Zimbabwean couple Nikki and Lance Dodd met at university in Cape Town, South Africa, where she was studying interior design and he was studying horticulture. Their future plans were abruptly halted by the start of political unrest in Zimbabwe, leading to a long journey searching for a place to call home.

“We are both from farming backgrounds and after university we intended to return to my parents’ farm in Zimbabwe and diversify from tobacco into berries and stone fruit,” says Lance.

“Then we got the call in early 2000 saying don’t come home, get a job. Both family farms had been requisitioned by the Zimbabwean Government and with no farms to go back to, everything was lost for both families.”

By the early 2000s, Nikki’s mum, dad, sister and two brothers had emigrated to New Zealand. Lance’s family went overseas but his father remains in Zimbabwe.

A few fresh starts

“I followed Lance, and we went to the UK on an ancestral visa as we both had UK grandparents,” says Nikki. “It gave us the space to earn over there and work out what to do next.”

This path led them back to Africa in 2003. Lance worked for a British company on a Kenyan flower farm that exported to Europe.

The couple had two children Hayley (now 17) and Matthew (now 14) and enjoyed living on a 20,000ha game farm with 200-300ha set aside for the flowers. They describe it as beautiful and remained there for 10 years until political unrest between Kenya, Somalia and Sudan made life dangerous once more and the family left the country.

“We had visited my family in New Zealand several times over the years, so it made sense to come here. They lived a safe and peaceful life with their families,” says Nikki.

Nikki in the truffière training Indie the springer spaniel pup to hunt for truffles. Photo / Supplied

The Dodds moved to the Bay of Plenty in 2012, with Lance finding work in the kiwifruit packhouses and later working in a management role.

“It’s hard starting again from scratch, but we knew we had finally found somewhere safe and around family and where we could finally put down roots,” says Lance.

A place of their own

The couple began looking at lifestyle properties where they could live, work and give their children a rural life similar to the one they experienced when young.

When Lance first saw a truffle farm near Te Puke for sale it was out of budget, but he noticed it again 10 months later and the price was now within reach.

“Lance looked at it with a friend and before he even had time to tell us, he’d put an offer on and approached the bank for finance!” says Nikki.

The property was an 8ha block where previous owners Maureen and Colin Binns had established a truffle farm and ran truffle tasting tours to teach people about an almost mystical fungus, the black Périgord truffle.

Lance saw the possibilities and luckily so did his family when they visited for the first time. They moved in December 2024.

“As well as the truffiere, we have an idyllic 3.5ha of QEII covenanted New Zealand bush and a crystal-clear waterway, which Maureen and Colin looked after so well. We are certainly happy to take over their legacy and have plans to resurrect the 8km of walkways through the forest and share the beauty with others,” says Lance.

Having never seen a truffle before buying the property, it’s been a steep learning curve for Nikki and Lance. Despite being four hours’ drive away, Maureen and Colin have returned several times to pass on their wisdom and knowledge, something the Dodds are hugely grateful for.

This included using truffles for culinary delights and how to train a dog to hunt for truffles.

Six-month-old springer spaniel Indie is doing well and Nikki says that she already goes into the truffiere and finds truffles.

“She still rushes a bit but I’m finding it amazing to be forming a strong bond with a dog and learning to read her,” says Nikki.

Hayley Dodd with pet piglet Piggywig. Photo / Supplied

Hayley has a pet pig and Lance is interested in seeing if he can train it to truffle hunt as pigs are traditionally used for that role in Europe.

Other animals include three cows, 12 sheep for “mowing”, 18 chickens and beehives from a local beekeeper.

By July 2025, Lance had committed to working fulltime on their property. Alongside the summer and winter truffle seasons and the summer truffle tours, the couple intend to grow exotic mushrooms such as oyster, shiitake and enoki to provide a consistent, year-round income.

After being caught up in turbulent times overseas, the family has finally found peace and a home to call their own.