This week on Moving Out ` can selling the family home bankroll an unbelievable roadie? We definitely wanna live off the land as much as possible. But will their high expectations meet reality? There's heaps that we look at, and they're way over our budget. I dunno. Ugh. We'll see. A rare chance to renovate their way into their first home. We decided to move from Auckland CBD down to a farm in Okoroire. But is a job and life swap from city glamour to country cowshed too radical to ever work? I customise scents for people. Now... I just shovel sh(BLEEP). www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2019 No matter what stage of the journey you're on, there's a Honda to suit you and your needs. Moving Out with Kanoa ` proudly brought to you by Honda. We Kiwis never stay still for long. We move from south to north, from paddock to pavement, to the casualness of the coast. And sometimes we move back again. We take giant leaps of faith in pursuit of the perfect life. But what is that? I'm Kanoa Lloyd, and like many Kiwis, I've done my fair share of moving. So now I'm following bold New Zealanders as they create new lives for themselves all around the country. We're moving out. What if creating that new life means hitting the road in search of that perfect location? Sounds good, right? But how hard would it be? Go. Oi. Go. Oi! (LAUGHS) The Te Kira family will be finding out first-hand once they sell their house in Christchurch. I was born and raised in Otautahi. So I wanted my children to be raised in Aotearoa, so we came home to start our family. (GRUNTS) (PANTS) Haere mai. Haere mai. I grew up in Levin until I was 14 years old. And then, uh, my mum passed away, so I went to go live in the Philippines with my mum's sister. But I really missed the connection back home with all my whanau. Moved back to New Zealand when I was 16 and started to kind of go off the rails a bit with school, so I joined the army. He aha tera? E matau ana a Kowhai raua ko Tremaine ki te pokai whenua kua haere tawhiti raua i mua i to raua tutakihanga ano hoki. I spent six years in army ` deployed to operations overseas ` to East Timor and the Solomon Islands. And then, um, I met my wife. And at the time, she was a cheerleader for the Crusaders. Toru. Yeah, not yet. From there, we moved to Aussie. So we went to Australia for six years. We came back and got married in 2010. So I, um, ended up going back over to the Middle East and doing anti-piracy for just under three years as a private contractor, working for different New Zealand companies over there. It was fun. Um... (CHUCKLES) Not so fun for the wife. Had a few hairy moments over there. (CHUCKLES) And then, um, you had your pregnancy test, and it came back positive. Mm. And then got the call to... it's time to grow up, move back home and get a real job. (CHUCKLES) E rerehua? Ko Cairo raua ko Echo aku tamariki. Cairo is 6 years old, and Echo is 3 and a half. The whanau have lived in Otautahi Christchurch for six years, the whole of the kids' lives. You right? Now you press this. But a recent trip away reignited their passion for travelling, learning... Nga tangata. Toru. Ae. ...and going where their heart takes them. We went on a haerenga earlier this year, and we went fishing, and we went diving. Um, we love that camp life, and our kids loved being outdoors. And, um, my sister suggested that, 'Maybe you guys should pick up and go on a bus for a year, while the kids are young.' And I thought, 'No way. We can't do that.' And it was a week or two afterwards, and I had it burning inside of me. I couldn't stop think about it. It was the mauri inside of us was like, 'We're going. 'This is where we're going, and we're gonna go now.' Oh shivers. Aha! Good girl. So this journey that we're on is about` it's self-discovery. So we wanna learn more about our whakapapa. We wanna go up our maunga. We want our children to be on our turangawaewae. (CHILDREN CHATTER) That's that way. We really wanna go back to the grassroots, from where we're from, and connect with our iwi, with our hapu, and with the whenua in order to... take those steps to build a strong foundation. Ka pai. No reira, he haerenga e whakamahi nei o raua pukenga ki te kimi oranga. Two more. (SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY) Ae. Ka pai. No. What's that? E whati ana a raua i te ko, a, kei te kimi i to ratou kainga hou. We definitely wanna live off the land as much as possible, so try and dive for kai moana, fishing, forage for fruit and veggies along the way, maybe even trade some of that at the markets. You know, just to teach the kids a bit of life skills. So mara kai's really important to us. We try and grow as much as we can and provide as much as we can for our family. Hard work is something these guys do well. They built their house up almost from scratch, and now they're hoping the sale of their biggest asset will allow them to quit their jobs and hit the road for a year. Post-earthquake, there was a real need for housing. We came across this little derelict house, and I put an offer on it and didn't tell Tre. When I'd seen it, I was like` I thought she was kidding. I didn't think she was being serious. It was run-down. It was