Three weeks in Marlborough

After taking redundancy before Christmas, I spent three months hunting full time jobs in Auckland while barely paying the bills pouring drinks and shifting construction material orders. “This will pass” I told myself consistently. “The next application is the one I’ll get” was the mantra.

By mid-March, I was sick of being told “no, but apply for roles here in the future!” by automated emails from 200 jobs in two months, all based in Auckland. That’s about three “No” emails a day to start 2023. Resiliency only lasts so long.

One day, instead of staying positive, I woke up and wrote; “This situation sucks. It’s not healthy, positive or sustainable for me”.

That day was the biggest low I’ve ever felt. I don’t think I’ve ever cried as much as I did that day. But man, did I need it!

I changed the job search from ‘Auckland’ to ‘Worldwide’. By Wednesday, TSM Marlborough said they were interested in an interview for a reporter role.

By the next week, I was booking last minute flights to a town I had only ever flown out of, with everything in a suitcase. Ferries remained unavailable to get my car and other belongings to Marlborough.

“Well, guess I’m moving to Blen- heim then?”

I arrived Easter Monday knowing no-one, just two days booked in a hotel and three flat viewings. Now three weeks later, I don’t think I could have made a better decision.

I grew up in rural Northland, half an hour inland from Whangarei, but had spent high school and university in Auckland - with a year in between on OE.

After that long, I didn’t realise quite how much I had missed the vibe in provincial towns around New Zealand. I’m not an Aucklander, but I was being adopted in.

Blenheim has brought back the enthusiasm that I once had moving to Auckland combined with the feeling of home I felt whenever I’d leave the big smoke.

Need a room to move into? No problem, we trust you’re a good bloke. Just pay rent, be a clean and tidy flatmate and you’ll be sweet. Move in tomorrow! Want to get back into playing sport? Yeah, we’d love to have you down to training mate! Sign up and you’ll play on the weekend, buy into the team culture, and we’ll be happy to have you.

You don’t have any way to get around? If you need a ride to somewhere, just sing out. Here’s a colleague’s bike to borrow. Taxi’s five minutes away and costs 10 bucks to get across town. Marlborough knows what it is rather than trying to be something else. It’s a place of understated beauty – secretly incredible for everything you could want while not shouting about it. That beauty includes the people. It first hit me watching Marlborough Boys’ College play Canberra’s Marist College in mid-afternoon, during the school holidays, in my first week here.

Locals lining the field to watch a pre-season game, chatting to people I’d barely met and being welcomed to the side-lines like I’d been here for years. I realised then how good of a decision I’d made.

Marlburians could do anything with their time off. But no, they’re cheering on the next squad of MBC 1st XV players without knowing anyone on the field. That, right there, is the smalltown community I’d missed. There’s nothing to do? I’ll go walk the Wither Hills Farm Park tracks, or follow the Taylor River by bike, or swim at Stadium 2000, or wander Omaka Airfield and the Museums, or 9 holes at Pollard Park, or spend an afternoon at the arcade – and that’s only within walking distance.

I’m eagerly awaiting exploring Marlborough’s full glory from the bountiful sea to the towering hills and winding river valleys. Everything you could want is an hour away - from salmon farms, Havelock’s mussels and incredible natural sights in the Sounds, skiing at Rainbow, the numerous hikes, historical Māori sites at Wairau Bar and acres of worldclass wineries and rustic pubs to take in – I’m sure I’m missing plenty.

It’s everything that foreigners love about New Zealand tied up together. Sometimes, you just don’t know how good you have it until some outsider tells you.

Three weeks has been an excellent introduction to Marlborough, but I know I haven’t scratched the surface.

My aim here is to live up to the paper’s name and be ‘Marlborough, weekly’ - finding incredible stories from deep in the sounds to high up in the ranges and everywhere in between while shining a positive light on your weekly news.

I am incredibly grateful to explore every inch of Marlborough and meet fantastic Marlburians daily.

See you out there!

Picton Dawn Service and Māori Service

of people showed up to pay their respects