# Left my home town of Huntly, # headin' out in the cold. From the sunny north to the wild south, NZ is overflowing with breathtaking backdrops, heavenly harvests and a whole lot of fabulous foodies. So jump on board with us as we hang out with the locals, wrangle some wildlife and feast our way around this magnificent country. Come on, Toppy. We got people to meet and food to eat. Yeehah! # Nga iwi e. # I'm just a local farmhand... # This week we're in the Waikato, and we meet the green-fingered men from the Wairere Nursery. Why have one backyard when you can have three? And then I'm horsing around with the musterers down at Molesworth Station while Lynda gets well fed in the kitchen. But right now we're in Kawhia, with a whanau who have been playing in this backyard for centuries. Get down, boogie. Ooh, shake it baby! The mighty Kawhia Harbour is Hinga and Lloyd Whiu's backyard, and they can be found at dawn ` rain or shine ` working out on the wharf. As leaders in the Maori health sector, this couple not only walk the talk but they also strut the taiaha. We're being welcomed on to the Maketu Marae to meet the descendants of the original Tainui waka. It's a very special place, and these are two very special people. Well, Lloyd, you got a pretty damn good backyard here. We've been playing in it for the past 900 years or so, so. The food it provides the people ` you know, you can get your pipis, your tuatua, pupu` (CHUCKLES) ...kina, crabs, papaka... Is it like a big seafood basket? It is, and` Do you know where all those spots are? I could tell you, but then I'd have to kill you after I told you` (CHUCKLES) ...so that secret stays with us. Me and Hinga are down in the creek, and we are picking the most beautiful crop of watercress. I remember coming here when I was quite young with my nana, and we used to pick this watercress. Getting ready for a big boil up, were you? Ready for a big boil up to feed the whanau. Were you born here, Hinga? Yeah, I was born here, but I was brought up mostly in Gisborne. OK. And then we moved back here about 20 years ago now. When we moved back here we didn't have anything, and` Yeah. ...we came back and we just lived off the land. We got some chooks. Yeah. I learned to, uh, make bread and to do preservings. Everything's here. Yeah, it's a great backyard to live in. Yeah. And how many kids have you got? We've got eight. Got almost a rugby team. Yeah, nearly. BOTH LAUGH Eight children, and we've got nine mokopuna ` nine grandchildren now. Wow. Yeah. You've got plenty of watercress here. You better start having more babies. Yeah, well` This is the thing, eh? (CHUCKLES) I` Might've been the watercress, why I had a lot of babies. BOTH LAUGH You know, Kawhia's a homeland of the Tainui people. We call it the centre of the universe for us. One of the reasons why they left Hawaiki was a lack of food` Yeah. ...resources, what have you. So they came to Kawhia here and ` bang. The sea, low hills all provided food, birds and the swamps that all` whitebait and what have you, and` Yeah. This tree, the` above us, it became the place where they tied the waka to ` berthed it, moored it ` and from that day till then, we've become a land-based people. It` This actual tree is where they tied the waka up? Yeah. You won't find it on the local tourist map sort of thing` (CHUCKLES) ...but on the` on the Tainui map, it stands out like a, you know, beacon. And are you connected to that` that waka that came in here? Yes, I am. I can whakapapa right back to Hotorua and to Rakataura, the` the tohunga, and Hinga can do as well. And is the waka out there somewhere? So, after made landfall here they, uh, drag it on the beach here, uh, at the back of, uh, Maketu Marae, and they` they buried it, not` I mean, not 100% sure why they buried it. They` They perhaps through that, 'We're not going back to Hawaiki. 