old. No one had been in it for years and years. It was falling to pieces. So we just came in, started ripping out carpets, ripping down walls. Next minute, half the house was like a skeleton shell. We had working bees, so heaps of whanau came round, and they just went in and went hell for leather. Every floorboard, every wall lining, everything. We're really thankful for everyone that helped us on our house. Otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to do it. The aim is to get at least $300,000 for their renovated three-bedroom bungalow in the Christchurch suburbs. And according to the latest statistics, that's pretty realistic. We've got the house up on the market, and we want a really quick sale. We wanna sell it within six weeks, which is pretty quick for any market. Um, but we're hopeful that it's pretty cheap and that it's good for first-home buyers so that it will sell pretty quickly. Ko to wa aukati pea te mate ma te aha i te ngana. Mo tenei wa, kei te kokiri whakamua tonu, a, ko te kimi mahere rautaki me te u ki a raua mahi. I work an organisation called He Waka Tapu. So we're a Maori kaupapa-based organisation, and we mainly deal with drug and alcohol and domestic violence. And we have a residential programme as well. But with our kaupapa, it's not about fixing the one person; it's about fixing the whole whanau. Talk about the beginning of your next journey. Yes. Cos that gives them a starting point too. Cos sometimes, eh, we all need a wee reset. And my role is to pretty much try and engage with them and get them some kind of help. I was a perpetrator-outreach specialist, but now I'm a whanau support worker. I work for Otautahi Sports Association. So it's a Maori sports club here. Just part-time. It's mainly like a community base for a lot of Maori that came down for the Maori Trades Training scheme back in the 1950s. And now we have multiple sports, and we are all a big whanau at the club. Engari he mahi nui tena ka mahue ki muri ina wehe atu ai raua. A, me whakarite raua i a raua tamariki mo te wehe i te kainga anake i mohio nei raua. Cairo's at Te Pa o Rakaihautu, which is a reorua kura, and Echo is at a community preschool. So I'll have to homeschool our tamariki when we are on our haerenga. We'll teach them about the land, about how to live off the land. Environmental studies is really important ` to, you know, care for Papatuanuku ` and learning, just, about the whenua and how the world works. So the plan is to pretty much sell everything that we own, apart from a couple of things, and buy a caravan and just go. We don't know where we're gonna end up. We could end up in the North Island and stay in the North Island. Mo te nuinga o Aotearoa, ka whainga nui te tipi haere. It's definitely one of mine. But I do wonder if getting out of the property market is the right call for a young whanau. Or have they kissed their chances of ever owning a house again goodbye? are now back to $5! Your favourite Value pizzas all with fresh dough, sauce made from vine-ripened tomatoes, and our mouthwatering mozzarella. Now back to $5! At Domino's. I wanted to do it all myself. You did. Kowhai and Tremaine are bucking the trend and getting out of the housing market. They're selling up the house,... Oh shivers. ...packing up the kids and hitting the road. So, this journey that we're on is about... it's self-discovery. So we wanna learn more about our whakapapa. Ko te whakaarohia ` ka huri haere ratou i Aotearoa i tenei tau kia whai kainga, kaupapa ano hoki. Number one ` our well-being. Number two ` our connection to our whanau and the whenua. Number three ` I think we really wanna get out of the rat race. Na te noho ki Otautahi mo te wa roa, i pupu ake ai te aroha mau roa. There's heaps of really cool things now that Otautahi is settling down from earthquakes. We go to stakeparks; we go to different community groups; we've got the beach; heaps of free, like, events that kids can go to. So, yeah, very friendly for` for whanau. But the Te Kira whanau, known as the TKs, won't be going on their excellent adventure at all unless they sell their three-bedroom bungalow. Na ratou ano te wa aukati ono wiki i whakarite, kia mau ai i a ratou huarere pai. So the house has been on the market for a wee while now, and it's taken us a bit longer to actually sell than what we thought. So we're gonna have to think of maybe reducing the price so that we get some more interest, or we can sell a little bit quicker so that we can get on the road. While weeks turn into months on the market, the TKs are focusing on a home of the mobile variety. Kaore he mate o te titiro noa, ne? We're gonna be going away for a year` Yes. ...living with our family. So we've got a bit of a list when it comes to our caravan. Um, we would like a separate sitting space, a double bed for us, and then, potentially, bunks or something that we can modify and put bunks on top of. Yeah. And our budget's roughly what? So this is where... So about 30 grand is what we are going for. 35? So obviously an older one, cos, yeah. We knew this was the time. Ooh. The house will sell on time. We'll get the perfect camper, the perfect truck, and everything's just gonna go to plan. Um, kaore