CHEVIOT

Jenny told us to contact June in Cheviot and ask if we could stay over there for a couple of days. So that's what we did. June ticked herself out of the Servas team at the beginning of this year, but still has a few requests from ignorant people from time to time.
After a long trip through what must be the most dull part of New Zealand (highway from Dunedin to Christchurch) we arrive in more hilly and very dry landscapes. This is Cheviot, a country with lots of vineyards and a lot of disappointed farmers. The vineyard farmers had to face a 40% grape fallout due to frost in the winter, now 5 months ago. And the sheep farmers in this area have started killing some of their own sheep last week because their is not enough grass left after the worst dry period in recent history.
It rains in Cheviot. The farmers are happy, and nobody cares about us tourists. Right they are!
June lives in a very remote area. Her neighbors live 1 km further down the road. To get her mail she takes the car and has to drive some 400 meters up the alley, to where the road starts. She's 80 years old and seems to me as a very fragile lady. In the three days we spend with her we come to understand why. She gave birth to 5 children, of which only 3 survived. One of her sons died at the age of 30, and a few years ago she lost a daughter in terrible circumstances. Bad luck kept on going: her husband died 5 years ago. Although she knew that he was sick it came as a very unwelcome chock. Trying to survive on the big farm she had to rent most of the land to other farmers, but that nearly covered for her medical costs. She had both hips and one knee replaced.
Now she lives alone with lots of memories in a house that seems to have stopped breathing 20 years ago, that is: when the family was in good shape, the business was running well and the garden was so charming that people from all over the place came to visit it.
But June is optimistic about the future, went over to China for holidays two years ago, drives her car like a young one and makes the nicest meals one can imagine. We visit Gore bay where the stunning cathedral cliffs get their share of tourists and go and have tea with her 92 year old friend Hugh who lives in a house with ocean views.
Three times a week June has help in the garden. But even then one does not even start to see the end of the work. I have to think of our own garden: a hopeless situation. One afternoon we help to weed in the garden, but I did hardly see anything changing. Best thing about the garden, we find, are the Kiwi trees. Lots of fruit there, but still too early in the season. We'll have to come back. Some day.
Dear June, we wish you all the best.