A stripped back hillside collection of several yurts and a tee-pee make up Okuti Garden Eco-Stay. Back-to-basics summer bliss is woven together by a series of organic gardens and planted spaces designed for deeper and slower breathing. In a word, it’s peaceful.

The Yurt. A simple arrangement that quickly reconfigures as a mush of sleeping bags, clothes strewn, hot water bottles and torches kept handy for night time reading.

The donkeys arrived by surprise, left to the Okuti Garden in the will of a nearby elderly neighbour. Now they’re a feature of the place and a part of the daily soundtrack, always grateful of the odd apple that comes their way and answers their call.

Mornings start early without light blocking curtains, and so a pillow provides an alternative blackout.

Feet can play piano too. At 8am in the morning, it was reasonable to receive a complaint.

Time stands still as almost every space within the retreat is carved out for the reader to lose themselves in a good book.

In a larger gathering tent is an aged soccer table. Its munted workings of little significance to a nearly four year old intent on winning the final.

The numerous yurts at the eco-retreat offer-up a canvas of light and dark, dancing as the sun cycles overhead.

The Lion in the Meadow followed by an afternoon sleep. Golden.