au i te mohio, Tre. He wawata nui tera, e hoa! Ae. I think there was a few people that weren't too happy that we're going, just cos they're gonna miss us. But I think, in the bigger picture, most people are happy for us and excited for us. Some say they're a little bit jealous. Haere mai. So something like this. You've got a large area down here. Mm-hm. Right. So you can` Is that for in here? ...use that in you awning. Yes. So you can come here, and you can have the table, then you can all spread out and eat. Oh, yeah. This is good. And the other end does the same. So, I've seen a few caravans here, but there's heaps that we looked at, and they're way over our budget. So we just need to make sure we stick within our budget. Otherwise, if we spend too much on a caravan, then we can't travel for as long. Well, we can just sit around. It's OK. Mama, you sit here. It's quite comfy. Is it? Mm-hm. Tre seems to wanna get another car, that everyone keeps on suggesting that we don't. He doesn't wanna get an old truck to tow it. So that's our problem, is that he wants a pretty car. You know. Ugh. We'll see. A, ka tipu haere te rarangi wawata. Oh, nice. All right. Thank you. Cheers. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. Me eke rawa te utu o te whare kia taea ai te hoko waka noho me tetahi taraka hou. Kiwis have always embraced ideas for alternative living ` kua wehe atu i nga taumahatanga o nga taone nui. But if you are thinking about hitting the road, do bear in mind that living costs have been estimated at anywhere between $4000 and $20,000 for the year. What are we doing? A whitu marama whai muri i te tuhono ki te makete, kua eke te whanau TK. All right, let's get this up. Ready? Yay! Yay! High five. Sold! High five, tama. (LAUGHS) High five. High five papa. Stoked as we sold the house. And I think, you know, I'm gonna be sad that we're gonna be leaving it. We put heaps of hard mahi into it, and now it's time to... Move on. ...move on. We didn't quite get what we wanted for it. But we're ready to go now. So the price was` it was good enough for us. Sweet. Let's get packing. Ae. That's us. Kei te kainga kore te whanau, i runga i te harikoa. How do you like this one? Yeah. Kei te noho tahi ratou me te whanau o Kowhai, a, kei te hikaka ratou kia puta. I really like that one. It's not too far away. But because it's got everything that we need... in it already... Uh, it's got the bunks for the kids. It's got the separate toilet and shower for us. We found a perfect one down in Dunedin. We've even put a deposit on it. I think it has everything that we need, so we just need to move fast. OK. However, we've seen this new one out in Waikuku,... Here. ...and we're thinking that this is the one. Ooh. It's got the solar on top. I'm liking this. Hey, guys. Where can we start? So we've just got an awning on the side that you just pull out. You just unroll it and put the legs down. Around the outside, you got the different services, like the fresh water and the grey water and the cassette for the toilet. Right. On the top we've got a solar panel to charge the battery. Oh good. Yeah. And lots of good vents and everything, so, yeah. Oh nice. OK. So, have you looked at a few? Uh, we've looked at... We've looked at a few. We've actually put a deposit on another one. LAUGHS: Oh no. Down in Dunedin. So, yeah, we saw this one, and it's ideal for us and our journey. Oh, perfect. Yeah, we looked for a while before we bought this as well, and, yeah, this really fit the bill. Cos we've got two young kids too. Yeah. And so the bunks at the back are just perfect for them, give you a bit of living space from them and stuff, so, cool. I'm excited. Can we take a look? Yeah, go for it. Help yourself. So one of our first missions after selling the house was to sell my truck and get a new one in order to tow our new caravan around Aotearoa. Good area for eating for breakfast. So we can all fit around here. Went and bought one last night. Wasn't too sure whether it had a tow bar or not. Got there, had a look at it, checked it out ` no, didn't have a tow bar, after telling Kowhai, 'Yep, it's got a tow bar.' We had to do the missions this morning and swap around vehicles with another whanau member, just in case we do pick up this caravan. USB ports. Oh, yeah, plenty of those. Yeah, it's pretty high-tech. Keep the iPads and everything all charged up. (LAUGHS) You know, you need those on those long journeys, right? Definitely. We took it up to the Far North, checked out all the amazing beaches and, you know, just getting to know our country a lot better. We're looking to sell the caravan now so that we can get the deposit on a new, smaller section, downsize, save up money, and then hopefully do an overseas trip with our kids. Ma te hokotanga atu o te waka noho, ka tutuki nga moemoea o te whanau, ratou ko Mike. Yeah, I'm keen. Oh, awesome. OK. Hey, that's really good. Oh, congratulations. Thanks very much. That's gonna be good. That'll help us out as well, so, yeah, super happy. Glad it's going to you guys too. It looks like you're gonna have a great adventure. He huarahi tino roa tenei i whaia e te whanau ko te wawata, ka whakahokia mai te putea mai i tera atu waka