Winter has arrived at Te Kūwaha Mātauraka

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First up — we’re now on Facebook! I’ve been regularly updating our page with all the latest happenings, so if you're interested in keeping in the loop, we'd love you to follow along, so give us a like!

One particularly special moment recently was the sighting of a Kārearea (New Zealand Falcon) on the grounds. We watched in awe as it fed on a thrush — a rare and powerful reminder of the wild beauty that surrounds us here.

This week, we also welcomed a site visit from John at Avid Plus. This is part of our ongoing commitment to maintaining and improving the facility to ensure it remains a top-quality space for our visiting school groups.

Behind the scenes, we’ve been getting stuck into a deep clean of the lodge. This includes everything from washing mattress and pillow protectors to scrubbing walls, giving the kitchen a proper once-over, and generally getting the place looking fresh and tidy for when our groups start returning. Megan has been a huge help with this — and luckily so, because let’s just say cleaning isn’t exactly my natural talent. I mostly just get in the way, so Megan kindly makes sure I don’t mess it up too badly!

On the maintenance front, I’ve also been busy painting stairwells and skirting boards, repairing and replacing sections of rotten timber, and ticking off plenty of other jobs. There’s always a long list, and I’m aiming to make as much progress as possible over the next couple of months. Looking ahead, we’re thrilled to be hosting a landscape painting group in July. They’ll be using our beautiful surroundings as inspiration for their work, and we can’t wait to see what they create.

Lastly, we’re working with a local firm to build our new shed in a different location than originally planned. Watch this space — we’ll have more updates soon!

Until next time, thanks for your support and interest in all things Te Kūwaha Mātauraka.