About Us
Kia Ora!
We are Jane and Kelly, owner/operators for the Flying Fox. We moved here in December 2015, taking over from the previous owners who originally developed the site into tourist accommodation. This move has allowed us to continue to pursue our ideal of living rurally. We both come from rural backgrounds and would describe ourselves as practical and down to earth.
The Flying Fox is situated on the site of an old Maori kaianga (village), surrounded by regenerating native bush and National Park. As kaitiaki (guardians) of this environment we strive to provide a sustainable tourism experience. This means we endeavour to minimise our impact on our surroundings and are committed to the concept of environmentally responsible use of resources. As well as providing an enjoyable stay for our guests we love to share our way of life and ideas about sustainability and conservation. We are part of the NEW ZEALAND TOURISM SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENT, support the TIAKI promise.
Our home and guest cottages are built using mainly recycled and natural materials sourced from our area. We live mainly off-grid although we are still currently connected to electrical grid. This backs up the bank of 16 solar panels which we installed and which produces two thirds of our annual power consumption.We harvest all our own water from the rain and a local spring and have composting toilet systems. We also avoid the use of chemical based cleaning products, and reuse or recycle products as much as possible. We encourage our guests to be aware of their use of resources (water, power etc) whilst staying and provide facilities for composting and recycling.
There are a range of heritage fruit trees on the property and we work to preserve these along with growing heritage/ organic vegetables in our garden. In 2021 our first solar powered hydroponic system was set up and this continues to be an experiment in veggie growing.
Local predators include deer, possums, rats and stoats and we are working with D.O.C. to constantly expand and improve our predator control programme to protect the native bird life (including kiwi) as well as our own produce and free ranging chickens.
We love sharing our ideas and the way we live so feel free to chat and ask questions during your visit.
