Reid’s Farm Tribute | Lake Taupo, New Zealand

Reid’s Farm is one of the probably hundreds of free camping sites in New Zealand. It is one of those places you are looking for while traveling on the north island with a limited budget and a backpack. Of course, you can go there by car or you might even arrive there in a fancy caravan, but in a rush, you will never experience the special energy of this place it has to offer.

ARRIVING AT REID’S FARM IN TAUPO

I came here in the summer of 2014 after almost 2 weeks in the wilderness. I decided to take the bus to Taupo to have the opportunity to wash my clothes and sleep in a real bed. After one night in one of those cheap hostels, I knew I had to get out into nature again. If you want to keep it real you have to leave mainstream trails. So I was looking for Reid’s Farm. Someone – actually the only person I met on my journey through the wilderness told me about this place close to Taupo, but there was no entry in one of those official maps. There were many camping sites marked on the map, but I had to ask a couple of people till someone put a cross on a blanc spot close to the Waikato River.

Arriving there I thought that this is the right place to relax for a couple of days after the intense struggle. In the end, I stayed there over a month with many small trips to Lake Taupo, Tongariro National Park or Rotarua. The true reason I stayed there for so long has been the people that also got attracted by this place. Maybe this was just one of this rare occasion in life where the right kind of people meets at the right time on the perfect spot. Anyhow – this kind of “coincidental” community I never experienced before.

THE REID’S FARM EXPERIENCE

Even though people were coming and going every day there was a hard core of individuals who represented the epicenter of a new form of hippie community. There were no hierarchies nor rules, but somehow people took care of each other and organized food and supplies they shared with everyone else. Those people maintained a kind of resonance field that helped everyone who wanted to be a part of it to easily adapt to this unique paradigm of sharing and caring. They even built a place to cook and chill out for everyone.
When some of the “founding fathers” of this encampment moved on, other fellow travelers inherited the responsibilities. Without realizing it, I got also sucked into it from a mere observer who wanted to move on more sooner than later to the point I became a member of a bigger tribe – the Reid’s Farm family.

Of course I had to leave one day like all others before and new people replaced my part in the community and hopefully, they carried on some of the energy I was fortunate to witness. I don’t know if this was just a rare phenomenon or if you really could go there today and make the same observations and experiences. Maybe this place really has a kind of energetic vortex that attracts a special kind of individuals that are looking for love, friendship, spirituality, and freedom. Here are some of the photos I shot there. Hopefully, those pictures can describe a little bit of the magic paradise I found during my time there.

Peace out to my brothers and sisters from Reid’s Farm. I love you all!

New Zealand Travel Photography

Tags: Reids Farm | New Zealand | Walkabout | Travel Photography

Photography by CHRISTIAN KOEHLERT – MAYAMAGIK | from Miltenberg, GERMANY