We stayed 3 nights in this beautifully renovated, cosy historic cottage as a family of three adults and two young boys, 3 and 5 years. This accommodation is a hidden jewel.
The cottage is part of the vast Peel Forest Estate that is one of the largest red deer farms in New Zealand. The cottage is peacefully located just where the forest stops, no other houses visible. The cottage was built in the 1860s. It is claimed that one of its earlier residents was a Mr Blogg, a boiler man on Titanic. (Could not be confirmed when reviewing the name list of Titanic. Whatever it is a suitable and compelling story).
The old cottage is absolutely beautifully renovated to modern standards with heating, well equipped kitchen (we only missed a peeler) with wonderful big gas stove and oven, dishwasher, a separate space for washing machine and tumbler.
It was rainy and chilly when we arrived and the open fire was working well - we enjoyed looking at the fire and rewind. The bed rooms are not big but worked well. There is one en-suite bedroom. The two other (indoor) bedrooms share one big bathroom with toilet, bath tub and shower). Two rooms had queen size beds - no king size bed, at least to our standards. This was a drawback for us, since our kids want to sleep with us.
Anna responded promptly to our messages, and gave us tips and suggestions on activities for our young kids. We had a lunch at The Green Man just close by, where they had toys and games. We also went for a walk to the waterfall. The highlight was a horseback ride with Peel Forest Horse Trek just next doors. The kids were allowed to join on a 60 minutes trek.
I hope I will be back sometimes and have the opportunity to stay here again. My husband could go hunting and I could go horse trekking.
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