Golden ticket to a slower life: Timber Trail retreat looking for next owners

The church, the old school house, and the charming cottage - a unique property steeped in historical character, set on the edge of one of New Zealand’s most popular bike trails, is offering the chance for new owners to create their own retreat - or to just embrace a slower pace of life.

The Timber Trail Centre in Ongarue, Ruapehu, is at the end of the popular Timber Trail. An 82km trail running the Pukeroa Forest, attracting around 25,000 cyclists and trampers each year. The property is spread across three separate buildings, among olive and heritage fruit trees, and a river that is bursting with trout.

“We had originally planned to take the church building back to Auckland and convert it to a restaurant. But, as soon we walked onto the property, it’s safe to say it was love at first sight.

“The whole place was just magical - and the thing struck us the most was how peaceful it was; we ditched our original plan and immediately made an offer on the whole property,” he says.

Nicholls say that within four weeks they had swapped their stressful city lives for sitting on rocking chairs on the church deck, listening to the song of the bell birds and enjoying their new slice of paradise.

The couple initially opened the Timber Trail Centre as a not-for-profit retreat for disadvantaged youth, before growing this into a much larger-scale project to teach life skills to young people globally, via books and videos. As the cycle trail grew in popularity and the local town of Taumaranui gained a new lease of life, they were able to develop a boarding business for cyclists and tourists to help fund their new project.

In the heart of one of NZ’s most adventure packed regions, the Timber Trail Centre is less than an hour’s drive from Tongariro National Park, the Waitomo Caves, Wakapapa ski-fields, Lake Taupo, and kayaking on the Whanganui River or the Forgotten World Rail Trail that goes all the way to Mount Taranaki.

“Although we’re in the country side, it is not an isolating experience - our little village has a very social feel and the neighbouring town of Taumaranui has become a centre for the district in recent years, with shops and a thriving golf club.

“We have of course also welcomed a constant stream of wonderful guests from over 20 countries at the Centre, building lifelong friendships in the process,” says Nicholls.

“We have experienced the profound joys that come with a more self-sufficient and creative lifestyle, and being part of the explosion of tourism in our area,” she says.