noho. Kua eke ano nga pukenga hoia o Tremaine. He toa matatu e haere ake nei. The kids are super excited. They think we're going on a holiday for the whole year. And they're sad about, you know, leaving their friends at the same time. But, um, we keep hearing them telling their mates, 'Oh, we're going on a holiday for one year! For 1000 days!' (LAUGHS) Kua tata rite te whanau TK ki te haere. Kua kitea te utu mo te waka noho, engari he ahuatanga ano e whakapoturi nei i a ratou? I think it's gonna be hard for your sisters. Cos Kowhai and her sisters are quite tight. I've got two older sisters, and we've got a lot of tamariki between us. One of my sisters is pregnant, so she'll be having a baby when we leave. And so we will really miss our family and friends here. Ka mate te kainga tahi, ka ora te kainga roa. These guys are about to set off on the adventure of a lifetime. And it's not just about getting around Aotearoa and seeing the best of what it has to offer; it's also the beginning of a really personal journey with their tamariki to begin to get into their whakapapa, and I cannot wait to see where that takes them. SONG: # I need a hero # Hero! This heart must get to the hospital! I got this! (DYNAMIC MUSIC) I got this. I got this. SONG: # I need a hero # Hero! # I'm holding out for a hero to the end of the night # He's gotta be strong... # GPS: Take the next left. You got this, Katie. # And he's gotta be fresh from the fight... # VOICEOVER: With Holden, you got this. (UPBEAT MUSIC) Tremaine and Kowhai Te Kira have sold up, left Otautahi and taken to life on the road with their kids, Cairo and Echo. Mo te roanga o tenei tau, he whai wira to ratou kainga i a ratou e haere nei i Aotearoa ki te kimi kainga motuhake. Ko Ngati Maniapoto toku iwi. No Te Kuiti ahau. Ko tetahi kaupapa nui i tenei haerenga ko te tuhono ano ki o ratou whakapapa, whanau hoki. We really wanna get back to the Waikato area. And every time we go back, they have a real passion for being up in their marae, especially Cairo. She really has, like, a calling. She always wants to go stay at her marae, and she always wants to be with her kuia, and she always, you know, wants to be around whanau. So that's one of our reasons for going on this haerenga. So, we've got a few rules. I think we've got one box each ` one pouaka ` for clothing; no TV. Attempt number five. Teach the kids how to fish. Also gonna take our dive gear that we've got, hopefully to get some kai moana. YELLS: First legal snapper! (LAUGHS) Making a beeline up the country, in the first six weeks, the TKs have overnighted in 14 different spots, from rugged coastlines to regional parks, to mountain ranges and waterfalls. He matatoa, he tuhura hoki ta ratou mahi i nga wahi rongonui huri noa i te motu. Kei te huarahi hoki ahau e haere ana ko te whai kia kite e pehea ana o tatou hoa, a, kia rongo hoki he pehea te ahua hou o ta ratou noho. Kua tae mai au ko Ngati Te Ata. So this is Te Awhitu. It's about 1000km out of Otautahi, roughly an hour and a half away from Tamaki Makaurau. But, trust me, it feels like a world away from city life. He whenua houkura, he papatupu a rohe, a, ara noa atu nga ara hikoi, ara paikara ano hoki hei kitenga ma te tangata, te ahua nei a Tremaine raua ko Kowhai. I wonder if this is the place that they'll choose to stay permanently. (CHILDREN CHATTER) (UPBEAT MUSIC) This is wicked. It's so cool. Kia ora! Kia ora! Hi! Welcome! Good to see you! Mwah! Awesome! You guys! Mwah! This is perfect! It's pretty good. We're pretty happy with where we are. So you should be. Hey, um, before you show me around here, can I, um... Yeah. Kuhu mai. ...invite myself in? (ALL LAUGH) Haere mai ki te waka noho. Oh nice. Oh, check out the kids' room. Got a bedroom and a little living room situation. Yep! Nice. What's that? That's the wharepaku. OK, I won't open that door. (LAUGHS HEARTILY) Kitchen. Our tiny kitchen. Yeah. So, we've got a full oven, which is pretty handy. And you've got a view. A good view, yeah, most days. Nice! (CHUCKLES) Perfect. Oh, and we've arrived at the other end of the whare. (LAUGHTER) So this is our lounge/bedroom. So we convert it, and we pull it out so that it makes our double bed. Awesome. Me noho? OK. Nice. I'm sitting on your bed. (LAUGHS) Kei te pai. Kei te pai. Kua tau te wairua? How are you guys settling into this place? It's a little bit harder than what we thought. Um, the limited space can be a little bit tricky. And not having so many things is a relief, but it's still difficult at times. Yeah? Yeah. We're always bumping into each other, trying to get around each other and... Yeah. I do have to ask ` how's the wharepaku situation? It's not the best, but it's still better than nothing. Embraced? Embraced it. But it's actually pretty easy. Like, it's one button that clicks out. Like, you don't have to touch anything. Whatever makes you feel better, my bro. Have you been able to live off the grid? (TUTS) Not as much as we had liked. But if we do go to remote places, yes, we can live off the grid. Things like making our own, um, kai or having vegetables ` no, we haven't been able to do that. Yet. Yet. But that is the plan` Yeah. ...when we start heading down the coast. Uh, he