Name: Blue Duck Station
Address: 4265 Oio Road, National Park Village, National Park Village, National Park Village, 3990, New Zealand
Rating: 9

24-hour reception

Smoke-free property

Garden

All Spaces Non-Smoking (public and private)

General

Non-smoking rooms

Shower

Rooms

Wheelchair Accessible

Accessibility

Laundry

Services and amenities

Breakfast

Cafe

Restaurant

Meals

Wi-Fi

Internet access

Internet

Barbecue grill(s)

Picnic area

Barbeque

Recreation

Parking

Garage

Pets allowed (under 5 kg)

Pets

Location

At the cottage

Room amenities

Blue Duck Station

National Park Village

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

private-bathroom

shared-bathroom

10-beds

11-beds

12-beds

13-beds

14-beds

15-beds

16-beds

17-beds

18-beds

19-beds

2-beds

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3-beds

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4-beds

40-beds

5-beds

6-beds

7-beds

8-beds

9-beds

king-bed

queen-bed

limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

sunset-view

water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

1-bedroom

2-bedrooms

3-bedrooms

4-bedrooms

5-bedrooms

6-bedrooms

not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

duplex

safe

mini-bar

breakfast-for-1

breakfast-for-2

pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

Wonderful weekend away to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.  The location is magical and pristine, the service is fabulous and everyone you meet is so very friendly.  We stayed a night at Frontier lodge with dinner breakfast and lunch at the Blue Duck Cafe. We jet boated, we 4WD safari-ed up to Chefs Table and we have dinner and breakfast up there.  Can't recommend enough - thank you all - we will be back.

The Best Spot!

This place has it all! So many things to do. We barely scraped the surface. Will be back for sure to fit in a horse ride and hunting tour. The staff were friendly, approachable and humorous. Thanks for all the extra work you do to protect the whio- Blue duck.

Amazing place!

A great way to see true country NZ. and share it with people who care so much about it. We even saw a blue duck thanks to their great conservation efforts. The jet boat trip was highly informative and the native bush was spectacular. The safari was great and I learnt some useful tips about up to date trapping methods. Should have taken a change of clothing as I then would have jumped in a  kayak to the base of the waterfall. Our accommodation, overlooking the river was just perfect.

A great escape.

  This was an interesting experience.  No mobile reception, no internet - except at the cafe during the daytime, no television, no radio, no newspapers.  It made me wonder if this is what life was like for the pioneers.  The silence was often total.  It also made me wonder about our busy life today, and how we aren't - as a society - really able to cope without constant entertainment.  
  They provide a few board games, and a few books, but the clear expectation is you will be going outside - that's what they do.  They do walks, jet boats, rides, hunts, and so on.  But it might be an idea to give a few more indoor activities, as it can rain a lot in this isolated Central North Island hill country.  I had my laptop and kindle, and was well prepared, and would suggest everyone else staying more than a day or so does the same, just in case.
  I had wanted to go riding, as although I have ridden an elephant, I have never ridden a horse - which is rather ironic.  But there is a minimum of two bookings for horse rides, and I didn't want one so much that I would pay double.  Some other place, some other time.

  So instead, I walked up to the Kaiwhakauka Falls.  It was an easy walk on a well graded, if muddy, four-wheel-drive track.  Some cows were rather interested in what I might be doing, and headed to their fence to try and find out.  Once you turn off the track and head down to the falls though, it's very steep.  You end up at the top of the falls - if you have children, make sure they do as you tell them, because it's a fifteen metre drop.  The track to the base of the falls heads off to the right, and requires some scrambling over tree roots, before you hit some steps over the steepest bits.  There are kayaks at the bottom, and you can return to your lodge via the gorge, but kayaks and I have had a nasty history over the past thirty years - overturned, crashed, stuck between rocks, you name it it's happened - so I just walked back.  The falls plunge down a cliff into a punch bowl in several cascades, and they are very beautiful.

  I had brought my own breakfasts and lunches in, but in the evenings I ate at their cafe.  What you see is what you get - this is an operation at the end of a gravel road, about an hour and a half from the nearest supermarket, so a varied menu will not be yours.  They can easily do a vegetarian dish, other restrictions are more difficult, so do make sure you tell them before you arrive, if you need food specially prepared - or bring your own.  The lodges all have kitchens.  The first night, it was a beautifully cooked beef stew with carrots, and roast potatoes, with a bit of brownie for 'afters'.  

