deedee

well for those folks interested in the South Island weather as a good comparison to Bighty....its freezing cold,snowing and blowing a gale.But i love it
Needed snow chains today on the 4x4 and i still slithered all over the roads.Its the first bit of snowy weather we have seen since moving here.


http://community.webshots.com/album/79619368tkPYXb

a few other pics if anyone is remotly interested

http://community.webshots.com/album/78748885GuyeNK

southerner

Deedee,

I didn't know you were in Central until now. I learn new and surprising things every day.

I'm a real fan of Queenstown and surrounds and spent many childhood and young adult holidays there. I hope to spend a few more holidays up that way once we are settled into Dunedin later this year.

Where is your farm? Guess it is probably a station, but couldn't quite place it from the photos.

What are your circumstances - do you own some land, or are you managing or labouring? Sounds like wool and meat prices have been good recently although the strong dollar is threatening that a bit. I've been amazed and really pleased to see that the rural sector in NZ is doing so well again. 10-15 years ago it was nearly out for the count. My father owned a Southland mixed farm unit until about then.

Have you been involved in the festival this week in Q'town? Sounds like the skiers are going to be really happy about things right now, so long as the weather clears in a few days.

Love to hear more from you

Regards

Southerner.

southerner

ps From the photos I would guess you are based up towards Glenorchy. The mountains and is it Pigeon? island looked familiar.

Am I right?

Southerner


Anyway great photos, I'm very envious.

deedee

Hi,no the pics are of all over NZ as when we came over we toured around trying to find a farm for us.After much searching we finally found one in the mountains due directly east of Queenstown the other side by the Black Umbrella Range.We were supose to be racing the peak to peak in the morning in Queenstown but its looking like its going to be too bad on the weather front...maybe just the skiers will race!
As i tell everyone because we're so high,we just farm tussock
There are some shots of our place here....
http://community.webshots.com/album/75667307kUFFKD
You can't miss us when you fly over as we're the only ones with trees in whats a really baron landscape.I love it soooooo much.
cheers

Gra.B

Hi deedee,
just noticed you online, can you give us any more tales of life in Queenstown? We're probably going to Dunedin but there's a possibility of work for my wife in Queenstown. It looks so expensive though! Is it really that bad? How far away are you?
Would like to here of your life on the farm, have you children? (if you don't mind me asking!)
Oh, & I'm a bit dim, but what are 'tussock'?

Ta!
Gra..

deedee

Hi Gra.B, tussock is just my sarcastic description of land that is unfarmable...its like really long rank grass/plant.You can farm it but its not good really.Most of the high country is covered in tussock so you could only run 1x stock unit per ha where as on a good fertile paddock you might run 10x stock units per ha.We definetly have more tussock than stock
As for life in Queenstown,if you have ever been to Chamonix in France or one of the typical ski resorts its like that!There are loads of people whizzing around but so few people live there.If everyone who didnt live there left it would be a ghost town.Its quite cosmo really,a little bit too built up as the pressure for housing is now taking its toll simply because there is so little development land(i think they should stop building full stop or they will spoil the very thing that Queenstown is)
Not sure about work in the area as so many people are seasonal workers,but i dare say if your adaptable and want a lifestyle you will find something without too much trouble.What does your wife do work wise that would bring her to Queenstown?
Just out of the Queenstown Wanaka area there is loads of work,and if you venture round towards Gore no one there is unemployed unless they want to be.As for prices,thats a really subjective thing and depends so much on location.If you want the best views in Queenstown from Kelvin Heights then property starts at 400Knz$....having said that,the best areas of Dunedin are the same.The entry price for property in Queenstown is about 200Knz$ where as Dunedin starts at around 65Knz$ for the same sort of standard(please understand this is of the top of my head and i'm not a real estate agent )Dunedin and Queenstown are so far removed from each other its hard to believe they're in the same country.....Dunedin is quite simply a standard city like any of the UK whereas Queenstown is the holiday resort,exciting,beautiful and the view is constantly hitting you.I'm sure you can tell i'm really biased
As for our life over here,we have no kids,we were on the border of been too old to move here but just made it and if your a farmer and more importantly if your going to live in the rural areas they look at you diferently(maybe not but thats how it seemed to me)
The one thing that this area has to offer is the air quality,it has to be lived to be understood and its not the same in Dunedin,but its still not bad there....

deedee

if yon want any info on anything from this side Queenstown just drop me a line.....not that i'm a leading authority on anything....even tussock
[email protected]

Gra.B

Oh! I see! So it's not some big beast with horns or anything!


My wife's a croupier, we know of a few gaming agencies that deal with Sky City/Alpine. I get a bit carried away looking at Queenstown, if we were younger, no children etc.....(if only!).....it looks like a fun place to be!

I guess if we're sensible we'll stick to Dunedin but it's only a couple of hours away, so I could still have a few weekends snowboarding!

Anyway, if them tussocks get out of control just let me know!

Thanks,

Gra..

deedee

Queenstown to Dunedin is a great drive,partly because theres never any traffic

good luck with the move

Gra.B

Thanks, I'll keep hold of your email in case we need some advice,

Cheers, Gra..

deedee

no worries,just whilst its in my head,just below Dunedin theres the Catlins area,we farm sat for someone there for a few weeks near a place called Papatowi.Its got the most awsome beaches,rain forest,unspoilt views we found on our travels round.That'll be on your doorstep if you live in Dunedin