Coming Home

I grew up on the volcanic black sand coast of Taranaki, New Zealand. I was lucky enough to have had the best of both worlds with the wild ocean only a moment away from our door, and our home literally slap, bang in the middle of a gigantic countryside paddock. My backyard was full of pine trees and hay bales and my eventual friends, the black and white dairy cows I didn’t always appreciate… I was always terrified of them as a kid, having to muster up the courage to walk through them to get to the school bus stop, a rusty tin shed at the end of our gravel drive which seemed to stretch on forever.

I remember, whenever I was bored mum would say go outside and play… so, I’d grab my little BMX Dad had welded into a “girls bike” from an old hand-me-down “guys bike”, and go on some wild adventure in the nearby pine trees or crumbled down stone shed. They felt like a world away from our big old country home. I’d be gone for half days or whole days and not come in till sunset, muddy palms and skidded knees from my hut building attempts, or stick waving pretending to be Glenda, The Good Witch of the North. It wasn’t until I was older I realised these make believe worlds weren’t really that far from home at all, which probably explains why mum never really did worry or come looking for me. Go outside and play was my ticket to dream away a day in the sunshine, play make believe and create worlds away from home. I’d come home with hand picked gifts and memoirs, carefully curated for everyone to enjoy, bursting with stories to tell of animals I’d seen, or monsters escaped (aka the dozy, harmless cows chewing their cud in the paddocks leading up to our house). 

It’s these memories, of growing up in wild, open spaces, limitless creativity and being surrounded by nature that became the beginning nudges to steer away from a 17 year corporate career that saw me move across New Zealand and Australia a few too many times. Grateful as I am for it, and the amazing friends and experiences I had, I could feel myself being drawn away from the constant city noise, congestion and climbing concrete towers and back to those simpler days full of fresh air, and open landscapes cluttered only by the birds and bees flitting through it. I had a longing for unrestrained creativity and imagination. I just had to muster up the courage to find my way back to it. 

I think it’s always been this love of exploration that’s been slowly stirring up the creation of Ocean to Stable over the years. The love of bringing home cherished and fond memories, trinkets and tokens collected with love to remain with me to remember moments lost exploring, or time spent with loved ones. Ocean to Stable for me is about coming home. Home to a place that tells my story, and hopefully your story. I can’t wait to share it with you. 

P x