E NEWS 24 NOVEMBER 2023
Sue McRae writes:
People often ask me what life is like here over the hill in the Wairarapa. Overall it has been a great move for us, though completely unplanned. As I often tell people, we were looking to downsize into a compact, low-maintenance, passive energy home on the Kapiti Coast and ended up falling in love with a 1920s villa in Masterton.
On the plus side, our home for the last four years has heaps of character, indoor-outdoor flow on 3 sides and a wonderful wisteria-framed veranda, where we usually have our breakfast and do the Code Cracker while watching the working world slowly rev into action and our garden move through the seasons.
On the other hand, an old house like this constantly needs attention, with weatherboards, an elderly roof and ancient plumbing all adding to the list of maintenance work. One advantage of our new lifestyle is the large, flat garden where we can grow our own fruit and veges for the first time and enjoy things like spinach, kohlrabi, broccoli, zucchini, ripe tomatoes, raspberries, almonds, the occasional walnut and (this year, for the first time) one apricot. The downside of this abundance is, of course, the endless weeding, with convolvulus lurking on both sides of the fence from two otherwise lovely neighbours who mow their lawns but seldom attend to anything below ground.
The advantage of living in a small, rural town is the close proximity to anything the heart desires, with supermarkets, cafes, op shops, chain stores, Trade Aid, a fabric store, wool shop, Moore Wilson and even an arthouse cinema within easy walking or biking distance, and no parking problems or traffic congestion. I didn’t realise how stressful Wellington was until I tasted the joy of nipping up to Countdown to get a forgotten ingredient in the middle of baking a cake. I was there and back by the time the oven had pre-heated.
The downside of provincial life is the lack of liberal thinking, or rather an abundance of entrenched ways of doing things and attitudes bordering on racism, sexism and intolerance of anything outside the ordinary. Don’t get me wrong, there are some lovely people over here, but they’re a bit harder to find than in Wellington, where diversity is relished and liberal thinkers are on every corner.
The beauty of being only 1½ hours away by car or train is that we don’t have to give up everything the capital offers. I miss my weekly St Andrews fix, but coming once a month or so is better than nothing, and having an electric car makes the trip very affordable. So to return the question I began with, life is good here and I’m glad we shifted. Having the best of both worlds is a blessing.
As we see the world around us embroiled in hideous conflict and environmental challenges at every turn, it is easy to lose heart and hope, so this week I invite you to weigh up the pluses and minuses at the end of each day, before you put your head on the pillow. With any luck, the pros will outweigh the cons, and that will save you having to count sheep. If not, there’s always tomorrow, or a trip to the Wairarapa for a change of scene. You are all most welcome to come and visit!
Best wishes and Arohanui from over the hill!
Sue
You can read the full E-news here: https://mailchi.mp/95b5e80c5555/this-weeks-newsletter-from-st-andrews-on-the-terrace-9415112
