Shameless Plug #2 - Te Anau Lodge

2 -5 February, 2009

I can't rave enough about this place. If you find yourself in New Zealand, I URGE you to stay a few nights here especially if you badly need a break from your claustrophobia-inducing campervan or if you're aching and sore from oh, I don't know, say a 4 day-3 night hike through the fjordlands (Milford Track).

This place is a beautiful new and old little lodge with just 8 rooms, 2 of the most hospitable and friendly people in NZ, and 1 very sweet black Labrador named Josie.

The property is a large stretch of well-tended lawn with a rustic herb garden of basil, some dehydrated mint, and rosemary roughly framing a brick patio. A rusty bicycle leans against the laundry room (open to guests). On a clear day, the lake and its surrounding mountains are shades of blue and perfectly visible. Amid this peaceful atmosphere, you'll find clean, bright, welcoming rooms and 2 hosts, Matt and Chloe, who invite you into the lodge like it's their home. It's the little things that you'll find irresistible and fantastic here, and you'll also probably find yourself booking a room for another two nights (like Stu and I). Stu and I were supposed to spend just one night here to relax and recover and then jump back on the road to our next destination. Instead, we shifted around the rest of our itinerary for South Island, and begged Matt to let us vagabonds stay for two more nights.

What was it exactly that made us stay? It was a combination of the following listed below in no particular order:

1) Pieces of freshly baked, homemade cakes in the beautiful library/lounge upstairs (the carrot cake was delicious) with as much coffee and tea as you like.

The Library/Lounge

Delicious Carrot Cake!

2) Delicious continental and cooked breakfasts in the Chapel room in the mornings.

Continental breakfast spread


Cooked Breakfast

3) The fact that the lodge was a converted convent from 1936. It was literally moved, piece by piece, from a place called Nightcaps in South Dunedin to the town of Te Anau. There are photos and a little album of the entire process and its careful restoration displayed in the library.

4) Matt standing at the door to the patio and calling for his dog Josie.

5) Usually I don't care about this stuff, but little touches like the brightly polished timber wood floors, rimu wood panels and framing, bathroom tiles with paua shell details, and vintage suitcases as doorstops convinced me that a lot of work and thought had been invested in this place.

Suitcase Doorstop

I'm sure I can go on and on, but I think you get the idea. Plus I should leave the rest to be discovered first-hand.

Thanks to our wonderful hosts Matt and Chloe at Te Anau Lodge.