This is my current house sit. I arrived on August 26th and I will be here until October 16th, so about seven weeks in total. The owners have taken off overseas to do some lengthy river cruises. One is in Portugal, the next in Egypt, and the third in India.
I’m located in the rural district of Rongotea, in the Manawatū. The village of Rongotea is a quick five-minute drive from where I’m staying, and it has a small superette, fish ‘n’ chip shop, garage, hotel, 24/7 fuel etc. Feilding and Palmerston North are roughly the same distance from my place, and about a twenty-minute drive away. I do my grocery shopping in Feilding as it’s smaller and has easier streets to navigate. It’s good driving around the Manawatū plains – the roads are predominately straight and flat.
My house sit is a rural home at the end of a no-exit road, so there is absolutely zero traffic going past. The nearest neighour is half a kilometre away so it’s super private and quiet here. About all I hear are the birdies and the neighbour’s sheep. Pet-wise, I have Beryl who is a super friendly Boxer, and seven months old I believe. She looks ferocious but is in reality a big softie. She was a bit lost for the first couple of days after her owners left but since then we’ve become good mates. There is also Iris, who is a really nice rescue cat. She likes to spend most of her day in her own room, as she’s not keen on Beryl. But once Beryl is locked up for the night, Iris jumps on my bed looking for smooches, and dribbling everywhere. 🙂
Down the road a bit, the owners have a run-off block carrying seventeen head of drystock cattle. I pop down there each day to check their water and grazing, and throw out some hay if needed. Beryl jumps in the ute and tags along with me each time I go do the stock. But she’s a bit of a ‘princess’ and doesn’t like to get out once we’re there. She prefers to just sit in the front seat and watch things from the comfort of the cab.
All in all, this has been a brilliant house sit so far in a really nice location.
Iris
Beryl
2 Comments
Robin Eaton
September 19 2025 at 1:18 PMI love boxers. Does Beryl jump when you feed her?
Craig MacThòmais
September 21 2025 at 2:03 PMHaha, yeah she does actually. 🙂 She usually does two or three big leaps in the air when I take out her meals. She can get a bit rough when we’re playing ‘chase and fetch’ with her squeaky ball. She likes to jump about and will try to knock me over. The last sitter apparently left here wearing two black eyes and a neck brace! He was an older guy in his 70s and I think he may have let Beryl have her own way a bit too much and didn’t put the necessary boundaries in place, and he paid the price. 😉