For the Akass whānau, Wānaka isn’t just where they live. It’s the backdrop to childhood adventures, the classroom where values are shaped, and the community that reinforces their instinct to care for the place they call home. Here, surrounded by mountains, lakes, and wildlife at the doorstep, environmental stewardship doesn’t feel like a lesson — it’s just life.
Kate and her husband are raising their girls to grow up with the same deep connection to the land that grounds their own values. To notice birdsong on the school run. To leave a picnic spot better than they found it. To explore the outdoors with curiosity and care. Because when nature is part of your everyday world, being a kaitiaki (guardian of the environment) becomes an everyday act too.
That sense of responsibility doesn’t stop at home. Through Wānaka Flooring Xtra, the Akass family are proud Love Wānaka Impact Partners, weaving their personal values into the way they do business. They believe that if you’re lucky enough to raise your children somewhere this special, you do what you can to protect it – for themselves, the community, and for all those who come to experience it.
Below, Kate shares what life looks like for their family, how Wānaka has shaped the way they parent, and why small habits can have the biggest impact on growing little eco explorers.
Raising a family in Wānaka feels like such a privilege. We’re surrounded by mountains, lakes, trails and a really like-minded and supportive community. There is always something outdoors to explore and always someone up to joining in. It is a place where the girls can grow up with space, freedom, and a strong sense of connection to the environment and the people around them.
Living here encourages us to keep things simple, to get outside when we can, and to help the girls build a natural connection with their surroundings. It’s not about big lessons – it’s the tiny everyday things that teach them to be thoughtful, curious, and respectful of the environment. Wānaka makes those values feel easy and part of ordinary family life.
Depending on the time of year, a “typical” weekend for us usually starts a little slower, making breakfast together at home before loading up the bikes, skis, canoe or camping gear. Some weekends it is hopping on the bikes at home and riding around the lakefront, spotting grebes, watering plants, and finding stones and sticks around the lakefront. Then maybe a canoe to Ruby Island for a picnic. Other weekends usually involve heading up the mountain skiing together, camping locally or heading off on a walk or overnight tramping trip with the kids. Whatever it is, it is usually about spending quality time together, enjoying the little things at a slower pace.
For us, being Love Wānaka Impact Partners is a way of acknowledging that we’re part of something larger than our own business. We help people build lasting homes, but Love Wānaka helps all of us look after the landscapes and community that make this such a special place to live. It is important to us that the girls see that giving back, and taking pride and responsibility for our beautiful home, is just part of how we operate as a family and as a business.
We are lucky that they are surrounded by a lovely community that shares our love of Wānaka and the environment. At home and out and about, we keep it simple and consistent: we pick up rubbish on our daily walk or bike rides, always carry our water bottles and snack containers to refill and reuse, take care of the garden and plants in the community, get the girls involved in the recycling and composting at home, and teach them about the places we are exploring so they hopefully grow up as excited about them as we are.
Start small and be kind to yourself – family life is already full on. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Simple things like getting outside together and checking out the local plants, birds, community signs and events, and showing them the things you do around home. Just the little actions teach them that you care.
Probably for a walk around the lakefront to Eely Point. It is simple, beautiful, anyone can get involved, and there are lots of little activities and things to learn or spot along the way.
For the Akass family, caring for Wānaka begins at home. It begins in ordinary, consistent moments that their girls will grow up understanding and valuing. Moments that build lifelong connections to the world around them. And when these small, everyday habits sit alongside a business commitment to environmental protection, like their Love Wānaka Impact Partnership, they create meaningful impact for the landscapes we’re protecting.
Every family has a role to play in the guardianship of the region our next generation is growing up in, whether by volunteering together, supporting Love Wānaka’s environmental work or simply being intentional about caring for the environment in everyday life. If you’re interested in giving back to the land through your business, consider becoming a Love Wānaka Impact Partner or making a donation. Because when families care for the landscapes that shape them, and when businesses contribute to the well-being of the rohe (region), our next generations inherit a place that is healthier, stronger and every bit as beautiful.
Photographer: Kate Akass
