Cloud Farm, High on Banks Peninsula
by Jane Chetwynd, 182pp limpbound, Longacre Press, Dunedin 2004, RRP$29.95. It is possible to ‘drop out’ in New Zealand, if not quite as romantically as in Tuscany. Jane Chetwynd, then a townie, leaves a medical professorship for a run-down farm high on the exposed slopes of Banks Peninsula.
There is a near-ruined wooden cottage to repair, a harsh climate to become accustomed to, and native birds and forest to become familiar with. Also there is the usual smallholder’s battle with gorse. Cloud Farm lies over 800 metres up in the cloud zone. Begun as a weekend escape from the city, Cloud Farm finally seduces its new owner. She gives up her stressful job and, in her fifties, adopts a simpler outdoor lifestyle. There are more comfortable places to do this, even in New Zealand, but her story is interesting.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/FORBI20041101.2.39.3
Bibliographic details
Forest and Bird, Issue 314, 1 November 2004, Page 46
Word Count
145Cloud Farm, High on Banks Peninsula Forest and Bird, Issue 314, 1 November 2004, Page 46
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