These gracious homes – dotted across the sun-drenched uplands of Hawke’s Bay – rose unashamedly from the golden fleeces on the sheep’s backs, to become monuments to our settler heritage. Set in spacious grounds and framed by enormous exotic trees, such as oaks, gums or Norfolk pines, they stand as testament to the dreams of our ancestors who came to this fresh canvas of a country, which already had its own rich Māori culture, with a determination to put their own individualistic mark on the landscape. The Province of Hawke’s Bay played its part in the New Zealand pastoral revolution that placed our country firmly at the forefront of the world agricultural scene. Today, New Zealand still pioneers the development of technologies in the farming sector. Strong crossbred wool, a natural durable fibre, started that process. This neglected product has, it seems, lost its golden touch – yet these grand homes, mostly in very good repair, remain as symbols of the wool boom which helped to shape our colonial past and to prepare us for our place in the new order.