Living off the land far from easy

Press, 1 March 1984, Page 17

Living off the land far from easy

Many people have dreamed of living off the land in a rural community, but few have actually been successful at it. Thousands tried in New Zealand in the 1970 s when the government of the day set up its ohu scheme, but most farms collapsed after only a short time.

The “Country Calendar” team set out at the end of last year to find out how and why some of these rural communities have survived, and the results can be seen in “Common Ground,” a four part series which will begin screening on One at 7.45 p.m. on Sunday. The producer, Howard Taylor, says: “One problem with rural areas today is depopulation x — fewer people are needed to run a farm because of advances in technology and introduction of new cultural systems. “Many of these areas are now being repopulated by people who want a simple lifestyle — and they need less capital to set up a community because their basic needs are less.” Most of the communities are in fairly isolated areas — land is cheaper in the backblocks, sq very little finance is needed to get started — but this often

means a long, slow struggle and lots of hard, physical work.

Taylor has chosen four fairly different communities for his series — Brouillard Bleu, a replica French village in the Wairarapa; Rainbow Valley, a 60s-type commune in Golden Bay, Ahu Ahu Ohu, one of three survivors of the ohu scheme; and Moehau Community, Ltd, an enterprising group on the Coromandel. The series director, Gillian Thomas, says: “They are people who have chosen a lifestyle which is different from the norm, who have had a dream and then had the courage to go for that dream. In most cases that means very hard work, but their rewards come from simple pleasures. “In the process of attempting to build thendream, these people often find their original ideas change because of the reality of just how hard it is to build a life out of the land,” she says.

The first programme looks at Victor De Villalier, who hopes to attract artists and craftspeople to his replica French village, “Brouillard Bleu,” in the Wairarapa. Mr De Villalier, who came to New Zealand

from France in 1934, has lived there for the past five years, “... trying to create a self-sufficient community of people who like living in a village.” But he still lives alone, with only his animals and occasional visitors for company. Each building in his village has been lovingly created out of stone he has made himself, no mean feat when one is relying on a generator, but his experience as a former theatre set-builder has stood him in good stead. Every morning he begins his day by running up the French, New Zealand and Brouillard Bleu flags, ringing a bell and praying to St Francis. “There’s something rather nice about being eccentric,” he says. Apart from working on creating his village, looking after the animals and tending the land, he also makes hand-crafted furniture, with help from a friend, which is sold through an outlet in Masterton.

“Rainbow Valley,” the second programme in the series, is about a group whose 60s idealism has had to come to terms with economic realities. This is very much a commune, situated in the Golden Bay

area, and home for three families and a number of single people.

Over the eight years the group has been established it has developed a viable fur trade, beginning with possum skins which the men trapped and the women made into jackets. Now it runs a fur factory in Takaka, importing some skins from overseas and selling their finished coats and jackets throughout New Zealand.

The children of the commune attend the Takaka schools, where they are happy to conform with the latest childish trends —

even to the extent of wearing swimsuits at the local waterhole, while their parents have no such inhibitions.

Apart from the fur factory, the commune also owns about 100 sheep, four or five dairy cows and a solar-powered radio telephone — one of the few

radio phones in New Zealand. Community relations between the residents of Takaka and Rainbow Valley are very important to the commune, and together they have organised sports teams and even a pantomime.

In complete contrast with the Rainbow Valley community, the members of the Ahu Ahu Ohu live about 70km away from the nearest civilisation, which happens to be Wanganui. Tucked away in a valley that can be reached only by crossing a river and then trekking up country over a long and at times very muddy track, Ahu Ahu is one of only three survivors of the Labour Government’s ohu scheme.

Three families are now battling the isolation that drove out the first settlers in the 19305, but they all agree that they have found what they have been looking for. They try to live off their .land — they have a

few sheep and cattle, a vegetable garden and fruit trees — but once in a while one or other of the group is forced to seek work outside of the ohu.

The logistics of getting materials in and out of the valley provides problems. What they cannot carry in themselves has to be dropped by helicopter — at $2OO a trip. The group plans to build a road into the valley, but first it has to raise the money.

Not knowing what they wanted to do when they left the University of Auckland in the early 19705, a group of friends pooled resources and bought some land in the Coromandel peninsula. The land has become the Moehau Community, Ltd, has 42 shareholders and is the subject of the final programme of the “Common Ground” series.

The community has since spawned other co-operatives and has itself increased to

about 18 adults and a few children. The farmhouse — built by everyone — is the focal point of Moehau. Everyone meets there for two meals a day, and it also houses a library and laundry facilities. The community has a small Hereford herd, a flock of sheep, runs a commercial fishing venture, keeps poultry, grows vegetables and is completely self-sufficient. It has also planted a small orchard and a small forest. Perhaps the biggest accomplishment for this group, which originally started with the vague but common aim of “good healthy food,” is the completion of a recording studio. Built from money earned by the Aerial Railway Stage Crew who put up the second stage at outdoor rock festivals, the studio is used for education and for other musicians to make demonstration tapes. It operates entirely on donations.