Well I never

This entry does not star Bax and Izzie and therefore has no rightful place in their blog but as I am in charge of their blog and i want to tell you this story it shall appear here anyway!

We were in the HB last week and while we were there we went to look at a couple of potential areas where we might like to live when we make the move down there. one of them was called Raukawa Valley. G went for a reccee on a tip off from A and R. He came back full of smiles saying that it was lovely and much closer to Hastings than some of the other areas we've looked at.

He had found two derelict houses on a lovely little chunk of land and had knocked on the door of a neighbour about a kilmetre up the road to ask who owned them. The neighbour had opened the door very hung over but lovely and had said that the owner was also his landlady, a crazy old mad woman called Belinda Something-Johnson. He gave G a telephone number but said that over the years many people had come and gone asking to buy some of her land and she'd always said no.

Then G and I went to have a look together and it was lovely and very handy. As we approached to tiny Raukawa town hall we saw ahead of us two people on farm bikes. One a man on a two wheeler and the other an old woman, filthy, long plait, beanie, dryzabone, on a four wheel bike. the watched us drive towards us, and glaring they watched us drive further up the road passed them, do a U turn, then drive back.

I said to G that I thought that was probably Belind Thingee-Johnson. He agreed and said that if he rang her he thought she'd answer the phone "What doya want?" in a think and gruff kiwi voice. Joking, i said that she proabably had a very well to do posh voice and would answer with her full name and title.

We drove back to A and R who were having drinks with friends including a local 5th gen HB chap who is in real estate.

We told all assembled about the beautiful valley and the derelict houses and the funny old woman.

Mike the Real Esate man said that would indeed have been Belinda Whatsit-Johnson. That she owned the whole Raukawa Station. That she would never ever sell any bit of it. That she was the wealthiest person in the area. That she spoke with a thick english posh accent. That she had been a model in her time on the cover of Vogue UK. That she was a close friend of Cliff Richard.

He is also said that there was a lovely little cottage on her property that she had put there a few years ago but then had discovered that iot would cost $50,000 to hook power up to it so now it was just sitting there, although it had been recently painted. Mike said that she had moved the house there from the other side of the station but rather than pay the $150 license fee to move the house along public roads she had taken down trees and fences to get it over her own land.

So, it looks like we can't have a tiny slice of Raukawa - unless the old witch pops her clogs of course.