Intimate portrait of a self-sustaining family in New Zealand | SLICE Pt1,2,3,4

[ënagualí~ᏉLAᗪἇ ኔጡ።]

Intimate portrait of a self-sustaining family in New Zealand | SLICE..Pt1

Peter and Colleen Karena, have eschewed mainstream society to take up residence in a remote part of New Zealand. There, they raise their many children in a self-sustaining home. They work with horses, hunt for food and hold on tightly to their idyllic existence in the middle of the postcard-worthy landscapes that the country offers. A simple way of life that may inspire us for generations to come. Extract from the documentary: “This way of life” Direction: Thomas Burstyn & Barbara Sumner Burstyn Production: Cloud South Films With: Peter Karena, Colleen Karena, Llewelyn Ottley-Karena, Aurora Ottley-Karena.

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The Karena family has to leave the house Pt2

We’re back with the Karena Family: Peter, Colleen, their 6 kids and 50 horses! While they face difficult times with their house, and must now live at 8 in a caravan, they always find a way to be grateful. The family has little in the way of material possession but they possess a physicality most of us can only dream of. The children ride bareback as they hunt and play in the wild. An open window into what it means to be a family.

We’re back with the Karena Family: Peter, Colleen, their 6 kids and 50 horses! While they face difficult times with their house, and must now live at 8 in a caravan, they always find a way to be grateful. The family has little in the way of material possession but they possess a physicality most of us can only dream of. The children ride bareback as they hunt and play in the wild. An open window into what it means to be a family.

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Life goes on for the Karena..Pt3

The Karena family of New Zealand is slowly rebuilding after the tragic fire burns down their home, forcing them to find a new house. Colleen is pregnant again, Peter shares his self-sustaining lifestyle and his work as a horse breeder, and we also visit their new home.

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The Karena family: Struggles of horse breeders..Pt4

This is the final part of our adventure into the daily life of Peter and Colleen Karena who raised their six children and 50 horses on the brink of poverty, in harmony with nature. Peter faces a horse accident, he does everything to take care of his mare. The family turns the page after the tragic fire of their house and remembers the good times they lived there, the whole story shot in the splendid landscapes of an unfiltered New Zealand.

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Peter Karena doesn't get sore from sitting on a saddle too much – he gets sore from not sitting on a saddle enough.

That's a good thing, because the Hawke's Bay horse breeder and trekking company owner is going to be spending a lot of time on a horse looking at the South Island over the next four or five months.

Mr Karena, his 13-year-old son Llewelyn, German friend Norbert Gunther and eight horses arrived in Picton  to begin a months-long trek around the South Island.

A Koromiko man offered the group his paddock to camp in until they start heading south today or tomorrow, hopefully through the Molesworth.

The two men were at the Department of Conservation [DOC] office in Picton yesterday trying to get permission to travel through the station, which is closed to the public in winter.

DOC have told them they will ask the station manager for special permission to allow them through, Mr Karena said.

If that doesn't work they'll take the coastal route, but after that they have no particular plans, he said.

"We just want to ride around the South Island. I know nothing about the South Island."

While the scenery will be different, life in the saddle and out in the bush is normal for Mr Karena, who breeds, breaks and treks horses for a living and lives in a teepee with no power near the Tukituki River, east of Waipukurau.

"This is quite a natural thing for me ... I get sore if I'm out of the saddle too much."

His business is closed during the winter months, so he usually uses the time to break in young horses.

The South Island trek will serve as both a holiday and a chance to break the young horses he has brought on the trip, he said.

For Mr Gunther, it is an opportunity for the fourth-generation professional photographer to gather material for a book.

As for Llewelyn, he will also be busy with a reading list and keeping up with school work via email.

"He's already missed about three months of school this year because he was in Europe for the movie, but he's still top of his class," Mr Karena said proudly about the eldest of his six children.

The movie is This Way of Life, a documentary shot over four years about Mr Karena, his family and their alternative way of life.

The documentary has won selection at international film festivals in Australia, the United States, Canada and Europe since its release.

Mr Karena said preparations for the South Island journey began in December.

He has made all their gear, including new pack saddles for the horses, a tent and a wood stove built out of an old gas cylinder.

The group are carrying enough food for two weeks, but also plan to supplement their diet by hunting and fishing along the way.