Tui Ridge Homestay

Te Punga Farming is comprised of 1,130 hectares spread over 3 farms across the Matahuru Valley. We farm approximately 5000 sheep and 1000 cattle. Te Punga is our home base and spans 390 hectares and was originally farmed by Ian's parents, Janet and John, since 2002. It was then taken over by us, Kirsten and Ian, who came back to the family farm in May 2019 after spending 10 years farming in the Wairarapa and Southern Hawkes Bay. Our family calls this part of the farm home and we are privileged to share our land with the next generation of Evans. Our two children, Connor and Lucy, can often be spotted pitching in with the day to day running of the farm. The first expansion of Te Punga came about in July 2020 when we expanded upon the original Te Punga farm by purchasing Murvale, another farm property just 2km down the road. Murvale is 255 hectares and has been our development project over the last few years. As part of this, we have completed large amounts of retirement fencing around creeks and gullies. This is to keep our stock away from waterways and retire some of the steeper country that was non-productive for farming. We have also have embarked on a native tree planting programme through these areas Our third expansion to Te Punga occured in 2022. We are strong believers of taking an opportunity when it arises, and when our neighbouring farm, Tui Ridge, became available we purchased this additional 485 hectares. Te Punga Natives started in mid-2021 when we started on our journey of environmental work on our farms. We are extremely proud of our continuing contribution to ensuring sustainable and environmentally-friendly farming practices. We source seeds ourselves from our farm, raise them to seedling stage and then plant back on the farm. And finally, Tui Ridge Homestay was our opportunity to share with everybody what we do. Guests can enjoy a little slice of our home and gain insight into rural New Zealand life here on our farm.