Snapshot: LYNDA H A L L INAN
PAST: Lynda’s broadcasting career began at the age of eight when her school reports stopped describing her as “a bubbly pleasure in the classroom” and noted instead that she was “very loud and distracting”. She’s rarely stopped talking since, having germinated as a radio journalist before growing into a green-fingered television presenter, garden writer, speaker, author and magazine editor.
PRESENT: A decade ago, Lynda swapped her inner-city Auckland garden (and a full-time job) for a freelance life (and love) in the country.
She lives at Foggydale Farm in the foothills of the Hunua Ranges with her husband Jason, sons Lucas and Lachie, two dogs, a pair of rescue cows, a dozen pet ducks, four sheep, a fat kunekune porker named Plum Chutney and a clutch of free-range chooks. Last year she bought a small farmlet “just up the road” from her farm where she has now embarked on the rather major renovation of a minor dwelling: a chocolate-box cottage. FUTURE: Lynda says if 2020 and its Covid-19 challenges have taught her anything, it’s that the future is capricious and it’s probably best to enjoy living in the moment. All going to plan, she hopes to open her new cottage garden to the public in 2021. If not, you’ll find her making hay, picking flowers, planting trees, harvesting vegetables, upcycling furniture, adopting more animals and writing long to- do lists of fanciful DIY projects to bring her pleasure for pleasure’s sake. She might also learn to sew, master the guitar and bake a perfect, prize-winning duck- egg sponge cake. foggydalefarm.co.nz
Lynda starts her new NZ Life & Leisure