Rowan and Brendan Holt own a property at the small seaside town, and on it they have a spare piece of land which most plants do not seem to like.
Mrs Holt said the plan was to plant 1000 flax and help them grow to get the property back to what it looked like when the settlement was first formed many years ago.
‘‘Nothing really grows there. It struggles with everything. Just too much sea salt coming through. The roots get about 45cm down and they will just die,’’ she said.
They wanted to develop the biodiversity of the site, which attracted a lot of birdlife. White heron (kotuku), pukeko and ducks were all drawn to the site, which had water on it linked to the nearby sea.
Mrs Holt said some beautiful long-finned eels also came to the water and she wanted to make sure they would keep coming back every year.
But personal experiences had also played a big part in deciding to plant flax on the site, she said.
‘‘We have been living in Stewart Island for the past four and a-half years and I have been commuting up here to help one of our children through high school.
‘‘Sometimes the world feels a bit doom and gloom and we wanted to make something a bit prettier. Something the way the world used to look like ’’
She and her husband ran a marine surveying business, and had been all over the country but had put their roots down in Karitane for now.
The mother of four secured 1000 flax plants donated by Orari Nurseries in South Canterbury.
People from the Karitane community came to help yesterday and from there the flax would grow.
She said did not know how long it would take for the flax to fully grow — maybe a decade — but it should bring a smile to many.
