What makes us unique?

The story of Catgill is one of profound diversification and family legacy. Since 2014, husband-and-wife team Oliver and Cat Barker, guided by the wisdom of Oliver’s grandfather Ken, have breathed new life into a 60-year-old North Yorkshire dairy farm whilst also raising a family. The humble beginnings of a simple camping field within the Bolton Abbey estate have flourished to such an extent that the grounds now boast a series of high-end glamping pods. This isn’t really camping – it’s more like staying in your own private boutique lodge whilst still being at one with nature. The welcome At the entrance to Catgill Farm is a pair of vintage milk churns sitting on a stand that’s built into the farm’s perimeter wall. Beside them is a sign that pays homage to Ken Barker, the man who worked the land long before ‘glamping’ had even joined the local lexicon (interesting fact – the word didn’t actually make the Oxford English Dictionary until as recently as 2016). A nearby sign invites you to imagine the early mornings and sheer grit required to move milk from udder to community – a grounding reminder that, while you might be there to relax, it’s a

Wānaka has a habit of making you feel as if the world has been turned up a notch. What we call locally the ‘big skies’, and the varying blues of the glacial rivers and lakes settle a light on the landscape that photographers love and that’s best seen from a helicopter.  The mountains look close enough to touch, even when they are not, because the Southern Lakes region is visually generous from the ground, but helicopter experiences offer a particular kind of perspective: they stitch the landscape together in a way roads cannot, turning separate “places” into one coherent, cinematic scene. This is not about replacing the classic Wānaka pleasures, lake swims, hikes, vineyards, long lunches. It is about enhancing them. A helicopter experience day can be the difference between seeing Mount Aspiring in the distance and standing in high alpine terrain with nothing but rock, snow and sky around you. It can turn a “we would love to do that, but it’s too far” idea into an elegant half-day plan. And for travellers who value privacy, holiday homes with heli-pads provide a discreet way to arrive, depart, or disappear into the hills for a few hours. Think of heli-adventures