Moon over Manukau

By DENIS McNABB

Outstretched on a massage table among warm wheat bags, heated booties and blankets as soothing music washes over you, there's a good chance of nodding off to sleep while Cheryle Gail plies her fingers dextrously into tired and knotty muscles.

But you do have to wake after the hour-long pampering so as not to miss the finale with a coastal country twist.

In front of her stately historic farmhouse, on a lawn, high above wooded valleys and harbour, the cast-iron, claw-foot bath that can easily accommodate two brims with hot water infused with essences and topped with rose petals. Submerged up to your neck, your head on a ruby-red, heart-shaped air pillow, the setting is sublime. Or to use Cheryle's words, "heaven under the moon".

This is one reason she so-named her place on the Awhitu Peninsula (Awhitu means longing to return). It is a jot of land untravelled by many Aucklanders but not more than an hour from the city, perched above Manukau Harbour with Orua Bay below.

That Cheryle is here at all is the realisation of a vision that came to the gregarious American three years ago. She decided then that life had more to offer than her massage therapy business in suburban California so shut up shop to embark on a global search for her nature nirvana. The prerequisites, a rolling, green landscape, a stream and an innate feeling of peace.

When the Northern Hemisphere failed to meet her specifications, Cheryle headed to New Zealand. Her cycle journey was short-lived. On the second day she spied a real estate brochure in the local agent's rack at Miranda.

In it, the gracious, high-studded kauri homestead on Boiler Gully Rd stood out like a beacon. Cheryle knew immediately she had found her place. The two-storey house was built by early settlers, the Logan family. A good part was rebuilt after a fire in 1910 and it remained in one family for 80 years.

Cheryle met the owners, stayed the night and bought it the following day. From her homeland she shipped a large container of treasures (she's an avid collector of things) to furnish the seven-bedroom (five for guests) home.

The bedrooms are ethereally named: Dream Suite and the Butterfly, Green, Sun and Angel Rooms. Each is whimsically and theatrically furbished to reflect its theme with props from big replica flamingos to winged angels. All have sumptuous, big beds, the kind you sink right into, and windows with tranquil country views.

A long, kauri table - it seats 10 - dominates the kitchen and is a central congregation point. Much of Cheryle's eclectic collection is on show here - plates and paintings of chickens, a large, Venetian-glass prancing rooster, her mother's old domed clock, silver urns, cake plates and teapots stuffed with hydrangeas, old ink bottles with dahlias and lilac poked in each, reindeer slippers in the corner on the wooden polished floor and a cluster of knick-knacks on the old coal-fire stove. There is a homey feel to the bright yellow and white, sunny room. Sweet, cinnamon-smelling raisin bread is in the bread-maker and pungent spices of a Thai dish on the stove permeate the room.

Meals are eaten here communally or in a more formal dining room at a marble table with brocade chairs and a romantic backdrop of roaring fire in winter and candlelight.

Room service is on tap for those seeking seclusion. Whopper-sized pancakes with blueberries and yoghurt have to be the standout breakfast choice. The cheese fondue is fun.

Cheryle has caught the rural bug, bringing cows, turkeys, hens, doves and a cat to her abode. Chooks provide a constant supply of eggs, and vegetables are grown for home consumption.

This area was once a thriving kauri milling centre. The property has 7ha of native forest, lush with regenerating kauri, King Ferns, native birds and a trove of glow-worms.

Cheryle carved a track into the bush (with some help from friends) and careful construction advice from Landcare so as not to disturb the ecosystem. It is a labour of love. Deep in its heart she has placed a table and chairs on a small ridge and a hammock between trees for guests to bask in the forest tranquillity. There is also a stream (one of her prerequisites) and a swing in a tree above. At night Cheryle will take you there by torchlight to arc out over the twinkling glow-worms tucked into the side of the bank.

She is developing her farmhouse as a retreat for people to escape the rat race, to come and watch plays and listen to music and poetry readings on the grass-terraced amphitheatre in front of the house, or to do art classes in the purpose-built studio, de-stress with yoga, have tango lessons, take bike rides out to the heads, walk down to the west coast beach through farm properties (with the blessing of the farmer owners) or simply relax with plenty of massage and rest. She has also organised a schedule of special weekends such as mother and daughter retreats, Mardi Gras parties, masked balls, detox health retreats and special cooking classes. Otherwise, the place offers bed and breakfast.

Heaven Under the Moon



WHERE TO FIND IT

From Auckland take the Drury exit off State Highway 1 south. At Waiuku travel out along Awhitu Peninsula Rd for 20 minutes, left on to Kempt Rd then right into Boiler Gully Rd.

Contact: Cheryle Gail. 256 Boiler Gully Rd, Awhitu, Waiuku, Ph (09) 235 1588 or email: heavenunderthemoon@zip.co.nz

WHAT IT COSTS

Dream suite $250 a night for two. Butterfly, Sun, Angel and Green rooms, $180 a night for two (including breakfast and GST)

SPECIAL EVENTS

Outdoor amphitheatre with live entertainment in the summer months from jazz to opera and comedy theatre. Art classes in a specially made workshop, a masked ball and Mardi Gras in August. Timetable details and costs are on website.

EXTRAS

Meals: 4 course dinner, $55 a person. Therapeutic massage and body work sessions, $70 each.

ACCESS

Downstairs bedrooms for the wheelchair users.

SMOKING

Outside only

LOCAL ATTRACTIONS

The Franklin Peninsula has numerous attractions from the Awhitu Vineyards to the Orua Bay Bird Park Tea Rooms, the Signal Station, and the Seed Store, numerous beaches, golf courses and heritage walks.