Enjoy a heated outdoor bath and jaw-dropping views in every direction at the Mud Hut in Southland. Photo / Welcome Rock
Enjoy a heated outdoor bath and jaw-dropping views in every direction at the Mud Hut in Southland. Photo / Welcome Rock
Are you after a little getaway to break up a long winter? Or something to look forward to this summer? Here are five of NZ’s lesser-known spots for a short break, writes Anna Sarjeant
Hike in, hike out: The Mud Hut, Southland
How about a genuine backcountry experience in a remote pocket of Southland? It’s certainly not the average mini-break regaled at the water cooler on a Monday. As far removed from the beaten track as you can get, Mud Hut sits atop a mountain on its own private hiking trail an hour south of Queenstown. Guests will need to hike or bike 10km along Welcome Rock Trails to reach the stand-alone, 2-4-person hut: an original stone building constructed by Chinese gold miners in the 1890s and restored in 1990, albeit minimally. Guests should expect a delightfully ramshackled stay, with bunkbeds and basic amenities, zero power and limited mobile coverage. While the hut’s many merits aren’t modern, there’s ample pleasure to be found in a crackling open fireplace, heated outdoor bath and jaw-dropping views in every direction. The biggest indulgence? Total isolation.
Visit welcomerock.co.nz for this and more rustic experiences in the high country.
Mud Hut sits atop a mountain on its own private hiking trail. Photo / Welcome Rock
The childhood hideout you never had: Rimu Hut, Auckland
If Dad never built you a treehouse (the cheek of it!), live out your wildest childhood dreams at Rimu Hut in Ararimu 50 minutes south of Auckland’s CBD. This A-frame chalet hiding between rimu trees is the kind of den you could only dream about while pegging bed sheets across your living room. Rimu Hut was designed as a hideout for the owner’s grandchildren and has all the charm of a secret cubbyhole. Sleeping up to five people, the upper loft is accessed via ladder, while downstairs there are sensible adult inclusions like a small, camp-style kitchen ... and muesli. Clevedon Village and the Hunua Ranges are both on the doorstep, but the real fun begins when you unlock your imagination; probably held captive since adolescence.
Did you know you can rent one of three historic bachs on Rangitoto Island? Bach 78, Bach 114 and Bach 52 are highly sought after and often sell out months in advance. Previously available to only a lucky few families who inherited these chocolate-box cottages, you can now experience island life like our ancestors in all its off-grid glory. Fully restored while in keeping with the aesthetics of their time, the self-contained baches are pleasantly retro but equipped with solar power, gas cookers, fridges and chemical toilets. Accessed by ferry from downtown Auckland, once on the volcanic island you couldn’t feel further from the hubbub of the city. We particularly like Bach 78 for its water-licking location — as do most people, so book early to lock in your secret island stay. rangitoto.org/overnight-rangitoto
If you want to stay the night on Rangitoto Island, there are baches available to rent. Photo / Supplied
New beachside glamping: Hāhei
There’s nothing underrated about Hāhei but First Light Hāhei, the latest addition to Hāhei Beach Resort, is still relatively new and at risk of going under your radar. An off-grid glamping site in the Hāhei Hills, there’s nothing but native bush to your rear and stunning ocean views dead ahead. The luxury tent has all the trimmings of an A-list celebrity pad at a world-famous festival, with rattan furniture, a king-size bed, and the quintessential outdoor clawfoot bathtub. Perhaps most impressive are the uninterrupted sunrise views, thanks to First Light’s elevated position above the coastline, as well as the daily coffee offerings slurped shortly after, courtesy of the on-site Beachbreak Cafe.
First Light glamping is the latest addition to Hāhei Beach Resort. Photo / Hāhei Beach Resort
A vintage bach from 60 years ago: West Coast
Forget the alarm, at Woodpecker Bay Bach you’ll wake up to the sound of temperamental ocean waves crashing at your window. Tickling the fringes of the Tasman Sea on the South Island’s notoriously wild West Coast, the bach — one of a handful in the vicinity, including the newest member, Bach 51 — accommodates two guests in a studio-style coastal pad, complete with a woodburning fire, queen-size bed, and rustic decor that you’ll want to pack up and take home with you. While modern conveniences include Wi-Fi, Netflix and Bluetooth speakers, it’s the kind of place that begs you to find entertainment in nature’s wildest ways; compelled to watch an unruly ocean with hot mugs of coffee and a blanket on your lap, or to adventure outdoors into a labyrinth of gorges, forest and ice-age glaciers, all of which the West Coast is famed for. woodpeckerbay.co.nz
At Woodpecker Bay Bach you’ll wake up to the sound of waves crashing at your window. Photo / Woodpecker Bay