  I stayed at the Frontier Lodge, very new, very comfortable, and a great bed to lie in.
All the bedrooms have a private bathroom, and they're panelled with plywood in a very natural, relaxed, style.  Sheepskin rugs on the floor add to the country vibe.  The kitchen was well equipped, with everything you needed, from knives and pots to plates and mugs.  The dining table is large, and there is a couch to sit and chat on, as well as a barbecue, more seating, and a large fridge/freezer outside.

  The bed arrangements gave me a bit of a giggle.  When I was there, there were 'waves' of cyclists passing through, on THE worst possible route from North Cape to Bluff.  Up and over ranges, down gravel roads, and boggy valleys, you name it, they did it.  And one night, I had four Australian blokes turn up.  "Are ALL these bedrooms DOUBLE BEDS!?"  "Yes," I said.  "Well, we're not having THAT!"  A right to-do followed.  It's a bit sad really, that men can't share a bed without people, well, thinking things.  The staff arrived, separated the beds, and the Aussies quietened down.  The next night, a Kiwi father and son shared a bed without much fuss.  "It's just for one night!"  Thinking back into history again, it's rather recent that male bed sharing has been a problem - in pioneer days men would share a bed if there was only one, without much fuss either.  And in 1967, my very drunk father shared a bed with five equally drunk Russian men in the thoroughly homophobic USSR with few problems either, after they had a bottle of vodka each.  It's a strange world...

  One of their housekeepers gave me much food for thought too.  She was very relaxed, had time to do her work, and talk about a million different subjects.  One thing she said that really made me think, was what would we do, without the rubbish truck drivers, and other tradespeople at the - 'humbler' end of the spectrum?  That threw into stark relief, New Zealand's obsession with getting degrees and a well-paying job - and that we can't all be doing that.  We need the clever, and not so clever, the well-off, the not-so-well-off, the rural dwellers and the city folk - we can't all be the same, if our country is to run, and run well.  Not everyone can, or even should, go to university.  It was a point to ponder, and she gave me a lot more to ponder on too, in the silence that filled the times between interactions with other people.  It's just like that, so far from the town, with very little communication.

  That was the other thing.  I realised that if, say, a massive earthquake struck somewhere overseas, and a hundred thousand people were dead, I would know nothing about it.  It must have been like that, for almost everyone in the world, until a couple of hundred years ago.

  This has been a long, and perhaps, strange, review, but this place threw me into a very different world than the one I usually inhabit, only 130km away as the crow flies, and in many ways, one that existed long in the past.  You can experience it too, today.

Silent, beautiful, and thought provoking

while it rained it added to the atmosphere the trip in on the av was an adventure in itself the food to die for everyone we met was welcoming its a long way in but thats a good thing real nz native forest and the work done to protect the native birds is amazing

unique and fantastic

From start to finish, we really enjoyed our stay.
We spent the first night in the cabins, that were clean & tidy with communal facilities.
We unfortunately didn't book any activities, but at the last minute we were  offered a jet boat ride which we thoroughly enjoyed.
The next night we had the fortune of dining & staying at the Chefs Table, outstanding experience. 
If you're wanting a get away from it all experience, don't hesitate, we will return!
Thanks to all the staff, that made our stay

Great Hospitality

A talented team of people who have used what is around them to create an amazing meal and experience. Love the repurposed timber and items from the farm that have been used throughout the restaurant and in the cabins (although they are not your typical cabins!). The food was just beautiful - works of art and tasted incredible. Would love to be back.

The Chef's Table at Blue Duck Station - Just out of this world!

Excellent: An exciting,  informative and fun safari across the station with Seagull & Christy. Then to the Chef's Table.  Excellent fine dining, literally on the top of a mountain. Jack, Millie & Richard gave us splendid  meal.  Highly recommended 



"Out of the box". An exceptional experience. 

This place encompasses everything that i rate. Great people, a range of activities that blow your socks off, multiple accommodation options and for those that get to eat at the Chefs table ... how lucky were you! 5 stars for sure. Get amongst it.

Happy Peeps pulling out of Blue Duck

Great stopover with obliging. friendly staff. Meals at the cafe are simple, hearty and delicious … and the cafe itself is filled with interesting memorabilia. Lots of interesting people coming and going so it’s a bit of a social hub in the middle of nowhere. The packed lunch will ful you through a full day of biking!

Blue Duck Station

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