'We're gonna put our roots down here, and we don't need a waka to travel.' I am very excited here, because there are two boil ups. Sure is, Jools. BOTH LAUGH Titi ` muttonbird ` kamo kamo and puha. I'm very fortunate cos my dad's Ngai Tahu` Oh, OK. and, uh, we got a bucket given to us the other day, so, yeah, you come at a good time. Nice. And what about this baby here? Yeah! Pork bones from a local farmer` Nice. ...and some watercress that we picked. That's my favourite. That's my favourite too, mate. And we got some flour. What are we gonna make there? Well, we're gonna make some doughboys ` some motumotu. Motumotu. Just some flour and some salt and a bit of water. That's looking pretty good, mate. Yeah. I'll let you get in there and do the hands. OK. That's gonna make better, isn't it? Yeah. You keep cooking. I'll play you a little tune. Yeah, I was waiting for you to play us a tune, mate. (PLAYS SPOONS) Lynda's actually the spoon player. (LAUGHS) I just` I play the fool. BOTH LAUGH What's the art to finding pipis? You look where the little bubbles come up out of the sand. Oh yeah. And you then will move around like that and feel for them. And you'll feel them, yeah. Hey, I think I got one. Yeah? That feels like a pipi. Cool. There you go. Pay dirt. Oh, look at that. Beautiful pipis. Yeah, awesome. Kawhia gold. BOTH LAUGH It's all pretty healthy, what we're eating, isn't it? Healthy as. What I actually did is that I let them both boil and I actually tipped out all the hinu ` all the fat. Oh, OK. And then I put in, um, a fresh lot of water. Like, our passion is health, as a whanau. Yeah. A lot of my, um, my own immediate family, they were all dying from smoking-related illnesses` Yeah. ...and they were all dying before they were 60. We felt that we needed to get up and do something about it. Yeah. So, our skills was in performing arts, so we put it` uh, a show together, Jools. Yeah? We travelled all around Aotearoa promoting healthy living, smokefree lifestyle. OK. And we` we did it as a whanau, which was really awesome, over the 18 years that we were on the road. We toured everywhere from Te Hapua right down to Bluff. We even went to Canada and Hawaii` Wow. ...performing, yeah. You were the Maori gypsies, were you? BOTH LAUGH That's us. OK, we've got our pipis here and we've just steamed them open, and now Lloyd is getting me to do something with them. So, we're stringing them on to our nylon line, and we'd hang them out. Hang 'em out to dry. Hang 'em out to dry. Yeah. It's called whakamaroke, meaning 'to dry in the sun'. You can eat them as part of a meal, or you might be out hiking, just a bit of snack along the` Oh yeah. ...along the way, yeah. Maori snack food. (CHUCKLES) Yeah. Is it hard to have eight kids? Easy-peasy, mate. Is it? (CHUCKLES) It's easy when you have a partner and we work together. I wouldn't have been able to do it on my own. Lloyd's a bit magic, is he? Yeah. Well, you know how everybody says you have a king in your life? Yeah. Well, he's my king. OK. I bet your kids love you. Yeah. Um... Cos I love you. Oh, kia ora, mate. (LAUGHS) I love you too, Jools. You're` You're awesome, man. BOTH LAUGH What sorta woman is she? She's got a skill with people that` people sorta warm to her, you know? Yeah. Total strangers, and she'll have them laughing out of her` out of her hand type thing. How did you meet Hinga? Hinga and I met up in a nightclub. What` What, uh, music was playing? Was it disco? (LAUGHS) Uh, yeah. Yeah, it was. And he was probably a sharp dresser with his flares and his platforms on, was he? He had that Afro, man, I tell ya. (LAUGHS) He had an Afro? BOTH LAUGH # Just making love with time. Whoo-hoo! # Just making time with love. # Dig in. Dig in, go for it. Lynda's got the muttonbird on her plate. I've got muttonbird? Yeah, you have. Look at that. There's a whole muttonbird there. Whoo-hoo! Really salty and really tasty. Really tender. Beautiful. What've you got on your plate, Jools? I've got a beautiful big piece of pork, and I've got the watercress that we picked this morning. It's just falling off the bone. You just have to suck it off. Mmm. We're lucky ` we finally have the Topp Twins in Kawhia. That's right. Yeah. What a gorgeous backyard you've got, eh? # Just making love with time. Whoo-hoo! # Just making time with love. < Hey, mate. # Just making love with