kaputi mau? Ah, yes, please. (UPBEAT MUSIC) Korero mai mo nga painga. What's good about this good life? Maha nga painga. Really loving the fishing. I love being on the road and driving, stopping off at all the parks with the kids, and, like every day is like a new adventure. You have everything, son? Yes. A big part of this journey is finding out more about your whakapapa. I've just done a similar thing recently, and I was nervous! Mm! What's the kind of feeling in your puku? I'm really excited, so, you know, kei te harikoa ahau. It makes me really happy, um, because we are learning more. Kei te kaha ake nga hononga. As we're getting closer to the East Coast, like, we can feel the connection getting stronger. Ae. And getting excited and nervous at the same time. Yeah. CHUCKLES: Yeah. Korero mai mo nga tamariki. Let's talk about the kids. Are they coping with this new life? Kei te tino hari ko raua. Um, really happy to be on the road. Ki ahau nei, I think it's really important that most of the learnings that they do is, you know, out in the wild ` learning how to dive,... Ae, tika. ...fish. When we were up in the cape, the kids started to learn the tides of the water. Mm! The go, 'Oh, kia tupato, Papa. The tide's coming in.' Yeah! That's wicked. That sort of makes me feel a bit emotional. They're, like, what, 6 and 3, eh? (CHUCKLES) Yeah, that's beautiful. That's how it should be. They're learning about all our, you know, native manu. Being able to see all of them in nature is really cool. Yeah. Pehea te ako i te kainga? Uh, kei te pai. You know, easier than I thought. Um, really enjoying, you know, teaching the tamariki, which is pretty cool. They love being taught by... by their mama. Yeah. Um, so, yeah, we're all, overall, enjoying the whole homeschooling. He aha nga akoranga? Uh, we've learnt how to live in small spaces,... Mm! ...um, not to have so many materialistic things, live simply, live off the whenua as much as possible, um, off-grid where we can. What's the dream for the next home? I think tiny living, um, beautiful land, and just living as simply as we kind of can ` semi off-grid. Small whare. Ae. Lots of whenua. Ae. Will there be a spot for me to pitch my tent? (ALL LAUGH) Always. Tehea taha putea? How's the budget going? Not great. We've overspent, um, our budget. So we'll need to kind of button down (LAUGHS) and start to actually stick to it, otherwise it will be cutting our trip short. Mm. Yeah. Or might have to stop and do some mahi along the way ` which is kei te pai. Yeah. Mm. Cut down on those pies and coffee. (LAUGHS HEARTILY) Shh! (GUFFAWS) You must be missing back home a bit, though, eh? I'm... missing mahi a wee bit and just all the, um... all the whanau that we work with. I've had a handful of really close friends have babies, um, so, you know, missing those really special kind of moments with our friends and whanau, yeah. Missing mahi is pretty surprising, isn't it? Yeah, we... Ae. We both really liked our jobs back in Otautahi. So, yeah, surprisingly, we are missing mahi, so... Mm. We... We got to korero Maori every day and` Ae. ...um, you know, working and helping people. You get kind of like a good feeling out of helping people. Yeah. So now that we're kinda on the road, it's like, 'Ooh. Who am I helping today or...' Yeah. That kind of feeling. You're helping each other. Ae. Mm! Mm! Helping our whanau. Ae. (CHUCKLES) Ka nui taku whakamiharo atu. These guys are so brave and bold, because they're actually doing the thing that most of us just talk about and dream of. They've managed to take their love of travel and turn it into this really special chapter in their lives that's all about whakapapa, oranga and whanau. Coming up ` trading in city glamour to get a country cottage. This bad boy is actually the oldest house on the property. But is a renovation, lifestyle and job change one challenge too many? Straight from the freezer to the oven, our fillets make a quick, nutritious meal. Flaky fish coated in a crunchy crumb ` that's what makes them taste so good. Moving house is so often about trading a location for a better life. But what happens when you take that idea to the extreme? Can you swap glamour, the catwalk and fashion for the cowshed, grassroots and gumboots? Living in Central Auckland for the last even years, James has created a life that's not only miles away from the country but worlds apart too. I've been working for Estee Lauder for about four years now. I work across the brands ` through MAC and Jo Malone ` which is cool. Have a little smell of this fragrance. Here I customise colognes and scents for people. Do you like the smell of that one? Yeah. I quite like this one. (CHUCKLES) Yeah. So, we have a range, and we pick what's perfect for the situation. And then over at MAC, I get to really express my creative side. So, I get to do beauty make-ups or, like, '80s make-up. It can vary from day to day, which is really exciting. Kia oti i a James a nga mahi whakapanipani mata i te taha o Darren, ka tuhono o raua pukenga, pumanawa ano hoki. What do you think you'd do with the lips? Maybe like... bronzy? Yeah. I like that. OK. I'm currently managing a store called Tatty's, which is a designer recycle