Shepherdess

The tiny town of Tokanui in the Catlins is a close-knit community, and when something is happening in town, people from the surrounding hills flock in.

The Central Otago rail trail connects the villages of Ophir, Lauder, and Ōmakau. Val Butcher has been the Postmistress of Ophir for the last twenty-two years, the oldest continually running postal service in the country.

Tora is an isolated community with a farming and fishing history located on the rugged South Wairarapa Coast. Here, Claire Edwards (Ngāi Tahu) runs Tora Collective with her partner Troy – harvesting kaimoana seasonally and only to order.

Pōrangahau is a small but strong community in Central Hawke’s Bay. Tania Nicholas (Ngāti Toa Rangatira, Ngāti Ruanui, Ngāruahine) left her career as a Māori Land Court lawyer to follow her husband Orlando back to his hometown.

On the south bank of the Waitaki River, Te Kohurau Kurow services the district and the remote stations that surround it. Here, Jaz Mathisen lives on the high-country Awakino Station, where she cooks for the shepherds with her three young girls by her side.

Amidst the rolling hills and winding roads surrounding the tiny village of Upper Moutere, are an eclectic community of artisans and growers. Alesha Bilborough-Collins is a chef who has turned her half-acre section into a sprawling garden and commercial kitchen, from which she runs her business, BearLion Foods.