We spent our honeymoon in a magical place, a private retreat in a secluded dell: a real-life hobbit hole. Seriously, a pseudo-medieval cottage built into a hillside. There was no electricity, just a cast iron stove and a shedload of candles. The bed was piled with furs and all the dark, wooden beams were reassuringly solid. The front doors opened onto a picturesque pond, complete with water lilies and sweeping curtains of willow branches. The pond was crossed by a wooden bridge straight out of a Monet painting. On its edge, two seats awaited the happy couple, inviting them to share a bottle of wine by the light of the setting sun.

If this place sounds too good to be true, wait until I tell you that it’s just outside Hamilton, New Zealand, at the bottom of someone’s farm. It’s called Underhill – and it’s only for adults. Tim and I spent two days there, completely cut off from the rest of the world. All we could do was read, play boardgames and… well, it was our honeymoon, so I shouldn’t need to say what else. It was paradise.

Now, I should reassure you that, although there’s no electricity, the facilities at Underhill are far from primitive. The toilet is composting, and the surprisingly luxurious shower is located in its own little cave, with plenty of hot water. There’s even an outdoor bathtub, although it was full of crickets when we arrived. Towels, handwash and bodywash are provided. The only negative thing we encountered during our stay was that the torches we had been provided with didn’t work. No matter. Lighting a candle to carry out to the toilet in the middle of the night was a gratifyingly historical experience.

Due to the secluded nature of the place, there was a lot of birdlife to be seen. Pukekos circled the pond, fantails flitted about the cave’s entrance – one even visited us whilst we were having a shower! Various avian melodies echoed around the dell. Only occasionally did we hear a distant car, reminding us that we were not, in fact, in our own bubble reality.

Underhill isn’t a cheap place to stay, at well over $300 a night, but it’s worth every penny. The two nights we spent there were perfect, especially as we’d just had our wedding reception at Hobbiton! (Photos here.) A friend of mine proposed to his fiancée there and, frankly, I can’t think of anywhere better. (Well, except onboard a zeppelin flying over Lake Constance, but I’m biased. That’s how Tim proposed to me, you see.)

You can book your romantic Underhill getaway here. Tim and I were only away for two nights, but we’re going on a longer, belated honeymoon next year, travelling around the South Island in a campervan.

Oh, here’s a last-minute Underhill tip: take an old-fashioned watch with you. There’s no way to charge your phone, of course, and, as we discovered, it’s really quite hard to tell what time it is when you’re so secluded!