Meet Anne and Phillip Woodward.
They came for a visit on Monday and I showed them a little bit of the town I left Waikaretu for.
I bought a small farm in the Waikaretu Valley 2001 and was there for 14 years, most of it on my own after Colette left and went back to Auckland.
It was a great little farm and I knew bugger all about farming, but I knew how to make friends and fit in.
(I lasted 41 years in horse racing in case you don’t believe me!)
The Waikaretu farm was perfect. I built up my web development business there and was able to do build up the photofinish business to expand into the Waikato and everything just went onwards and upwards.
But the first couple of years on my own was critical. Without Colette I was a bit lost at first but at the same time completely free to follow my dream.
Anne and Phillip lived 5 kms down the road. To give you an idea of what that meant, if I walked to their farm I passed 4 other houses.
In those first couple of years I went there a lot.
They looked after me.
They rescued me.
They bought my stock for me, and got me a farmer ID so I could sell my beefies at the Tuakau sales, and most often my beasts topped the sales because I had the only flat land in Waikaretu.
I judged at pet day at the local school and of course I was Santa there as well for the end of year bunfight.
Anne and Phillip sheared my sheep and taught me how to make pumpkin soup, country style.
When my car was in the garage they lent me theirs.
When the drought hit every summer they turned up and took my stock to their place, often without being asked.
They taught me what it was to live rural, and to live remote rural, where everyone relied on everyone else. They taught me about growing grass, the kind animals eat, not the kind I was used to in Auckland.
We prayed for rain together, eventually.
Their dream was to own a cafe. They had on their property an amazing cave with glowworms and had developed a small but valid adventure tourism business as a diversification effort to their farm. They decided to build a cafe in Waikaretu. Population less than 100.
It would work in with the cave tours.
And I bought the first cup of coffee there. I walked to the cafe and back every morning that I wasn’t at some race meeting somewhere between Dargaville of Taupo.
My farmhouse was a bit flash for Waikaretu and was known as Penelope’s house for many years after i moved in.
It’s now known as Dave’s house, and without going into the significance of that, let me tell you that is acceptance from salt of the earth people.
Every year I would have a big music festival at the farm, the Waikaretu Performing Arts Festival
Every day at Waikaretu I took a photo from the same spot on my verandah, usually just as the sun rose and hit the hills towards the west coast and every day still I take a photo from another spot, this time on the east coast to continue that theme that I live by, nothing is ever the same and everything is constantly changing.
The daily photo I take these days in of Moutohorā / Whale Island so I took Anne and Phillip up the hill to see the sights, east coast style.
When I left Waikaretu, on the eve of my last day there, Anne and Phillip came to Dave’s house for dinner, roast lamb, from the paddock. Leah and Lily were there as well.
I told them that once you live in Waikaretu, you never really leave, you just take a part of it with you, but you also leave a part of you there.
If you feel like going for a great roadie next time you’re heading north towards Auckland, turn off SH1 at Rangariri and head west. Take a drive up State Highway 22 and turn left down Waikaretu Valley Road. 20kms down that road there’s the Nikau Cave & Cafe
Take your shoes off at the door, and take your time as they get to know you. The roast their own beans and bake their own bread. If you order a salad they will pick if from the garden. The bread is homemade. The sweetcorn fritters are my recipe.
There’s accommodation if you feel like staying for the night.
Time will stand still and you will be blessed with a part of Aotearoa you never knew still existed.
When Anne and Phillip phoned to say they were coming – all my plans went in the bin. I wanted them to stay forever.
They drove off on Monday afternoon to babysit a couple of their 13 grandchildren. They’re retired almost now with Sam and Emily (both world champion shearers in their own right) leasing the old farm and a manager running the cafe.
Before they left they were browsing through an old book, I forget which one.
I made them take it with them so I had a reason to go and collect it.
My user name on Facebook is Waikaretukid, and this is my picture.
