Your hosts

A little bit about us


We love it here so much, we want to share it!  Its close to town, but a million miles away!

Both our families grew up in this area. Always having been drawn to this property when driving past, we didn’t hesitate to put an offer in when it came up for tender in 2005. We won the bid and were super excited to move in, even though it was in a run-down state we could see beyond that.

(AJ being a builder and Linda a painter/decorator) we then spent the next 10 years renovating it back to its original state as a 1910 Villa.

In 2011 we had our wedding here in the grounds.

When we purchased it never imagining we would be pitching a permanent tent on our land!!

The Glamping Idea came about one wet day – watching an overseas documentary on Glamping Experiences.  I said to AJ we should put one in our back paddock (half pie joking)…next thing we know…its happening, as I was wanting to do something different from my decorating business Id been running for 25 years – this seemed perfect and something quite unique as we hadn’t seen any others around.

So in 2015 we started planning – 18 months later we opened – transformed a farmland paddock into what you see today.

The biggest challenge was probably the landscaping – as the site was originally just a hill, but it all came together eventually after some blood, sweat and tears….and a whole lot of fun!

Country Retreat Glamping works perfectly with our other business we own Living Lifestyles – installing Wood-fires, Solatubes and Aluminium Gates which we run from home.

We have chickens, cows and plenty of room for our grand-kids and german shepherd Kaida to run around our 1 and a half acre lifestyle block.

I foster cats and kittens also for the SPCA and AJ has not long finished building me a Catio to house them in (handy having a builder husband)😊

I love my gardening and AJ goes out for a round of golf whenever he gets a chance.

We look forward to sharing our little piece of paradise with our future guests.

Linda & Alan Jury

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Thank you for the lovely stay it was a surprise birthday present and I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Linda was very accommodating, setting up the room with a few extra birthday gifts and an amazing breakfast in the morning. Very peaceful and tranquil. A real home away from home, thank you.

5
Hannah and Kurt
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Thank you so much for the wonderful opportunity to take some time out in your wee paradise Turns out we LOVE Glamping. Your place is amazing and we truly enjoyed the peace and tranquility.

5
Pam and Grant ❤️
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Wow, Paradise in a tent! You have thought of everything! Awesome fresh bread, great breakfast, easy location, perfect escape, fun games, even the cows entertained us! Thanks for a great memorable stay.

5
Mince and Don
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Thank you very much for this beautiful stay!!! This is such a fantastic place.

5
Tanja and Stefan - Switzerland
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Wow! What an amazing wee spot you have here. It was certainly just what we both needed and a perfect way to celebrate our 1st year anniversary. Everything was perfect! We especially loved chilling by the outdoor fire. Despite the rain it actually made our night even better. More relaxing. Thanks so much. We will def be back.

5
Lisette and Ian - New Plymouth
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Thank-you for sharing your piece of paradise with us. The kids enjoyed seeing all the animals, especially the foster kittens. You had thought of everything and the tent was well equipped with lots of comforts. Thank-you for the lovely basket of treats. A lovely way to experience camping on a luxury scale, private and peaceful. Le-anne

5
Steve R and Family - Kapiti
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Thank-you for an amazing place to come and spend a weekend to unwind from the hectic city life in Auckland. All the amenities were perfect. We enjoyed every moment here. There is absolutely nothing about this experience that could have been better. We look forward to coming back to charge our batteries once Auckland has sapped the life out of us again. Thank-you!

5
Mandy and Don D - Auckland

from build through to today...