‘I don’t miss Auckland’: This family ditched the city to live off-grid by the sea

Saturday, 13 June 2026

When Michael and his wife Shaz impulsively bought a piece of land near Raglan, they hadn’t really figured out the logistics of what it would take to live there. (Location footage courtesy of GridFree.)

In an impulsive move, Auckland couple Michael and Shaz Andrew bought a coastal property near Raglan to pursue a homesteading and self-sufficiency dream.

They chose to go completely off-grid with a solar power system after discovering it would cost between $40,000 and $100,000 to connect to the nearest power line.

Michael admits that growing their own food has been much harder and more humbling than they expected.

But the family has successfully reduced their budget and eliminated their power bill, and do not miss the big city and its traffic.

Michael Andrew and his family left the big city for a piece of land near Raglan.

When Michael and his wife, Shaz, impulsively bought a piece of land near Raglan, they hadn’t really figured out the logistics of what it would take to live there.

They packed up their lives in Auckland and moved to the coastal spot about two hours south of the big city.

The finished house has sweeping views of the Tasman.

“We did have kind of delusions of the perfect homestead and being self-sufficient. In reality, it’s a lot harder,” Michael laughs.

“We live in a pretty brutal spot that’s not necessarily conducive for growing food. We’ve had tomato plants ripped to pieces in the westerly. It’s quite humbling.”

But the hiccups are “character-building”, says Michael, editor of On The Land magazine.

Michael and his family camped on their land before they built their house.

“The aim for us is to supplement our food budget with stuff we can produce from the land. And we’re already doing that in the form of eggs from our chickens. We get a yield from our gardens.

“It’s good to know this stuff and it’s good to expose our kids to the fact that there's no such thing as a free lunch. You have to work hard to grow food.”

Michael says the family’s aim is to “supplement our food budget with stuff we can produce from the land”.

Financial breathing space

Michael and his family camped on their land as they saved money to build their house.

The house is perfectly placed for west coast sunsets.

It was only when building began that they realised the nearest power source was 100m away and it could cost anywhere between $40,000-$100,000 to bring electricity to their home.

So going off-grid and installing a solar system from GridFree was a no-brainer, Michael says.

The best part? “No power bill. We still have a gas bill so we’re not living for free, but we’re reducing our budget and we’re creating breathing space financially.”

Writing stories about homesteading and being self-sufficient partly inspired him to want that for his family too.

Now that he’s living it, he says the biggest adjustment is being constantly conscious of the elements.

“I wrote a column once in my magazine about how I used to just like the sun because it was warm. You know, beers in the sun.

“But now it’s like, the sun’s out, sweet, we can run our house now. It’s become this deity in the sky that literally brings us our power. So, that's a really cool thing to embrace, I think.”

‘I don’t miss Auckland’

Michael and his family are still adjusting to living on the land, but they haven’t looked back since moving.

“Every time we go to Auckland, we get seriously stressed out by the traffic because we're not used to it. It really rattles you and you have to escape as soon as possible. So, no, I don't miss it,” he says.

So should people living in the city try going off-grid to escape the rat race?

“Not everyone will want to but it’s pretty liberating,” Michael says. “You are forced to learn a lot.”

This piece of editorial is part of the Paddy Gower Does Stuff property series brought to you by Tower. Stay tuned for other episodes of this series and check out the Paddy Gower Does Stuff health series, releasing each week on Stuff.