Thread: Central OTAGO. Yea or Nea?

Cheers everyone.

Thanks for all the encouragement and also the reality checks. The cold i anticipated, I've lived in the Highlands of Scotland for a couple of years back when i was younger so know what that's like. Long summer days and short winter days in the permafrost. Will certainly be looking a buying a house that gets the sun and is double glazed and properly insulated if we move down. My appetite to live like an early settler in a single glazed uninsulated shit box is nonexistent these days.

The cost of groceries and fuel etc is something i hadn't considered and the spiders is something i hadn't anticipated. Having said that, Australia was the other option and spiders definitely featured in that plan....

But all in all, it sounds promising and pretty exciting. Taupo has been an awesome place to live, and it will be hard to leave somewhere that i grew up in and had all the time in the world to go hunting when I was young and single. I doubt I'll ever be able to recreate the local knowledge that I have of this area. There isn't many patches of bush or river that I haven't poked around in over the last 35 years. Especially when I was young and had unlimited spare time and no responsibilities.

But...variety is the spice of life and there is no Thar or Chamois on Mt Ruapehu so if I'm going to have a go, I better do it sooner rather than later and regret not pushing myself out of comfort zone. At 51 years old my knees aren't getting any younger.

As for the Sika i can always shoot up every couple of years and continue my quest for a decent eight pointer. If the gods are smiling on me i might even get something over the winter before I move down....

Cheers lads

Marty