I think living in rural NZ is great for the boys. They know all about fixing stuff and farm work, where food comes from, have loads of area to play (run, hide, climb), access to fishing, skiing and other sports. They don't miss out on town things, but they know all about lambs, fawns, calves etc which city kids don't get unless they go to a farm visit. They also get to attend a small school and have small classes which are great for their education. We have been building more on the community since the earthquake. We know our neighbours and have had street parties etc, which is rare in the city now. Most of the mums I know stay at home and we all have different backgrounds from lawyers, teachers, finance, young mums etc. I like that I live in peace and quiet with heaps of space for my family, but I can still get the town fix if I need to (which is becoming less and less frequent - the Christchurch traffic is awful!).
I do the office side of our farm business and run the household. I have twin 5 year old sons and a 3 year old son. I have been the Hororata Playcentre President since 2008, I'm currently the Hororata Plunket Vice President (second time around), on the Hororata School PTA, Hororata Hall Committee and anything else local that I get called up for. This year the boys played rugby for Selwyn, so I was there for practices and Saturday mornings. They did swimming lessons in Methven in terms 1 & 2 and will start at Windwhistle hopefully next term. We ski at Mt Hutt during the winter and the boys raced at Mt Cheeseman this year. My youngest son goes to Annabel's 3 year olds kindergarten in Darfield and Windwhistle Playgroup too. I have a Bachelor of Commerce and Administration in Marketing and Management from Victoria and I am currently studying towards my nutrition qualification at Massey and completing my BA in Psychology. I am doing Chemistry and Biology courses through Te Kura The Correspondence School as well. I love baking and cooking so I do spend a lot of time in the kitchen, as I have three hungry boys to feed. Most of my friends spend a lot of time baking too and we always have great food at Playgroup and Playcentre.
Since the earthquakes I have been really grateful to be a rural woman and around great friends and neighbours. I grew up in Wanganui in town and I spent 10 days there with the boys over the holidays, but I now know I couldn't live in town unless I had to. My husband grew up on a farm in Pleasant Point (Totara Valley) and loves farming.
By Amanda.
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