time. Here we go! # (LAUGHS) Disco down! ALL CHEER (LAUGHS) Party! Not bad for a bunch of old folks, eh, kids? . Welcome back to Topp Country, with Lorna and Mavis in the kitchen. Have we got a backyard treat for you! That's right ` bangers in a cauliflower with a tomato sauce moat. Just slip your sausage in a beaten egg, smother in cornies and bake in a hot oven. You know, last year I grew these all along my garden edge. I call them my border caulies. Look out ` I'm about to get saucy. I can't remember the last time I had sausage. Think you might be telling a little bit of a porky there, Lorna. Why have one dog when you can have six? This is the philosophy of Harry Janssen and Lloyd Houghton. These two have spent the last 25 years growing plants for their nursery in Gordonton and also expanding their empire. While most of us are happy with one backyard, Harry and Lloyd have three, and if Harry gets his way ` which I'm sure he will ` he's already scheming number four. This is the most amazing backyard. Yes, this is where we started. This is backyard the first. What was here when you first got here? Just standard kahikateas ` white pines. That's why we bought it, cos there was 21 of those trees and we just absolutely loved it. Were you gardeners? Were you both gardeners? Yeah, really. Yeah. Um, Harry comes from a family of gardeners, and, um, I've always done horticulture. So it wasn't a stretch to see that you could actually make something of this place? Uh` There was a lot of fights gone down, trust me. ALL LAUGH Yeah, there was a bit of that. The courtyard up there where the persimmon tree is was, like, about three years in the waiting, cos I wanted broken concrete ` he didn't really know what he wanted` (LAUGHS) ...and then eventually` It wasn't broken concrete. No. ALL LAUGH What were you creating, a ti` a tip or a garden? ALL LAUGH What's this backyard called? Called backyard the third. Backyard the third` Yes. ...that's very regal, isn't it? Yes, it is, isn't it? And there's quite a few straight lines in here, too. Oh, I like everything nice and straight, cos we're not. BOTH LAUGH OK, this is our lovely herb garden. I can tell straight away that that's rosemary. Yeah, actually, it is. Rosemary officinalis, which is good for cooking. And then we've got pizza thyme. Is that what it's called ` piz` pizza thyme? Yeah, pizza thyme. And you can use it on pizzas, but I use it lots with` when I'm doing spaghetti bologneses and things like that. Oh man, that smells incredible. It's really an interesting thing. Some people wouldn't know where to start. How did you start on your first garden? Oh, by getting on the tractor and rotary hoeing up the whole lawn. (CHUCKLES) So you didn't have a plan, eh? No, no, absolutely not. If we did it again, though, like, I would certainly start with a plan, but I don't think we've done too bad a job just by ourselves. We've just specialised in fruit trees and maples and camellias. And we don't just do one of anything. If we're gonna do feijoas, we find every feijoa we can. You've got lots of orange trees out there, have you? Yeah, there's` uh, I think that'd be a Parent Navel over there` Yeah. ...and there's some grapefruit, tangelo, and some lemons out the back there. We have about 20 citrus altogether. Just 20? Well, we` a lot of times we give it away, especially give it to kids` Yeah. ...to teach them how to eat` Yeah. ... fresh and healthy. And then, when Christchurch had the earthquake, well, we sent boxes of lemons and all that down to there to help them out. Oh yeah, that's a pretty neat thing to do, eh? Yeah, nah, it was good. It's been` Especially when you got it. I like the straight lines of the potager, but as we come down this part of the informal garden, I like the way it naturally drifts out to nature in` in such a... Yeah, cos it's really changed here, now, hasn't it? Oh, absolutely. The idea was to plant it out so it's relatively weed-free and low maintenance over a period of time. Low maintenance. We like that, don't we? Yeah, yeah, yeah. (CHUCKLES) Especially when there's three backyards to look after. That's