The Hakataramea - where?

This is what I said to my (now) husband moments after fixing my eyes on him at my parent’s dairy shed (this is another whole story). Andy was telling me where he was from, the pride dripping from his voice as he said, “I’m from the mighty Hakataramea Valley!”

This was greeted by my blank face as my heart silently broke apart thinking this hot bloke, I’d met just moments before lived on a strange make-believe island somewhere far away between Timbuctoo … and the Chatham’s! (I joke). Fortunately for me, the conversation progressed, (as did the cows through the shed), and I managed to somehow get a golden ticket back home to meet the parents on his family farm. 

This was my first introduction to the Hakataramea Valley or “Dancing spear grass” which it is aptly named. Winding up and over the Haka hill to be greeted with the surprisingly vast patchwork of farms on the valley floor stretching far North surrounded by the rolling then steep mountains which create the valley walls. The meandering Hakataramea River cutting through the middle providing much of the the lifeblood for the surrounding farmland. This was all new, I didn’t understand it then, but I had just found something special, a little piece of New Zealand which was almost untouched, undiscovered. 

By building Nest, we intend to show off this part of the world. We want to bring people here so they too can catch a glimpse of this truly special part of New Zealand.

This area may not be as well-known or celebrated as other tourist havens but that doesn’t mean it’s any less deserving of praise or attention. But beware, once you have visited this valley you might also become hooked and find you’re still here decades later.. like me.