Newspaper Article – Farmstay offers relaxing retreat

Farmstay offers relaxing retreat

MOST visitors to Mangatarata Farmstay near Waipukurau are city people looking for a farm experience.

“A lot of people are looking for links with the land,” farmstay operator Judy Macdonald says. “People don’t have the opportunity to get on farms that they used to have.”

Mrs Macdonald and her husband Donald have run a farmstay on their 1000 hectare sheep and beef farm for the past 14 years. Initially, most visitors were overseas tourists, but now about 90 per cent are New Zealanders. Of these, 80 per cent are city dwellers looking to escape to the more peaceful countryside.

Mangatarata, meaning the stream between the tarata trees, was established as a sheep station in 1851, the second one in Hawke’s Bay. The original 13,354 hectares has shrunk to the present-day size, which is farmed more intensively

The station homestead was built in 1897 and has been owned by different branches of the Macdonald family since 1906.

Mrs Macdonald chooses to provide farmstays and garden visits enjoying the opportunity to meet a range of guests.

“The bonuses of meeting people from other backgrounds are huge,” she says “I’ve been able to learn new perspectives on different aspects of life”

Mr Macdonald, though busy managing the farm, also enjoys talking to people and “sharing what we’ve created”. Sometimes he can be found helping out in the kitchen.

Mrs Macdonald believes rural tourism could offer many farmers the opportunity to supplement the traditional farm income.

“If you’ve got the right set-up, it’s okay, but I wouldn’t spend a huge amount on this type of business unless you’ve got a guaranteed market,” she says.

Several years ago, Mrs Macdonald was the initiator of a rural tourism organisation, Central Hawke’s Bay Unlimited, a move prompted by the hard times the area was experiencing.

Central Hawke’s Bay has traditionally been wealthy with good rural incomes supporting the local townships.

However, with restructuring and several bad droughts, that situation had been coming under pressure.

The aim of the organisation was to promote the area as a destination rather than just a place to pass through.

Photo caption – Judy MacDonald