Photo: Supplied / Marnie Anstis
The plan was to turn an isolated rundown farm into a profitable business and sell it on.
However a downturn in wool prices in the late 60s meant a much longer commitment for teenager Marnie Anstis's family.
But for the 16 year old, life in the Pakihi Valley, inland from Opotiki, was bliss.
More than 50 years later, Anstis has written a book "A Bird in the Bush" about her time living in this remote pocket of land.
