Photo: Supplied: Bateman Books
When Bill Mouat's family bought a chunk of land in southern Hawke's Bay the locals could've been forgiven for their surprise.
The land - known as Mangaorapa Station - was considered harsh and unproductive, unsaleable and near worthless.
Along with that, Bill's namesake grandfather Billy and his father Don and uncle Max were considered 'just truck drivers' with no real experience in farming.
But the family's assessment of the land was different - it was relatively flat, had ample water sources and lots of healthy mānuka and kānuka. And they were willing to work hard.
Eventually they would come to own the full 4700 acres of Mangaorapa Station, using some Kiwi ingenuity to break the land into fertile soil.
Bill's turned his family's pioneering farming history into a beautifully detailed book called 'Gold Under the Manuka' and speaks to Kathryn about it.