right. (CHUCKLES) And, now, that's your kahikateas that were here. Yeah, absolutely. Now, you didn't plant those, did you? No. (LAUGHS) No, I'm too` too young for that. BOTH LAUGH Man, that's` it looks so healthy, that silverbeet. Yeah. Silverbeet's really good for you. It's full of iron. Yeah. And` And it's something that you can have in the garden for nine months of the year. So it'll just keep growing, eh? Yes, it just keeps growing as long as you keep it well fed. Mmm. It's so fresh and gorgeous, that silverbeet. We're gonna cook it with pine nuts, and then fry this in my tarragon oil and then the zest of two limes. OK. And where do you get the tarragon oil from? I make my own. You make your own? Yeah, yeah. (CHUCKLES) Just about burnt the house down a couple of times, so you're not allowed to mention that. BOTH LAUGH Was that water here? Um, no, it was actually one big swamp area, so we got a digger in and we dug out a pond. Uh, and` Yeah. ...the earth that came out of it created the first of the circular lawns that are up the top there, and then that circular lawn lent itself to another series of circular lawns so that when you're standing at the top you can look down on them. It is really majestic, that first look when you come down those stairs. Yeah. It's amazing, isn't it. RELAXED MUSIC We've got our rump there. Yeah, we're gonna cube it up and we're gonna roll it in flour and gonna cook it in tarragon oil. It's a little unnerving, though, to be` to be browning the rump and the cows are just tucked in behind us, having their` having their dinner. Yeah, well, I don't look at them as cows; I look at them as steak, you know? I... BOTH CHUCKLE You've got the` the` sort of, the perfect backyard, really, haven't you? Yeah. Yeah, it's` it's happened over a period of time. We bought this piece of land and just started growing herbs as a roadside stall. Oh yeah. Oh, sometimes we were so excited cos we had $10. BOTH LAUGH And now it's this huge backyard empire. Yeah. (LAUGHS) As the nursery grew, so did the backyards. Yeah. Um, so along came another house and another backyard, and then another house and` and another backyard. Well, do you think there's more in the pipeline? Well, I think I did hear him whisper the other day that there's another house to be built, so th` that could be a fourth backyard. I'm probably a bit wacky in coming up with ideas, and he pulls it back into reality and I think... (CHUCKLES) From there we move forward. (LAUGHS) They'll be` It's becoming a nice balance. BOTH LAUGH Some people have just so much energy to get these things done. Is it good to be around that? Oh, absolutely. Harry's great on ideas, you know, loads one a minute. Yeah. I can't keep up. (CHUCKLES) Look at us chopping our herbs up. We're the Alison Holst and the Graham Kerr of NZ ` the new ones. (BOTH CHUCKLE) And how long have you and Lloyd been together? Oh, 20 years. 20 years? I tell everyone they get less for murder. BOTH LAUGH Yeah. Can't live with him, can't kill him. BOTH LAUGH As a matter of fact, I think in all our 20 years we've probably only spent no more than three days apart. In our whole life` Three days apart? Apart, in our whole life. What's the secret to being with Harry? (CHUCKLES) To occasionally be slightly deaf. (LAUGHS) 'What'd you say?' Selective hearing, maybe? Yeah. No. Um, honestly, it's great to be round dynamic people who've got lots of energy. (LAUGHS) You're going to do the manly bottle top with the knife. (CHUCKLES) Just pour the Guinness all over the top. You're gonna get this beef drunk. The smells coming out of there are just sensational. CLINK! Lovin' the way you're takin' that lid off with your big knife! (LAUGHS) You still have a little bit of the Huntly boy in you, isn't there? Exactly, exactly. And those are your peaches? Yep, they are. We do a lot of our own preserving and` and put it in. You know, you're almost self-sufficient in your backyards, aren't you? Yeah. I tell everyone, 'If there's a major disaster, come to our place.' Yeah. BOTH LAUGH It's very nice to finally be in backyard the second. I really enjoyed backyard