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As wild ideas go, the creation of Wellington bush retreat, Two Peas in a Pod, is about as wild as it gets.

It started about two and a half years ago, when Ash and Mareike Isherwood​ wanted to create some extra space for family to come and stay and spend time with their daughters, Katie, now 3, and Pippa, 18 months.

Ash met German-born Mareike when the pair were serving in the military in Afghanistan, and that military training would really come in handy as this project progressed.

The couple had moved to Wellington about two years earlier, and bought a stunning, four-level Roger Walker-designed home, tucked into native bush in the back of Khandallah. The home was on a steep section, barrelling up the side of Mt Kaukau, just below the Skyline track. But they figured they had enough room for a wee granny flat or two up back.

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It wasn't feasible to build from scratch – "There's no access at the back - you just could not get up there," says Ash – so the couple started looking for a prefabricated option instead.

They came across the Whakatanē-based company Podlife, whose stylish container pods, with external cedar batting seemed just the ticket. The Isherwoods ordered two for their site.

"At that stage, I was thinking we could crane them in," says Ash.

Reader, at 3000kg each, they could not crane them in. They could – just – crane in a digger to drill down the two and a half metres they would need for the foundation posts, but the pods were too big, and the distance too far, to lift them over the house.

"Somehow we went from a small backyard project to a major operation."

The Isherwoods hired Kahu, the heavy lifting helicopter company run by medal of bravery pilot Mark Law, out of Bay of Plenty. Kahu's Blackhawk helicopters can lift 3200KG, so the pods were just at the limit of their range. Law's brother Pete would be flying for them.

When Ash showed Pete where he’d be delivering the pods, "eight posts sticking out of the side of a hill in that little gap in the bush", Pete asked if he had an "S" on his shirt.

"I said, 'What do you mean?' and he said, 'Do I look like Superman?' That made me a little bit nervous. But he did a fantastic job."

They were not allowed to fly 3000kgs of underslung cargo over residential property – for obvious reasons. Undeterred, Ash got permission from owners of the land on Mt Kaukau to drive the pods to the top of the mountain, where the chopper could lift them over the top of the bush into place instead.

Then, a bombshell: the trucking company pulled out last minute. Ash spent a day hunting for another local trucking firm, but couldn't find one.

"We had the helicopter for one day, that was what we could afford. If it didn't happen then it was all over."

In desperation, he contacted the trucking outfit that delivered the pods to Wellington from Whakatāne.

"I rang Geoff at about 6pm and asked him, ‘what are you up to? He goes, ‘eating my dinner with my family’. I asked him if he fancied getting his truck and trailer and driving through the night to pick up my pods and drive them up a mountain to meet a helicopter.

"His answer: ‘Why the hell not, but it won't be cheap’. I told him I would see him in the morning at the bottom of the access road to the mountain at 9am."

Geoff drove throughout the night with just "a can of V in Taupō" to keep him going.

The second bombshell: the access road was too steep for the truck to get up with the pods on the back. They had to find a second site to lift the pods from, but somehow, they managed it.

Mareike and the girls couldn't be in the house during the delivery, in case the pod fell off the chains, but were able to watch from a house across the valley. She describes it as an emotional moment after everything the couple had been through.

The first delivery flight was a little hairy. The pod came in on the wrong angle, and the team on the ground struggled to correct it. "It smashed into the railing and then smashed into the earth," says Ash. But it wasn't damaged, and with some manoeuvring, they were able to get it in place.

The second delivery went more smoothly. Finally, Two Peas in a Pod was born.

All told, the project cost the family about $320,000, with the two pods costing about a third of that. But the result is, frankly, delightful.

"It was originally for my wife's mum who lives overseas and wanted to spend some time here. But actually it's a pretty cool space in the back there up in the bush. [We realised] It would be quite neat to create a cool little retreat there."

Cosy and comfortable, being in the pods feels more like you’re in the middle of a national park than in the suburbs, only 15 minutes from the CBD. The bird song is incredible, and you can even have a soak in a private outdoor tub surrounded by the bush as you’re serenaded by it.

The pods are perfectly dark, and utterly quiet till the first flights leave Wellington airport the next morning. It might even be one of the most restful sleeps you’ll have in a while (it was for me).

A night in the pods costs $246, and includes breakfast if required. The epic tale of how your accommodation got there is free.

The writer stayed at Wellington Bush Retreat as a guest of the Isherwoods.