Cherry blossoms blooming in the garden Spring in the Southern Hemisphere is just days away, and already daffodils and other spring flowers have begun to bloom around our gardens. This is a delightful time to travel around the South Island in general, and Oamaru in…

Snow is not guaranteed--in ten years we've seen it snow here just once! As New Zealand and the world continue to do battle with Covid-19, we want to do what we can to make it easier for Kiwis to travel around the country while international…

https://www.odt.co.nz/regions/north-otago/name-your-price-novel-promotion-lodge Now that New Zealand is in Level-2 lockdown, and travel is once again possible around the country, we want to do something to make it possible for more New Zealanders to spend some time in a part of their country's heritage while also giving…

The novel coronavirus now known as Covid-19 has caused unprecedented disruption to international travel, with flights in and out of China suspended for several weeks, and now the announcement that New Zealand will impose a mandatory 14-day self-isolation regime for virtually all arrivals into the…

Many guests ask us what is the best option for making a booking to stay with us at Pen-y-bryn, so we thought we would post here to offer some guidance. Of course, our preference is for you to book with us directly through our booking…

Today the Waitaki District Council signed a memorandum of understanding with Dawn Aerospace to establish Oamaru as the base for testing and ultimately flying a novel unmanned rocket-propelled space plane. Under the MOU, flights could begin as early as later in 2020, opening up a…

As we continue our work to maintain and upgrade the facilities in our 130-year old lodge, we will endeavour to keep our guests and friends up-to-date on any interesting developments. Our latest work has involved upgrading the en-suites for the two rooms in the main…

You may recall that we installed our Flow Hive beehive in a corner of our gardens in 2016, with our first harvest of delicious all-natural honey in the autumn of 2017. Then we added an additional frame to allow us to harvest comb honey, which…

The new look of our dining room We are very pleased to share with you the new looks of the two public rooms where our guests spend the most time--the Drawing Room and the Dining Room. These two rooms have been completely renovated from the…

The New Zealand government has announced that, from 1 October 2019, all visitors to New Zealand from overseas (with the exception of Australian citizens) who do not require a visa will require a New Zealand Electronic Travel Authority (NZeTA) before they will be permitted to…