City boys over the Moon in Martinborough - Moon Over Martinborough
An expat American City Boy lands on 20 Acres and an Olive grove in New Zealand.
Jared, and partner ‘Rick’ (he’s shy, so that’s not his real name) are two American city boys who moved to rural New Zealand in 2006. They live on 20 acres just outside the charming wine and olive village of Martinborough, at the bottom of the North Island.
It’s a little different from the suburbs outside Detroit where Jared grew up where he used to stay out till 5am dancing at clubs downtown, and where they were frisked at the door for guns and knives. Now he gets up at 5am to do yoga, write, and feed the chickens. Go figure.
The olive oil
Our ‘Moon over Martinborough’ extra virgin olive oil is a labor of love. It’s cold pressed, unfiltered, and absolutely delicious. It’s in stores. Read about it on their olive oil page.
The blog
The ‘Moon over Martinborough’ blog is where Jared tell stories about living a deeply satisfying life in one of the word’s most beautiful places. New posts come out when the moon is full, of course.
The blog has received quite a bit of recognition:
- Expat Focus Recommended Website.
- Named one of the top 10 travel related blogs in New Zealand by GoOverseas.com.
- Finalist in the ONYA awards.
- NetGuide Magazine’s Site of the Month.
- Selected stories appear regularly in Wairarapa Lifestyle Magazine. See the list of magazine stories here.
- Podcasts played on Coast Access Radio 104.7FM and Radio Southland 96.4 FM.
- Featured in Wairarapa Times Age and the Martinborough Star.
- Featured in a white paper called ‘Using Social Media in Product Management’ by Brainmates.
- On the recommended reading list for the Writing for the Web course at the Open Polytechnic of New Zealand.
- Lots of amazingly nice things said about it – see the “Talk about Moon” box below and on the right.
Jared is a natural storyteller. In the blog he captures the angst and tension of citiy folk adapting to rural lifestyle in a humourous and easy to read manner. Typically he waits for real life resolution to happen before he write about events.
For the sake of privacy he change people’s names – except for himself, vineyard/retail staff, and the chickens. Other than the name changes (and a little poetic license here and there) the stories on ‘Moon’ are true, and are genuinely an entertaining read.
The B&B
‘Moon’ also run a cosy rural B&B on the weekends. It’s a little slice of paradise. You can check out our accommodation listing on Travelbug and Destination Wairarapa.
The property
Their 20-acre property has about 500 olive trees and a trout stream just out the bottom gate. Plus heaps of other fruit and nut trees — apricot, peach, pear, plum, chestnut, almond, pine nut, feijoa, and even a quince tree. Cattle and sheep graze in the paddocks.
There’s a 2-bay hay shed with a million dollar view, a veggie garden, green house, flower garden, native garden, some very well fed hens, and an elderly pig we call Old Lady Lucy. Sadly their aged rooster, Old Man Henry, died in 2010. It’s been suggested that they should put a sign out front that says, “The Moon over Martinborough Twilight Home for Geriatric Farm Animals.”
Let Frances Mayes have her Tuscan sun, and Peter Mayle his year in Provence. Jared and Rick have Moon over Martinborough.
For more on how Jared and Rick ended up in Martinborough, take a look at this: ‘First time I saw the trees‘.
The Business
Jared and Ricks story is the epitome of why I started the Portable Career Network. Stepping out of one life and region and into another, establishing a business based on a desired lifestyle and tackling each obstacle along the way. They have networked, communicated, put in the hard work and as a result are reaping the rewards. I’m looking forward to chatting with Jared at some point for an upcoming Regional Business Podcast episode.
Until then, visit ‘Moon over Martinborough’.
