Beautiful native trees and birdsong surround your own peaceful, private, and quiet cottage and gardens. You have a star gazing area where you can lie back in comfort and be awed by the clear sky and see the Milky Way and all the constellations. We have been listed with AirBnB for 7 years and are SuperHosts with a 5 star rating and excellent reviews. We have just joined Holiday Houses. Struan Farm Retreat Cottage is very well equipped with everything you need. Your hosts, Drew and Sally, will meet you and show you around their small farm. Meet the cows, chickens and native birds, and browse the large vegetable gardens and orchard. 1. Special Features: • The Cottage exists in a peaceful and quiet oasis, surrounded by vibrant plants and birdsong from our beautiful native birds. • Sally and Drew’s house is 50 meters away from the Cottage and they will ensure your privacy and a quality stay. • They are naturally very welcoming and friendly and have had extensive international adventure life experiences. They have owned Struan Farm for 33 years and have created a beautiful and natural environment. • The Farm has its own Star Gazing area, equipped with comfortable chairs. No other lights pollute the sky, so the stars are crystal clear 2. The Cottage: • The Cottage has a large dining/kitchen/sitting room area with free Wi-Fi and available plug in sound system. • The kitchen is self-contained, including a 2 ring electric hob, electric wok, mini-oven, rice maker, slow cooker, fridge and microwave. • We provide you with a variety of complimentary teas, coffee, milk, biscuits and homemade muesli, as well as fresh eggs from our free-range hens. • It has 2 bedrooms with very comfortable beds. (One bedroom has one queen bed ; the other bedroom is larger with a queen bed, a king single and two singles). • The larger bedroom has a very interesting range of reading material and games for children. • The bathroom has a shower, toilet, hair dryer, washing machine and clothes dryer. Towels and face cloths included. • A baby cot, baby bath, high chair, and iron and ironing board are provided. • The Cottage has a large outdoor deck with barbecue as well as a spacious lean-to cover for your vehicle right next to the Cottage, AND an outside plug for Electric Vehicles to recharge. • A fire extinguisher and first aid kit is provided 3. The Gardens and farm • The Cottage is on our small 18-acre farm. • We planted half of the acreage in native trees many years ago. • We also have paddocks with Belted Galloway cattle. We can show you our cattle close up in safety. • We have an amazing raised (waist-high) vegetable gardens and orchard close to the Cottage. • We grow our own vegetables, pears, peaches, plums, nectarines, apples, quince, strawberries, raspberries, blackcurrants and grapes. • We invite you to pick and use any produce when in season. • You can walk around our small farm tracks whenever you wish. The electric fences are well marked. 3. Things to do in our area: • An easy mountain bike and walking track runs right next to our property boundary along the Orari River. You can bike this track all the way into Geraldine. • In the Geraldine and surrounding area there are 2 golf courses, a squash club and many outdoor ventures available. These include bush walking, hiking, skiing, rafting, fishing, horse trekking, canyoning and mountain biking. (www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/canterbury/raukapuka/around-and-about-geraldine.pdf) as well as (http://geraldine.nz/). • The Orari Gorge Reserve (8 minutes away by car) is an easy 1.5 hour circuit walking track through native bush. (www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/canterbury/places/geraldine-area/things-to-do/orari-gorge-track/). • Geraldine (10 minutes away) is a small country town with an excellent supermarket, selection of restaurants, takeaways, gift shops and art galleries. (http://geraldine.nz/) • Peel Forest is 15 minutes away and has a beautiful Scenic Reserve forest with a selection of well-kept tracks. (doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/parks-and-recreation/places-to-visit/canterbury/raukapuka/peel-forest-area.pdf). 4. Our place in NZ • We are 1.5 hours south of Christchurch. • We are 1 hour from Tekapo. • We are 4 hours from Queenstown. • The cottage is 12 Km from Geraldine and 35Km (30 minutes) minutes from Timaru airport. • Skiers have a choice of two ski fields. Mt Hutt and Mt Dobson (both 1 hour away). Good for kids: Geraldine Farm Yard. Lots of cute animals.. https://www.farmyardholidaypark.co.nz/ 03 6939355 Geraldine Cinema https://www.geraldinecinema.co.nz/ 03 6938 118 Woodbury (5 mins away) A lovely country coffee shop/eatery www.facebook.com/woodburystore/?ref=page_internal Peel Forest: (20 mins away) Walks: www.doc.govt.nz//documents/parks-and-recreation/places-to-visit/canterbury/raukapuka/peel-forest-area.pdf Geraldine:(10 mins away) General: geraldine.nz Walks: www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/parks-and-recreation/tracks-and-walks/canterbury/raukapuka/around-and-about-geraldine.pdf Visitor guide geraldine.nz/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Geraldine_Visitor_Guide-2020.pdf Geraldine Museums: https://geraldine.nz/search/museum/ Hakatere: (45 mins to1 hr away, but still worth a look). Walks: www.doc.govt.nz/globalassets/documents/parks-and-recreation/places-to-visit/canterbury/raukapuka/hakatere-conservation-park.pdf Tekapo Hot pools : https://tekaposprings.co.nz/ ( 1 hr away) 0800 235 382 Methven Hot pools: soak@opuke.nz (1 hr away) 03 261 680 Star Gazing Tekapo (1.25 hrs from us) https://www.darkskyproject.co.nz/experiences/the-summit-experience/ If you plan to do any outdoor activities by yourself without guides: Water Safety More information about water safety can be found on Drowning Prevention Aotearoa and Surf Lifesaving NZ's websites. Mountain Safety NZ Mountain Safety Council (MSC) has a range of resources available for you and your guests to ensure you have a safe and enjoyable time in the outdoors. Plan My Walk is MSC's free-to-use tool to plan and prepare for our country’s many great walks and tramps. It is available on desktop and as a mobile app – view online at planmywalk.nz or search ‘Plan My Walk’ in the App Store or Google Play.