Outdoor Pursuit

Faced with cramped spaces and long commutes, these families chose to swap city living for a country lifestyle. They share the ups and downs of rural life.

- Sharon Stephenson

It was the noise that did it. That and living cheek-by-jowl with the rest of humanity, not being able find a park outside our house and wanting a bit more green than just the weeds between the pavement cracks.

It’s why we sold our inner-city Wellington home last year and moved to a 6.5ha lifestyle block an hour north of the capital. And although it’s been a major transition, the lack of traffic, fresh air and being more closely connected to the land has been everything we’d hoped it would be.

We’re not the only ones to dream of starting over among rolling hills: Statistics New Zealand figures show that in 2006 (the latest figures available), around 64,700 Kiwis upped sticks and moved to rural areas. More recently, the TVNZ show Fresh Eggs depicted a couple who did the same thing (although with hilariously disastrous results).

NEXT meets three women who gave up the hustle and bustle of city life to learn more about the good and bad of living off the land.

Marlborough

Emily Hope’s CV runs to four pages and includes jobs such as nutritionist, university tutor, migrant worker and English teacher (during her time in Italy).

In 2016, Emily added orchardist to that list. That’s when her mother suffered a brain aneurysm and stroke, and the 35-year-old stepped in to help manage her parents’ two-hectare Marlborough fig and feijoa orchard. Fortunately, Emily and her builder husband Jonny, 37, were on hand to help, having recently moved back to the region after six years in Auckland. “It was always the plan to move home,” says Emily. “We longed for a slower pace of life, for the Marlborough Sounds and to live off the land.”