87 year old Gusta Peach Photo: RNZ/Susan Murray
Gusta Peach came to New Zealand in 1951 to be a land girl. The 87 year old now lives in the hills behind Katikati in Bay of Plenty.
Gutsa's dream started as a three-year-old after seeing a cow girl in a Dutch picture book .. then as a teenager, she saw a photo of horses and sheep on a high country station in NZ and decided that’s where she wanted to go.
Her life took her from Indonesia to Switzerland, the Netherlands, Britain, and finally to working the land here in New Zealand.
She’s still mowing avocado orchards and after a knee replacement is hoping to be back on the tennis court soon.
Her life as a shepherd is what I thought we would be talking about, but her story roams from a human skull on her mantle piece to lost love with a married man and buried cars in Indonesia during WW2.
Gutsy Gusta Peach: part two
Gusta Peach came to New Zealand in 1951 to be a land girl. Now 87, her story roams from a human skull on her mantlepiece to lost love with a married man and buried cars in Indonesia during WW2. Audio
