Melanie Burgess calls out from the veranda, “Kevin! Come here, Kevin.”
A huge black Orpington rooster peels away from the flock and comes bounding across the lawn on to the barbecue deck.
He is named Kevin after a character in the 2009 animated film Up, because of his comical, ostrich-like run.
“He always gets a mention from guests when they come to stay,” Mrs Burgess said.
“They all love Kevin.”
Hosting people is strong in both their backgrounds. Mr Burgess was no sooner off to boarding school at Otago Boys’ High School in Dunedin when his parents Alan and Helen-May Burgess at nearby Tarara, had rented out his room to guests.
“To be fair they had to. It was tough times.”
The Burgess name has been synonymous with the Catlins for four generations since the arrival of Mr Burgess’ great-grandparents William Joseph and Anne Edith Burgess, in 1907.
They had the foresight to gift the nearby Purakaunui Falls, part of the 100 acres they purchased, to the Government, to be enjoyed by the thousands who visit every year.
When Mr Burgess’ grandfather Normand died in 1970, his parents could not afford to pay the death duties on the home farm, Greenwood. So to save it, his father went into a stock and plant partnership with his Uncle John for the next decade.
Helped by the Burgess ability to diversify into such ventures as farmstays, his parents survived and celebrated more than 100 continuous years of farm ownership in the 2015 New Zealand Century Farm awards.
Karl and his brother have been able to take over from their parents and carry on the family farm separately.
Mrs Burgess is originally from North Auckland and mainly grew up in Coatesville.
She came to the Catlins with her former partner to open a hospitality business. They ended up going their separate ways. She met Mr Burgess while he was scanning ewes, which he still does as a side business for about two months of the year. The future Mrs Burgess was employed as a recorder.
More than 18 years and three children — Tamzin (17), Hunter (14) and Leo (12) — later, the house of Burgess is a tight family unit, with the members playing their part in running the farm and homestay.
“The Airbnb thing at the cottage was a bit of an accident. It happened when we did up the cottage. We built an extra bedroom for Tamzin and we had a friend from England staying, and they said, why don’t you turn it into an Airbnb? There was no Airbnb five or six years ago.”
Lakeside Cottage was born, which they kitted out and decorated themselves on a limited budget.
About that time, they decided to build a bigger house up the hill, which has extraordinary views over the Catlins Lake, all the way out to the coast. It also contains a self-contained unit, SkyLark Bed and Breakfast
It has become almost a fulltime job for the couple, on top of running the 6070ha farm, which carries about 5000 stock units. They tag-team the domestic duties.
They both enjoy the education aspect of hosting guests by running farm tours to show them where the meat and the wool comes from.
“I think it helps dispel a few myths about farming for people,” Mrs Burgess said.
Mrs Burgess personally designs and plants out the shelterbelts on the property, which also attract the insect life.
“We’re trying to promote farming in a positive way.”
“We’re lucky to be here,” Mr Burgess said.
- By Mary-Jo Tohill
