Manager Serena Shine had picked up the trend to off-the-grid getaways while overseas, and handily, her parents, Gavin and Raewyn, had been developing the Castaways Resort since they bought the site of an old restaurant in 2002, turning it into a wedding and conference venue.
Gavin loves a good building project, while Raewyn had already created the luxury day spa, Bersantai, complete with Bali-style furnishing and landscaping. Tucking three campsites around the property was a good fit.
The adventure started at check-in, when we clambered aboard little electric golf carts and drove across the farmland to our secluded camp spot.
The tent, a cunning combination of canvas and rustic wood, was tucked into the hill beside a scented grove of pines. The view it faced was so spectacular we slept with the doors open, despite the usual west coast wind and a spot of rain. That's where the rustic bit stops.
Inside there are real beds (with the best pillows ever) as well as hot water, LED lights, enough electricity to power the little fridge. This was like playing house: there's a tiny kitchenette, the bathroom is tucked at the back of the "tent", light and bright, protected by canvas and plastic walls.
An afternoon of pampering in the spa left us relaxed and calm. It easily beats any city experience to emerge from the massage room to take in the view across paddocks to the pounding sea. Something about the ozone.
Serena has figured out that once you're back at camp, you don't want to go anywhere, so you do your own cooking. But it is no chore: dinner and breakfast are all prepped and stashed in the fridge in charmingly labelled containers that made my OCD heart beat just a little bit harder.
All we had to do was open a bottle of wine, throw the steaks on the barbecue and sit. The barbecue and tiny table are tucked in the "porch" of the tent, so you are truly getting that indoor-outdoor flow.
It really wasn't hard to settle. The two Adirondack chairs are tucked in another sheltered spot (Gavin and Serena must have done a fair bit of scouting to get the right combination here of sun and view), their arms just wide enough to hold a book and a wine glass.
But it was that bathtub that won us over: gallons of hot water, some bubbles (in bath and glass) and a long soak watching the sun go down. We left with a ton of photos and a plan to somehow recreate the experience in our own back yard (still unrealised).
The next morning, it was a putter back to reality as we headed back over the hills to check out. We did manage to squeeze in a spot of archery at the activity centre before we drove back through the rolling countryside to city reality.
Next time we've got the new treehouse camp in mind — tent and bath suspended between two mighty totara trees, complete with bush walk.
NEED TO KNOW
See castaways.co.nz for more details on Castaways' accommodation, day spa and lunch packages.
Catherine was a guest of Castaways Resort.
