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…

As a small lodge with no advertising or PR budget, we do not often see ourselves appear in the major travel publications. So it's especially thrilling for us that the "Where to Stay" feature in this month's Kia Ora magazine, Air New Zealand's inflight magazine,…

Just a few minutes' drive from Pen-y-bryn is one of the most unusual parts of New Zealand's history. Clark's Mill was built in 1866 as one of the area's many flour mills, and continued to operate as a commercial mill until as recently as 1976.…

We are pleased to announce that the gingerbread house for 2018 has been revealed! Our model this year was the stunning Château de Chenonceau, one of the most magnificent of the many chateaux that we visited during our time in France this past July. For…

[caption id="attachment_1462" align="alignleft" width="214"] Leo[/caption] It is with a sad heart that we report the passing of our beloved Labradoodle, Leo, in August of this year. Many of our guests had the pleasure of meeting Leo during their stay with us, charming them with his…