wear place. People bring in their old, unwanted clothes, and we give it a new life. Yes. Yeah. (CHUCKLES) Perfect. I love that. We've got photographers and stylists. It's a nice way of creatives coming together, um, collaborating with James. We did some shoots as well. I'm into it. It's like a mane. I'm gonna try and get from about here, up. Yeah. (SHUTTER CLICKS) WHISPERS: Great. Perfect. Na o raua pumanawa auaha pukenga toi i piri ai raua i te tuatahi. We... met in a club, and we just saw each other on the dancefloor and danced towards each other and... I thought he was so smooth, this guy,... (BOTH CHUCKLE) ...but could dance, so that's why I was really blown away, you know? This... beautiful... white boy that had moves, you know? Ah! (CHUCKLES) That's very rare. (CHUCKLES) After that, we sort of first got our first place together, which was really special. But, um, really hard to live by yourself as a couple in Auckland. Ehara i te mea koia tera anake. Kei te Rawhiti o Tamaki to raua whare noho, ki waenga i te tamumu o te rohe nui ` ehara i te mea e hikaka ana. Kua hoha ke raua. It's gotten so congested and so expensive to live in Auckland, and then we've kind of come together, and we're past that stage of living with so many people. I think we're ready to build something together a bit more, and that's quite unobtainable for us, it seems, at any rate, in Auckland. Oh. My handsome man. Me auaha te whakaaro kia kitea he whare motuhake mo raua ano; me pehea hoki to raua tuitui i o raua wheako kia eke ai te manako nui. I got scouted for modelling. Oh, it's so embarrassing. Did that for a few years, went all over Europe, which was cool. No, I think it's great. I mean, look how much you've done ` not only in Auckland, but it's allowed you to travel overseas. Oh! You look so dapper. He tangata whakatipu i te taone a Darren. I grew up in east Auckland, Pakuranga, so we` I only moved to the city when I started studying Fine Arts. Na te mahi whakakite kakahu i to mai ai a James ki Tamaki, a, i reira tutaki ai ki Darren. Engari, i tipu mai ia i te tuawhenua. Skip that one. Oh, he's farm-ready right there. No. So gross. Get rid of that one. And while James might not seem like your typical rural bloke, he's upbringing holds the key to a flatmate-free life together. We decided to move from Auckland CBD down to a farm in Okoroire, which this cottage is on, and it's a bit of an opportunity to sort of do up. Nah, it'll be fun. We've sort of roughly calculated that in the six months of rent that we spend here in Auckland, that we spend that fixing up the cottage and have something primo that we actually really love. We're really gonna have to get our hands dirty, eh? It's a lot of jobs. A lot of manual labour. Yeah! Me penei te korero koia tenei te taumahi auaha a raua ` he whakahou ano i to raua ahua kia tangata tuawhenua ano ai. (COW LOWS) Kei te pamu o te whanau o James te whare, a, ma James ano te nuinga o te pamu e kawe. No reira, me whai mahi hou ano a Darren. I'll be homeschooling James' sister Katya. So that'll be a good way to use my passions and interests, and maybe doing a bit of calf rearing here and there. So, yeah, while you're looking after Katya, which will be awesome, in about a month, I'm starting to do calving, as well as the make-up, which is, (CHUCKLES) yeah, mixed. Kei te tino aroha te tokorua nei ki te ahuatanga ohorere; e kore e taea te karo ina te nui o te hunuku mai i te taone. A, kaore e kore, he ahuatanga ohorere kei te haere. Up in the country, and now being up in Auckland, I've, in a way, found my tribe. And so I'm gonna have to leave my tribe. So I'm definitely gonna miss my mates... and a good coffee. That's what I'm personally worried about. Hopefully it's about quality over that quantity. It's come down for a weekend or a week, and let's make some art together and, you know, enjoy each other's company. Mm. We need to just not be fearful and get out of Auckland and see how it goes. Eh? Yeah, yeah. We've got each other. A, i wehe raua i te Ramere, ka timata nga mahi hei te Rahina. So, will their rural reinvention be everything they dreamed of... I used to have to do this at Les Mills. But now... I just shovel sh(BLEEP). ...or the biggest mistake they'll ever make? Domino's declares war on delivery charges. Any large pizza, just 15 bucks. Delivered. E tika ana ko te whanau anake. ('JOY TO THE WORLD') I think we all know there's only one way to do Christmas. But not everyone gets it right. Whoo-hoo! You gotta suit up! And embrace the great indoors. Kia ora, Aunty. E tika ana ko te whanau anake. Hey! Heya! Or maybe these guys. And 'Derek' the van. I handle distribution. It's tradition! VOICEOVER: The Warehouse. The one place for any Christmas. something means something to you. It could be something something means something to you. It could be something big or something small. Something you grow together big or something small. Something you grow together or something that's just for you. Whatever that something is, or something that's just for you. Whatever that something is, we'll help you grow it. Ko te nuinga o tatou kei te noho ki ro taone ` about three-quarters of us. But not James and Darren. They have moved to