SOLD OUT: B+LNZ Southern Ladies' Long Lunch: Empowering & Celebrating Women in the Rural Sector

Gemma McCaw

Gemma McCaw (née Flynn), is a former New Zealand hockey player (Black Sticks) who played 254 games, scoring 72 goals, and participated in three Olympic Games (Beijing 2008, London 2012, and Rio 2016) and two Commonwealth Games (Delhi 2010, Glasgow 2014). 

Gemma leads the group Ladies who Venture (Guiding and Inspiring Women into Adventure) a group that aims to empower women with the knowledge, skills and confidence to take on challenges in the great outdoors. 

Gemma is also a director for Performance Wellbeing (Strengthening Mindset/Elevating Wellbeing) and runs a book club with members hiking into the mountains with a backpack full of books, while juggling three daughters under seven with husband ex All Blacks Captain Richie McCaw.

Stevie Cockburn

Wannabe gardener growing and utilising as much of our own food as possible. (Made from scratch like Grandma did) Stevie Cockburn is a passionate home gardener and advocate for self-sufficiency based in Mid-Canterbury, New Zealand. Through her Instagram platform @likegrandmadid, she shares the joys and challenges of growing and preserving food whilst working full time in the agricultural sector and taking on an abundance of hobbies. On the beef and crop farm she shares with her husband Ryan, Stevie has cultivated an abundant edible garden designed around efficient and seasonal living. 

She grows a wide range of produce, including heritage plants like blackcurrants from her grandmother’s garden, and pushes the limits of things like citrus, kumara and melons in her climate. Stevie’s mission is to reconnect people with where their food comes from - whether it’s a full garden or just a pot of herbs by the kitchen sink, and to build the connection between farmer and food regardless of where you live.

Gillian Swinton

(Author of The Good Life: A self-sufficient living and modern homesteading guide and Growing Great Garlic Book) My partner and I own a 2.7ha lifestyle block in Central Otago. Here we grow and preserve most of our food, exploring different methods to do so to figure out what works (and what doesn’t). We love growing in abundance and selling our surplus stock at our road-side farm stall. Homesteading for me began before owning land. It began in my grandmother's kitchen on an island off the coast of Scotland, watching her preserve on her Aga, the buckets of cockles we had spent the evening collecting. It began when my mother would buy seasonal produce in bulk and make huge batches of marmalade and pickled beetroot in our house in the city. It grew when I moved to New Zealand and realised the cost of groceries. 

Alesha Tomasi

Hunting & Gathering. Home of Gavin the Goat. Alesha Tomasi is a West Coast woman with a deep love for the land and the simple, honest lifestyle that comes with it. She and her partner Mat bought a small lifestyle block near Hokitika four years ago, chasing a dream of living more self-sufficiently. Since then, they’ve thrown themselves into the world of homesteading, growing their own food, preserving harvests, and living a slower, more intentional life. Over the past year, Alesha has been sharing their day-to-day life on social media, offering a real and relatable glimpse into modern homesteading, through her content. Alesha is creating a space where women can feel supported and inspired to reconnect with nature, take pride in learning new skills, and build confidence through doing. She believes that you don’t need a big farm or years of experience to live well from the land—just a patch of dirt, a bit of grit, and the willingness to start. Her goal is simple: to encourage other women to give it a go – whether it’s picking up a rifle, planting a veggie patch, or trying something new in the kitchen.