Following the popularity of our initial tour visiting farming enterprises around the Gisborne district in early 2022, we’re very pleased to introduce an updated encore adventure. Since the 1880s the hill country around Gisborne has been home to some of the most successful and innovative rural enterprises in the country. All manner of both agriculture and horticulture have thrived in this part of the East Coast at one time or another. Hawke’s Bay farming dynasties have had numerous familial connections to the Gisborne area, so we’re delighted to pay a few of these places a return visit AND introduce some farming operations we’re visiting for the first time. Over 4 days we’ll visit a variety of rural enterprises who are, like so many farms today, recognizing changing customer needs and diversifying their offerings. Here’s a summary of the planned itinerary;
Day 1: After driving north and stopping for morning tea at Gemmell’s shiny new café in Wairoa, our first farm visit takes us up onto the plateau at the southern end of the Mahia Peninsula. Onenui Station occupies just over 8,200 acres on the triangular southern tip of the peninsula and farms both cattle and sheep. Since the 1950’s, when the farm was only accessible every 12 hours with the tide, Onenui Station has been owned and managed by Tawapata South, an incorporated iwi entity that also owns the land operated by Rocket Lab at the very tip of the peninsula. We’ll learn about this award-winning farming operation and also enjoy lunch here. After our visit we carry on to Gisborne and the fabulous Portside Hotel, our home for the next 3 nights.
Day 2: This morning we visit Waipura Station which ranges over 2,100 acres on the steep hills just out of Gisborne. After morning tea and a chat in the woolshed with the Foster family we’ll head out in time to catch the shepherds in action with their dogs. A glorious lunch is in store at the beautiful Bushmere Arms before we head to our final destination of the day, Turihaua Angus Stud, the oldest Angus stud farm in Australasia. Established by J.N. Williams (of Frimley orchard fame) in 1897, Tarihaua remains in the Williams family to this day. The family will show us around their operation and talk about the extensive history of Turihaua and the Williams name.
Day 3: Today begins in the Rere District west of Gisborne and another internationally acclaimed Angus stud, Tangihau Station. Since its establishment over 70 years ago, the station has had only 3 managers and is owned by East Coast farming royalty, the Bayly family. This is our first visit to the property, and we’ll have morning tea with the current Station Manager, Dean McHardy, who has run the property for more than 30 years, and learn why the sale prices of Tangihau Angus bulls are often the highest in Australasia. We’ll also be shown around their recently completed complex for their own on-farm bull auctions. No trip into this area would be complete without a visit to the splendid Rere Falls. We have lunch at Eastwoodhill Arboretum and enjoy a tour of this national woodland treasure by jeep in the afternoon.
Day 4: Today is Saturday and that means our first stop of the day MUST be the Gisborne Farmer’s Market. Then we’re off for another first-time visit. Pihitia Station is a 2,500 acre coastal hill country sheep breeding & finishing station that has also been in the same Williams family as Turihaua since 1896. Toby Williams is the 5th generation to run the property. Toby is also Chair of Federated Farmers Meat & Wool Council and a passionate advocate for NZ wool. He’ll show us around and tell us about coastal hill farming. We’ll enjoy lunch on Gisborne’s beautiful Waikanae Beach before we begin our homeward journey back to the Bay.
It’s always a privilege to gain access to, and be shown around, private farming concerns and to listen to the people responsible for growing and maintaining them. Prepare to hear some remarkable stories of international success amid all the familiar farming challenges. Places are limited so book early for this remarkable tour.
