Perched in a bank behind a South Auckland property is a Hobbit-hole. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole filled with the ends of worms. This one has electricity, furniture, and even a striking little stream.
If you ask Sean and Zowie Polwart why they built Hobbit-hole in their backyard, their answer is: “Why not?”
The pair have never read the Hobbit books or watched the Lord of the Rings movies, but admit their life is “a bit of a story”.
It started when the pair met in their first year of high school, and for the first ten years, it’s a tale of young love that’s more Disney than Tolkien.
Sean was an avid rugby player representing his region, and Zowie was a paediatric nurse, passionate about caring for children.
They were “living the dream. Literally. Life was good.”
Sean had just toured Japan with the Māori All Blacks and was preparing for a season with the Chiefs.
“2014 was one of my best years with Auckland. I think I got player of the year, which I was pretty proud of, and then off the back of that, I got an opportunity to go into the Chiefs.”
And then — in the space of a few months — it all fell apart.
Sean was going through some simple contact drills at Chiefs training when a knock altered the course of his life.
“February 26, 2015. I remember going through the hands and clipping an unfortunate shoulder. Hit the hard, summer ground — and it was bleary ever since.”
He compares the condition to the thick fog of the nearby town of Pokeno. Dense cloud that moved into his mind and never left.
“When I would talk to him, there was a bit of a delayed response. Like he could hear me, and he would respond, but there was this pause,” said Zowie.
At the same time, his wife was facing her own medical issues that would challenge her maternal identity.
“I was born with a complex vascular malformation. It’s not genetic — just something that, unfortunately, happened at birth.”
She’d lived her life with it, never letting it stop her from achieving her goals. But one big one remained.
“Weirdly enough, I just had a feeling that maybe I should check to see if it’s OK for me to have children.”
The answer was simple. If Zowie were to get pregnant, she would die.
“All I’ve ever wanted was to be a mum. So I was like, ‘What?’
“They said you could do surrogacy. This was before all the celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Toni Street did it. We had no idea what surrogacy was.”
And so the fairy tale went into a holding pattern.
“Our carefree 20s were definitely flipped on their head.”
The waiting game
The pair started playing a waiting game. Months turned into years as they tried to find a future. The tests came back, and specialists approved Sean to play again, but he knew he wasn’t OK.
“That was the hardest part. I was trying to tell myself I was good, but deep down, I knew I was like, ‘no, I’m no good here’.”
So, he retired from rugby, and simultaneously, the pair was looking for someone to carry their baby.
But far from the rugby fields, this burly ex-flanker found a future in the trees, plants and soils of Pukekohe.
“I must be outside for one — fresh air and nature and, like, the planting. There’s something very therapeutic about gardens like that,” he said.
With mentor Gary de Beer, he founded Onsite Landscapes.
The successful landscaping company is run like a team, with young rugby-playing hopefuls often appearing in the ranks.
While Sean is still managing the effects of his head injury, he now knows his triggers and has come to terms with his physical limits.
Ask him if he resents rugby, and he’s quick to say no.
“I could if I wanted to, but rugby’s given me so much, and there’s so much from rugby that’s helped me in business and other parts of my life. I think having that resentful attitude gets you nowhere.”
While Sean focused on providing for his family, Zowie was focused on growing one.
Their surrogacy journey was a long one with immense loss along the way, but after years of trying, it was Zowie’s sister-in-law who stepped forward to help.
She successfully carried their daughter Faye.
“I thought that’s more than enough. You don’t have to do it again. And she said I’d like to give Faye a sibling.”
Now, they have two beautiful, healthy kids, a growing company that provides for all of them, and a home that links it all together.
Which brings us back to the Hobbit-hole.
“It feels surreal if we sit back and think about it. Now that we’re kind of here, we have two kids. It’s like, even though it was hard, it was all worth it,” said Zowie.
The Hobbit-hole is a symbol of all they’ve been through. It’s a children’s playhouse linking family, garden and a sense of home.
It’s their little family haven.
“People say, ‘Why have you done a Hobbit house?’ And we always say, ‘why not?’ Because of what we’ve been through.
“You don’t know what’s around the corner. If we want to do this and have a home with a sense of comfort, joy, and sanctuary.
“And that’s what we did.”
As Gandalf so sagely put it: “Alone, it’s just a journey. Now, adventures, they must be shared.”