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Kōrero: Communes and communities

Back to nature at Wilderland

Back to nature at Wilderland

Three residents enjoy the relaxed atmosphere of life at Wilderland in the early 1970s. Wilderland, on 64 hectares of land near Whitianga on the Coromandel Peninsula, was founded in 1964 by Dan and Edith Hansen. The Hansens had previously lived at Beeville community in the Waikato, but left to set up Wilderland as an anarchist, vegetarian community. Dan Hansen, a mechanic and inventor, was a paraplegic due to an accident at Beeville. After his death in 2006, many Wilderland residents moved away, but from 2009 a small group began working to revive the community.

Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi

Wilderland

by Ian Baker

This item has been provided for private study purposes (such as school projects, family and local history research) and any published reproduction (print or electronic) may infringe copyright law. It is the responsibility of the user of any material to obtain clearance from the copyright holder.

Ngā whakaahua me ngā rauemi katoa o tēnei kōrero

Me pēnei te tohu i te whārang

Caren Wilton, Communes and communities – Communes: 1960s and 1970s, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/mi/photograph/28109/back-to-nature-at-wilderland (accessed 4 June 2026).

He kōrero nā Caren Wilton, i tāngia i te 31 March 2011.

Comments

Paul Elwell-Sutton
29 April 2012
That's Maureen Powell, mmyself and Fred McQuade (shoeing horse) in the photo. Fred lived locally, not at W/land. Maureen was my main squeeze at the time., and we had a white hot relationship which eventually disintegrated.