Forging a Path
Forging hot steel, wielding sharp blades, and working with half-tonne horses at close quarters is no easy feat, but for Hawke’s Bay farrier Blythe Cruickshank, 32, it’s just another day at the office.
Courting Sustainability
Alice Trevelyan and Dave Swney are bringing fresh energy to their Te Awamutu dairy farm. With solar-powered milking sheds and a thriving native plant nursery, The Native Dairy Farmer, they’re growing a life that’s good for their family and gentle on the land.
Common Ground
When artist and photographer Raymond Sagapolutele arrived at Castle Hill Station, he quickly found common ground with farm managers Anne and Jason Hann, discovering shared values around care for people and place. The Upper Waimakariri Catchment Group – which Anne chairs – hosted Raymond in April as part of the Pacific Arts Nature Residencies, a collaboration between Creative New Zealand and Aotearoa New Zealand Catchment Communities.
All In
In the third of our series of feature interviews, Shepherdess Editor Kristy McGregor chats to Kate Acland, Chair of Beef + Lamb New Zealand. Along with her role as chair, Kate and her husband, Dave, farm the 3,800-hectare Mount Somers Station. The station runs sheep, beef and dairy, but the family have diversified with honey and lambswool blankets. Prior to moving south, Kate, who grew up on a lifestyle block in rural Taranaki, founded a winery in Marlborough. Kristy says, “Kate has a high-profile role – I’ve seen her name in the newspaper, and have bumped into her a couple of times. I admire her leadership in what I imagine to be at times a male-dominated industry.” Here, in this conversation, they cover entrepreneurship, farming, family and leadership.
Great Southern Land
Kylie Krippner of Wings & Water in Te Anau and Nikki Ladd of Shark Experience in Motupōhue Bluff take us for a wild ride through Murihiku Southland.
An Ordinary Day
It was just an ordinary day in the Strath Taieri Valley for Anna and Bevan Wilson when Bevan had an accident while working on their farm. Although it was serious, the couple are mindful that the situation could have been far worse. Now, one year on, Anna and a fully recovered Bevan reflect on how they handle on-farm risk.
The Sky’s the Limit
Aircraft maintenance engineer Debbie Garlick grew up tinkering with machines alongside her helicopter pilot dad in the small Southland town of Tuatapere. Encouraged by her family to pursue her aviation dreams, Debbie joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force at just seventeen and, from there, her career took off.
A Dream & Hard Graft
A way of life with a love of horses at its core, encompassed by a strong belief that horses can heal.
Sound, Sea and Sky
Entrepreneurs Maria and Seán use their sustainable charter venture Pure Salt to foster conservation efforts in Fiordland.
Holding on to love through loss: how communication, intimacy and acts of love have helped one couple to navigate tough times
Elise and Matt have navigated the darkest of times in their nearly three-year relationship, including multiple miscarriages
Losing a baby to miscarriage: “You never quite put that grief to bed; it just takes up less space”
Laura has experienced multiple miscarriages and has become an advocate for women in a time of great emotional intensity.
One woman’s mission to share a life-saving message about gynaecological cancers: “We’ve normalised talking about breasts, so let’s remove the stigma about talking about our vaginas.”
Her own cervical cancer diagnosis set Bay of Plenty farmer Sjaan on a mission to raise awareness about gynaecological cancers.
“It’s never going to be just sunshine and rainbows, and it doesn’t have to be” – a closer look at post-natal depression
Carla was diagnosed with post-natal depression when her daughter was about eighteen months old, after the two of them and Carla’s partner moved to Ōhope from the remote East Cape.
Brenda McHugo – Short Film
Brenda McHugo, 80, decided she wanted to be a midwife when she was twelve years old following an out-of-the-ordinary event that meant she witnessed something quite spectacular – the birth of a baby and the beginning of a new life.
Takurua Winter 2026 Edition
Twenty-Sixth Edition
Our Takurua Winter Edition is out 8 June.