Stepping Back in Time—The Move to Pukerau
Updated: Sep 12
We thought we were being clever, timing our move for the middle of spring, figuring the worst of the Southland winter was safely behind us. We were wrong.
Leaving Dunedin behind, the shift in pace hit us almost immediately. We popped into town on a Sunday to grab supplies, only to realize we had truly stepped back in time. Most local businesses were closed, and supermarkets didn't even open until 10:00 AM. As we headed out of town, our modern rush-hour mindset was given a gentle reality check: we were stopped dead in our tracks by a traffic jam before the bridge—led entirely by horse-drawn carriages! Life down here moved to its own rhythm, and we were ready for it.
Or so we thought, until Mother Nature decided to welcome us properly.
Right in the middle of unpacking, the weather turned, and we were snowed in, completely stuck at the property for three days.
Our poor heritage breeds of chooks, coming all the way with us from Dunedin as the very last load in the back of the trailer, looked around at the sudden blanket of white with utter disbelief.
Needless to say, my first official project at Pukerau wasn't architectural—it was a scramble. I had to rush off to town to buy some timber and quickly whip up a secure, dry pen to keep the chickens safe from the spring blizzard.
Looking out the window at the snow-covered paddock and the old church dusted in white, it felt surreal. We were officially rural Southland residents, snowed in on our adventure, and completely in love with it.
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