My friend and I had the chance to stay at Te Wai Tahi for an entire month and would be thrilled to come back again.

The house was absolutely wonderful: it was spacious and had a lovely garden with roses, grapefruit and cherry trees, rhubarb and strawberries. From the living room and the patio outside, we watched the tide come and go during the day and stargazed during the night. The house was also well equipped, with all sorts of cooking appliances in the kitchen and plenty of spare towels and linens for the bathroom. There was even a gas BBQ outside, which unfortunately we did not have time to try. Additionally, there were 3 canoes that were great to go into the inlet with the tide.

Although it was late spring, the weather was cooler than usual and it was often necessary to use the electric heater and bed warmers in the evenings, despite the carpets in all rooms. For even colder weather, there was a fire place but we did not have to use it. The Internet connection through Spark was slower than the national average at 5Mbps down/1.5Mbps up, but in line with other Mapua dwellings. Its frequent fluctuations, however, sometimes made even Skype audio calls impossible, so we purchased a mobile data pack from 2degrees, which has an antennae close by.

We loved the Mapua village, its very friendly inhabitants and its surroundings. The desserts at the Apple Shed and Jelly Fish restaurants in the wharf were unforgettable. We also rented bicycles there from Wheelie Fantastic and toured the Moutere vineyards. We visited the animal farm across SH60 and got to bottle-feed cute baby goats and lambs. We bought delicious kiwi fruits from stalls on the road to Motueka and unique olive oil from a family farm in Neudorf. And of course we went hiking in the amazing and nearby Abel Tasman and Nelson Lakes National Parks.

Last but not least, our host Marianne was very friendly and kind. She was available by phone to answer all of our questions, provided numerous recommendations of places to visit, let us participate in her Qi Gong classes and even taught us how to take care of the worm farm on the property :)