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Stop 1 - Cranberries NZ Ltd, Fairdown
The Cranberry is a new species development for New Zealand that recognises the special soil and climate of the West Coast region.
Managed by Clive Cook, for Roger and Jane Brough in partnership with Mark Lawler, this was indeed something new and interesting.
Seedlings start out under cover, then go out into nursery beds.
Big, Red and Hollow!
The prostrate cranberry bushes will be grown in bunded beds such as these (below), which are later water-flooded to float the berries for harvesting.
Travel Over the Karamea Bluffs
We headed north through classic Buller coastal towns of Granity, Ngakawau, Hector and Seddonville.
Climbing inland up ‘Gentle Annie’ (tenuously in our large coach), we crossed the great rugged block of indigenous forested conservation land that separates Karamea from the rest of the world. The views were awesome as promised!
A brief stop at the summit allowed examination of the ever changing botany.
Lunch - Karamea
Through Little Wanganui and on to Karamea; this special place blessed with good soils, high sunshine and a warm climate. It has fostered a range of new horticultural land use opportunities, despite its distance from markets.
Lunch at the Karamea School was provided by the Karamea Netball Girls as a fundraiser, and what a tasty varied lunch it was. This effort was led by Val Moynihan of the CGA (Coastal Grower's Association), who has done so much to assist with providing conference information for the Tree Cropper.
The raffle tickets seem to sell rather quickly. This could have been because of the cunning selection of prizes - packs of whitebait, and venison rumoured to be the real flavoursome (ie. non pasture-ised) variety.
Many were touched by the sense of community spirit here - children and adults offering such friendly hospitality.
Stop 2 - Passionfruit and Feijoas
Leasing some scarce dairying land to work on a dream, Chris Shaw and Chris Partridge have learned about and established a sizeable block of passion fruit as a new commercial venture.
Tahitian Lime and Kaffir Lime were also being trialed.
We saw this enterprise at the mid point in its development, with some big feijoa plantings planned too. Other feijoa development was occuring downtown in Market Square.
Passion And Hard Work.
Some old dairies don't die -
as long as there's a tree crop to process...
A good firewood-drying shed.
Stop 3A - Tamarillos and Poultry
One of the many local tamarillo properties, Graeme and Beverley Strawbridge’s high density original plantings are good producers. Their love of poultry and garden layout too made for an interesting visit to this property adjacent the Karamea Estuary.
The poultry was introduced to eliminate severe slug and snail problems when the trees were young. Harmony With Nature.
Stop 3B - Essential Oils at True Blue Organics
Aromatic promise greeted us at this ‘Bio-Gro, New Zealand’, certified organic property of Margaret and Hamish Macbeth. Their major business is growing, cropping and distilling essential oil from the Australian Tea Tree, Melaleuca alternifolia, and it makes for a visit with a difference. Horticulture, Science and Engineering combined!
Conference ended at "The Last Resort", Karamea
We were encouraged to stay for a relaxing night at Karamea, in preparation for the post-conference tour tomorrow!
That seemed like a good idea.
Text - adapted from the extensive tour notes provided and considered opinions expressed along the way
Photos - Les Gruebner and Gail Newcomb
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Created: 2005 May 29 - Updated: 2007 August 10