the first, and I think you cooked in backyard the third, didn't you? Yes, I did. Yeah, it's got the best view, I reckon, from this` this garden` Yeah. ...looking right across the pond and out to the kahikateas. I'll tell you what ` the best view I've got right now is this plate of food, and I'm gonna try it. ALL LAUGH What do you reckon, Jools? Melt in my mouth. Absolutely brilliant` brilliant. That was gorgeous. Well, thank you so much, boys, for a great day. And we've got a lovely guest, Tony. The mighty Waikato have churned out some good folks,... MEN LAUGH ...including us. Here's to the best backyards in NZ. (CHUCKLES) What do you call yourselves? The Backyard Boys, do you? We will be now. We are now! ALL LAUGH Yeah, yeah. If we weren't before... . It's a stunning drive into Molesworth Station. Established back in 1865 by Henry Caton, the station spans nearly 500,000 acres of Southern Marlborough, making it NZ's biggest farm and our biggest backyard. You see, all this beauty belongs to each and every one of us Kiwis. Yep, that's right. It's Crown land, and all of us have a right to use it. With 10,000 cattle to care for, farming legends Jim and Tracey Ward and their team have managed Molesworth for the last 15 years. We're here for the April calf muster. Jools has joined the shepherds and I'm hangin' out with the ladies, cos we all know without them the place would fall apart. And apparently Annie, the station cook, is the best in the country. JOOLS AND LYNDA: Bring it on. How many people are we feeding tonight? We've got, uh, at least 21. And how many cattle on the place? Just under 10,000. Yeah. How many dogs? At least 48. 48 dogs?! How many horses? Between 60 and 80. There's a lot. And how many women? There's four of us. (LAUGHS) Three of us. Well, there's more than that at the moment, but normally there's three of us full-time. Right. Is that enough? I think that will do us just nicely. Righty-oh. Thank you very much. Want me to take that? Oh, why thank you. (GROANS) The horses are beautiful here. Did` Uh, have you bred them yourselves? Yeah, there was a, um` a good line of horses when we come here, heavy Clydie types, and we've crossed them with a horse that come from Ruatoria, from the Holden family. Good old Gisborne-bred horse, eh? (CHUCKLES) Yeah, he's` Gee, they'll be proud to hear that on the telly. Gisborne-bred. So, the mantra we live by is this ` the stock come first, followed by our horses, dogs, and then it's us, so it's always gears before beers. (CHUCKLES) Is it isolated out here for women? Uh, it can be. You have to be, sort of, a special person to` to be able to live out in the high country, I think. Um` Are you that special person? (GROANS) Gosh, I don't know. I've been here for 14 years, so I don't know if I've earned my stripes just yet or not, but, yeah. (LAUGHS) This place ` Molesworth ` is a real NZ icon. I think so, and I'm` w` what we've always said is we want everybody in NZ to come and have a look at least once in their lifetime. In the first year I was here, in six weeks there was 3500 vehicles. It was like downtown bloody Auckland, with just` (LAUGHS) ...buggers going everywhere. You've got a whole swag of kids, too. Oh, two. Two. Two. That's a whole swag. LAUGHS: Yeah. Your kids must've had an amazing upbringing. Yeah, well, Anna turned 5 a few days after we got here, Simon was 7, and they, um, correspondence till they went to boarding school. Was that hard? Like losing your best dog. Yeah. (LAUGHS) Bugger, though, it was terrible. The Cob Cottage. Yeah. How old is it? Uh, built in about 1865. It was the old, um, accommodation house. It's pretty cool, isn't it? It is, yeah. It's got a lot of character. What qualities do you need to work here? Oh, I guess the big thing is they have to be able to get on with people. You can't be a loner and do this job. And does Tracey love this place as much as you do? Well, Tracey's the glue. She holds the place together. I` Yeah, you couldn't operate without her. Pretty amazing. Mm. Yeah. That's nice, isn't it? It is. There's sort of a romance about living out here, isn't