled.
A cherry-on-top kind of holiday.
Anna Sarjeant was hosted by booking.com’s Genius programme which enabled her to book accommodation, flights, car rental, taxis and attractions in one place.