the tiny rural settlement of Okoroire, and their nearest town is Tirau, with a population of about 800. Ko te whai whare motuhake mo nga taitama nei he ahua tawhiti ke atu. Yeah, so what's on the agenda today? Move the cows. Wanna do that together? Yeah. Five weeks after making their move permanent, they're living in the family sleepout, adjusting to new work routines and doing a big renovation. Sounds like a wholesome morning. He nui nga mahi, engari he tokorua ohorere tenei. These are our babies. Come on, babies. Come on! Come on, come on, come on. They'll graze for, like, two years, and then they'll go back up to the dairy farm, and they'll be integrated into the dairy herd, and their sort of circle of life starts again. They get pregnant, and they have babies, and we look after those. It has been a big change. I think I did it initially out of love for James, and then it became love for James and the animals. It's great, like, having a partner that is so interested in the farm. And, like, cos I never, in a million years, thought I would be able to be in a relationship with someone who would be so into this. And that's been really cool to see that other side of Darren, and he's really shown some amazing skills that I didn't even know were in his wheelhouse. So that's been pretty cool. I didn't know I had it either, to be honest. Kei te utua to raua aroha ki nga kararehe he momo e kore i tutuki i te taone matua. Ka whakahangai i o raua pukenga auaha mo tenei mahi nui. The beautiful rimu floors. This farm's been in my family for a few generations now. My grandfather helped sort of excavate the land and make it into a dairy farm. Get some paint in here. And I reckon we cut this out and put the fridge in here. Because there's no space for it. This bad boy is actually the oldest house on the property. It's been redeveloped and redeveloped. It's so old that it had, like, a wetback fire that everyone did their cooking on. Like, it's really amazing ripping up all the vinyl and stuff to actually see where these concrete slabs of stuff were. We can sort of stretch this area out. There was, like, an old (TUTS) washing boiler out the back that used to, like, boil clothes rather than a washing machine. So that's how old this place is. Don't worry, babe. This hideous yellow-orange '70 mess will be under carpet. No one's lived here for about six years now, and we've just started tidying it up, and, yeah, we're gonna make it into our... our home base. The dream would be to do that rimu wood up. But, you know, we'll use all our resources now. It's beautiful wood, though, eh. Possibly our room. Possibly` Also possibly our room. (CHUCKLES) ...or, like, art. And that one, do you want guest room? Yeah. It's really buzzy to come, like, full circle, being someone who, like, left the country, thought they'd live in Auckland all their life and then found a beautiful person to spend their time with who actually loves being down here. (SIGHS) It's just a bit of work. I think we need to get a few mates down to give us a hand. Breathing new life into something is actually really fun. Oh. And we've got a couple of irons here which will keep you busy, peeling off the rest of that glue just, uh, down here. Beautiful (!) Yeah. Beautiful (!) Yeah, so, uh, if you wanna get on to that, babe, that'd be good. I'll just delegate a little bit more (!) The guys are hoping to dedicate one of their rooms to make-up and styling jobs. And, in line with their continuing expansion of their multiple skills, Darren's homeschooling of James' 15-year-old sister is underway. Katya and I formed a really special relationship, and we do everything together. Just one section to focus on. Yeah. I'm excited to run some classes down at the river, at the farm ` just use the environment to really work with her. You start, um, a few options. OK. Kua rereke noa atu te noho a te tokorua nei i a raua e haruru ana i Tamaki Makaurau. I mean, we probably get a second glance down here a lot more than we would in Auckland, that's for sure. Yeah! But.... It's fine. I'm OK with that. (LAUGHS) He pai nga wahi hoko cafe i konei, me te ngawari hoki o nga utu. (UPBEAT MUSIC) Na runga i nga rereketanga nui kei runga i a raua, ka taea ranei enei ahuatanga te kawe? I think it's about time I put my gumboots on to find out. E wha marama ki muri, koinei te ahua o te whare. No reira, kua hunuku raua i te whare iti, he aha ranei? Kia ora! Welcome! Kei te pehea koe? How you going? Mwah! Good to see you. Good to see you too! Hi! Hi! Awesome. Hey, I've worn my gumboots especially for you guys. Prepared. Spot on. Thank you. (CHUCKLES) Come on in. (GASPS) You guys! What do you think? This is so different! This is awesome. There's carpet! Laid it ourselves. Did you?! Yeah. We've got the bedroom done as well. Oh, yeah. Now, don't ask to see the other two bedrooms because we've been so busy, we haven't quite gotten there yet. There's heaps to love here, though. How nice is it waking up to that view each morning? Yeah, gold. Oh, it's pretty special, eh. What are you loving most about this new whare that you've got. I think having our own space again. Yeah. Show me the kitchen, cos you've done heaps in here. Yeah. Come through. We