Blue Duck Farm
The Woolshed at Blue Duck Farm provides family and friends with a unique New Zealand high-country experience, just 30 minutes away North then West from downtown Kaikoura. The historic Woolshed juts out above the road on its original totara piles, offering commanding views above towards Seaward Valley Station and Central Saddle, abutted by Mt. Alexander on one side and Jacob’s Ladder on the other; across to Aniseed Creek; and down to Iron Gate, SH1 and the sea. You are totally alone up here, this is the true meaning of privacy! The Woolshed with its post and rail fencing, water tanks and grindstone for sharpening hand –shears, also maintains its original external appearance, and inside its configuration as a shearing shed. While preserving these basic features, it has also been transformed into warm and comfortable accommodation for up to 8 people, with two bedrooms, a central lounge, dining and kitchen areas, and modern bathroom. The theme is basic country. Below and adjacent to the Farm is the 375-acre Blue Duck Scientific Reserve, the largest remaining area of accessible lowland podocarp forest between the Marlborough Sounds to the far North, and the Catlins of South Otago. It is an untracked wilderness which can be freely entered. As Barry Dunnett comments, “Most of the forest floor is open, the contours moderate, and any navigation problems can easily be sorted out by heading downhill…to arrive back on the Blue Duck Road”. He also says of the magnificent stands of totara, rimu, miro, matai and kahikatea : “These are BIG trees. Ancient trees. The rarity of this type of forest makes the experience more precious”.
There is no telephone landline, no television and radio only with static. There is peace and quiet, every outdoor challenge, rural sights and smells, billions of stars at night, and mountain air that tastes like wine.