Rae Roadley

Author's details

Name: Rae Roadley
Date registered: January 10, 2012

Biography

Rae is a journalist, freelance writer and writing tutor. Soon after returning to her hometown to work for Northland's daily newspaper, she met beef and sheep farmer Rex Roadley. He lived in a historic home at Batley on the Kaipara Harbour and after moving there, Rae reported on farming then wrote a newspaper column, The Country Side. Her wryly amusing tales of country life earned many followers and led her to learn more about the local people, past and present. She tells the story of her new life in 'Love at the End of the Road: Finding my heart in the country'.

Latest posts

  1. Rooting for the Kaipara Harbour — July 11, 2017
  2. It was a dark and stormy night — September 6, 2016
  3. Spark staff plant the Kaipara coastline — June 13, 2016
  4. Floss plays just for the fun of it — September 24, 2015
  5. Notebook made with love and a bit of Batley House — September 1, 2015

Author's posts listings

Jul 11

Rooting for the Kaipara Harbour

Categories:

Farming with the farmer, Rae's Blog, Random rural yarns, Seabirds and environment

by

As the farmer set off to work with four professional tree planters, I thought about the behind-the-scenes effort that’s often required to produce results. Years of grit, guts, luck, courage, team work and a heap of money was behind our thrilling America’s Cup win. On average, each race took a few minutes short of 25. …

Continue reading »

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

2 comments

Sep 06

It was a dark and stormy night

Categories:

Rae's Blog, Random rural yarns, Seabirds and environment

by

  The chain of events that saved the life of the baby white-faced heron began months before the stormy night it fell from the nest. The eternal rain also played a part, for if this winter had been as mild as last, the bulls wouldn’t have busted through a weak spot in the fence to …

Continue reading »

Tags: , ,

2 comments

Jun 13

Spark staff plant the Kaipara coastline

Categories:

Rae's Blog, Random rural yarns, Seabirds and environment

by

People power to plant the edge of the largest harbour in the southern hemisphere is being provided gratis by one of our country’s largest companies. Spark NZ, through its charitable arm the Spark Foundation, enables its staff to spend a day a year contributing to a worthy cause. Last week, 11 Spark people turned their …

Continue reading »

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

1 comment

Sep 24

Floss plays just for the fun of it

Categories:

Floss's Bark, Rae's Blog, Random rural yarns

by

    Dear Readers, I can hardly believe it, but I’m having to backtrack on a bold declaration made in a previous column. Early this year I declared full of certainty that while Jas the puppy could bark and jump and beg, she would never, ever make me play. I backed up this emphatic statement …

Continue reading »

Tags: , , , , , ,

4 comments

Sep 01

Notebook made with love and a bit of Batley House

Categories:

Rae's Blog, Random rural yarns

by

It was surely a world first. A bloke who contacted me to buy a copy of my book asked for a hunk of the house as well. “Sure,” I replied. “I’ll see what I can find.” Dave suggested weather board, but a scavenge in the wood heap in the back paddock turned up something I …

Continue reading »

Tags: , , , ,

2 comments

Aug 12

Tips and tactics to motivate the farmer

Categories:

Rae's Blog, Random rural yarns

by

I’ve tried guilt, shaming, threats, flirting, resignation and taking a wager and while each ploy worked once, I can’t confirm their ongoing usefulness. These are my tried and tested methods of getting a bloke to oblige with practical matters because it’s universally known that nagging – or, often, even asking nicely – doesn’t work. You’re …

Continue reading »

Tags: , , ,

Jul 28

Satisfying time amid the mud

Categories:

Fishing and the harbour, Rae's Blog, Random rural yarns, Seabirds and environment, Uncategorized

by

Each morning I’m a picture of sartorial style in muddy overalls, beanie and gumboots as the farmer and I move cattle. Up until the big wet we moved young bulls in the intensive grazing system every two days, but now they’re in smaller paddocks. In larger areas they stomp the lot to muck by the end …

Continue reading »

Tags: , , , , , ,

5 comments

Jul 21

Letter from exasperated Floss

Categories:

Dogs, Floss's Bark, Rae's Blog

by

Dear Readers, Who’d have thought one little lick could have started all this? Dogs lick. It’s what we do. Then I licked again and again until – and I was fascinated by this – a lump formed. I’m just regurgitating what the vet said here. I usually only regurgitate after I eat grass, but these …

Continue reading »

Tags: , , , ,

4 comments

Mar 16

Simmering Season by Jenn J McLeod

Categories:

Authors and guests, Rae's Blog

by

Valentine’s Day is a big deal for me. I especially loved my Feb 14 celebratory champers after my first visit to Batley when Rex presented me with a hibiscus. Charmer that he is, he’s continued the tradition to this day. Valentine’s Day 2012 was also a biggie – I sent a “Yay, you’ve done it!” …

Continue reading »

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

3 comments

Dec 13

Pets – the gift that keeps on costing

Categories:

Dogs, Rae's Blog, Random rural yarns, Uncategorized

by

If you surrendered to a loved one who wanted a pet for Christmas it’s not too late to supplement your gift. Yep – I’m talking money. When animals break or get sick they need to be repaired unlike other gifts which can be returned or trashed. Animals are for life – or that’s the idea …

Continue reading »

Tags: , , , , , ,

5 comments

Older posts «