Trevor Brewer says he still goes for a stroll in the bush at Christmas. The farmer and hunter, now 65, has just published his Farming and Hunting in NZ autobiography, to document the history of his passion for hunting in the New Zealand bush. The quintessential New Zealand country scene on thecover of the book was taken at the farmhouse above Aberfeldy on the Parapara, where he worked for the late Ken Marshall. Mr Brewer started shepherding when he was 21 on Western Estate at Ohingaiti. "Basil Turner was the manager and his son Chris owned Veandercross," but that's another story, Mr Brewer said. He was the son of a coal miner at Huntly before the family moved south to Marton. He left Rangitikei College in 1960, and five years later finished his apprenticeship in joinery. But farming was his passion and he spent 22 years working on eight different sheep and cattle farms around the central North Island: in Hawkes Bay, Taihape, Whanganui and Taumarunui. And how is the bush these days? "One of the things that concerns me is the use of 1080. The rest of the world has banned its use."
Another hunting anecdote he spoke about was staying in the Purity Hut on the tussockline in the Ruahine Ranges. "We slept in sack hammocks and when we came out of the hut in the morning, the snow was head high."
Farming and Hunting in NZ is available at the Post Office Bookshop, Ridgway St, and Paige's Book Gallery, Gutin/Wicksteed St cnr.
