INTERVIEW JENNY RUDD

Happy first birthday, Eagle Ridge! We talk to owners Nigel and Deb, and manager, Briana, about their first year up in the Ohauiti Hills

UNO: So, what's been the highlight?

B: Well I don't know about Nigel and Deb, but mine was undoubtedly getting married. Apart from the fact it was the most special of days, personally, it has been so helpful in my job, as I now know exactly what it's like for our brides and grooms. It gives them real confidence to know I've walked that path.

D: Seeing Briana get married was an absolute highlight for us too. She works incredibly hard, and is a perfectionist with everyone else's weddings, so we knew hers would go off without a hitch.

UNO: That view! It must be hard getting everyone to turn away and walk inside.

N: It's pretty mesmerising, isn't it? Actually, you can see when a helicopter takes off from Tauranga Airport to bring people here, and follow them all the way here.

B: As Nigel's a pilot, he always encourages the helicopters to come in very close, which can be a bit scary!

N: We had a great wedding recently where the groom arrived in a helicopter in great drama. The guests had been picked up in a bus from Wharf St 'mystery bus tour' style. They had no idea where they were going. They stood here and watched the helicopter come from afar, and the groom got out to James Bond music from the band. It was all very glamorous, then we could hear the sound of an ice cream van get closer and closer, and the bride arrived in a Mr Whippy van! Everyone ate ice cream while the bride and groom exchanged their vows.

UNO: Do you ever find anything odd in the lodge after you've had guests stay?

N: Only every week! Actually, I very nearly found something very interesting at one wedding over the autumn; all the guests were up at the function centre, and I was pottering about in the kitchen here in the lodge. There were two guests who hadn't quite made it up to join the rest of the party. He was playing the piano and his friend was singing beautifully next to him. Clearly the emotion of the music got the better of them, because as I walked past the downstairs guest bedroom, I saw they were just about to make use of the beautifully made up bed in there. I gave them a quick jolly up and told them to hoof off and join the others. Deb had just spent the morning making up that bed. I wasn't in any hurry to find clean sheets and remake it!

UNO: Sounds like you get some pretty lively parties up here.

B: We have a full range, to be honest. We've had some seriously wild weddings, giggly and boozy, with the entire party having flown straight in from overseas having never seen the venue. I have a great job - all my customers are people having the time of their lives! It probably doesn't help when Nigel gets behind the bar. We've had to throw him out as he's such a generous host, he keeps refilling glasses quicker than people can drink them.

UNO: We like the beautiful picture in your advert is this issue, what was that event?

D: That was such a special evening, and very popular too. Trelise Cooper came down to support a fundraiser for Homes of Hope (see the pics in Spotted on page 20). As soon as she arrived with her team and saw our beautiful lodge, even though they'd booked a hotel in town she asked if they could stay the night. We were already pretty full, but how can you say no to such a lovely lady who's here to support such a great cause?

N: At the end of the evening, the whole team collapsed, exhausted after their efforts. They were starving and it was pretty late so we ordered pizza. The delivery boy wouldn't come up to us, so I sped down the hill and delivered the pizzas myself to these lovely ladies. They thought it was hilarious.

UNO: It's like a whole world of excitement going on up here, in the hills.

B: It is! It's such a magical place to come to work to every day. There's so much going on here all the time, you'd never guess from the driveway in sleepy Ohauiti. This morning we are preparing lunch for Jaguar. They bring guests up who get to drive their sleek, powerful new cars round all the windy roads up here, have a delicious lunch, then drive back home. Then this afternoon, I'll be making sure our grounds look perfect as we are producing 360⁰ videos for our website. It's impossible to get that wondrous, ever-changing view into one image!