Southland beckons for Auckland and Wellington city slickers quitting rat race

Duncan and Tania Jones are enjoying the farm life in Otautau after moving from Wellington. Photos / Nina Tapu

By Nina Tapu, Southern Express

Three North Island families have swapped big-city living for Southland and are vowing never to go back.

Two Wellingtonians followed their bridesmaid to Otautau to “do the farm thing”.

A young couple fled Auckland’s inflated rental prices and a small family had enough of its crippling traffic congestion.

All said they had no regrets and were loving the space and opportunities in the south.

Tania and Duncan Jones always dreamed of life on a farm and decided to see what the small town of Otautau had to offer.

“My bridesmaid lived in Otautau,” Tania said. “It’s been the right time and the perfect move for us. In Wellington you’d be paying $500 a week for a rental, here we only pay $280 for a three-beddie and that includes power.”

The couple could not believe their luck because now they lived on a farm, had chickens and grew vegetables.

Their new life has meant more than just financial security.

Tania Jones said she suffered from depression and it was good for her to get out on the farm.

“I’m not constantly worried about what’s going on around me. Being on a farm has been really good for my mental health.”

Sam Rose had never been to the South Island until he and partner Kylee Roets arrived in Invercargill 13 months ago.

The young couple were lured by the low cost of living. “In Auckland, you’re paying hundreds of dollars for a small place; it was mental,” apprentice builder Rose said.

The duo are in their early 20s and have bought their first home since moving to Invercargill.

Sam Rose and Kylee Roets became first-time parents to baby Noah Rose in their new home of Invercargill.

“We’ve saved a lot more in Invercargill than we ever would in Auckland,” Rose said. “Our mortgage is a lot cheaper. Everyone is so much nicer here. You ask questions and people are keen to help.”

He and Roets have also become first-time parents. Despite the baby being unexpected and their having no family in Southland, they had made friends and had enough support to settle into their new life.

They said they did not miss Auckland’s “salty people” and “traffic woes”.

Chartered accountant Kelly Churchill used to spend nearly two hours in traffic getting to her job in Auckland; now it takes her only 15 minutes to get to town.

“I don’t have to sit in Auckland traffic for an hour and a half any more. Here you are 15 minutes from everything, from the airport,” she said.

She and husband Shane Freiberg and their two toddlers escaped Auckland’s congestion nightmares nine months ago.

“I hardly saw the kids because of how much time I spent on the road and because of work,” Freiberg said.

“Now I spend much more time with my family.”

Shane Freiberg, Kelly Churchill, Maisie, 3, and Chloe, 1, traded in Auckland's traffic for Invercargill’s congestion-free bliss.

Since their move to Invercargill, the busy pair have reduced their work hours, changed careers and spent quality family time together.

“I can afford to work part-time now and I’m able to work from home,” Churchill said.

“I could never be able to do this if we were still in Auckland.”

Freiberg has given up his job as a chef and plans to open a flooring business.

Great South project leader Bobbi Brown said that, in terms of internal migration, there were 150 more people leaving Invercargill than arriving. The city’s population increase was due to international returnees and migration.

Invercargill real estate agent Tim Frampton said there had been a lot more people moving from big cities to Invercargill than he had seen in his 20 years of working in the industry.

According to Statistics New Zealand, in the year to the end of June last year, Invercargill’s population grew by about 1000 to reach 57,900. – Otago Daily Times/Southland Express