Nau mai ki (welcome to) Adrift in Golden Bay! We hope you find the included information helpful for both your stay here in Villa 1 and your visit to Golden Bay...
To connect to the Wi-Fi, please choose the “Adrift” network, or the “adrift_outdoors” network. The password is: beachfront52
Our tap water is drinkable and pure. It’s sourced from a mountain stream and is filtered and then ultra-violet sterilised.
Beach access for your villa is across the lawn in front of the villa.
Complimentary laundry facilities are located at the rear of the reception building and are available to use after 5pm. Laundry powder and drying racks are provided. An iron, ironing board, basic first-aid kit and an AED (Defibrillator) can also be found in the laundry.
If you have booked an “Independent Rate” (not including breakfast and daily housekeeping service):
If your stay is four nights or longer, please leave any dirty towels that you'd like to be replaced outside your door after your second night here (and every second day thereafter) with any rubbish/compost/recycling that you'd like to get rid of. If you’re staying for a week or longer, we’ll contact you to ask if you’d like a change of linen. If you need anything during your stay such as extra towels, more coffee, tea, milk, rubbish removal etc, please text Emily on 027 351 9253.
If you have booked an “Inclusive Rate”:
A hamper of breakfast provisions for the following morning will be in your room on arrival or delivered shortly afterwards. If you're staying for more than one night, please select your preferred option on the card in the hamper, which will be collected during housekeeping. Fresh provisions for the next morning will then be delivered. Your villa will be serviced (cleaned) daily unless specified otherwise. Servicing is done between around 12 noon to 2pm. As a cautionary measure against COVID: If you’re having your villa serviced, we ask that you please vacate the villa while housekeeping are inside. You're welcome to wait out on the deck. Towels will be changed every second day – if you wish them to be replaced more frequently, please leave dirty towels on the bathroom floor. Bed linen is changed every second or third day, depending on your length of stay. As part of our environmental impact reduction strategy, you have the option of not having your linen or towels changed - please leave a note on your breakfast card if this is the case.
There is a phone in the bedroom, which is available for local calls, to make reservations for trips etc and to call reception. It operates via the internet so sometimes may not be as clear as a regular phone.
If you're keen to explore the shoreline from the water, we have two sit-on surf kayaks, one double kayak and three SUPs (stand-up paddleboards) for a range of skill levels available for your use. They are kept down at the beach, at the bottom of the central beach pathway (near the beach side of the reception building). You will find the life jackets and paddles in the laundry. There aren't any rip-currents but we do get the occasional sudden very strong off-shore winds, so please don't go out any deeper than 100m from the shore and ALWAYS wear a life jacket. There are no lifeguards on duty anywhere in the Golden Bay area and any paddle craft activity is non-supervised so is undertaken at the sole responsibility of the participant.
The folding deck chairs may be taken onto the beach, but please bring them back with you when you return.
There's a cold, fresh-water outdoor shower for rinsing off after swimming etc, located by the beach at the bottom of the central path.
Please help yourself to the fresh herbs growing in the pots near the laundry.
We have umbrellas available for your use if it's raining – if there isn’t one by your back door, please ask at reception if you require one.
If you require the use of an oven, we have small bench-top ovens available for use. Please just ask if you would like one.
Check-out time is 10:00am on your day of departure. If you would like a late check-out, please ask the day before. We're not always able to grant late check-outs, as unlike a hotel, our bookings are made for a specific villa, but we will try our best to accommodate your request. If you have opted for contactless self-check-in/check-out, your credit card will be charged the remainder of your balance on the evening before your departure.
General hours of reception are between 9:00 am and 6:00 pm. If you require help with organizing or booking trips and requesting DVDs etc, we'd appreciate if you'd do so within these hours.
There is a supermarket in Takaka (open 7 days, until 7pm during autumn/winter/spring and 8pm during summer), and a smaller general store in Collingwood. There is a small market day on Fridays in Takaka, with fruit, vegetable and a butcher’s market and a larger Village Market also in Takaka every Saturday during the summer season or the first Saturday of each month during winter. It's open from around 8am to 1pm.
Our local newspaper, The GB Weekly features some interesting stories and is a good go-to for local current events and activities, restaurant, and shopping information. It can be viewed on-line at www.gbweekly.co.nz
We’re privileged to have a small colony of blue penguins nesting on the property, so if you hear braying noises at any time, there’s no need for concern! They’re nocturnal and very shy, so we don’t usually see them, but you may see them heading out to sea or returning across the lawn at night or in the early morning.
We’ve lived in Golden Bay since the late 1980's so have a fair knowledge of activities and places of interest. We’re very happy to answer any questions you may have and make suggestions of things to do and hope that the enclosed information on walks, activities and places to eat are helpful to you.
Our property was once the site of a Māori settlement; if you are interested, ask, and we will point out the midden, where layers of discarded shells can be seen under the soil. You may have the chance of seeing our local seals which frequent the shallow water off the beach; we do also get occasional visits from schools of dolphins and whales. Golden Bay is famous for its birdlife - much of which is associated with the beach or sea.
The clear skies and lack of light pollution means our location is excellent for observing the night sky. You should find an evening sky map in this folder. Hold the chart above your head and line up north, south, east west on the chart with the land; the beach here runs north-south and the water is in the east. The Southern Cross is labelled CRUX on the chart. Other objects of note are the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) which are irregular dwarf galaxies orbiting our Milky Way galaxy.
If something isn’t working properly or requires attention, please inform one of the staff and we will try our best to sort out the problem. You will also find a “Suggestions/Problems Needing Attention” form in the back of this folder if you would prefer to use this. If there's anything we can do to make your stay more comfortable, please let us know and we will absolutely endeavour to do so.
If you’re feeling unwell, please let us know by calling, rather than visiting reception. If you are concerned or need advice, please free-phone Healthline on 0800 611 116. In an emergency, please dial 111.
Equipment Instructions
The main room heating uses an electric wall panel heater. In order to operate this, switch it on at the wall, then adjust temperature control under the flap on the right-hand side. The bathroom's underfloor heating is operated via the wall switch labelled “heat”. There is an extra fan heater stored in the bedroom in the drawer under the benchseat if you need it.
The overhead fan in the bedroom is operated via the remote control on the bedside table. The light switch on the wall must be first switched on, then control both the light and the fan with the remote.
TV instructions: When first turned on, the TV should be on TVNZ 1. A menu along the bottom of the screen will appear and if you’d like to continue watching Live TV, click the “OK” button to select Live TV. The light blue “P” button will allow you to change between channels.
The Portal button will give you access to the menu, including smart functions and the DVD player. Use the arrow keys < > and the OK button to navigate and select.
To Chromecast your own Netflix etc from your smartphone onto the TV:
- Ensure your phone's WIFI is connected to the Adrift network (password: beachfront52)
- Download the Chromecast Streamer app (if you don't already have it)
- Open the app that you’ll be streaming from e.g. Netflix, YouTube, TVNZ On Demand, Neon etc (you will need your own account for these)
- In the app that you're using, use the cast function: to cast your smartphone screen onto the TV and select “Villa 1”
We also have a selection of DVD's available – please see the list a little further on in the compendium.
We hope you’ll relax, enjoy and make yourself at home! Please don't hesitate to ask if you need anything to make your stay more comfortable or if you need help with anything.
Your hosts,
Bess, Gordon, Emily & John