What do you hope to achieve this year?

Fred | Te Tai Poutini

Fred is embracing adulthood and the beauty of life on the West Coast.

“I’ve lived on the West Coast all my life. My parents are Westport 6th generation – that’s my mother – and my father is from the northern end of Germany where his family have been farming the same part of land for over 100 years. I’m excited to work. I’m not even kidding there. I’m excited to just enjoy stepping up a bit in life and being more into the adulting world.

Last year? Slow, long. But I enjoy it. I had really long hair and a lot of it came off, and I think I changed quite a lot both physically and internally. Just a sense of maturity, ready to grow up and take it differently. I just got Mum to do it in the bathroom, over the bathroom sink. I was stoked. I cut it into a bit of a mullet, because here on the West Coast you’ve got to get the mullet. But it looked like a lot of scissor marks. So I headed over to the barber the next day and got a proper mullet. And it was just a big change. I didn’t realise it was gonna be a change at the time but here we are.

I never really went to school. I did a bit of homeschooling. I went to school a few times but it’s just not for me. So I’m just working, enjoying life. It’s amazing to grow up here because there’s so many places to explore. We’ve got native bush all around and this is probably the most beautiful place in the country in my opinion.

I’ve lived here for about 15 years. So I’m a bit biased. I’ve lived here in Greymouth for about ten years and then Westport, Karamea and out the back of Murchison. I’m a West Coaster and I love it here.”