New Spa Pool For Dragon Tree Lodge

One of our priorities for the Lodge has always been to provide a luxurious spa pool for socialising and relaxation. This past weekend we enjoyed our first celebratory glass of wine amidst the jets and bubbles on a beautifully sunny winter's day, with the view from the pool just as we'd hoped it would be - the Dragon, the sweep of the bay and the green, rolling countryside stretched out below.

We think our guests are going to love the accompanying outdoor solar-heated shower, the firepit and the quirky seating area around it. We are adding plants for colour and fragrance and this will soon be an area to delight the senses.

The pool itself is great - a wonderful hydrotherapy seat that is a treat for the neck and shoulders and back, plus a lounge seat that gives a great back massage. The pool will seat seven in all, so it's great for a party of friends to enjoy. Add to this built-in aromatherapy and relaxing music nearby, and it's a real treat.

So much so, that when we got out after our photo session (thanks to Rosemary and Ceridwyn for taking the pix) we felt slightly weightless and bouncy! - not the effects of one glass of wine, thank you.

Hello Mr President

Sure enough, Philip was elected (unopposed) to the position of GABA president and I must say I felt very proud as he spoke so well, and then graciously introduced the Prime Minister and conducted the question time to follow. Helen Clark got a rousing reception as she recounted all the changes that the present Labour government has initiated which benefit gays and lesbians.

Afterwards I was also introduced to her and I must say a) she is smaller in person than you would imagine and b) she is very chatty and easy to talk to. I was impressed with the way she stayed right until the end of the event, talking with people and posing for photos with them. We hope to have a pic or two to post soon.

Meanwhile I got the opportunity to chat further with Peter Kaiser, long-time partner of the Minister of Education (Hon. Chris Carter) who is keen to get visiting friends to come and stay at the Lodge.

We're really hoping that Philip's role as President will increase the profile of Dragon Tree Lodge! At least, he said afterwards "People are treating me differently already". The retiring president's partner Horst, told me that he would give me all his hats, shoes and handbags now that I am going to be "First Lady". Cheeky!

Just call me Imelda.

Can I touch you, Philip?

Crikey! Philip has been asked to stand for President of GABA by the current President who is standing down. If elected, his first responsibility will be to introduce the Prime Minister, Helen Clark, who is our guest of honour on Wednesday 2 July. I must take my camera along!
Helen Clark
Even though there is so much to do in the development of our business, we agreed that Philip should stand for President because it will give our business really good exposure! Watch this space!

Gay it up!

Let's face it, gay men have a different sense of style to lesbians. The Lodge is already attractive and well set out for accommodation and a sense of hospitality, but it's just not gay enough! That's why we're developing the spa area as a relaxing communal outdoor space.

Meanwhile, indoors, while we were in Kerikeri enjoying the hospitality of Geoff & Chris at 88 Lodge, we went shopping (it was raining) and found a beautiful chocolate comforter and matching accessories to "gay up" one of the bedrooms. Of course two queens umming and erring over what to choose can take all morning and it was really only the prospect of lunch that made us decide.

The following weekend Ian gets despatched to a local sale to choose more comforters and europillows to 'enhance the bedroom experience' for our prospective guests. Hooray - Philip liked what Ian chose, just as well.

More furnishings, plants, etc still to be decided upon. There's one orchid in residence already and so far Rosemary has managed not to kill it. This weekend: get that spa pool going, girlfriend!

Spa goes in

Haven't posted in a while as we have been so busy with preparing the outdoor living area complete with 6-7 person seater spa pool on a platform overlooking the view.

Philip has done a great job preparing the ground, and our builder, Tony, has made quick work of creating a well-screened area which includes a solar-heated outdoor shower. Our next newsletter is going to be taken up with pictures and information about this new development.

This coming weekend we hope to fire up the spa and give our friends who come to help us lug paving stones about some real relaxation - they're sure to deserve it!

To be business of the month

Yay! We are going to be featured as GABA's business of the month in June. Gaba (Gay Auckland Business Association) features one business at each meeting, and we are determined to put on a polished presentation to the meeting, with plenty to engage the punters. Visit GABA.

A quick mince round to the Pancake Rocks

One of the unmarked attractions of the Bream Bay coastline is the Pancake Rocks near Waipu Cove. You have to know someone who has been there to find it. This weekend Philip & I were able to come up a day early, and Friday proved to be one of those perfect autumn days, a standout in the long Indian Summer we have been enjoying this year.

