Sarah | Karaka
“It kind of goes into this week, because my weekend spreads over Sunday and Monday. Having a public holiday was one of them and all that entailed.
Being able to go out with my family and spend some time with the sun on my face enjoying being somewhere without anything else to worry about.
I own a café. It’s called Alyssum which is a flower that’s one of the companion flowers that grows with visitors. So being a primary vegetable-growing district, that’s why I chose the name. It’s next to the Pukekohe Library, so it’s aimed quite a community focus providing for the diversity of people that are coming through. We try and stock Fair Trade, and some of our stuff is organic, and we do a little bit of vegan, quite a lot of gluten-free and just providing a variety of things for people to try. That means that they’re not stuck getting the same old, although we stock quite traditional food as well.
I work hours that can extend, depending on the business, and staffing and all that sort of thing. There’s all the background stuff that needs to be done as well – having extra time where I don’t have, I can put those things aside, and enjoy being with my family, and enjoying the places that we live in, and the places that we can go is a really important re-set. Otherwise, you just get too absorbed in doing the stuff you have to do.
I grew up out near where Botany Downs is now when it was a more rural area. I grew up in a big family with lots of nature and there were aspects of that life that were quite difficult, but nature has remained what is most important. Being involved in nature, owning a business, having that environmental focus, making sure that I’m not contributing to pollution and, supporting as much as I can. Being diverse in ingredients and things like that, so we’re not relying on the same sorts of things that end up polluting if you over-extend capacity. Just the simple things in life, really.”
