Puhoi Historic Village & Puhoi Cottage

I was first introduced to Puhoi at my sister’s wedding. She and her fiancé chose the quant little village’s town hall as the location for her ceremony and reception one sunny day in summer several years ago, and ever since I’ve had quite the soft spot for it.

One little treasure in particular is the Puhoi Cottage. If you turn off the northern motorway into Puhoi, travelling at 60km/h it’ll take you about 3 seconds to drive through Puhoi’s township, and another 12seconds to reach Puhoi Cottage. It’s not a big village.

The Puhoi Cottage is renowned for its Devonshire teas and now boasts the rank of being New Zealand’s oldest tearooms. The couple who own the cottage also serve the tea and bake almost everything on-site, which is a refreshing change from most travel-oriented eateries these days.

The teas are served with a scone, jam and lashings of whipped cream, plus you can snack on sandwiches, quiches, sausage rolls and the like.

The cottage is nestled into a hill that rolls away from the busy road above, and at the bottom of the grounds are rabbit hutches and bird aviaries, which provide enough of a distraction for any travel-weary kids who need to get out and stretch their legs.