Finding meaning

There’s a mantra that reflects the wholesome lifestyle Phil McCabe is committed to leading.

“Happiness comes from being engaged in meaningful work,” he says, as we wander the grounds of Solscape, an eco-retreat nestled on the lower slopes of Mount Karioi overlooking Raglan’s coastline.

I’ve come to this slice of paradise to escape the busy city and recharge with a dose of ocean views, native bush walks and a healthy massage. 

Phil and I wander the 10-acre site together, strolling past vegetable gardens bursting with produce that will be served up in the on-site café. We pass tipis dotted through the bush, mud earth domes, old train carriages and solar heated eco-baches.

Phil and partner Bernadette Gavin established Solscape in 2002 to inspire a new way of thinking and to provide a working model of sustainable living.

There are many ways to do that here, from taking part in a yoga class or a surf lesson, to enrolling in a permaculture workshop.

Phil finds his own happiness levels lift through meaningful work. “Solscape is a good environment for people to rethink things, even if it’s just planting the seed. That’s the driver for Bernadette and me; knowing we have a positive effect on people’s lives. It lifts the spirits,” he says.

I opt for a bush walk and then unwind in a hammock with a book from the reading room.

Later, I wander past upcycled railway cabooses and a Buddha statue to the Kahuna Room. The small studio nestled among tea trees, nikau palms and flax bushes is the perfect spot to let go of stress with a massage.

Later in the day, I spot Phil again; he’s working in a veggie patch.

“It’s a visual cue,” he says, of the garden. “Guests order the food from the café and see it growing right here. It creates a healthy, visible food cycle. It gets people to think about where their food comes from.”

After finishing a meal on the deck overlooking Ngarunui Beach, guests are encouraged to put scraps in composting and worm farm bins. There’s zero food waste here; it’s all used.

Phil credits Raglan’s focus on sustainability to the spirited community and well-known Maori land activist, the late Eva Rickard, who campaigned to have ancestral lands on the harbour returned to local tribes.

“The community is special here and the tone was set a long time ago with Eva’s strong stand for land. A good number of us feel inspired to carry it on,” he says. “I’m living in a beautiful community and meeting so many interesting people; it’s most definitely meaningful work.”

Reported by Monica Tischler for our AA Directions Summer 2016. issue