Five top things to enjoy at St Leonards

1.        Feed (and pet) the animals

We have a number of pet animals on our small farm at St Leonards and there is a jar of animal treats in each cottage, ready for guests to feed them.

Sheep: Top of the favourites for guests are our flock of enormous, friendly sheep. Led by the matriarch coffee-coloured Nelly who has the deepest baa you’ve ever heard, who is joined by her sons: the biggest black sheep Buster and all-white Colin.

White woolly sisters Lucy and Lily with black noses are Valais sheep – Lily is the bossy, greedy one with the horns, while Lucy is the more shy sheep who looks suspiciously dead when she sleeps. All-black sisters Mabel and Esther are rare Gotland sheep, a breed originally from Sweden – look out for the distinctive tear drop shapes just under their eyes.

Deer: Next on the adorable list are our two fallow deer, mother and daughter

Rose and Iris.

With their enormous eyes and the tiniest prancing hooves, they are very friendly but cutely shy and ADORE the animal nuts.

Chickens: Our flock of free-range chickens are in the chicken run but can just as often seen trotting around the gardens helping us to keep the weeds and bugs in check. They don’t just provide us and guests with a constant chatter of social and engaging “dort, dort, dort” but do the important job of providing guests with eggs for their breakfast.

Dogs: Little black Tilly and larger blonde Indy are our poodle cross wool-haired dogs who take meeting and greeting our guests at reception very seriously with wagging tails. Always ready for a pat and a cuddle from guests missing their own dogs, these two can often be seen wandering round the property and keeping an eye on the chickens. Sometimes they are joined by their big cousin Buddy, or their friend Cooper - an oversized version of Tilly.

Cat: Lastly is Slinky, our black and white cat who is an even bigger sun worshipper than Indy and spends his days moving from sun patch to sun patch. He also comes for wanders in the vines with the dogs and likely thinks he’s a dog.

2.        Pick fresh fruit off the trees

We have a range of fruit at St Leonards that guests a

re welcome to pick and gather when they are in season. Of particular note are our 70 lemon trees (there’s usually a basket of fresh lemons at the front door for guests to use), mandarin and orange trees, and a very prolific grapefruit tree by the tennis court.

Aside from citrus, we have peach trees in the front paddock and small central orchard that are ripe in late summer, blackberries in the old vege patch that ripen in mid summer, grapes along the drive and by The Stables that fuit mid-late summer, and two enormous walnut trees – we have bowls of walnuts in the cottages with a nutcracker year round.

We also plan to plan a variety of other fruit trees in the coming years.

What surprises us is how many of our guests have never seen fruit growing on trees before. Our orange and mandarin trees in the central orchard by the homestead back lawn are a particular favourite and feature in many, many selfies.

3.        Enjoy the views

Marlborough has the most beautiful and diverse landscapes from plains striped with grape vines ringed by rolling hills and snowy mountains, to sandy and rocky seashores, and the unique Marlborough Sounds – a series of sunken valleys where the lush native bush meets the tranquil sea. From St Leonards in the middle of the vineyards guests can experience views in all directions of the grapevines with hills and mountains creating overlapping silhouettes on the horizon.

We have positioned a series of tables and chairs around the property to make the most of these views at every time of the day – whether it’s a morning coffee or a sunset glass of wine with one of our platters, or a view from a pool lounger. There’s always something to look at here.

The wonderful thing about a grapevine-soaked view is that every season is different, so the views are constantly changing: Lush and green in spring, covered in fruit in summer (and sometimes nets), bronzed in autumn and bare in winter. And there’s always agricultural activity in the vines throughout the year to spot – whether it’s pruning, mowing, wire-lifting and even frost-fighting on some chilly spring/summer nights.

4.        Listen to the birdsong

Many guests mention how wonderful the birdsong is here at St Leonards – from a magnificent dawn chorus, the daytime chatter and the sunset conversion, and the occasional owl at night.

Birds to note are the sociable flitting piwakawaka (fantail), the resident family of shy quail with their quivering head pieces and heavy flapping as they fly, and the ruru owls (little brown owls). We are also occasionally visited by tui with their distinctive clicking song, and once in a while by a large kereru (wood pigeon).

There are also hawks that fly over the vineyards looking for small mice, birds and other prey. Our chickens will often shelter under their coop when a hawk flies overhead, but we haven’t lost any chickens to hawks, so assume they’re too big.

5.        Stargaze at night

Being in the middle of the plain in the country with an enormous night sky, we boast magnificent star gazing on clear nights. Keep an eye out for the Pot, the Southern Cross, the Milky Way carpet of stars, and a large yellow full moon rising if the timing is right.

Tip: The hot tub is a favourite spot for stargazing.