Harriet | Central Whanganui, Manawatū, Whanganui

“So, I am incredibly grateful to my recent husband, for moving to Whanganui, the place that I love, because I knew that was a huge call for him. He’s a city man, and it took him a year to make the decision, and so we lived apart for a year before we got married.

That was a really difficult year, because I didn’t know whether he was going to move or not, and I didn’t know if he actually wanted to, and in the end he decided to give Whanganui a go. We’re now married, and loving it here, and have a house and it’s just fully connected in. But I’m just grateful for him for giving it a shot, and giving a new place a go, which he initially never wanted to move to. I guess Whanganui sometimes has a bit of a rep that isn’t the most positive, and he’d been exposed to a bit of that. He’s been the butt of a few jokes from his mates, moving to Whanganui and that kind of thing. I didn’t quite realise what a big sacrifice it was for him to move here, leaving all his friends, leaving his work, moving to the place that I love, but he did. It’s been maybe a year here and now we want to stay here for many years. So, very grateful to him, for making that bold move, and giving it a chance.

I learned the importance of place. A place to someone can have huge significance, which to someone else is just another place, and it doesn’t mean anything to them. To me, Whanganui was a place of family and home, and connections and just so much sense of groundedness and love here, but for Alex, that had a completely different meaning. So having to go through that process of changing your view of a place, and coming to love a place which you never did, and just watching that process kind of unfold was really interesting to see. It’s the people that make it, I think initially part of the struggle was that he didn’t know anyone here, but as soon as you start making those connections, then the place comes alive and becomes more than a city that you bagged on, and actually becomes a beautiful place with beautiful people. But you’ve got to step out and make those connections and meet people, and think positively and you’ve got to try and make it work. You’ve got to put effort in. I think that was a big, big learning.

I was actually born in Whanganui, and then spent the first few years of my life in Nepal in a Kathmandu Valley leprosy hospital. So, my parents were medical people, so got involved with leprosy over there. I think I spent the first three or four years of my life there and then came back to Whanganui and spent five or six years in Auckland in my early-20s, but always knew I wanted to come back to Whanganui. Now I’m back here and loving it.”