Long before Duncan Smith planted his first grapevine, he was wandering the Scottish Highlands with a backpack, a camera, and a hopeful sense that life had something unexpected in store. It did, her name was Judy. That chance meeting set in motion a journey that carried them halfway around the world to the quiet folds of Waimata Valley, where they traded corporate certainty for muddy boots, native trees, livestock dramas, and the steady, satisfying rhythm of working the land.
Across nearly three decades, Duncan and Judy built a life that was part adventure, part experiment, and part delightful chaos. They raised two sons who learned to drive tractors before they could legally drive cars, nurtured orchards and vegetable gardens that fed half the neighbourhood, and slowly shaped a neglected property into a flourishing organic farm and vineyard – one stubborn challenge at a time.
Duncan’s writing is rooted in those years: the rhythm of their rural life, the lessons they learned from both the land and its challenges, and the humour both found in the everyday ups and downs of building something from scratch.
As a photographer, Duncan captures the quiet beauty of rural New Zealand; as a storyteller, he shares the joys and struggles with honesty, warmth, and a dash of British wit.
Today, his memoir stands as a tribute not only to the land but to the courage it takes to start again and discover that it can sometimes lead to somewhere better than you ever imagined.