Dangling a pair of dead rats over a dam to feed the eels is what you might find Celia Wade-Brown doing these days.
For five years, the former Wellington mayor has lived in a tiny off-grid cottage on the edge of the Tararua Range in Wairarapa.
Celia Wade-Brown with Skye on her regenerating land in the Mangatarere Valley Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
With her husband Alastair Nicholson, Wade-Brown is farming carbon and living a simpler life alongside geckos, skinks, birds and bats in regenerating bush bordering the Tararua Forest Park.
The "bonus" funds raised from sequestering carbon in the native bush on their 250-hectare property mean she can spend time trapping pests, maintaining tracks and nursing seedlings.
Wade-Brown and her husband bought the former sheep and beef farm in 1987. During her time as Wellington mayor from 2010 to 2016, the family used it as a playground on her occasional respite from duties.
When her mayoral stint was over, and the couple then stayed in tiny tents and backcountry huts while walking the length of New Zealand, they decided they could live at the bush property full-time.
Tiny Duntulm Cottage faces north to catch the sun and harvest energy. Celia and Alastair have been living there full-time for five years. Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
Just under half the land - 117 hectares - is covenanted and now part of the Emissions Trading Scheme. There's potential for another 30 hectares to regenerate and also earn carbon credits in future.
Trees capture and store carbon at differing rates depending on age and species. One metric tonne of CO2 stopped from entering the atmosphere equals one carbon credit and forests existing before 1990 don't qualify for the scheme, Wade-Brown explains.
"We've got some 1,000-year-old rimu trees on our place ... being next to the forest park, having the birds and the wind it's just come back really quickly.
"When we first got into this scheme we certainly didn't see it as making much money because they (carbon credits) were worth five dollars each but we sat on them and there was one point where they were worth over a hundred dollars and now they're back down a bit."
The price has slumped lately to around the $60 mark with a review of the emissions trading scheme underway.
"For us, it's been a bonus but I think these days, with the price carbon credits are earning and especially if you end up getting a bit of a biodiversity bonus, then it really makes sense."
When Country Life visited, a veil of mist was sliding over the hill and down into the valley.
It's a steep two-kilometre journey across the Mangatarere River to Duntulm Cottage, built partly out of old packing cases.
Fresh water is filtered from a stream nearby and wastewater heads down to an orchard and chook area below the cottage after being dealt to by worms.
Peggy, Celia and Alastair's electric all terrain vehicle, manages the steep tracks easily Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
To get to their home, we hop in a sturdy electric all-terrain vehicle named Peggy which bumps quietly up the track, once used to haul logs out to a mill in Carterton.
Wade-Brown points out remnants of the logging operation like an old axle and rusting bits of iron.
Now the trees are cherished and are even home to a colony of long-tail bats as well as prolific birdlife.
controlling rats and other pests are a constant battle but they're useful for feeding to the eels.
It's a constant battle to keep pests at bay but they're good for feeding the eels! Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
More solar panels have gone in since the early days to run a few extra mod cons and instead of having to walk to the top of the hill for phone service, the couple has a repeater for the internet so Alastair can keep working as a computer programmer.
Geckos share the one-room living space with Celia and Alastair. After five months in cramped tents and huts on the Te Araroa Trail, they felt they could give tiny-house living a go. Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
As Wellington's mayor, Wade-Brown says her days were often "chopped up like salami" with meetings, openings and events and she has relished the lifestyle change.
"It's a pleasure to be able to do one thing for the whole day. I've taken the opportunity with both hands since."
Recently, Wade-Brown announced that she will run for the Green Party in this year's election.
"Often people think living a greener lifestyle is going to be more expensive or less pleasant and I think, whether you live in the city or the country, being close to nature, wasting less, using less energy, it can be a very pleasant lifestyle.
"I suppose, if I want to prove anything, it's that you can be green and happy."
Skye, the Huntaway, enjoys the run up the track to Celia and Alastair's off-grid cottage Photo: RNZ/Sally Round
