We (3 adults and 2 kids) spent two nights here in Feb 2017. The hosts, Uncle Dave and Nikki are excellent hosts to guests. You can also try the dinner prepared by the hosts. They treat us warm. Because the bad weather during our stay, Uncle Dave recommended the places we visited in Geraldine, and accompany us to visit some places. Overall, it was an excellent experience to us and many thx. Dave and Nikki!
So glad you enjoyed your stay (despite the weather changing on us).
We really enjoyed having you stay also ( Next time we will get to tour the farm more). We hope you will commend us to any friends coming to NZ, especially good time is June/July and August, so we can show them the best holiday things this country has to offer.
Bless you
Dave & Nikki
Our family stayed here for 2 nights. Cosy cottage, tranquil and picturesque farmland. Hosts are warm. Dave is especially good at bringing joy to our 2 kids (actually adults too) by giving them exhilarating rides on his farm bike (and he is creative to attach a canoe) up and down the slopes of the huge farmland.
Cottage is well equipped. Only feedback is, perhaps Dave can do away with stocking the freezer with loaves of bread. I suppose guests prefer freshly baked ones. Also, most of the food items are well past Expiry Dates (eg cooking oil, peanut butter, milk). The pricing here is also on the high side (accomodation fees exclude farm activities, got to pay extra for the activities).
Thanks for your feedback. In NZ everything gets 'Best before' dates even things like tea and cornflakes which are good for years. We refill the oil and review everything every weekly and six monthly depending on the item.
We do include use of the playground, trampoline, rope swings, badminton, eco- fire-bath, Brasier Fire and Spa Pool and a complementary quad bike ride to the top of the farm hill for free. As can be expected Big Red Quad Bike Safari's Tours around the farm, Target shooting, small game hunting, fishing trips and Adventure treks cost a lot by way of time and money so we have to charge for these, but still half what it would cost elsewhere.
Glad you all had a wonderful time and I hope have many treasured memories Raverynn,
we enjoyed your stay also.
Love to see you (or friends & family) all again if you are ever in NZ again.
This is definately 1 excellent place to stay & both Dave & Nikki Stanton were great host!
Not to mention that their cats billie & bella are super cute & fluffy(for cat lovers only😀
The surrounding area is 1 big field of beautiful n calm scenery, big fields to venture out on walks or on the 4WD quad. Great for the adventurous.
Unless you self-drive, the location here is definately off e track & transportation is difficult.
But dave makes it up for all by offering to plan out all the itinerary & transportation needed.
Will definately recommend this stay & will definately come back to stay again on my next unfinished NZ venturing trip.
Thanks Pearl
Thanks for the Feedback - Glad you enjoyed your trip.
As we did not experience farm stay style accommodation before, it was a bit uncomfortable and less pleasant. However, we definitely 100% enjoyed night star watching, fire work on the second night and kayaking and quad bike activity on the last day. Dave is so welcoming, enthusiastic and warm heart. Hopefully, we gonna organize another trip with my extended family in another season soon. Looking forward to having thrilling & breath taking activities with Dave. Thank you.
Wow! So excited that you had such a good time, (We will try to make things more comfortable for you also next time).
Do contact us, before you plan your family trip and we can advise you of the best places to stay and what to enjoy at each place around the wonderful South Island. Look forward to seeing you again.
Dave & Nikki
We stayed at Aoraki Cottage as we had received a voucher in a travel auction (kindly donated by Dave and Nicky). We had an extra person travelling with us over our road trip - we found Aoraki to be the most expensive place for her to accompany us (she was charged double at Aoraki compared to what she paid elsewhere).
Dave was welcoming and eager to please - we weren't able to complete any of the activities on offer due to time constraints, but if a true farm stay experience is what you're after, I suspect this would tick the boxes.
The accommodation was very modest, but clean and located in a picturesque setting.
I would recommend Aoraki if you were interested in a farm-stay experience.
It's always good to arrive at a farm stay early then you can partake in all the activities many of which are free. We include use of the playground, trampoline, rope swings, badminton, eco- fire-bath, Brasier Fire and Spa Pool and a complementary Big Red Quad bike ride to the top of the farm hill for free. As can be expected Big Red Quad Bike Safari's Tours around the farm, Target shooting, small game hunting, fishing trips and Adventure treks cost a lot by way of time and money so we have to charge for these, but still half what it would cost elsewhere.
Glad you all had a wonderful time and buoyed our picturesque setting.
