Glamping site chance to soak in views
There’s a hillside on Andy and Liv Lee’s Patangata farm so picturesque that they got engaged there. And now, with the addition of a lot of hard work, landscaping and a rather large safari tent, it’s likely many more couples will think of it as a special place.
Andy and Liv unveiled Patangata Valley Glamping in February and it was immediately popular, booked out until the end of May by couples from Christchurch to Auckland, wanting to get away from it all.
There have been honeymooners, couples celebrating birthdays and anniversaries and people just wanting to escape the city.
“We didn’t expect it to be so busy” says Liv.
Along with the setting — expansive views across rolling paddocks and the chance to watch the daily activity of a working farm — there are the attractions of Central Hawke’s Bay’s beaches, rivers, meals at the Patangata Tavern, coffee in Waipawa or a shopping or dining excursion to nearby Havelock North.
Even staying put is a treat, given the carefully thought out decor, log fire, Weber barbecue, outdoor kitchen — complete with fridge — outdoor fireplace and an outdoor bath.
“The outdoor bath was key,” says Liv. “To recline in a hot bath, overlooking a spectacular view, glass of wine in hand . . . how can you not switch off and relax?”
The couple, both raised in and around CHB, have come to realise how much visitors delight in the rural environment, with sheep and cattle just over the fence.
“To us it’s just home but when visitors see lambs running around a paddock right outside the tent, they get a real thrill out of it.”
Andy and Liv bought their Patangata farm four years ago and were almost immediately challenged by drought conditions.
They realised they had to think outside the box to add value to the farm, to bring in extra revenue.
“We spent our honeymoon glamping and we loved it — we looked into it and there was nothing in our area that offered what we had . . . our location is a point of difference.
“So we bit the bullet, grabbed the digger, put in a driveway, bought the tent and it was all go,” says Andy, who built the foundations from timber milled on a family friend’s farm.
“At the beginning I started to think,
‘ooh, this is going to be a big project’.
“Then about halfway through I thought, ‘ooh s***’, but by then it was six months in and too far to turn back,” he laughs.
The project forged ahead with help from Andy’s father and brother.
They had to bolt the skeleton of the tent to its base then design and build the rest of the structure, but Andy “grew up with a hammer in one hand and a saw in the other” and between working the farm and the birth of the couple’s daughter Francesca the work went ahead, just fractionally behind schedule.
The tent has a double roof, with a deck that includes the bath and a covered kitchen. The floors are native timber, the bed is king-sized and there is an en suite shower, with gas-heated hot water.
The off-grid site is fully solar powered — installed by Andy’s brother Hamish, a solar engineer — and features LED lights, USB ports and full cellphone coverage.
All the windows and doors can open, letting the elements in.
“We wanted it to be real camping . . . but nice camping,” says Liv.
The decor has been carefully thought out, with rustic touches of deer antler and horse-shoes juxtaposed with modern touches of yoga mats and outdoor beanbags.
The site is secluded with no other houses to be seen. Liv and Andy give visitors their space and “try not to move stock too early in the morning”.
Patangata Valley is self-catering although breakfast, including fresh eggs from the farm, is included so are marshmallows to toast on the fire.
All utensils, cutlery, crockery are provided.
“It’s been a cool project,” says Andy. “The whole family have been involved with the building and the planting, it’s been a lot of work but we’ve done it, and we love it.”