U
NLESS YOU’VE BEEN living an
extremely sheltered life away
from action sports over the past
10 years, then it’s highly likely
you’ve heard of Frew Farm, or
- at the very least - seen spectacular images
and video footage from their flagship event:
Farm Jam.
The dark, (very) damp armpit of New
Zealand’s South Island seems like the most
unlikely place to boast one of the most iconic
two-wheeled action sports events on the
planet. If you drew a dotted line between
Nowheresville and Obscureton, the farm’s
lush, green rolling hills would be smack-bang
in the middle. But for the many people who
make the biennial pilgrimage to ride at Frew
Farm, the remote location is one of the most
appealing aspects.
When the Frews moved onto the land (25km
from the nearest town of Winton) in 1984,
the farm was 1,400 acres. However, after
a couple of purchases of neighbouring
properties, the farm has almost doubled in
size to 2,600 acres of prime sheep and beef
grazing land.
With so much real estate outside the back
door it’s only natural that the Frew brothers,
Kris (40), Brett (38) and Dan (36) grew up
riding motorbikes. Considering that their
father, Merv, used to perform motorbike
shows at local four-wheel-drive meets as a
young buck, it was inevitable that the love for
two wheels would quickly pass down the line.
“We learned to ride BMXs with the mandatory
wooden planks for jumps on the gravel out
the front of the workshop, and motorbikes
followed soon after,” recalls Dan. “Our first
motorbike was an MX80 two-stroke and all
three of us boys would ride it until we were
big enough to climb on dad’s DT175.”
“All through our teenage years we rode
motorbikes. We had matching XR200s,
Swanndris [for the non-Kiwis: big-ass coats]
and red-band gumboots and we’d find the
biggest bog-holes and see how many sets of
clothes we could go through,” laughs Brett.
“Dad was always OK with us inviting our
friends over to go for a hoon around the farm
and I guess that’s never really stopped.”
The rolling hills were also perfect for finding
and building jumps and it was only natural
the boys would soon shape up a motocross
track during their teenage years.
However, it wasn’t until both Brett and Dan
left home to work and study, and afterwards
returned to work for Merv that the jumpbuilding began on the farm in earnest.
“I think we built the first pushbike jumps in
2001, and my FMX jumps and the foam pit
behind our house followed soon after,” Dan
remembers. “About the same time Brett u
£ Imagine having
this in your back
yard…