I almost don't want to review The Flying Fox for fear it'll get too popular... but for the sake of Annette and John, I will.

We stayed for 2 nights in December, and loved it. Accessible from the beautiful Whanganui River Road only by cable car (the flying fox) or river, The Flying Fox is peaceful, beautiful and a joy. Accommodation is built from reclaimed materials and is rustic but very comfortable, with views over the river and valley.

We spent a great afternoon canoeing on the river and saw not one other person or boat. The trip was made even better by the plunger coffee and homemade raspberry muffins at the halfway point, and John even met us with beers at the final pick-up.

We chose to go fully-catered (there's not much else close by!) and were provided with amazing food prepared by Annette which we cooked ourselves- rack of NZ lamb, baby chicken, homemade ice cream. Annette was not around much whilst we were there but John was great- interesting... more