Saturday, June 22, 2013

Stars over Wellington interviews Moon over Martinborough

From the NZ Book Council

Stars over Wellington (Rachel O'Neill) asks Moon over Martinborough (Jared Gulian) about his successful blog, how it inspired his debut book, and whether leaving the city behind is a prerequisite to living the country life. And the question on all our lips: who is in charge, Jared or the animals?
[Stars over Wellington]: How did you go from having a strong desire to work the land to making your dream into a reality? Was there a moment where you decided, ‘Right, it’s now or never?’

[Moon over Martinborough]: The irony is that I never really had a longstanding desire to work the land. It was CJ, my partner, who came up with the absolutely ridiculous idea of moving out to a tiny olive farm in Martinborough. I thought he was crazy. We’ve always been city boys. We didn’t know the first thing about olive trees!

Only after he harangued me for days did I finally agree to even look at the property. As soon as I laid eyes on that beautiful olive grove, however, I was hooked. It felt like love at first sight. So I said yes. It was that simple.

The logistics of ‘making the dream into a reality’ then revolved around two things: trying the commute into Wellington to see how it felt, and applying for a mortgage. When opportunities open up, they don’t always stay open long. So we jumped.

Read the full feature on the Book Council's blog Open Book.



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