Up with the Birds

The Tree Houses, Hapuku Lodge.

When I was a kid growing up in the North Island, my brothers and I used to make tree huts in the big oak trees that bordered our garden. I loved those trees and my makeshift little hideaways. I blame them for the underlying desire I still have to live among trees. Imagine my delight then, when I discovered these magnificent tree houses at Hapuku Lodge, just north of Kaikoura. I stayed here last year and waking up to see sparrows singing in the branches right outside my lofty window triggered all my stored nostalgia for childhood tree houses. Mind you, it has to be said that the Hapuku Lodge tree houses are another ‘species’ altogether. These are architecturally-designed luxury hideaways and while they pay homage to the tree house concept in their construction and materials, extra comforts like huge bathtubs, fabulous sound systems and divine beds put them in another category entirely. www.hapukulodge.co.nz