Central Hawke's Bay farming identity Mark Warren is presenting his new book, Many a Muddy Morning Stories from a life off road and on the land, at the Waipukurau Library this week.
The book is filled with Mark's off-roading, hill-seeking and muddy-morning adventures after a childhood spent driving all manner of farm vehicles on school friends' farms, and a rapid plunge into farming after being thrust into single-handedly managing a muddy Hawke's Bay farm in his 20s. This was just as Rogernomics was introduced and the removal of subsidies would change the face of farming forever.
Mark grew up with an obsession with Landrovers, council tip trucks, bulldozers, hill-country tractors, snow-ploughs — if it had four wheels, it warranted his attention. His book tells of working as a grease monkey, rallying in a purpose-built Toyota landy, rescuing ski-bunnies off icy mountain roads.
Over the years he turned his love for off-road vehicles into a sideline business on the farm, working with many organisations including the police, training drivers to handle a 4-wheel drive vehicle in difficult situations.
CHB readers will recognise many of the characters that pass through the later pages of Mark's memoir, dealing with the farming fraternity in the region.