Island Notes: Finding my place on Aotea Great Barrier Island

"We were still in our thirties when Julie Anne, Georgie and I walked up the valley that first time.

Purchase negotiations for the thirty hectares took a few weeks. More important than price, the owners wanted reassurance that we would take proper care of two horses that lived on its swampy paddocks.

We were not buying the property, they were selling it to us. We had to be fit for the job."

An off-grid house on Aotea Great Barrier Island promises to fulfil one man's dreams, but he discovers...