Remains Of The Day

By Good Magazine

June 2, 2017

Gather together a group of friends, pack plenty of tasty provisions and head to the hills for a winter weekend sojourn.

Wildside Getaway is a self-sufficient eco lodge about 20 minutes’ drive from Owhango in the Ruapehu district. Add to that one weekend, six friends and two cars loaded with supplies – one of which got a bit lost along the way.

After arriving in the dark we wake up to the misty 5.30am light – as instructed by a note found on our arrival the night before. Our reward: the incredible sight of the sun wrapping long fingers of golden light around Mt Ruapehu’s dark silhouette.

Grant, Wildside’s owner arrives clad in camouflage to meet our crew of half-asleep, partially caffeinated and not-quite-completely dressed boys (somehow the girls escaped the wakeup call) and hands out high-powered hunting rifles … along with the necessary safety instructions.

Soon we’re silently navigating the skinny bush path until we reach a clearing. We split into two groups, two of us with Grant and the others with Jason, a guide and hunter friend of Grant’s. After five minutes’ more creeping, we come upon our target. Under calm instruction, my mate Andy Spear raises his rifle, and crack! Dinner. Back at the lodge it’s quickly established that the others had only managed to dent the bushes … and their egos. Meanwhile our catch was efficiently butchered in the lodge’s giant meat safe.

Wildside is set on a 350-acre native bush block and incorporates a number of impressive eco features. The building has been constructed using sustainable materials and is highly insulated. There are double-glazed windows and doors and the place is powered by a multitude of technologies including solar panels, wind turbines, a large woodburner with a wet-back (for hot water) and a backup gas-powered system. The lodge is completely off-the-grid and can keep running for weeks at a time without any human intervention.

Owhango is about halfway between Taumaranui and National Park and it’s only a 25-minute drive to Whakapapa skifield – so there are plenty of outdoor options nearby should hunting not be your thing. The lodge also offers a raft of on-site activities. After a quick lunch we manage to get through a clay pigeon shooting competition, an archery lesson and an hour-long quad bike trip around some of the property before retiring to the house to freshen up and prepare dinner.

As well as being an ace shot (and deputy editor of New Zealand Fishing), Andy’s something of a foodie, reaching the finals of New Zealand Masterchef in 2010. His fresh venison carpaccio, seared venison fillet, potato and kumara rosti and a leafy salad are a great way to compensate for the energy lost during our day of activities. Not to mention a few games of pool and one or two glasses of wine.

Wildside Getaway is available for public booking though www.bookabach.co.nz

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