Herald photojournalist Mike Scott headed to Ngāruawāhia to meet Brian Gubb as part of the Aotearoa Photojournalism Workshop - and found someone who lights up the end of the tunnel. Photos and words by Mike Scott.
If fearless needed a mascot, it could call on 63-year-old Brian Gubb, a Ngāruawāhia grandfather who lives in an "Earthship".
With about 10 per cent normal vision and hardly any hearing, Brian bounds from one quest to the next with more exuberance than most.
Apart from building his own house, he works fulltime using sliding saws and nail guns, traps predators on his bush block, plays the button accordion with aplomb, climbs mountains, operates tractors and loves to entertain the grandkids.
In a small area in the centre of his eyes, Brian can work out contrasting shapes and lines. Using powerful magnifiers, he can read his smartphone when it's almost touching his nose.
Hearing aids are a massive help.
We met during the recent Aotearoa Photojournalism Workshop - a gathering of established and up-and-coming photojournalists organised by New Zealand Geographic and funded through the Public Interest Journalism Fund.
Brian was my "assignment" and at his workplace on a wet Thursday afternoon he clipped a microphone to my shirt and we got talking while I took photos.
I know I only scraped the surface. His story was of a practical go-getter and adventurer who loves things like remote mountains and valleys, rock climbing, abseiling and car rallies - often with his wife Karen and their five children along for the ride.
After losing his sight in 2007 through optical nerve strokes, he was encouraged to attend a Blind Foundation (now known as Blind Low Vision NZ) meeting with others recently blinded.
"They were: 'Woe is me, why me, this is the worst thing.' But I wasn't, I never went through feelings of grief.
"To me it was: 'That's life. It is what it is. It's happened so make the best of it and do whatever I can.'
"I always remember my mum saying: 'If you can't see light at the end of the tunnel, then run down and light the bloody thing yourself.'"
The year 2007 was a critical time because the family was halfway through building an "Earthship" house on the beloved 18-acre (7ha) bush block they had purchased in 2001.
Earthships were developed by architect Michael Reynolds to be off-grid ready homes built at low cost by non-builders using natural and recycled materials such as old car and truck tyres.
And that is what Brian and his family did. They rammed and stacked 2500 tyres full of earth, sourced recycled roofing, glasshouses, wiring, beams and much more to build their unique home for an almost unbelievable $28,000.
Losing his sight upset the construction momentum – but only for the next six months while he found ways of coping and got on with the job.
Brian named the house "Kan do it" because that was the attitude he wanted to show his kids.
He seems not to see his lack of sight or hearing as obstacles.
"For me, life has never been hard. Some people talk about challenges and you see all these things on Facebook that say 'God only gives hard challenges to people strong enough to handle them' and blah blah blah.
"That sort of thing annoys me 'cause it implies that those of us who don't have challenges, God doesn't respect us."
Close the front door of the Earthship and the chilly southerly rain pouring outside is forgotten as you walk down a corridor crowded by large tropical plants in rounded earthen boxes which extend from the wall.
Above are vast glasshouse windows and in the floor and walls are coloured glass squares made from old bottles. The ceiling is corrugated iron. In a couple of places you can see the home's tyre skeleton.
It is a quiet, warm and calm space.
Calm is probably good for Brian because he is obviously not one to sit still.
"I hate wasting time. I mean, if I didn't have to sleep, I wouldn't."
