by Ken Fife | Sep 12, 2022 | Book 1
Our first year was over, we had helped to make a difference with the people, but the concept of developing a large western style cattle ranch was to my mind unproven, problematic even. I had 12 months left to develop a plan that would turn things around and I was far...
by Ken Fife | Sep 12, 2022 | Book 1
We’d now settled in, and I’d returned from NZ with my leg mending but still in plaster. I couldn’t ride a horse but there’d been ample time for me to reflect on what was going to work and what wasn’t. Our family had been made welcome by both the people of Uluisaivou,...
by Ken Fife | Sep 12, 2022 | Book 1
By the end of the 1970s, things were going well on Cairn Peak. Pinnacle Pine forest, our second forestry syndicate was fully subscribed and we now had 2,000 acres committed to farm forestry. Since taking up residence in 1964, we’d trebled our carrying capacity, tidied...
by Ken Fife | Sep 12, 2022 | Book 1
1970 was an eventful year for several reasons. We had been farming Cairn Peak for six years, and though heavily burdened with debt, we had continued with our development program and our carrying capacity had increased significantly. As livestock numbers increased...
by Ken Fife | Sep 12, 2022 | Book 1
Slowly Going Broke! My new bosses asked me to pay a visit to the farm about a week after they’d hired me. My task was to count a mob of cattle that hadn’t been mustered when the stock take occurred. It was a typical Southland winter day when I arrived, a biting...
