Everything on their block is ambitious, from the 800m² of gardens to the 300 citrus trees.

a LIM report, and it all came back fine, but I wouldn't recommend buying a house like that!”

True to Michael's self-confessed workaholic nature – “it's the Dutch coming out in me” – everything on the Van de Elzen's block is ambitious. There's an extensive vegetable garden, and a large orchard covers much of the hillside.

“There's 300 citrus trees up there,” says Michael. “We love making lemon drinks, orange drinks cordials. I'm a big fan of making syrups, so that's one reason we've got so much.”

The citrus was sourced from a commercial nursery, thanks to a chance meeting at an industry event.

“I met William, who's a grower, at a Countdown trade show, and he was amazing. He was there with his citrus, and I told him we wanted to plant 300 trees. The conversation started, then email after email. He gave us so much advice on what to plant, how to plant, where to get trees – you can't just go out and buy 300 citrus trees, so we went down to Tauranga to buy them off a commercial place in the back blocks of nowhere.”

There are beehives at the top of the hill, managed by Angus, a local beekeeper. There's also a small herd of beef cattle, a flock of sheep, and 40-odd hens in a large run.

The vast garden covers almost 800m² and is full of raised beds. At one end is a 16m x 6m (96m²) Redpath tunnel house with a top vent and watering system; at the other is what will be a food stand and outdoor eating area for guests.

A gully runs through the middle of the block, channelling the water away. Bee spent hours tramping up and down it, planting hundreds of native trees. Michael says he got a much easier job, getting in his car and leaving for work.

“I think probably the biggest challenge for me is work-life balance. I'll work seven days a week if I'm allowed to."

He might have lived on a farm growing up, but Michael says he's still learning.

"The cows are wonderful, you put them in the paddock and they eat. I know my way around chickens. But sheep do weird things like ramming fences. We can't get near them because they're too skitty."

There was another lesson when he and Bee drove their slow, gas-guzzling 1985 Toyota Hilux 111km to the Forgotten Fruits Nursery at Mangawhai to pick up their heritage fruit trees.

“It's like driving a tractor on the road, no power steering, very slow,” says Michael. “Bee was like, ‘you've got to take the Hilux to fit the trees in' but when we got there, the (bareroot) trees were like twigs. It cost us about $300 in fuel. But the Forgotten Fruits couple were such lovely people; I love to talk to people like that and get their feedback.”

He says even after four years, he and Bee are still getting used to the long commute, the lack of convenience, the organisation it takes when you need to go into town.

“I think you've got to be committed,” says Michael. “You can guarantee on your tiredest, most stressed day when you just want to put your feet up and have a beer, something has happened. The electric fence isn't going, the cows are in the next door neighbour's place, the dog has chased a chicken, a cow has a twisted gut – that's all happened to us – that it can kick you when you're down.

“This lifestyle isn't for everyone, but we're lucky enough, we've worked hard, we've had a few things go our way,

■ and we got our little slice of paradise.”

"The cows are wonderful... I know my way around chickens... but sheep do weird things."