SAVING GRACE

On November 13, I enjoyed a tour of some amazing gardens in Kaikoura. My mum made the trip up from Christchurch and we had a great day, also buying a few plants from the local Mitre 10. Little did we know that they’d be among the last to be bought from the store for a while.

The 7.8 earthquake that hit that night was terrifying. I went through the Christchurch quakes too, and boy did it make me realise how frayed they’d left my nerves. But my garden’s been my saviour. When I’m gardening I’m so engrossed that I don’t feel the aftershocks – the stress and fear disappears.

We’ve been living the dream here for a year and have already added an orchard and a vege patch. And now I can say that we got through the worst night of our lives… thanks in part to my garden. Toni Batey, KAIKOURA