8 Apr 2022

The bridge between heaven and earth

From Country Life, 9:22 pm on 8 April 2022
The Veling's vegetable garden

The Veling's vegetable garden Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles

It took five years for Trish and Gijs Veling to find a name for their Far North property.

One day, in bright sunshine, Gijs was preparing a spray for his organic garden.

When he sprayed it - rainbows appeared.

The couple asked a friend who was there, the Māori word for rainbow.

"She said 'uenuku'," says Trish. "And she said 'it's the bridge between heaven and earth' and I said....'that's exactly what this place needs to be called'."

Uenuku is a one hectare block in the Waiare Valley about 10 minutes from Kaeo. It is home now to ageing chooks and a 14-year-old blind and deaf duck.

Gijs Veling

Gijs Veling Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles

"They (the chooks) are beautiful, beautiful, beautiful animals," says Gijs, gently picking one up.

"They can live here until they die in peace. And hopefully one day you'll come down and they're lying dead in the (chook) house and you think well, thank you for the beautiful eggs."

"We love them, we really love them," says Trish.

An eco-house built by the couple sits amongst trees and shrubs carefully selected and artfully planted to celebrate their colour and form.  There are bountiful fruit trees, an enormous vegetable garden, Gijs' wood carving shed and a cottage for guests who, before they arrive, are warned there is no cellphone reception.

"You can see a bit of anxiety around not having cellphone coverage...but when they leave they say, 'We're so glad. We've had time to listen to the birds and just be'," says Trish.

The couple lived and worked in Wellington for 34 years.

"We used to go around on holidays and we'd think 'do we think we can settle here'."

Their search took them to Takaka, Matakana and Hawke's Bay.

Nothing seemed right until they came to Uenuku.

"I was born in Indonesia," says Gijs. "So when I saw the bananas (growing here) I thought 'yes that's lovely'."

"We really loved the climate here and the warmth," says Trish. "We were looking for something to create something and we thought we could do our thing (here). There was something about the valley, the Waiare, and it just felt like yep, this is where we want to land."

Trish and Gijs Veling

Trish and Gijs Veling Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles

Trish Veling

Trish Veling Photo: RNZ/Carol Stiles