Takurua Winter 2025
Twenty-Second Edition

This edition, Shepherdess ventured from a historic pā to a homesteader’s kitchen, a manufacturing jeweller to a mountain road, and a milking shed to a musician’s country cottage.

From her family dairy farm in Kaimata, Rosie Cartwright reflects on what it takes to build a farming legacy while living and working side by side with family. We meet Katherine Mitchell, who shares her skills with others in Te Anau through a local community garden and her cooking classes – fostering connections and raising awareness of food resilience.

Learn about Wikitoria Lewer, born and raised in Te Kūiti, who found candle making to be a way to work through grief, reconnect to culture and honour her whakapapa. Cellist, composer, teacher and co-founder of the Wairarapa Youth Orchestra Caitlin Morris, shares how she nurtures a new generation of musicians while enjoying country life in Kahutara. An excerpt from Eden Hoare’s Central Otago Couture showcases some of the cattleman and fashion fancier’s collection.

Jessie Tombleson, co-owner of Cameron Jewellery in Palmerston North, is committed to continuing her parents’ legacy of manufacturing and selling the highest quality jewellery. Whilst Jaycee Tipene-Thomas reflects on the legacy of the 1846 battle at Ruapekapeka Pā and what it means to have grown up in a country town with a strong cultural history. And we explore Award-winning photographer Tatsiana Chypsanava’s photography, which captures the Tūhoe people’s enduring connection to their land and the strength of a living, thriving culture.

Lovely Things features handmade objects and slow-fashion from across Aotearoa, and Provincial Kitchen recipes for Power-Cut Nachos and Preserved Spiced Honey Apples from Gillian Swinton’s The Good Life. Along with all your favourites like rural weddings, fashion, and stories from readers of rural life.