On the farm

Tom’s family place sits on a pretty but relatively rugged stretch of coastline.

The family is engaged in a long process of subdivision by which each sibling will get a chunk to build on while the bulk of the land is going into a preservation trust.

Apparently it’s never been great farmland… currently it supports some cattle and a bunch of pine trees, now being harvested after 25 years of growing. All the land will be restored to native bush plantings, which means an aggressive anti-predator campaign.

Tom’s brother Guy runs the Tawapou native plant nursery on the property, which is a lovely place. They are very active in conservation of native species and there are some interesting stories about the rare/important plants.

Tom is building his holiday home on a bluff overlooking the sea. It has a unique semi-circular design, completely off the grid, and it will be stunning.

It was cloudy and windy, which spoiled our plans to go out to the Poor Knights Islands, but we had a fun day anyway… touring the farm, taking a couple of swims, tasting wines at the neighborhood winery.