It's an unusual hobby, but Wouter van Dijk loves nothing more than watching his tobacco plants flourish.
The 86-year-old Dutch man only took up the unconventional hobby five years ago and it turns out he's quite good at it.
He has about 40 tobacco plants, some towering up to two
metres high, growing in a greenhouse at the back of his Waihi home and uses the same process he learnt from his father during World War II in Holland.
"I like to see it all grow, it's a nice looking plant too," he said.
The retired fitter turner, who emigrated to New Zealand after the war, found some seeds for sale in Katikati and decided to have a go at growing it and processing it using a tobacco machine he bought back from a European holiday in the 1980s.
