Colonial adventure a trial by cooking fire

One Land threw three families into the thick of New Zealand's past. Photo / Supplied by TVNZ

Money can't buy a view like this. As the Dalrymple family wake each day, they are greeted by the most spectacular, unimpeded view of the Firth of Thames.

Surrounded by lush rolling pasture that tumbles down to the pohutukawa-fringed shore, the Dalrymples are living in paradise.

At least they would be, if they had access to running water, toilets and some shampoo. But this is 1850s New Zealand and no such luxuries exist - much to the dismay of teenagers Jess and Kayla.

The family went back in time as part of TV One's latest historical reality challenge One Land (Sunday, 7.30pm) - a series aimed at reliving New Zealand's past and exploring how Maori and Pakeha learned to live alongside one another.

Their days in the temporary home in the Tapapakanga Regional Park were spent working from dawn till dusk - tending to livestock, harvesting vegetables and running a household without any mod cons. Bathing consisted of an awkward sponge bath or quick dip in the river.

Further down the hill, the Smith family experienced even harsher conditions as they relived their ancestors' movements as early pioneers. With six hungry mouths to feed, including three growing boys, Tarnia Smith had her work cut out for her.

Not only did she have to fossick and forage for food - she had to work out how to cook it using 1850s technology. That is, an open fire and cast-iron pot.

"I struggle cooking with the modern appliances, let alone that set-up," laughs Tarnia, who has now returned to real life, working as a midwife in Christchurch.

The first two weeks of the reality challenge saw the Christchurch family go hungry as they struggled to adapt to their new environment.

"For the first 15 days, we really just ate potato and kumara. We had the odd egg but it took the chooks a wee while to get comfortable and find a place to lay.

"With Conrad [the youngest], I don't know how many times we had to reassure him, 'It's okay, it's not forever'. He started to guard his plate. He really thought he was going to starve, I think."

But as the days went by, the family entered into the swing of things and, by the end of the six-week challenge, they seemed positively at home in their rustic, one-room cabin.

The boys - Marshall (21), Matthew (19) and Conrad (9) - became expert hunter-gatherers and spent their days fishing for snapper and chasing wild turkeys and pigs. Meanwhile, 11-year-old Nadia and her Mum were left to the "women's work", which included washing, sewing, cooking and gardening.

The females had to adhere to strict dress codes, wearing stiff corsets and heavy petticoats throughout the day, despite the searing summer sun. The males were allowed to to remove layers of clothing and swim in the river to cool down.

"I wasn't allowed to show anything higher than my wrist or higher than my ankle," recalls Tarnia. "Forget burning the bra, burn the bloody corset!"

Up at the pa, things were more relaxed. There, the Ririnui family played the role of a traditional Maori family, speaking only in te reo and adhering to less stringent social mores.

Yet the enclosed pa site was the most permanent and sophisticated set-up of the three families - with several whares and a large, flourishing garden.

All three sites were designed in strict keeping with the style of the time and production designer Craig Hickey spent weeks researching the period to make the experience as authentic as possible.

The contestants were completely removed from modern society, with only each other for company. It made for a tough - and at times tense - six weeks. The producers insisted the families stay in character at all times and refused to let them bend the rules, even just a little.

"We were going to mess Greg [Heathcote, producer] up on many occasions. That was our pastime at night. We would sit there and plot what we'd do to him," laughs Tarnia.

"I was so bloody naive [going into it]. I thought about really lame stuff before we went. I was more worried about being able to cook bread. I didn't give a thought to the supply of food.

But is she ultimately grateful for the experience? "It's a hard one. I'm glad we did it. But if I'd known my children were going to be so hungry ... I don't know."

LOWDOWN

What: One Land sees three modern-day New Zealand families - the Smiths, the Dalrymples and the Ririnuis - travel back to the 1850s to experience life in early New Zealand

Where: TV One

When: Premieres Sunday, December 13 at 7.30pm