Rural living - who’s done it?

Sorry ha dto pop in to see what the fuss was As a kid I grew up in Auckland until early teenage years when my parents decided to move out rural.
I guess I loved it so much that I just had to find a partner who loved the country life too!
So here I find myself as a freaking dairy farmer hahahaha! Where we live now is about 20 minutes drive to the nearest service centre so it isn't too bad, but seriously country life isn't that bad. My kids have a MASSIVE backyard to play in & no one can really hear me if I need to yell at them, we had 5 tents on our lawn for new years (all our friends came to stay) and there was still heaps of room. Wouldn't change it for the world. My parents live at least 45 minutes away but I still see them regularly & they are just a phone call away.

Have you thought about moving to a smaller town rather than the country? Often you find the houses are further apart with bigger sections anyway in smaller towns. I'm another city girl- I know that I could never live in the country. I could make to move to a smaller town and be 'ok' but I would go mental being isolated in the country I guess its one of those things that you'll never know until you try it but it sounds like you know yourself as well.

I'm a born and bred country girl and wouldn't have it any other way. I couldn't stand to live in town, have neighbours that can all but look in you windows/doors, no thanks.
The kids have heaps more room to run and play, more privacy, peaceful, its just nicer i think.    

I was raised on a farm, went to uni and work etc and really enjoyed the city but now that we have a family I would not live anywhere else. We are 5 kms from a small country town, and just under an hour from both parents. It is fantastic, we are clse enough to town that it is not a big deal to pop into the shops (some days I walk in for the exercise) There is plenty of people around and there is a playcentre and music and movement etc in town.
We are sharemilking and so have 6 staff and three of them have small kids like us so that is good. We have hens and pigs and I love the fact that Lachie will be able to go fishing and build huts etc etc just like we did when we were both growing up. And there is a great school just down the road

Go for it, you never know till you try

I always said i'd never move to the country- cos im a towny, now it's the other way around. The air seems to be way more cleaner, no neighbours, and the kids love it!! less traffic- so walking the kids down the road is way safe, no street lights shining thru the gap in the curtains while trying to get to sleep. no boy racers driving past all the time. Totally give it a go, give it time and i'm sure you'll love it, and 10 mins outta town, or the city.. well that's just far enough. Good luck and i'm sure you'll love it, but more important, the kids will love it too!

We've recently made the move out of Palmy to a lifestyle block and we are loving it. Admittedly we don't have kids yet though. I grew up on a farm and DH was a townie before he met me, but I think I've almost fully converted him
With regards to not being able to pop down to the shops etc, I've found I just haven't needed to. I have chooks and a decent vege garden now, so there is always something I can cook with what is on hand. It does take a bit of a change in shopping habits. I go shopping every 1-2 weeks, and I make it a policy of having 2 of everything that keeps (eg. flour, sugar, tomato sauce etc) - 1 that is open, and the other in the store cupboard. Whenever I empty the first one and open something out of the store cupboard, it goes on the shopping list, and I'll usually have been to the supermarket before I run out of the second packet.
In regards to feeling isolated, I still work in town, so I don't know how its going to be when I'm at home full time, but I have to say I now avoid going into town during the weekend if I can possibly avoid it, because I LOVE hanging out on my little place. There is always something to do in the garden or with the animals. As for contact with other people, I have noticed that there is a group of mothers with prams and little kids that go for walks around here. The roads are so quiet that they don't need footpaths - they just walk on the road. (Of course, it depends where you are if this is possible). My mum used to go to the local playgroup once a week, which was basically a place for all the farmers' wives to hang out together and get some social interaction going. I'm not sure if that would be similar in a lifestyly-type area, but certainly there was a pretty good network amongst the farmers' wives in rural Gisborne.
In terms of part-time jobs, there are sometimes part-time farm-type jobs going locally (sorry, probably not your thing!) or perhaps helping out at the local school or something?
Sorry for the ramble! I think your kid(s) will love it, and it might take a bit of effort originally, but I don't think it will be as isolating for you as you might be fearing. Good luck with it! I'd never ever move back to town!

My best friend lives in Helensville and we drove home through Waimauku the other day. What a change!!! The shopping complex is going to be so cool when its complete you lucky locals!!! And the schools up there are great too!