Luxury accommodation nr Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand

The accommodation was built and completely fitted out by small local firms. My husband, local employed persons and myself did all the work on our garden and feature walls. Blackenbrook Vineyard a very small family firm supplies most of the wine served at the lodge. We can arrange for guests to ship home their favourite wines. Our butcher rears then sells his own beasts in a small village shop. Eggs, cheeses, hams, fish, fruit, vegetables, coffee and D’urville Honey are all purchased locally. We network with local businesses for all activities e.g. trekking in the National Parks, boats, ferry, plane, helicopter, kayaking, seal swims, horse riding, fishing, wine tasting, golf and restaurants.

The lodge uses solar power to conserve electricity. The solar power heats our hot water. We have 30 large glass tubes on our roof to run this system. We have several dimmer switches throughout the lodge to conserve power. The lodge is fitted with double glazing at all our windows to conserve heat. We collect rainwater in our tank then use for garden irrigation. All our toilets have short and longer dual flushes to conserve water. Bathrooms have a shower installed as well as a bath to conserve water. I ask guests to place dirty towels into their bath when clean ones are needed to conserve water and power. Kitchen waste is composted using the Zing System finally used as compost on our garden. We use the Bokashi compost zing system for all our food, coffee and tea waste. It is then put back onto our garden. Drift wood we have collected is used in our garden. Cardboard, paper, glass, tin and plastic are all recycled. Quails and other birds call each morning and night outside the lodge to be fed.

We buy environment friendly products. The range of Next Generation ie washing powder, dishwashing liquid, glass cleaner, all purpose spray, and toilet cleaner. In each bedroom guests will find a compendium containing information on several local groups, local walks, trips & restaurants etc. Each morning I feed our wild California Quails with wild bird seeds. We have gold finches, wax eyes, tuis, fan tails, kingfishers, thrushes, blackbirds & sparrows in our garden and driveway. Bill feeds the birds any bread, cake or biscuit waste. All food waste is recycled in one form or another!

We are within walking distance of shuttles, water taxis & kayaks to take you into the Abel Tasman were you can enjoy a coastal paradise. A new Abel Tasman Birdsong Trust is being set up and will involve Abel Tasman tourist operators and the community in supporting the preservation of the natural environment of Abel Tasman National Park and surrounding areas. They hope to raise funds for the trust from October. Abel Tasman is New Zealand's smallest National Park. We help to promote visits here and help the local community by our support of local businesses. Next season we hope to employ two local people, plus local firms as we are about to build another property here. The new house will not be ready until late January!

Our Tasman area has a wealth of businesses including restaurants, artists, fruit, hops, olive, fishermen, farmers and wine growers who all depend on support during our tourist season. The Golden Bay area over Tarkaka Hill has a thriving community of artists etc. The weather is great here even Autumn, Winter & Spring our off peak season gives the opportunity to enjoy the environment at a quieter time. It’s all here all year! If we can all help to extend the season it will benefit the whole area as tourism supports many jobs in this region.