Review of Seascape Villa at Annandale Coastal Farm, NZ.
We were left alone. Nobody but each other and a private bay with a curved coastline, shaped like a smile, continuously kissed by gentle waves. Swinging from a soft-cushioned bubble chair placed at the villa’s open corner, I spun myself around to take in the transitory views of beautiful farmland, a blue horizon and the buff interior of my hideaway home for the night.
Seascape at Annandale Coastal Farm is a dream. A glassy dream. Brought to life by its seamless open-plan living space, floor-to-ceiling transparent panels that bring our eyes to the bay and beyond. To the side, high cliffs tumble down, making it the perfect landscape for venturesome sheep to roam and feed on the messy green patches.
My husband took countless of pictures. We were on our honeymoon and there really is no better place than Seascape for a romantic plus luxurious plus secluded farm stay. The best in New Zealand I must say, although it is the only one I’ve had the chance to experience in the land of many farms. I’m sure I’m right though.
We spent the first few hours relaxing on the spacious terrace, warmed by a modern fireplace, turned on with a simple click of a button. We saw bundles of wool and a few cattle in the distance, balancing on the brink of grassy headland, all for the sake of a succulent snack. We too decided to munch on a few things.
Because of Annandale’s exclusive privacy and great isolation, the chef came up with a programme called ‘we create, you serve’. Guests have the option of being left completely alone in their villas for days and that’s why our kitchen was stocked with everything, from the kitchen sink (duh) to all sorts of goodies such as the sweetest golden kiwis you’ll ever taste, different types of cheeses, various nuts, chili crackers (the bomb!), coffee capsules, tea bags, cookies, breakfast provisions for the next morning and a gourmet pre-prepared 3-course meal for dinner.
It was fun, assembling our own restaurant-quality dishes. We followed the instructions pasted on the food wrap to a t and had our entrée of prawns, Japanese guacamole, baby tomatoes, heirloom carrots, welsh onion shoots and popped muesli. Of course, Yi Wen gave me his portion of prawns. He likened them to sea cockroaches but I love these yummy ocean cleaners. Plus these particular prawns came fully peeled! How awesome is that?
For mains, Yi Wen had fun plating the farm-to-table fare of lamb shoulder and beef cheek cigars with some veges on the sides. And the finale of the night was self-scooped dollops of peach sorbet on coconut panna cotta, garnished with pineapple slices, lemongrass, palm sugar and young mint. Yum.
We slept fully satisfied that night but not before dipping ourselves in the outdoor hot tub. It was dark and freezing outside but we placed some candles around the border of the pool that flickered in the wind and soaked our bodies in the warm water under the stars. Too bad it was too cloudy for stars. But still, it was nice.
The next morning, we woke up at the crack of dawn and took our complimentary bikes for a ride up some really steep slopes. In the end, both of us had to push our bikes up like a bunch of losers.
We ditched our two-wheeler after a while and went on a sheep challenge. The shy creatures mostly ran away as we approached. Ah well. I did get to catch a glimpse of the most gigantic rainbow I have ever laid eyes on! Perfectly arched, all the way, across the meadow. And what was the priceless thing that I found at the end of that rainbow? Find out and read my full review of Annandale by clicking here.
My own images of the hotel can be found by clicking here. The images on this post are all provided by the hotel.
