SUMMER 2017 27
I am Christchurch-based landscape architect Leicester Murray . Until 2009 my wife Laura and I lived and farmed ‘ Wharanui ’ at the north end of the Kaikoura Coast . Wharanui is about 70km north of Kaikoura and 60km south of Blenheim .
State Highway One and the main trunk railway pass through the property .
The property is currently leased to my cousins James and Becky Murray who continue to run sheep and beef cattle on the steep hill country complemented with irrigated flats along the narrow coastal strip of land .
My family retreat to the farm , which we still call home , as frequently as possible . I am the fourth generation of Murray to be steward of this land and its genis loci runs pretty deep in my veins . The earthquake of November 14th 2016 changed many factors of the property .
On the surface , the family homestead and the other farm buildings appear structurally sound . St Oswald ’ s Church , the small stone landmark chapel is damaged - although the stained glass windows are still intact - but we ’ re sourcing as much information as we can from experts around the
THESE PAGES : Views of Wharanui by Leicester Murray , a fourth-generation ‘ caretaker of the land ’.