Country Living Here We Come

Be Careful What You Wish For

When times were tough in corporate life I would sometimes say "give me the chance to leave and I'll head for the country". Well, little did I know that would come true sooner than I thought.

Am I sorry - absolutely not! But...did I know what "going country" might mean for a girl who has lived her whole life in big cities? Probably not - and so the adventures begin.
July saw me heading to the relatively small town of Hastings - outskirts Hastings to be exact. To my sister's vineyard. I fell in love with this part of New Zealand when my sister and her family moved here about eight years ago. Imagine looking out the kitchen window (any window for that matter) and all you see is grapevines and green pastures. Here was where I was going to retire. Here was where I was going to indulge my passion for good wine, good food, and great photography. Well, here was now except retirement wasn't on the agenda.

July is probably not the best time to experience rural Hastings - especially when your last port of call was Brisbane. I went from 20deg to 8deg and had to think of a whole new wardrobe. Flashbacks of New Zealand as a child - freezing cold mornings, ice on the windscreens, washing that wouldn't dry in the cold weather and foggy mornings. I went from inner city apartment living in a very temperate climate to a farmhouse in a "know-you-are-alive" climate. Phew. Bracing is the word the locals use for "bloody cold". But the sunrises, sunsets and clear skies can't be beaten.

THE BEST.....Not being ruled by the clock but rather by nature.

THE WORST.....Can't read in bed because it's too cold to have any flesh above the covers.

I'M LEARNING....A girl doesn't need a wardrobe of shoes.