Deep in the countryside, a lone ute rattles down a tree-lined road as the promise of spring hangs in the air.
Time seemingly stands still. A century-old wooden homestead crouches low beyond farmland and an unsealed driveway. A plump kererū crosses the sky.
It’s late afternoon on this rural link road, which meanders its way southeast from the inland service town of Waipukurau to coastal Pōrangahau in Hawke’s Bay.
My husband and I are driving the road to Wallingford Homestead for a long weekend.
The historic-home-turned-luxury-lodge is run by Aussie expat and longtime restaurateur Jeanette Woerner and her New Zealand husband Chris Stockdale, an award-winning chef.
In 2018, the pair left Sydney and a proud legacy of running some of the city’s best-loved eateries for a quieter life at Wallingford where they manage the property and look after up to 15 guests.
Hawke’s Bay is a destination known for its wineries, fruit orchards, farm-to-table restaurants and — increasingly — its unique culture and heritage.
There’s Napier’s celebrated architecture and annual Art Deco Festival; the Māori love song Pōkarekare Ana was penned by a rangatira from Hastings.
Today, a handful of historic homes is bolstering Hawke’s Bay’s reputation as a region with a fascinating backstory.
In Havelock North, Te Mata House, built in the mid-1850s, invites guests to rent the immaculately-restored homestead or stay in the property’s two-bedroom cottage.
Visitors can walk the Paul Bangay-designed gardens, dine next door at internationally-recognised Craggy Range winery and bring their pony for a workout in the equestrian ring.
Meanwhile, Waipukurau’s Woburn Homestead (built in 1893) and Gwavas Station Homestead and Garden (dating back to 1890) in Tikokino are two heritage-listed properties with bed and breakfast-style accommodation.
Turning into Wallingford’s driveway, I look through a stand of towering oaks to views of rolling pasture.
"Hello! Welcome; leave your bags — we’ll take care of those", enthuses Jeanette, Wallingford’s diminutive and cheerful host, as we hop out of the car.
Dressed in a white shirt, ankle-length navy skirt and lolly pink flats, Jeanette ushers us inside in a manner as optimistic and animated as the large Piera McArthur painting on Wallingford’s living room wall.
Inside the fire flickers. There’s home-made lemon cake under a glass cloche on a table set for tea and coffee.
Nina Simone’s To Be Young, Gifted and Black fills the space, while dozens of lit candles cast their warm light on to the various mantelpieces, window ledges and small tables on which they’re positioned.
"You’ve got the place to yourselves tonight", explains Jeanette, as we follow her to our room where we’ll unpack and settle in.
"Tomorrow, another three couples arrive, one celebrating an anniversary, and our wonderful gardener Keith and his wife Jenny have booked in for Chris’s degustation dinner."
The outside view from our bedroom window is the perfect tonic after a long drive.
Beds of delicate blooming flowers. A wooden bench chair in the middle of a mown lawn. Colourful croquet balls and a set of well-used mallets. Lush clover-green paddocks extend all the way to the pale blue horizon.
I love the vases loaded with voluminous fresh-cut roses, the book selection that includes an original worn copy of Famous Five: Five Have a Mystery to Solve and a daybed (so I claim) for afternoon naps.
On our private verandah, Jeanette arrives to deliver two glasses of "welcome bubbles" and crank up the outdoor patio heater.
Taking a seat, I crawl under a soft woollen blanket, take a sip and think I might have found my forever spot.
But it’s not to be.
We’re here for Wallingford’s Slow Food Journey, a two night, all-inclusive package designed by Jeanette and Chris, requiring at least some effort on my part.
Later, my husband and I will walk the 10-or-so paces to the living room for an aperitif.
We’ll graze our way through a menu of five tasting plates and two desserts showcasing flavours from Wallingford’s garden and the wider region.
The locally-caught snapper with makrut lime served on a crispy taewa (Māori potato) wafer is delicious, too.
The next morning we breakfast on the front lawn in the sun before joining Chris in the poolside kitchenette to learn how to make Wallingford’s signature sourdough.
"Food is very much our niche here at Wallingford", Chris says, as he reveals the central components of his bread.
"I use a combination of high-quality wholemeal and strong white baker’s flour grown and milled in Canterbury", he says, waving a punnet of the creamy white mixture under our noses.
"A starter and artisan salt are my other must-haves. And I use pure rainwater that’s both filtered and UV treated; never tap water."
The loaf I produce under Chris’s instruction tastes exceptionally good and for a brief second I entertain delusions I’ll whip up the same result at home.
"When we arrived six years ago, the original owners — the Ormond family — had only just moved out", Jeanette tells me on a walk to the woodlot where Wallingford’s Perigord black truffles grow.
The estate, reportedly leased from local iwi by British sheep farmer John Davies Ormond, was kept in the family for four generations from 1857 until it was sold to Auckland veterinarian Gareth Dunkerley in 2017.
"It was just as they’d left it when we arrived. The house, at that point a bed and breakfast, was full of incredible Ormond family memorabilia", Jeanette says.
Over the past few years, through Covid lockdowns, Jeanette and Chris have developed new, mostly food-related, experiences for Wallingford visitors, at the same time overseeing general maintenance such as re-piling and re-roofing the 1000sq m homestead.
Jeanette has revamped various soft furnishings with contemporary fabrics and added a colourful feature wall to the main dining room.
Chris has expanded his team to include award-winning chef Connor Mertens, in a part-time role, and Lilia Santiago as Wallingford’s restaurant host and manager.
Together, the team hosts truffle-themed weekends in winter, inviting guests to stay, forage for truffles with a guide and her trained truffle dog and eat their way through a truffle-loaded menu.
Their Food And Wine Classic (F.A.W.C) festival events, typically held in summer, frequently sell out.
Wallingford is open for weddings and corporate retreats and there are plans to introduce a new wellness package that offers broth-making lessons, in-room massage and soaking in yet-to-be-installed hot tubs.
As expected, Saturday night’s nine-course degustation dinner is outstanding and made even better by sharing it with the weekend’s new arrivals.
"We’ve been here before and we’ll keep coming back", one of the pair explains.
"To us, Wallingford offers that perfect mix: wonderful service, incredible food and you’re in this beautiful, peaceful location where there’s no cellphone cover. Life is hectic; so we love that. The only thing to wake you up in the morning is birdsong — and that nagging sense you better get up so you don’t miss another exceptional breakfast."
The details
Stay: Book Wallingford Homestead’s Slow Food Journey, starting at $2620 for two. Available year round, it includes a welcome drink on arrival, seasonal set dinner (on the first night) and a nine-course degustation dinner (on night two), chef-prepared breakfasts, picnic lunch, home-made sweet and savoury treats, guided truffle grove walk and a sourdough making lesson.
More info: wallingford.co.nz/escape-slowfoodjourney
— The writer was hosted by Wallingford Homestead.
