Gumtree Farmstay — Local services in South Island

We were domiciled in a tiny home sequestered off from the main house by a large hedge. We met out hosts briefly, but after a friendly chat never saw them again.|The driveway was steep and loose with a water channel cut into it, which felt perilous to my townie eyes, but was a non-event to my wife, who was raised on a farm. The steps leading to the unit were slightly overgrown with flax; I nearly tripped as I hauled our luggage down. |We were greeted by three alpacas and two sheep. Our hosts had provided us with a container of alpaca chow, and it was delightful to stroke them while they ate from my hand. |The tiny home lives up to its description, so I can’t say I wasn’t warned, but it was clean, modern, and comfortable. The compost indoor toilet was novel, although we did have some issues with smell (more sawdust helped). Another novelty was the outdoor bath; I had a relaxing soak under the sky and listened to the wind in the trees.|There was a generous selection of board games on the shelves, in good condition. We played some Trivial Pursuit card games until bedtime. The night was hot, so I left the front door open half the night to cool off. Thankfully, no mosquitos.|I wondered if livestock noise from the paddock would keep us awake. However, they were perfectly quiet, except when we left and a sheep gave a disappointed baa when it didn’t get...

This is one of the few highlight in our trip. Jennie is a great host. Grant is a friendly and funny guy. The kids are amazing too. The Gibsons have a great knowledge of farming and they are willing to share with us. The best way of experiencing New Zealand is to stay in Gumtree Farmstay. ||||We enjoying the animals, the 2 lovely dogs, Cloud and Bonnie. We love playing and watching the house cats lying in the living room. We love the interaction with sheep, cows, piggy, chicken and alpacas. we have a great farm tour - feeding and interacting with the animals. ||||At night, we are able to catch sea of stars in the sky.||||Lovely breaksfast and Dinner. We have a great chats with the family throughout the 3days 2nights stay. Lovely room. Basically we just feel like being part of them during the 2 nights stay. Highly recommended to stay at least 2 nights. ||||Happy Birthday to Lucy and myself (guess i won't forget ever) haha... cya guys...

The hostess was warm and friendly and gave us a farm tour and had us feed the llamas which was fun. Stood in the sheep enclosure and watched her dog move the sheep. Her older daughter helped too and was wonderful. We had a very nice room in her house with bath across the hall. This is a shared bath but we were lucky to not to have another guest to share. I had not read close this had a shared bath. The downsides for me that I saw her kids in the hall. If I had realized I might have had a shared bath I would not gave booked. I got lucky. We opted for the dinner. It was OK I thought the $40 per person charge was steep since not a real restaurant. We shared the dinner table with her family. Two of the kids I felt were not happy with that. The hosyess helped us to and fro with our luggage. Others might love this experience. For me. Not really my preference. The hostess was very...