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MASSEY is published by Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North, New Zealand

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MASSEY has a circulation of 75,000.

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Lost and found

Beth and andy watson run a most unusual business

Farmer Entrepreneurs
Beth and Andy Watson
Dip Hort & Dip Rural Studies; BAgrSci

When you walk into Beth and Andy Watson’s dining room you can’t help doing a double-take at the hooded skeleton sitting in the corner.

And the severed hand lying on the sideboard.

A walk down the hallway takes you past a bedroom with two skeletons lying on a bed, one still bearing bits of flesh. On the other bed lies a body with a knife in its back.

Another room in their house is filled with ghoulish masks, costumes, skeletons and jars of ‘body parts’.

They’re all props for ‘Fright Night’ – the horror maze the Watsons developed in the second year of their successful Amazing Maze ‘n Maize ‘n Marton.

The maze idea germinated in 1999, when Beth was looking for a project to diversify their farming activities. “I had looked at unusual crops like wasabi, but nothing had clicked until I saw a small line at the bottom of an American newsletter that said ‘Have you seen the maize maze?’”

After meeting at Massey, where Beth graduated with a Diploma in Horticulture and Andy with a BAgrSc, the couple farmed at Pipiriki and in the Wairarapa before operating a garden centre/market gardens for 10 years. During that time their involvement with the University continued, as they ran horticultural and agricultural training courses.

“The Government wanted us to run advanced horticulture courses, but we said we would only do so if the students could gain a recognised qualification,” says Andy. “The only way to do that was through the Diploma in Horticulture course at Massey.”

So an agreement was reached whereby the Watsons took five long-term unemployed – none of them with School Certificate – and put them through the Dip Hort. The only concession was that the course was extended to two years for the group. Beth and Andy mentored the students for two years, providing special back-up for them and bringing them up to speed in areas like literacy. They are justifiably proud that the pass rate for their students was better than that for internal Dip Hort students.

Their association with the University has continued. For the past two years final-year agricultural management students have used the couple’s Westoe Farm as the basis for an assignment. This has meant they have also discussed the tourism aspect as a farm diversification.

The Watsons’ working lives changed course when Andy was offered the chance to manage, and later lease, the 420-hectare farm Westoe. He jumped at it. “It was the premier mixed crop farm in this district and I had worked on it as a kid during school holidays,” says Andy.

The Watsons took over the lease of Westoe in 1995, when Beth was half way through a Diploma in Rural Studies. Beth studied extramurally and tailored her diploma to suit her interest in rural tourism. She also won a DD Baker Award to travel to England to study horticultural tourism for the elderly and people with disabilities.

Once Beth had finished her diploma, she started searching for a way to use Westoe for rural tourism. And that’s when she came across the reference to a maize maze.

Andy had just planted the maize crop – about 120 hectares – so they had to wait a year before starting their maze. In hindsight, the couple say, the delay was a blessing in disguise. “It gave us a year to plan, get consents and work out budgets, so when it went ahead it all just fell into place,” says Andy.

Beth’s year of careful planning was the key to success, he says. “Her budgeting and projections were incredibly accurate. That first year she estimated we would have 15,000 people through; we had 16,200. She predicted TV would be here in week six; they came in week five.”

The maze opened on Boxing Day 2000, with the Watsons hopeful, but not really sure how successful it would be. For the first four days there were just 17 visitors per day. Then it took off. A month after opening, on Wellington Anniversary Day, there were 600 visitors. “We had to bring in portaloos to cope with the numbers, and quickly arranged for a builder to come and extend the facilities,” says Beth.

The Watsons say the aims of the project were to create a stand-alone business and to support agriculture, the town of Marton and KiwiCan, a value-based primary school children’s programme. “And to provide family-orientated fun.”

The maze is suitable for all ages – they’ve had a 97-year-old through – and it can easily be negotiated with pushchairs or wheelchairs. The ‘Kernels of Knowledge’ trivia questions scattered throughout the paths add to the fun.

Much of the cost of developing the maze has been met by sponsors. Local agricultural contractors have worked for free. Pioneer provides seed, Ballance supplies fertiliser and Bayer and CropCare pay for chemicals. The Watsons are now in the awkward position of having companies asking to be involved in sponsorship.

Beth designs the mazes herself. The first one was a man shearing a sheep. Last year it was a medieval picture and the restaurant, set up in a converted hayshed, served medieval-themed meals. This year – well, the Watsons are keeping that secret for now.

Planting time is extremely busy. Apart from planting about 200 hectares in crops at Westoe, Beth’s maze picture has to be transferred from paper to field.

It is time-consuming and laborious work, but Beth has seen mazes in the United States where the maize has been cut or sprayed and says the difference in quality of the finished product is enormous. “It’s worth putting in the effort at the beginning to get a professional result. And even though it takes us at least a week, it’s worth doing it ourselves because it’s got to be right. If we make mistakes at that stage, the maze will be ruined,” she says.

This year the Watsons’ will expand their maze business. They have leased land at Te Kauwhata for a maize maze, which will be run by their daughter, Julia. They anticipate between 30,000 and 35,000 people will visit this summer. Next year they are expecting a huge increase in numbers.

Another maze is to be started this summer in Nelson, where a licence agreement has been signed with land owners. The mazes in all three locations will be based on the same theme, but the patterns will differ.

The Marton maze attracted 22,500 visitors last year, and the Watsons are predicting 30,000 this year. Two mazes will be planted on the site. Last year the Watsons spent hours setting up and removing props for the weekly ‘Fright Nights’. This year they plan to hold them twice a week, so have opted to plant a dedicated ‘horror maze’.

The Fright Nights have been too successful in some ways, says Andy. People drive from as far away as Wellington to be scared out of their wits.

Last season, when the word got out that it was the last Fright Night, the Watsons were inundated with 900 ‘victims’.

Because the horror maze involves large numbers of people going through the maze in the dark, they are very conscious of security. “We have made them strictly R16 and we employ security guards. Andy briefs the actors and visitors about appropriate behaviour every Fright Night,” says Beth. The Watsons employ 30 staff for Fright Nights and the actors are carefully trained and vetted. They carry walkie-talkies and the female staff have personal alarms.

These precautions have paid off – there have been no problems and the visitors just love to be scared, says Andy. “At least one person each night wets their pants.”