Stratford

Before my sister lived here, I had no idea that Stratford even existed. When she told me she was moving to Stratford, I said to her, “Where’s that?” I was in my late teens when she moved down. I remember going to the pub, and it feels so cliched to say, but everyone was in Canterbury shorts and there were a lot of mullets. To be fair, not a lot has changed since then.

I moved here to be with my partner, Stuart. We kind of already knew each other before we officially met. My sister’s best friend – who happens to be my partner’s cousin – told me I should go o na date with him. I made this joke about how I’d never date anyone from Stratford. At the time I was visiting from London, where I’d been living for a while. The idea of dating someone from Stratford after coming home from London seemed impossible, but a couple of years later Stuart popped up on Tinder. We have a modern-day love story.

Our house is on the same road that Stuart has lived on his entire life. His family is now entering its fifth generation on the same farm. We have family all around us –parents, siblings and cousins. Even though everyone is close by, we’re surrounded by acres of land, so we’re not on each other’s doorsteps. At first it was a little bit intimidating knowing we were going to spend a lot of time with the family, but they’re lovely and we all get on really well. If we go away, his parents will look after our dog and his mother sends her favourite weaner calves to us for a little run-off.

I escaped down here during the 2021 Waikato lockdown, and when I had to go back after six weeks, I bawled my eyes out at the thought of having to leave. Those six weeks made me realise I’d formed a deep connection to Stratford, but I couldn’t just pack up and move down. I had this big feeling at the time that my life was about to change, and that it was going to happen really fast. Within about two months, I’d moved to Stratford.

Alongside my job as a curator at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth, I have an Instagram account called Midsize Thrift, where I sell thrifted finds for the mid-sized community. People who are average and normal in their sizing, not plus-sized at all, still have difficulty finding quality, fashionable clothing that fits. I now mostly source clothing from around South Taranaki, which is a not-so-secret gem of second-hand clothing. I also sell at markets. We used to have an amazing and popular pre-loved clothing market here in Stratford, which I think was quite an ambitious undertaking, because we don’t have a huge population. I remember setting up at the first one thinking that it was going to be so quiet, but there were people lining up out the door waiting to come in. I help people who are trying to work out their style after significant weight loss, or who are postpartum. The first time that happened was really emotional, it was flattering to think that people would want that kind o fadvice from me.

Because I was so young when I first visited Stratford, I didn’t really appreciate how amazing this place was until my later visits. There’s a really nice energy and everyone is so friendly. The community here is really amazing. My father-in-law knows so much about the history of the area. He knows everyone and everything to do with it. You can ask him about anyone and he’ll start telling you their story.

The walks are my favourite spots and things to do here. On crisp mornings I love getting up and going up the mountain and deeply breathing in that beautiful mountain-fresh air. If I don’t see Taranaki Maunga during my day, I feel a little bit sad. The mountain is such a big part of my life. I have so many photos of the mountain on my phone with the sunset, or with cloud formations. Every other picture is of the mountain or has the mountain in the background. It feels so pure, and you get a sense that everything is going to be okay. It’s a feeling you can’t beat, and it makes me feel at one with the world.