So late in the morning we decided to take make the most of the opportunity, and visit the Pancake Rocks, something which we had been meaning to do for ages.

We paddled across the stream, Philip being very "Miss Thing" about the prospect of the water flowing in over the top of his gumboots.

We followed the rough track to the top of the hill and looked down to the gorgeous little beach below, which is little used, apparently:

Well, it was certainly empty that day!
Just another example of the wide open spaces New Zealand has to offer the visitor - and Bream Bay has many such attractions.

The goat track carried on past several rather grand houses with stunning outlooks - it's all private land so we are fortunate to be allowed to access the rocks.

Several muddy feet later we reached the rocks and were fascinated by the "Middle Earth" quality of the landscape. It was a photographer's paradise - so do take a look at the other pictures hosted on Flickr.

After this excursion (highly recommended!) we definitely needed a glass of wine or two to go with our tuna melts for lunch.

Shopping for a spa pool

One of our priorities is to establish a relaxing and secluded spa pool (hot tub) area at the Lodge. We already have an outdoor area with novel seating, and this will be modified with fencing and more planting. It will include an outdoor shower, brazier and barbecue to make it a real gathering point.

We scouted around and discovered that environmentally friendly ozone treatments are available for spa pools, meaning that the water can be released onto the garden whenever it is time for a change - provided you buy a pool set up for this.

We also decided that we want to provide a large 6-7 person spa so that it will be sociable and capacious for when there are several guests at a time. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the right bargain to come along!

We had lunch at the Whangarei town basin, which is a bit of a tourist trap. We chose "Gibe" from among the waterfront cafes, having had poor service at "Reva" previously. A glass of wine at "Gibe" cost an astounding $10.00, and the food was indifferent for the price; not to mention the sound system which had serious distortion problems. Oh well, at least we know what we won't recommend!

Another holiday at Autumn Farm

Wow! We had a great time at Autumn Farm once again. Ian went for most of Naked Week, where the weather was partially cooperative, but the guys were relaxed and friendly. We got another 20 or so sign ups for our prize draw of a free weekend for two, so now we have over 100. Philip arrived on the Saturday, Ian toiled all the way back to Nelson airport to collect him, over the Takaka Hill which is reputed to have 365 bends and may be the longest single hill crossing in New Zealand.

Anyway, with his arrival came the good weather and, sadly, the departure the next day of many of the men who had been there for Naked Week. A small group stayed on to enjoy the good weather, fortunately including some friends old and new. A couple of guys arrived before our departure, Paul & Steve, who live part time in NZ (Queenstown). We soon buddied up with them, and Steve, enthusiastic about our Lodge project, offered to create for us a piece of his art work interpreting our Dragon Tree theme. This is pretty special since his work has been collected by no less than Oprah herself, honey.

Steve is on the left above.

We left feeling relaxed after being in such beautiful surroundings and hardly having to lift a finger other than to go down to the supermarket to buy some more wine.

Autumn Farm is developing a new website at present, so check it out. We can recommend the hospitality there, and are grateful to Peter & Pete for letting us promote our accommodation business to the campers.

We are going to add a page to our website about Wwoofing (Willing Workers On Organic Farms) which basically means accommodation & meals in exchange for 4 hours work 6 days a week. Philip and I want to offer this option to men who enjoy gardening and other manual work who want to save money while travelling in New Zealand. Wwoofing can be for just a few days or for longer periods.

DragonTreeLodge

MasseyRd 029
Originally uploaded by dragontreelodge

Of course I should have mentioned that our "new" Lodge is still currently being run as "Waihoihoi Lodge", (www.waihoihoi.co.nz) a retreat for women, owned and operated by our friend Rosemary Neave.

Rosemary is going to build a smaller accommodation business next door on land she owns.

At the Big Gay Out we will be sharing a stall "Arthur & Martha" where we will be pushing both of our businesses!

GABA

Philip and I went to GABA last night and had a great time chatting with our gay business banking manager and his partner, whom I hadn't met before. We must have been some of the last people to leave!

We also caught up with Richard from Man In The Moon (our accountant) who is great on the advice front. We are getting lots of encouragement for the establishment of our Lodge which we expect to be operational in October.

We saw proofs of our new flyer which promotes the Lodge and our website www.dragontree.co.nz which will be operational by this weekend. We are going to be distributing them at the Big Gay Out in Auckland on Sunday, and I have done a T-Shirt design to go with them. Our goal is to collect heaps of email contacts so that we can get plenty of guests up to Waipu from the outset.