- Cindy and Hilton Ullrich are moving from Brisbane to Stewart Island to run a lodge.
- They bought Stewart Island Lodge without Cindy visiting, trusting Hilton’s description of its beauty.
- Their Brisbane home is for sale, featuring a state-of-the-art kitchen and heated pool.
The Kiwi parents of Olympic champion rower Logan Ullrich are selling up and moving across the ditch. Except, they are quitting Australia for New Zealand, not the other way around.
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Cindy and Hilton Ullrich told OneRoof that their shift from the posh Brisbane suburb of Paddington to Stewart Island was a "leap of faith".
Cindy admitted that swapping their comfy, renovated home in Australia for a new life running a lodge at the very bottom of New Zealand was pretty unusual.
In fact, she hadn’t even been to Stewart Island until a few years ago.
The couple, who made Australia their home 17 years ago, had been thinking about making a change just before Covid struck.
Logan Ullrich, second left, with his fellow champion rowers at the Paris Olympics: Ollie Maclean, Tom Murray and Matt Macdonald. Photo / Getty Images
The Ullrichs bought Stewart Island Lodge, in Oban, on Stewart Island. The six-bedroom retreat is popular with overseas visitors. Photo / Supplied
The lodge operates for seven months in the peak season between October and May. Photo / Supplied
Their two children were all grown up – rower Logan is based in the Waikato, while eldest son Quinton lives in Dubai – and New Zealand was pulling at their heart-strings.
“We didn’t want to retire or anything, but we thought it would be nice to go back to our home country, and we always toyed with the idea of having a bed and breakfast or a lodge or something like that,” Cindy told OneRoof.
They decided to look at properties in the South Island because it was so beautiful.
Cindy was still working in Australia as a publicity manager for Queensland Performing Arts Centre, so when the borders reopened, she tasked Hilton with finding their new home.
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He ended up on Stewart Island and was blown away by the scenery. “He looked at it, and he said, ‘Oh my God, it’s beautiful, Cindy, you would love it. It’s paradise, it’s really paradise’.”
She took his word for it, and when Stewart Island Lodge came up for sale at the end of 2023, they bought it.
The negotiations coincided with Logan’s silver medal victory at the Paris Olympics in 2024, so she never made it over to inspect it in person before settlement.
“It was a leap of faith, trusting my husband that I would love it. The day I arrived [on the island], it was really foggy, and you couldn’t see anything, and I’m thinking what is this place?”
Any qualms she had quickly passed. She loves the island and its close-knit community, and lodge life suits her.
Cindy and Hilton Ullrich are swimming against the tide. Photo / Supplied
The 1980s cottage in Paddington, an affluent suburb in Brisbane, Queensland, has been completely rebuilt and transformed into a five-bedroom home complete with lift. Photo / Supplied
The open-plan home as a resort feel to it and includes a state-of-the-art kitchen, two lounges and a separate self-contained studio. Photo / Supplied
They only run it for seven months, between October and May, which gives them five months off to travel and do other things. “It’s a bit of a change in lifestyle, and it’s kind of interesting we’re sort of swimming against the tide. I mean, most New Zealanders are going to Australia, right? And when you get older, you tend to go somewhere warmer and somewhere with good medical facilities, and we’re going the other way.”
The couple have just listed their state-of-the-art five-bedroom home in Brisbane with Ray White agent Michael Kleimeyer.
They bought the 1980s timber cottage in 2021, before carrying out a major rebuild and extension in 2024. The luxurious property now boasts a state-of-the-art kitchen, two lounges, an in-ground heated swimming pool, a fully self-contained studio and a lift for easy movement between the three floors.
Cindy said it had a resort vibe and she would miss living there. “We have loved the serenity of the home.”
- Click here to find properties for sale on Stewart Island
