Jacqui Anderson

I remember arriving in Tararua as a seventeen-year-old, keen to start my farming career. I had an orange Escort car, a black-and-white eye dog (that never stopped barking) and a pair of Red Band gumboots that were too short for the milking shed. Back then I lived in a valley called Rongomai, just out of Eketāhuna.

I always knew I was going to be a farmer – I told my parents when I was seven years old. And then at high school I told my teachers, who tried talking me out of it. They didn’t. That summer, watching sixty brilliant yellow-and-red sunrises, I knew I had found my place.

The peace of morning milking, working with animals, being outside and being part of a great team is what made it special. Being nestled in the valley, with green hills all around, felt safe. It was like I fitted in instantly.

I spent a year at Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre and studied sheep and beef. After I finished, I was nominated for a scholarship to spend a year studying in the United Kingdom at a college called Walford. I received the scholarship and as part of my trip I went over on a container ship, working
my passage.

Time has marched on, and my valley view has been replaced with the windswept hills of Mount Bruce, near Pūkaha. Rocks of all sizes are forced out of the land, occasionally rolling down the steep hills and taking out a fence. The view is now of the Tararua Ranges. Blue and grey and strong.

Sunrises are different here, too, compared to the Rongomai Valley. They erupt slowly over the hills and turn the sky pink. The Makakahi River winds its way through our farm, providing us with hours of fun and community togetherness. Cows are now sheep, meaning noisy days in dusty yards.

Looking back, I had no idea how my life would change, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. For me it has always been about farming – the people, stock and land.

GATHER is Shepherdess’s storytelling and portraiture project documenting life in provincial Aotearoa New Zealand. In our latest series, we present the words of ten women who call the Tararua District home. Over the past few months, writer Carly Thomas worked with each woman to help them bring their writing to life, and photographer Abbe Hoare visited their homes to capture their portraits. GATHER was supported by the Tararua District Creative Communities Committee, through funding from Creative New Zealand. If you’d like GATHER to come to your area, get in touch with us at [email protected]. We’d love to hear from you!

This story appeared in the Ngahuru Autumn 2022 Edition of Shepherdess.