Remote lodge goes on the market for sale
One of New Zealand’s most remote commercial accommodation providers, Nugget Lodge, is on the market for sale
One of New Zealand’s remotest B & B accommodation lodges – on a one way road to a far-flung lighthouse – has been placed on the market for sale.
Nugget Lodge is on the outreaches of the South-East corner of the South Island - six kilometres from the nearest
‘settlement’ of Kaka Point, or 27 kilometres from the nearest township of Balclutha.
The property is for sale through Bayleys Dunedin, with a price tag of $830.000. Salesperson Robin Hyndman said the
venture required someone, or a couple, with a unique personality and mindset used to living away from crowds.
“Nugget Lodge is remote. The only real passing traffic are sightseers heading further along the coast to see The Nuggets
Lighthouse. Guests staying there seek solitude - it’s certainly not like being in Queenstown or Rotorua,” Mr Hyndman
said.
“However, that’s the sort of lifestyle some people crave. To get away from the proverbial ‘rat race’. To have a beach
with a surf break all to yourself on your front doorstep. A beach where sea lions and penguins regularly turn up and
chill out for a day.”
Nugget Lodge has two self-contained single-bedroom tourist accommodation units, which have a rack rate of $175 per
night. Both have their own cooking facilities. During the summer season and its shoulder periods, the lodge has an
occupancy rate of 82.3 percent.
The property also comes with a well-maintained three-bedroom owner’s dwelling built in the 1960s and featuring a
farmhouse style kitchen complete with coal range, along with a garage and workshop.
Mr Hyndman said the Nugget Lodge property was largely self-sufficient – containing an expansive vegetable garden, while
long line fishing nets and crayfish pots could be set off the beach directly in front of the lodge’s lawn. The 1012
square metres of land and buildings containing nugget Lodge have a capital valuation of $700,000.
Nugget Lodge and Nuggets Lighthouse sit at the northern tip of the Southern Scenic Route tourist trail running through
the Catlins - with its dense native rain forests, waterfalls, caves, fossils, wildlife and bush walks.
Mr Hyndman said that tourism numbers along the route out to Nuggets Lighthouse had grown substantially over the past 17
years, with the corresponding rise in free-independent-traveller figures – particularly among the Australian and
European market sectors.
“As New Zealand’s co’ tourism sector has moved away from the ‘bus ‘em in, bus ‘em out’ style of operation, destinations
such as the Catlins have seen a more discerning and socially-aware type of traveller visiting the region. This has been
to the benefit of Nugget Lodge, whose guests are environmentally-conscious and seek ambience and atmosphere over bright
lights,” he said.
ends