Easy-care farm has coastal bonuses
There’s good fishing and hunting and also limestone caves, writes Leigh Bramwell
Most vendors are grateful for a speedy sale but Rachel Johnstone hopes she’ll get to spend a few more months at Puriri Heights, the family farm at Port Waikato, about 50km from Pukekohe.
Because the beach hut her husband Brook built there was only finished in May, and Rachel wants to have the use of it for a full summer.
The hut is where she and Brook go fishing — and it sits on part of 3km of beaches bordering the property, with access to mussel beds, fishing spots, hunting areas, and a network of limestone caves.
Rachel’s parents Ted and Natalie Ramsden bought the 540ha farm in 1959, moving from Taranaki in the middle of winter with a truckload of furniture, dogs and two young children.
Rachel and Brook took over the farm in 2007. “We were late-comers to farming,” Rachel says. “I was born here but I’d been away for more than 30 years. Brook was previously a helicopter pilot and I was an intensive care paramedic.”
Whereas Ted had focused on romney sheep and angus cattle, Rachel and Brook decided to introduce Wiltshire self-shedding sheep.
“The neighbours thought we were mad shifting completely away from wool, but it proved right for us and the farm,” Brook says.
“Shifting solely to lamb production was a big call, but it has paid off in terms of profitability, and making the farm easier to manage.”
It’s now an easy-care enterprise with capacity for about 5000 stock units, allowing the family more time to appreciate the surrounding environment.
“We spend as much free time as possible on the beach, either picnicking or fishing,” Rachel says, “and we generally have it to ourselves.”
There are also stands of native bush that have been covenanted to protect fauna and bird life, and a network of limestone caves, a well-known attraction for speleologists.
When Rachel, Brook and their children arrived here just over a decade ago, they decided to refurbish the existing homestead rather than building new.
The weatherboard and tiled house is Cape Cod style. Rachel wanted to preserve its good bone structure and, with architectural help, turned it into an elegant three-bedroom, three-bathroom home with entertaining areas, an office, a sunroom, and extensive decks.
The big foyer has as its focal point a broad staircase with ornate iron banisters opening to two living areas. There’s a large, modern kitchen with new timber floors, an island bench, a pantry, and an adjoining dining room. Big decks provide plenty of space for outdoor living. The favourite is the pizza house — the epitome of rustic chic.
Brook built it from local stone and recycled totara from the cattle yards, even using the old gate hinges.
There is a pizza oven, but the piece de resistance is the spit, driven by a water wheel he found and modified for spit roasting.
“Friday night is pizza night with the locals,” Rachel says.
Other accommodation on the property includes a three-bedroom manager’s house and a selfcontained sleepout in the grounds of the main house.
“This place is great for a family, but our kids are city dwellers so there’s no succession plan there,” Rachel says.
They have bought a property in Whitianga and will spend more time there. It doesn’t have a beach hut, but the one at Puriri Heights is on skids, so who knows?