found this amazing rimu floor underneath all the vinyl. Wow! So we had to keep it. Yeah. Cos as you remember, it was that yucky yellow-orange vinyl. I mean, I wouldn't say yuck, but you` you did, so that's fine. Oh, I would. I would. But, yeah, if you can imagine us here with the heat gun and a scraper, that was us for... Yeah. ...a good few weeks. Eh? Yeah. What a treasure to find underneath there, though. Yeah. Beautiful rimu, yeah. And to be able to restore something that is from the original house. Cos it's, like, about 80 to 100 years old, this house. Yeah. So it was really special, eh? Are there other things that you've been able to repurpose? Well, this used to be an old pantry. That's right. But from this side. Uh-huh. So we opened up the cavity to try and have our fridge in. Cos everyone that's been in before has either had a fridge plonked there or in a bedroom. Yeah. Now, I know you said that I shouldn't look in those other bedrooms, but I do just need to know. OK. You can have a tiny peek. OK. Tiny peek. We'll start with the least worst room. (BOTH LAUGH) Please don't judge us on this, Kanoa. Aue, taukuri e! (LAUGHS) No, I don't know what you're talking about. This is good! Yeah, well, it's just a constant reminder of where we have been and where we are... not gonna go again. Yeah. (LAUGHS) Yeah. So, we've done a little bit on the bathroom, but really, I just wanna show off my handles... that I've got here. Oh my goodness. I saw them and had to have them. Yeah. I don't know if you need to do anything else to the bathroom, to be honest. It's all there. Who cares about the rest? Yeah, so we've got a little bit more to do, but, you know, we're getting there. He rawe ki a au i tenei whare. I love this place, you guys. You should be so proud. Thank you. Thank you. Well, look, I can't let my gumboots go to waste. Can we go round the farm and get them a bit muddy? Sounds good. (ALL LAUGH) (UPBEAT MUSIC) Oh, beautiful babies. COOS: Hellooo! Who wants... to cuddle me? (CHUCKLES) I'm ready. (COWS LOW) These ones are a year old now. Yeah. Have you had any trouble getting your friends to come down and visit you here? Are they like, 'Oh, no! Not the farm!' Not as hard as I thought. Eh? Yeah. They're kind of using it as an opportunity to... Get out. ....get out and have a moment, even do a bit of work as well. Like, they wanna come down and help us out with the house, and it's nice they wanna make their mark on it too. Yeah! It's really special. It's becoming a community project a little bit. I love that. That is so good. What has happened to the dream of the powder room? It's still alive. OK. The dream is still there. Um, as you saw, the second and third bedrooms ` the third one's gonna be that room. Yeah. That's gonna be our art-making zone. I've already started doing as well, like, local ladies' make-up and stuff like that, and we're trying to get a community going of, like, creatives. And it would just be nice to have some of our friends down to be creative as well and have that space to share. Yeah. Mm. So that's the goal. It's gonna happen. I believe you ` 100%! I can't imagine that there's many people sitting in a big city right now thinking fashion, thinking fine arts and going, 'Should I go to the farm?' Yeah. But if there are, um, any advice? I say go for it. Yeah. Because as a creative, we look at things differently anyway. Um, so it's being able to apply that in a whole other different way has been... It's opened up our options so much more. I'd just say never snub an opportunity you get, whether you think, just because of maybe being queer or because it's not your lifestyle. I think still just try something and go for it. Mm-hm. It's been really special, and I recommend it. (CHUCKLES) Maybe you guys are starting a whole new fashion trend. Mm! (LAUGHS) (LAUGHS) I like that. Well, look, I don't know heaps about cows, but I'm pretty sure that I know that they're... all done, so... whatever that means. Let's go. (ALL LAUGH) Your boots're a bit dirty. (LAUGHS HEARTILY) We're happy. (CHUCKLES) I'm a farmer! Feel free to open those taps, if you like. No, it's too hard. (HEARTY LAUGHTER) Well, Darren and James are really making this country life look amazing. And it's huge, what they've achieved. Not only have they made this big move from the city to the farm, but they've also taken on renovating an entire house. And while it might seem like their love of styling and fashion and make-up is sort of an unlikely fit for the farm, I think they've used all those skills to redefine what country living can be, and I love what they've done. Bye, boys! (UPBEAT MUSIC) Next week on Moving Out ` Push! scaling the learning curve of buying their first home. Where do we even start? The risks are massive. As a search turns epic, will it lead to heartbreak? We are having to reassess our budget. So everything's a big, huge worry. A personal housing crisis pushes a mum of three to think outside the box. It'd be challenging in terms of space. Not everyone is on-board with her radical idea, so will her solution work for the kids? (ENGINE REVS, SPUTTERS) Or will she hit one roadblock too many? Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2019