there? There is, yeah. What about Jim? How did you meet him? Um, actually in the North Island. I was a florist. He came in looking for pot plants, and... (LAUGHS) Did he buy a pot` pot plant off you? He did. The only one I sold him actually died, but` (LAUGHS) But you must have to have a special relationship with somebody like that, eh? Oh absolutely. You've gotta work well together. One's always gotta be picking up something that the other one may have missed or forgotten and you just bring it anyway and, you know, it just works really well. Yeah. (CALLS CATTLE) BOTH CALL CATTLE What sort of quality does a man have to have to run a place like this? Good people skills, uh, being well organised. Yeah. Having a good team behind you, you know. Like, you're only as good as who's around you. It's not just you on your own, you` you've got a team. So you're all wheels in a cog. Good sense of humour. Yeah. Hmm. Gotta be able to laugh, eh? Absolutely. And Jools'll be in her element being on a horse. What are they doing out there? Uh, they've gone out to the holding paddock to bring in the cows and calves, and` uh, so we can draught them off and ready for calf marking. How many you bringing in? I think there's about 240-odd cows, so hopefully the same amount of calves. That sounds quite like a big job to me. (CHUCKLES) Yeah. Righty-oh. Lead the way. All right. Yeah, pretty, uh, hard to handle, a few of them, eh? They're pretty wild, because they've never been handled before, eh? And they're getting` all getting drenched, so they don't get sick. They're all happy when they get back to their mates, of course, though. Yeah. Righty-oh, Topp, we can't sit on the fence all day. I've been on the horse, now I'm gonna do a bit more work on the ground. You coming with me? No. Hang on a minute. Watch out! Calf coming in. Get on, you little fella. Hey, Jools! You carry on there. I'm with the cooks. BOTH LAUGH Look at that. That right there is Molesworth beef. Is that good and pink inside, still? Beautiful. That's a man-size piece of beef right there. Might have to have a little kai. It is sort of, you know, the hub, isn't it, the kitchen? Everybody wants to come in here when they've been out working, cos that old coal range is always on and it's warm and toasty in here. Yeah, it is. And it's, sort of, the` the cook is sort of, like, legendary, aren't they? On big stations. Yes. The first thing a new one asks when they arrive is not, 'What` What's the place like?' or whatever, 'What's the cook like?' 'What's the cook like?' (LAUGHS) Cos food's so important, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, and you don't want a grumpy old cook, do you? No, you don't want a grumpy old cook. (LAUGHS) What about you, Jen? You like being up here at Molesworth? Yes. I've spent a bit of` fair bit of time up here with David, my husband. He's built the red gate cattle yards. I said when I married David that I would live with him in a tin shed. Well, I've had to eat my words a fair few times. (CHUCKLES) COWS MOO I'm here, uh, preparing all the tags, and that goes in the ear on one side and then, uh, the bigger tag on the other side. < Come on. And this job I like because I don't get dirty. (LAUGHS) # I sing my cowboy tune # under a Palomino moon. # The stars will guide our wings,... Ooh, I'll have that one. # ...you are the sun and we are the rain. Hey, bubs. # Saddle up and ride tonight, # we still got time. # We still got lovers eyes at night. # Oh, love it. > APPLAUSE Yeehah! (CHEERS) Here's to Molesworth! Our biggest backyard. Molesworth Station ` no finer place on Earth. There is no other landscape that'll test a stockman's worth. Whether riding fences or marking calves in April sun, when the horses and the dogs are fed, only then the day's work is done. And the dinner always welcome as the coal range fire glows, and up where the cattle rest it's the start of winter snow. And in the morning it's like icing sugar dusted on a cake, and we're all reminded of the smoko cook'll bake. It's not an easy country; sometimes it's downright hard. But by Jeez, it sure is a bloody good back yard.