Struan Farm

A Brief Journey to Middle Earth

Last week John and I had friends visit Struan Farm for a few days from Seattle, Washington. It was their first trip to Piopio, so we booked a tour at nearby Hairy Feet Waitomo, our local Hobbit film location in Piopio. While we weren't sure how much they were into all things Hobbit, Hairy Feet's setting and the surrounding landscape are so spectacular that it's not to be missed either way. Tour groups are quite small and personalised.

And here's Jim doing his best Gandalf impression:

It was a beautiful day and a fun time.

Out to Lunch

Over the weekend John and I travelled down the Mangaotaki Valley to have lunch with Mark Verry, a friend of John's from Piopio Primary School days, and his wife Suzie. We hadn't been to their farm before, so after lunch went out on a drive and walk to take in the amazing views.

There are some pretty incredible landscapes in our part of the world, aren't there?

While the massive limestone cliffs along Haku Road are quite spectacular, the cloudy, white sky didn't lend itself to good photos. But features like that above ran for some distance. They're similar to what visitors see at Hairy Feet Waitomo.

Bottom line: we need to get out for lunch more often!

Thank Heavens for The Fat Pigeon!

We're thankful here at Struan Farm for Piopio's award winning cafe, The Fat Pigeon, for many reasons. Most people in the know would agree that the cafe literally saved our provincial King Country village many years ago now. 

During 2006 it was publicised in the region that Piopio was "dying." It had become increasingly difficult to recruit new staff from outside the district to the town's school and shops, for farm managers and workers, mechanics and vets.

Something about the stigma of being labeled as "dying" galvanised the community to take action. This is a rural area with a rich Maori history, where families have farmed for several generations and still do. Public meetings were held, consultants retained, and working groups established to generate ideas to turn the situation around. A public survey confirmed that three essential services were desired: doctor, postal service, and last but not least: a good cafe. 

Piopio is situated on the main road south, SH3, midway between Hamilton to the north and New Plymouth to the south. Convincing some of that traffic to stop was critical to Piopio's survival and commercial success.

Four families got together and established a privately funded community development company. The group soon grew to sixteen. Research on a cafe business followed with the assistance of Craig McFarlane (New Plymouth based Ozone Coffee). It was clear from the start that there was only one person to run Piopio's cafe: local Melanie Simpson.

As you might expect, there were fits and starts, but to make a long blog post short, The Fat Pigeon Cafe was built next to the public toilets and Kara Park in April 2009, and opened in June. The Piopio College carpentry class constructed a fence and bridge across to the park. Investors cracked in on the landscaping. The builder spoke to local school groups. Excitement was in the air, and everyone in Piopio felt part of it.

The Fat Pigeon Cafe opened its doors during the global financial crisis, in the middle of winter. The cafe succeeded, undaunted. It turns out there was real demand for a cafe in our country town on the main road. Especially one serving amazing, delicious food and excellent Ozone coffee. Word of mouth spread, awards were won. The line of customers is often out the door. 

More good news: in 2011 Peter Jackson's Hobbit crew invaded Piopio, filming a segment of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" at Denize Bluffs in the Mangaotaki Valley (now open as Hairy Feet Waitomo Film location).

So Piopio is now thriving. We have visitors from New Zealand and overseas flocking to our town (excuse the sheep analogy), the country town "saved" by our cafe. This week we have both Japanese and Australian guests staying here at Struan Farm.

But while these visitors are important to commercial sustainability, The Fat Pigeon wouldn't be the success it is without continued community support. Locals frequent the cafe and book catering for important occasions throughout the year.  Here at Struan Farm we use the catering team for events held at the farm, and direct our farmstay guests into town to the cafe and its sister Night Owl Restaurant for dinner.

I am personally thankful to have the Fat Pigeon for two reasons in particular. In winter when John is up north on business and the rain is going sideways, I am happy to have a local cafe for friendly faces and an excellent coffee (and perhaps breakfast or a baked treat) when I make the weekly trip into the dump.

What's prompted this post today is that at this time of the year, The Fat Pigeon is happy to take my garden surplus as/if/when.  As you might suspect, at the moment that's TOMATOES. 

 

I'll trade tomatoes for coffee vouchers any time! 

A Facelift for Gandalf

Struan Farm's Gandalf has been stationed outside the Garden Cottage since he arrived at the farm almost two years ago in the passenger seat of John's car. He positioned himself in the Homestead gardens to make sure no trolls sneak up the Mangaotaki River valley from nearby Hairy Feet Waitomo, aka "Trollshaw Forest" and cause trouble for our farmstay guests.

But dear Gandalf managed to get himself worn out over this time by all that responsibility, with his face weathering considerably from all the stress and strain. So a facelift was called for to keep him looking his best. Artist Keith Bell from Dargaville shipped down supplies with instructions for John to undertake the procedure required. But John chickened out, and asked nephew Mike to step into the fray.

Mike has done a great job. Gandalf is resting comfortably in the workshop after the procedure but is definitely back to his old self!

Creativity Fostered & Flourishing in Piopio

This year the Project Piopio Trust conducted a children's art competition in conjunction with the Aria Toy Library. The original idea behind this was to come up with artwork illustrating our rural life, and to foster creativity and talent within the younger members of the community.  Winning entries would be displayed on the Toy Library's exterior wall in Piopio.

Three local artists worked with children from pre-school up to Year 6 in a number of sessions. A total of 85 entries were received. The quality of submissions was deemed to be so high that an additional number of paintings were reproduced and are now hung on two other buildings. The remainder have been printed onto banners for display at the schools, with prizes and certificates awarded to all entrants.

The artwork has just been hung on the buildings in the past week, and looks fantastic, below is a sample. So take a break in Piopio and see all this firsthand!

 

Beside the Mangaotaki

John and I went down to the river a few days ago. He is mulling over the next stage of clean up that we've got to do. We're working hard to make Struan Farm as scenic as possible, and are gradually getting into the more remote corners of the property, including the river.

So while John walked and plotted the big picture, I focused on the details, including some beautiful ferns and native orchids. Thanks to our friends at Hairy Feet Waitomo I learned these orchids are called "Peka-a-waka" or "Bamboo Orchid," (Earina mucronata).

John and I are a great team, aren't we?

Sillouettes of Cicadas

Was wondering last week when we'd begin to hear the deep summer humming of the cicadas start at Struan Farm. And we didn't have to wait too long, they rose up from underground this past weekend to start their annual mating concert.

John and I did a wander around the trees in the Homestead gardens and Pet Paddock to find their abandoned casings on the tree trunks. They seem to prefer dogwoods, maples and oaks, we're not sure why.

Cicadas remain for us on of those amazing seasonal curiousities we see around Struan Farm.