Taumarunui

I was brought up in Ōhakune and moved to Taumarunui, where my mum’s family is from, when I was fourteen. I’ve been here ever since. It’s a place that people tend to think of like, “Oh, you’re from there.” But those of us who are from here, we just love it. Taumarunui is full of friendly people and we all know each other. When there’s somebody new in town, everybody knows. Everyone is very caring and welcoming. There’s no particular industry here anymore – there used to be the railways, and we had the freezing works for a time. We’ve had mills and things, but they’ve quit. There’s not that many jobs around, but if somebody wants to work, there’s a job here for them.

My husband and I brought our family up in the back blocks of Kirikau, about forty minutes out of town. Then we moved a bit closer into the Ngākōnui area, where we breed horses under our stud name, Makahiwi Arabians. My husband’s family has been involved in horse breeding since the sixties.

The strain of horses we breed are Crabbet Arabians. There are very few in the world, especially in New Zealand. We want to keep that lineage going, because they’re beautiful horses. They have a nice formation and they’re strong with low heart rates, which is what you need for endurance riding. They do go into other fields – showjumping and dressage and other things – but we personally breed them for endurance. I’ve always enjoyed horses, but there’s been a fear in me because they are just so big and you can get hurt. So in the last year, I’ve made a decision to beat my fear of horses. I love the horse I’m riding at the moment – Makahiwi Lucilla. She looks after me. I think she senses my fear, and she knows what I’m trying to achieve for myself, so she’s helping me do it.

I also work at Taumarunui High School, the school I went to from the age of fourteen. My original job there in 2006 was to find work experience for students in our community through Gateway. Then, in 2011, I set up a trades academy in our school. Very few schools are able to run a trades academy, so that was a real privilege to be a part of. I’m always looking for opportunities for our students, like taking them scuba diving for a week in the Coromandel. I love working with young people. Being a part of young people’s lives, to help guide them – that’s what I enjoy the most about my work.

I love introducing international students to Taumarunui through my role as international dean. The students I work with usually come from a big city. A German student came to stay with us on our farm recently. He came from Cologne, which is a big city. He had never seen sheep or cows or horses or chickens close up, and he’d never fixed anything. On the farm, you’re always fixing things yourself and trying to get things done. He was with us for about three months, and he was really lovely. We’d take him on the farm and up the mountain. He just loved it. He asked to stay another month because he just couldn’t imagine going home.

I think Taumarunui is the hidden gem of New Zealand because we have access to so many natural things that don’t cost money. We can just go out and enjoy nature. We do the Tōngariro Crossing as a family every year; we take the horses over our farm and open it up for treks. When the Trek for Life finished at our place, we had 150 horses in our paddocks and all the riders were there. It was incredible to be a part of that – everybody enjoying their love of horses. The Makahiwi Challenge is New Zealand’s longest endurance race and is run from our farm. We’ve been holding it since 2018. People come from all over the North Island and do anything from twenty to 240 kilometres. It’s brought people to Taumarunui and put us on the map, which is really cool.

We have thought about moving in the past, but I can’t imagine living anywhere else. I loved bringing our three children up here, and now our youngest daughter is bringing her family up in Taumarunui. It’s not only the farm life, but also the simplicity. Two of my grandchildren live in Thames, so I love it when they come home. We get horses and go out on the farm, just bringing them back to basics. There’s so much joy to be gotten from horses. I’m glad we can share that with our children and our grandchildren.