This embodiment of a desired better tomorrow goes back to our earliest settlers, those men and women, and the love of the land against all the challenges that it might bring—that true pioneering spirit, a journey in and of itself being one with the land. This was the nature of farmers and labourers throughout New Zealand's history, going to such extraordinary lengths to live on the land and enjoy the toil they're in. The farm I now own in Northland has a long and colourful history. It is a canvas of 150 years of farming in New Zealand steeped in pride, passion, and zeal. This is unparalleled in so many other countries. In 1869, Ann Rogers left Auckland with her 10 children. By some accounts, it is believed she set sail from Helensville, up the Kaipara Harbour, following the tide. This journey would have taken weeks, making landfall when nature allowed, following the tide north. Many weeks later, they arrived in Rēhia, Northland, on the farm I now own. Joseph, her husband, a printing press operator in Auckland, was destined to follow the year later. Within 12 months of Joseph's arrival, their farming dreams laid out in front of them, Joseph was to lose his life to a terrible fever. Farming in the wilds of Northland in the 1860s was fraught with danger and disease. His loss sadly left behind Ann and her 10 children in these untamed lands of Northland. 