Emma holds a copy of her children's book 'Punter the Hunter' . Photo: Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
Drive up the Waitaki Valley in North Otago and you could mistake it for a scene from The Lord of the Rings.
Snow-capped peaks rise in the distance, sheep graze on rolling hills and tucked into this cinematic landscape is Bellamore Station - home to Ben and Emma Nowell, their three boys and a life where farming and creativity intertwine.
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Ben Nowell and his boys at the top of the farm Photo: Emma Nowell
Bellamore Station is at the end of a gravel road Photo: Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
Bellamore has been in Ben's family since the 1980s. Today, the Nowell family farms 2000 ewes, 120 cattle and a few hundred velvet stags for trophy hunting.
"It was always Ben's dream to come back," said Emma, who grew up on a cropping farm in Darfield.
"Now we're raising our boys here - Jack, Harry and Charlie - with all the adventures farm life brings."
History lingers in the old shearers' quarters in the farmyard. When Emma renovated it, she discovered a stash of vintage bottles beneath the floorboards - relics of shearers long gone.
The old shearers quarters dates back to 1907 Photo: Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
Emma works on a new idea in the peaceful studio Photo: Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
She's transformed the small building into her art studio, a creative refuge where she paints, illustrates and writes.
It's here she brought Punter the Hunter to life - a children's book inspired by the couple's first hunting dog.
Illustrated with scenes from around the farm, the story captures the spirit of their high country life.
For Emma, the project also carried a purpose: one dollar from every book sold goes to Dunedin Hospital's Children's Ward, in gratitude for the care her son Harry once received.
Photo: Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
The Go Muster card game Photo: Cosmo Kentish-Barnes
Her creativity doesn't stop with children's books.
She's designed a card game called Go Muster - a farmyard twist on Go Fish - and is drafting a new older children's chapter book inspired by real farm adventures.
"Harry once told me he couldn't find books he wanted to read," she told Country Life. "So I thought - why not make one?"
When they're not farming or coming up with stories, the Nowells host visitors at Sparrowhawk Hut, their off-grid mountain retreat with a bath on the deck and skies blazing with stars.
For Emma, the land is more than a livelihood. "It's about reflecting our farming life," she said, "but also creating something that inspires others."
A mob a sheep pass Sparrowhawk Hut Photo: Emma Nowell
The Nowell family doing what they love Photo: Emma Nowell
Learn more:
- Contact Emma about Punter the Hunter and Go Muster here
