Manuwhenua ki Mohua bless Te Whare Whakata at the opening ceremony on January 17.
Everyone who has visited the base of Farewell Spit will know it. The house locally known as Freeman’s cottage which adjoins the carpark is demarcated off by a picket fence. It takes its name from the original builder and farm owner, Stephen Freeman, who constructed it back in the 1930s. Thanks to HealthPost Nature Trust and a heap of volunteers who gave it a serious facelift over the summer, this cottage has found new life as the trust’s new field station. It will be used by those conducting biodiversity research along with trust volunteers and workers as the Cape Farewell-Wharariki Eco-sanctuary picks up speed.