24WORDSJoshua Brosnahan PHOTOSElise Rutherford & Francis StreiselA
changeinsceneryaftertwo
decadesofdairyfarmingmeantthe
beginningsofa uniquejourneyfor
RichieandKateBocockandtheirfamily.
TheirventureTeWepuhascarriedonthe
originalfarmnameandisan‘intrepidpod
retreat’inFrenchFarm,ontheBanksPeninsula.
ThePodsusenaturalspringwaterandare
surroundedbybushthatregeneratedafter
dairyingstoppedonthefarm,inthe’70s.
Thecouplehasa backgroundin
agriculture– a movetothepeninsulafrom
Ashburtonmeanttherewere‘alotofboxes
ticked’forthelifestyle the family were
searchingfor.
Anoriginalplanwastoobtainmoreland
forfarming,butKateconfessestheideaof
a glampingsetup‘grewlegs’andbecamea
waytheBocockscouldliveoffthe 30 hectares.
TheBocock’spropertyhada formerlifeas
a dairyfarm.FrenchFarmValley,formerly
thevegetablegardenfortheoriginalFrench
settlers,boastsgreatsoils,climate,andwater.
Thespotwasalsousedasa bach,withthe
farmleasedouttolocalfarmers.Thecouple
hasusedtheseadvantagestoattemptan
avocadogrove,andcloseto 80 treesplanted
onsitearecurrentlyexperiencing their first
Canterburywinter.
TheideabehindtheTeWepupodsstarted
witha simplediscussiononhowRichieand
Katecouldsharetheamazingviewswith
others.TheBocockswantedsomething
differenttotheothertraditional ‘glamping’
tentoptionsonoffer.
“Theideagrew,andonceitseemedit
could be done, we just went for it. Lookingback,itseemslikea boldmove,butweare
pleasedwebackedourselves to make the
changeofvocation.
“Wewantedtodosomethingreallyinteresting,
andbychance,wehavetheproperty that lends
itselftothistypeofbusiness.”
Kateenjoysthehospitalitysideofthings,
ensuringguestsarrivetoa BarrysBaycheese
boardwithhomemadecrackers.Dinner
hampersareavailable,withfarmgrownmeat
anda bottleoflocalvino.Thereareeven
marshmallowstotoastonthefirepit.
Richielovestheinteractionwiththeguests
whiledoingtheoddbitoffarmingto‘balance
thingsout’.Hementionsthere’s‘alate
checkout,sothere is no need to rush off the
nextmorning’.
Thecouplewaspleasantlysurprisedathow
manymenhaveshowntheir enthusiasm for
thepodexperience.
“Theirprimalinstinctsseemtotakeover
withgreatdelightatthesightofthe fire pit,
andwood-fedhottubandBBQ.
“It’svery‘manmakefire’,whiletheladysitsin
hottub.It’sa win-winforcouples”,Katelaughs.
Thecouplementionthey‘couldn’timagine
it wouldbeasbusyasit hasbeen’andtheTe
WepuPodshasdeveloped into a full-time job
forthecouple.
“Weseemtohavemadeour‘vacation’
our‘vocation’butlookingbackwecan’t
believeweareheredoingwhatwedo.We
tooksomehugerisks,andourenthusiasm
certainlyraised a few eyebrows, but we are
lovingit.”tewepu.co.nzA VACATION VOCATION