About us and the Te Nikau Retreat
A home in the rainforest was built in the 1980s by an industrious German, and his plant nursery/workshop formed the nucleus of the retreat, which was purchased by Hamish Johnston in 1993 and opened for business for that Christmas.
A small self contained motel for disabled people opened soon after. The hideaway unit and Stargazer were added the following year.
By the late 90s the neighbouring property with a barn and four bedroom house had been acquired. This became the hub of the Retreat.
Since the early 2000s two more properties got added to the Retreat - which is including Rata, Kowhai, Mamaku and Tiro Moana.
2020 James took over from Hamish and continues the good work along with his team.
Since the beginning the Te Nikau Retreat in Punakaiki is a perfect location for all sorts of travelers and explorers - families, groups, couples, solo-travelers, hikers, bikers,…
It always was and always will be a place to
relax - restore - explore.
Our focus for each of our guests is to give them an amazing experience, a comfy bed for the night and share a slice of our wee paradise, surrounded by the native West Coast bush, right at the stunning and dramatic coastline with the spectecular sunsets.
Our Vision
I am James - born and raised on the West Coast of New Zealand. I live in our little piece of paradise since April 2020. In January 2020 I came to the Te Nikau Retreat for the first time and it didn’t take long to fall in love with this stunning place.
I grew up on the West Coast, mainly on Dairyfarms which I later made to my career. In between I moved to Australia for a while working in Seeding & Harvesting and then to the USA working as a Truck driver.
After reflecting on my life, I decided that I wanted to do something different:
So I had a complete change of my lifestyle -
from “moo-cows” to “Te Nikau”.
Who are we?
