Going South – Tawanui

Catlins Mohua Park Eco Accommodation

Your first glimpse of Mohua Park's four studio cottages blending into a bold stand of native bush will have you putting on the brakes. The Catlins are a place made for lingering, and host Gill McKenzie says you will want "a few days up your sleeve here to explore." Opening up the door to one of the cottages, Gill nods her head out to the view where the sun is playing its picturesque part and setting in tones of gold. "Or you can just sit and watch," she adds with a slow smile.

If you sit long enough on your cottage deck, you'll spot plump kererū, wing- whistling tūī and flitting pīwakawaka. The feeling of sinking into the landscape invites visitors to slow down. Gill's eyes are constantly sparkling. She says she enjoys life, and Mohua Park has been a grand adventure with her husband, Lyndon. They are high school sweethearts, married for thirty-six years. "We love working together because we enjoy each other's company, we are best mates, and we both enjoy other people, too."

The McKenzies are both from Southland - Lyndon from Merino Downs, and Gill from Mataura. Together, Gill says they see life as an "open opportunity. And we both are very much guided by gut instinct. If it feels right, it probably is." Their first big step away from the family farm in Merino Downs and into a series of varied jobs was brought about by a leaning-on-the-ute natter in the late nineties.

"A guy came in off the road and said, 'I want to buy your farm,'" says Lyndon, "and he was offering a ridiculous amount of money that we couldn't say no to. I always tell our children that life, well it's like a book, so you may as well make it worth reading."

"And what about the chapters bit?" Gill prompts her husband. "Oh yeah," says Lyndon, his raised voice and eyebrows providing the punchline, "they are colourful!" The farm sale prompted a slew of years in which the couple's CVs became a good read. They even did a stint mining in the Australian outback. Hospitality wasn't necessarily in their plan, but Lyndon got itchy feet and started to look at what was out there. "I stumbled upon Mohua Park when it was on the market. I thought it looked pretty neat so I showed Gill and we came for a visit."

Gill picks up the story and says, with some raised eyebrows of her own, "We had just finished building a beautiful house in Lake Hāwea and I was looking forward to getting all moved in. But I trust Lyndon, so along I went. And afterwards when he asked me 'What do you think?' I said, 'Well, it's a good thing we haven't unpacked all the boxes yet, isn't it?'"

The fourteen hectares of native bush with four eco cottages for guests and an old 1920s villa for them became their home. Gill says that hospitality rolls all the skills they have picked up in life together. "You have to genuinely have a passion for what you do. You have to have fun and you have to be interested in people." Lyndon, with his ample supply of local yarns and "own brand of comedy" is the tour guide. And Gill? "Gill does everything," says Lyndon. "Where I leave off, she picks it up."

They look at each other and, just before Lyndon decides to make a joke, Gill stops him with yet another grin, this one with a wink. "Now will you just look at that view!"