Fits like a Fox's Glove....

Valentine's Day. Rather more manic than romantic for us this year....

For some time we have been keeping an eye out for property around Central Otago or Arrowtown, which we adore.  (Strangely, I recently discovered Arrowtown was once known as Fox's!)   Nothing had come along that ticked all the boxes, however, so we widened the search to the Waitaki Valley in the north, and to the Catlins in the south.

Then one day an email from husband pinged in - a listing had caught his eye in Lawrence.  He had never been to Lawrence (which is on the main route up to Central if you were coming from Dunedin) - had I?  Was it nice?

Yes, I had been to Lawrence, albeit very briefly.  Richard and I drove through the town in 2007 in our rented Kea Campervan, and I made him drive up and down all the roads that seemed to lead up hills behind the main street.  My memories were of some very interesting architecture, lots of big trees, some quite grand homes that had been built just after the turn of the century.  Yes, it was nice.  Why?
He had spotted an early miners cottage for sale on Whitehaven Street.  And he sent me a picture.....

The Miner's Cottage - circa 1870

On the evening of February 13th we flew to Dunedin, arriving at around 9pm.  We picked up our rental car and found a motel in Mosgiel for the night.  In the morning we were up before the lark and on the road to Lawrence before 7am.  It took about an hour of easy driving to reach our destination, through open farmland, and then winding gorges.  And there it was.  We peered in the windows, finally tearing ourselves away to go for some breakfast and coffee, and a wander up and down the main street.

 Lawrence was born in 1861, when Gabriel Read found gold in what is now Gabriels Gully, the first gold to be discovered in Central.  Miners flocked here from America and Australia and the Rush began.  The town celebrated it's 150th anniversary last year and is so pretty with hanging baskets and tubs of flowers everywhere.  There is a decent smattering of cafes (with proper coffee!) and a couple of restaurants, a bistro bar, and a pub, and some interesting shops including art galleries, homewares, collectables and retro furniture, a plant nursery, farm supply store, hardware store, and a chemist which most amusingly is not named in the American vernacular as "Something Pharmacy" but called, instead, The Medicine Depot!


We had a great breakfast at the Coffee Mine Cafe (which opens at 8am - excellent!) and eyed up the Wild Walnut cafe for later....  then we met Jill, the agent, and went to view the cottage.  It was all that we had hoped it would be.  It has been partially renovated, needs a new kitchen and bathroom, but has had quite a lot already done structurely.  Long story, short - we made an offer and it was accepted later that afternoon!  We settle on Friday, and then its all ours.

Foxglove Cottage - Ours!

It may take a while - what with the 1700km's between here and there - but Watch This Space for updates, as eventually Foxglove Cottage will become another of our accommodation options.