Since stepping out of the spotlight two years ago, Petra Bagust has embraced a more humble way of life, but feels much wealthier since throwing herself into family projects.
The mum-of-three now has more time to spend with her children, as well as new personal pursuits of writing, photography, exercise, charity causes close to her heart, and last, but not least, her kitchen.
Forfeiting her high-paying salary when she resigned from TV One’s Breakfast in 2012 meant her family of five would live off her freelance cameraman husband Hamish’s income, adopting new spending habits to maintain a more sustainable lifestyle.
While the salary reduction brought many challenges, the bubbly presenter applied her usual enthusiasm to seek frugal, yet creative, ways to live.
“We looked at our budget and any unnecessary spending. I cancelled subscriptions to things we didn’t need. We’d been on double incomes in well-paid industries for a long time, so it was a significant choice to abandon my salary,” she reveals from her central Auckland home.
“Hamish and I had discussed how my resignation from TVNZ would be a big change for our family. But I’ve felt wealthier since stopping that work,” continues the 42-year-old beauty.
Petra now has more time to spend with her husband Hamish and children.
Petra now spends her time on family-related adventures and nationwide speaking engagements. She balances time with her children with other passions of art and poetry, a new-found love of exercise, hosting events and her charity work. In some ways, she feels busier than ever, yet is enjoying a new sense of freedom.
“This is a new phase of life for me! Last year, I even tried a boot camp, but that was sporadic and funny! My husband and I started running each morning at the beginning of 2014, but when he got side-tracked with other activities, I carried on running. Each morning, after I drop the kids to school, I run 5-6km.”
Recently, Petra completed a 42km charity cycle ride to fight against poverty, which raised $75,000 for TEAR Fund – the charity for which she is the celebrity ambassador for their campaign against human trafficking.
Each morning, she and her children, Venetia (11), Jude (9) and Theo (7) ride their bikes to school and at 3pm she often greets them on her bike to ride home together. Evenings are spent around the large wooden dining table, enjoying a meal and chats.
“Sitting at our table is integral to family time. Our kids are still at an age where they are not off at night doing their own activities. We have breakfast together every morning too, but some days I still feel like I don’t have enough time to catch up with my kids because city life is busy.”
Petra hopes to instill in her children a sense of social responsibility and a willingness to help others.
Petra, who carries a basket of freshly picked grapefruit across her back lawn, is greeted by her excited youngsters hungry for afternoon tea on this sunny spring afternoon.
Living a quieter life now with husband of 15 years, Hamish, the creative couple enjoy the sanctuary of their city-fringe home, complete with a herb garden and compost bin.
“There is something unbelievably right about composting instead of adding rubbish to landfill, you use it to feed your garden and, therefore, yourself,” tells Petra.
“When I was growing up in Wellington, we had a vege garden and enjoyed more homemade cooking. It was a much simpler time. I have stopped buying biscuits, saying to my daughter that if she wants biscuits, she can bake them!”
Petra, who is a sought-after event host, MC and charity spokesperson, reveals how a life-changing visit to Nepal with the TEAR Fund in March, to meet women trapped in the global problem of sex-trafficking, opened her eyes to how those less fortunate survive.
“They are amazing women who have been through hell. They told me their stories and trusted me. When I came back to New Zealand,I started writing their stories and felt very emotional thinking about what they have gone through.”
With 4.5 million women and children innocent victims of trafficking, Petra knew there was more to be done beyond telling their stories.
“New Zealanders can start by having conversations about difficult topics and encourage men not to engage in sex tourism,” she explains.
Petra returned from her trip to Nepal with an awareness of how those less fortunate survive day to day.
Petra hopes Kiwis will also support charities that help fight against sex trafficking. Simply following inexpensive, yet healthy, recipes in a new TEAR Fund cookbook, One Helping, and participating in Live Below the Line (a challenge to spend no more than $2.25 a day on food for five days) from October 6 to10 is a great way to start, she says.
“One Helping was made on the smell of an oily rag, so I asked Kiwi chefs, such as Annabel Langbein, Julie Le Clerc, Simon Gault, Nadia Lim and Josh Emett to contribute recipes. It was a challenge for someone like Simon, who usually cooks using finer ingredients, to design a recipe for just 75 cents per portion.”
Petra admits living off $2.25 a day is going to be a huge challenge for her family, who usually spend more than $350 every week on groceries. But she’s thankful she has One Helping to refer to for some cheap mealtime inspiration.
“Rather than making chickpea soup or baked beans on toast, I’ll make recipes without breaking the $2.25 per person per day threshold,” she says. “Our kids will notice the difference in food and we will donate whatever hasn’t been spent on groceries to TEAR Fund.”
Petra is already resourceful in the kitchen, making bread, yoghurt and bircher muesli to feed her growing brood.
“Fresh bread goes stale quicker but it did make me think about the ingredients in processed bread. I turn older bread into breadcrumbs to crumb fish so I don’t have to buy them. I like to eat seasonally and try new things.”
Following their mum’s lead, Venetia, Jude and Theo even turned a recent marmalade- making experience into an entrepreneurial enterprise.
“Our children wanted new Lego, so Hamish told them they needed to come up with a good way of making money,” explains Petra. “Once they’d sold all the lemons off our tree, they moved onto the grapefruit – which didn’t sell so well. Hamish suggested turning them into marmalade and the kids made eight kilograms!
“Then the boys took a cart of marmalade to every netball game Venetia played at and set up stalls at the end of our street and went door-to-door selling it! They ended up raising $241.”
Petra is proud that her and Hamish’s “responsible living” mentality filters down to her children. “Hamish is from a farm in Taranaki. His parents used to milk the cows, make butter and grow their own produce. He is committed to keeping the doors shut in winter and turning lights off,” she says.
Petra cuts costs by eating seasonally and making her own bread, yoghurt and bircher muesli.
“And I made a decision the first year I was in television, in 1995, to give back to the community as a way of saying thanks,” she adds. “Giving makes me happier.”
But despite her two-year sojourn from television, Petra deeply misses broadcasting.
“As far as television goes, I miss my regular connection with Kiwis. I will broadcast again as I love it too much,” she smiles. “But I don’t miss getting up at 4.20am each weekday! When I was working full-time, I never had time at night to make yoghurt, muesli and bread, let alone hang out and just be with the children. I was too busy researching for interviews the next day.
“Having this time at home has made me ask, ‘Is wealth the contents of your bank account?’ No! It’s the contents of your head, heart and soul. I feel so grateful to be able to take my kids to school and go for a run each day, and it costs nothing. Life is about trying new things, giving back and working out what makes you feel fulfilled.”
