Redwood Valley Farm is a family farm stay on Allport Road in Redwood, Christchurch, where accommodation sits among redwoods and walnut trees on a working property with livestock, pigs and a river running through it. Guests get a genuine run of the farm: bring your own horse and ride on and through the property for free, try your hand at eeling on a strictly catch-and-release basis, and wind down the day around one of the designated campfires (wood is bring-your-own).The stay is deliberately low-key and self-sufficient. Accommodation is self-clean, with cleaning equipment and instructions provided, mattresses and pillows supplied, and guests asked to bring their own bedding including a bottom sheet and pillowcase. Changeover between bookings is at 12 noon. House rules lean towards stewardship: leave gates as you found them, take all rubbish home, help keep the river clean, don't disturb the livestock and turn water taps off after use.Redwood Valley Farm is squarely a family venue — it is not available for parties, stag dos, or groups of teens and early twenties without children. Dogs aren't allowed, and there's no shooting, hunting or motorised riding. Day visitors are welcome to park in the visitor area under the walnut trees before the redwoods and enjoy the farm for the day.
Tucked down Allport Road in Redwood, on Christchurch's northern fringe, Redwood Valley Farm is exactly what the name promises: a real, working farm that opens part of itself to visitors. Accommodation is set around the property among the redwoods that give the valley its name, with walnut trees, paddocks of livestock, pigs and a river running through — and a simple invitation attached to all of it: enjoy the farm, then leave it exactly as you found it, or better.
That last part isn't a throwaway line. Redwood Valley Farm runs on an old-fashioned compact: guests get the run of a genuine farm, and in return they treat it like their own. Light fires only in the designated campfires, and bring your own wood. Leave gates as you found them. Don't disturb the livestock. Take your rubbish home — the pigs will happily deal with food scraps, but nothing else gets left behind. Help keep the river clean, turn the taps off, and don't damage the trees, plantings or tracks. Read as a list it sounds strict; in practice it's the philosophy that keeps the place special, and the families who embrace it tend to love the farm for exactly that.
More than you might expect. The eels in the waterway are fair game — strictly catch and release, with barbless hooks, or the classic wool-wrapped piece of sausage, recommended to make letting them go easy. Horse-mad visitors can bring their own horse and ride on and through the farm for free, sticking to the marked trails and signing in and out at the back boundary with the neighbours. Note that some neighbouring trails are currently closed, so riding is a little limited for now. Up to six horses can also stay overnight at certain accommodation sites, with prior approval, for a nightly fee per horse.
Between the redwoods, the walnut grove and the river margins there's plenty of ground to cover on foot, and evenings end around the campfire in the designated spots. What you won't find is motorised entertainment — no motorbikes or go-karts — and no shooting or hunting. The loudest thing on the property should be the river.
The accommodation is self-clean: equipment and instructions are provided, and guests leave their site as they found it. Mattresses and pillows are supplied; bedding is not, so pack your own, including a bottom sheet and pillowcase. Changeover between bookings is at 12 noon, which shapes the rhythm of arrival days. Smoking is off the cards in the accommodation, on the decks and around any trees — the formed gravel driveways are the accepted spot, and butts go home with you.
Families, squarely. Redwood Valley Farm describes itself as a family venue and doesn't take parties, stag dos, or groups of teens and early twenties without children. Dogs aren't allowed anywhere on the farm, and day visitors should park in the visitor area under the walnut trees before the redwoods.
Bookings, cancellations and payment are handled through the farm's website, and given the self-sufficient setup it pays to read the house-keeping notes before you arrive. Come prepared, leave it better than you found it, and Redwood Valley Farm is the kind of place kids remember — eels, campfires, horses and all.