Stories by Sally Round

Cate and Mike King of Pauariki Honey lost a quarter of their hives after Cyclone Gabrielle hit Tairāwhiti in February. They also faced a poor season of manuka flowering. But the raw beauty of the… Audio

Push your way through a tangle of bush only kilometres from the Napier-Taupō highway and you are on an ancient pa site. Tangata whenua sheltered here hundreds of years ago but this site is known to… Video, Audio

A team of hunters heads out every five weeks to a hill country farm to harvest deer meat for Tai Rawhiti's food banks which have been under pressure after devastating weather hit the region this year… Video, Audio

From the back country to the coast, and the flats and rolling hills in between, you won't find many places or people untouched by the claws of cyclones Hale and Gabrielle which ravaged Tairāwhiti at… Audio

It's ancient, niche, sour and prickly - but what's not to love about yuzu? Country Life talks to Neville Chun about his passion for the fruit and follows it from the harvest to the brewery where yuzu… Audio

Hinds at Pāmu's Aratiatia deer milking unit are finishing up providing rich creamy milk for the season. Country Life is there at milking time to see how it's done. Video, Audio

Former Wellington mayor Celia Wade-Brown lives in a tiny off-grid house and regenerates native forest on a former sheep and beef farm on the flanks of the Tararua mountain range. The carbon… Audio

Golden Bay dairy farmer Tim Rhodes says virtual fencing is a worry for the dairy cow, the farmer and the consumer. Audio

Country Life is among drones, driverless tractors, nude sheep and comfy rocking chairs at the Central Districts Field Days, seeing what products are on offer to make the work of hard-pressed farmers… Audio

It's a return to the old days for the Cooke family of Greytown who are inviting people to come with their buckets and baskets to pick their own apples fresh off the tree. It's been a struggle for… Audio

Orchardist Lesley Wilson and her family plan the next steps for their apple growing operation after a traumatic escape from flood waters. Audio

Children and teens with mental health issues are entranced when they spend time at Fossil Creek Farm just outside Nelson. The donkey Holly senses when she should snuggle close and the rhythm of egg… Audio

Billy Barton used to compete with ferrets as a past-time in his native Wales. Now he trains them and a pack of white shepherd dogs to hunt out rabbits and feral cats in NZ's war against pests. Audio

Veteran New Zealand actor Sam Neill returned to his Central Otago vineyard earlier this month to find vines shooting up, pet pigs waiting for a scratch and a young stand of native trees thriving on a… Audio

Look underneath and you'll know what's right for the land, says forest and soil consultant Ian Moore. He's hanging up his workboots and now has more time to spend nurturing stands of harakeke… Video, Audio

Hawke's Bay farm manager Viliata Junior Fonoti Taulago has been known to bust moves in the paddock. Video, Audio

Claire Wells is one of few farmers who get to meet all their consumers face-to-face. The Gladstone beef farmer has just launched a gate-to-plate meat box business. Her subscribers pay for a "kinder"… Audio

Two First World War soldiers have emerged from the remnants of a dying redwood at a fork in the road in rural Hawkes Bay. The massive sculpture is a tribute not just to those who went to war from… Audio

A high-tech farming system which lets dairy cows move around without fences has also meant big changes for dairy workers. The young team on Pete Morgan's farm aren't just moving breaks and pushing… Audio

Clive Thompson was a curious 16-year-old when he started out growing mushrooms back in the 1960s. More than half a century on, he's now selling his Wairarapa business Parkvale Mushrooms. Video, Audio

Best of 2022 - A plantation of ancient tītoki trees used for perfume is among the secrets unveiled by historian and writer Mere Whaanga who has researched the story of Taipōrutu - her ancestral land… Audio

Glen Chen sees huge potential in New Zealand for growing ginseng, a root which has been harvested for use in traditional Chinese medicine for thousands of years. He grows wild-simulated ginseng… Audio

Country Life joins Lot 8's twenty first olive harvest and talks to the olive oil brand's owners Nalini and Colin Baruch who are among the Wairarapa's pioneering olive oil producers. Video, Audio

Tuvalu is the poster boy for small island countries suffering from climate change and its very existence and that of its people is under threat. Despite the gloomy outlook, Tuvalu has big plans for… Audio

With the UK having recently appointed a Minister of loneliness, Sally Round takes a look what can be done in New Zealand to address the problem, which will likely balloon as the population ages. Video, Audio