The platteland here... and down under

No matter where you are, the platteland is always a unique ecosystem where the gears turn more slowly and you're filled with greater self-awareness, as Freestater Elizabeth Wasserman discovered in her new home on New Zealand's South Island.

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I now live on the other side of the world.

“It's you who has changed, not your place of residence,” my friend sets me straight on Facetime. Because I'm on a high, still a little in love with my new surroundings and keen to boast. It took a great deal to get to this point: a certain measure of stubbornness, mountains of paperwork and many vaccinations for poor Sherlock, the dog of the household. After all of that, the ensuing peacefulness feels like heaven — and I didn't even have to die first. I just had to say farewell to familiar places, good friends and a number of preconceived ideas.

She doesn't understand, I grumble to myself.

But after some thought, I realise she's right. The absence of traffic jams, and enjoying peace and the company of good people are not restricted to the furthest corners of the earth. “You could just have driven 200km northeast to somewhere in the Karoo,” my friend reprimands me. “The air there is just as clean.”

THAT’S NOT HOW things worked out for me, though. After all, life is one long chain of cause and effect, all tied together by the choices we make. My choices took me to New Zealand's South Island, where Sherlock and I now walk along a path overlooking the sea every morning. My view - perfect shades of blue and green, with a hint of purple on the horizon — is possibly almost boring. And I'm not yet accustomed to the sounds of the tūī and piwakawaka around me, their clear voices still foreign to my ears.

Then, suddenly, there's another dog, sometimes two. Sherlock is always happy to meet new friends and he's fluent in dog language. They do have their own language, which crosses international borders. The sniffing of tails. And that thing they do when they stretch out their front paws, rear ends in the air, to indicate they're ready to play.