100% Pure

Views from the top of the farm at 6am

Views from the top of the farm at 6am

I spent last week visiting family down south. It was an interesting few days, familiarising myself with New Zealand again. I’ve always considered myself lucky to come from such a beautiful country, despite spending so much time not actually in it, and this week has refreshed my appreciation of this. The roads between Canterbury and North Otago have some really stunning scenery - flat plains and rolling hills, pristine lakes and rivers - both of which I swam in - and miles of sky. I spent most of my time on a farm near Twizel, where it was 35 degrees most days - quite possibly the hottest temperatures I've ever experienced in New Zealand. On my second day there, I got up at 5am to help with sheep mustering – anyone who knows me is well aware that I am not a morning person, so this was tough, but by far the coolest time of the day to do it, both temperature and views wise; looking over the hills, valleys and mountains from the top of the farm, and then walking down from the very top of the farm to the bottom was pretty amazing. On a side note, I also discovered a crazy phenomenon I've never heard of before - I spent a day in Oamaru, which is apparently the steampunk capital of New Zealand. I visited the the Steampuck HQ, which was super weird, and left me with more questions than I started with - I still don't totally get it.

Swimming hole

Whilst it was a relaxing week, it was a little difficult to get used to being so rural almost straight after London – like going from one extreme to the other in all manner of ways. It was quiet and hot and scenic and slow....the total opposite of London. I’ve never been great at being one of those people who can sit and do nothing – I can relax and watch a movie or read a book but I find I am always doing something, rather than just sitting; so it took a bit of getting used to, and whilst it was nice, but I found myself getting a little fidgety at times. During this little trip, I had a lot of time for reading, and I finished a really wonderful and somewhat appropriate book – Ellie and the Shadow Man, by Maurice Gee, truly one of our greatest writers. This book follows the life of a woman from the age of 15 into her 50s, as she moves between Wellington, Golden Bay and Nelson - appropriate as these are places I have spent a lot of time in. It’s interesting to read books that are set in places you know, as you recognise the various spots as you read them, so they are very familiar, but also not so familiar as they are set in a different time. That’s a bit the way I feel so far about coming home – everything seems so familiar, and yet not, as though from a different lifetime. 

Lake Tekapo

Something that's a fairly common thing to hear, being a New Zealander in foreign lands: “You come from New Zealand? Why are you here?” - people have a concept of New Zealand being clean and green and beautiful – which a lot of it is, and part of the draw of returning home for me was the wonderful outdoorsy nature of our country and enjoying all that it has to offer. I'm keen to see as much of my country as I can, enjoying lots of walking, biking and driving. In the next month, I’ve got a couple of trips in the north island and I'm looking forward to walking some of the great tracks like Queen Charlotte, Abel Tasman and Milford – so despite it taking a wee bit of getting used to, away from the hustle and bustle, it’s been great seeing family, as well as vsiting Canterbury, Omarama, Twizel, Oamaru and driving through Lake Tekapo and Rakaia; walking, swimming, sleeping, hanging out on a farm, driving, enjoying the amazing weather and eating beautiful, homegrown food. I must admit however, that I was glad to be back to Wellington at the weekend - and straight into the craziness of Sevens - but now I've had a pretty cruisy few weeks, the search for work begins in earnest.