As part of Southern Rural Life's " Wellbeing Wednesday" series, Alice Scott talks to sheep and beef farmer Greg Hand who has made new connections in a community that has always been there.
It took a marriage break-up for East Otago sheep and beef farmer Greg Hand to realise he had been a prisoner of his own making, "a trap I had fallen into", working seven-day weeks and always feeling like he was trying to catch up.
Accepting the offer to coach the Strath Taieri senior rugby team earlier this year was the catalyst for a major shift in mindset for Hand and sparked new welcome connections in a community "that has always been there."
Hand farms Clover Downs; a 4000ha property near Macraes Moonlight. His home is a 30-minute drive to Palmerston in one direction and Macraes in the other. He has leased the farm for 13 years and until recently also owned a smaller North Otago farm.
Farming has always been his passion and he worked his way into farm and stock ownership through management opportunities, mostly in South Canterbury.
He farms 4500 ewes and 400 cattle, getting casual labour when he needs it.
A keen rugby player, Hand played "300ish" games for the MacKenzie Country premier team and played representative rugby for South Canterbury, often getting up before dawn to get the winter feeding done before his games.
After retiring from the game Hand started coaching his children in schoolboy and age group rugby in Oamaru.
"I never had my sights set on coaching senior rugby and for the 12 years I had been at Clover Downs I didn't have a lot to do with the game," he said.
"I watched a couple of local games over the years, but I guess I just had my head down on the farm."
The coaching gig at Strath Taieri has been a successful one, with the team winning the season final after 20 minutes of overtime.
"It was a test of fitness, and the team won it through that."
The Clover Downs homestead is at the other end of the farm from where most of the day's work is, so Hand will pack a lunch and be gone for the day, working through the jobs and spending most of the week in his own company.
"Macraes pub has always been my local watering hole so to speak and I knew people there, but only really on a surface level; I would drink my jug, have a chat, and go home.
"Coaching has got me off the farm on a regular basis and I have really got to know the community that has always been here."
Farmer Greg Hand says group fitness training and rugby coaching has created structure and purpose in his week that has him getting off-farm and connecting with others. Photo / Alice Scott
It was in April this year while enjoying an ale, Hand found himself on the floor of the hotel competing with a couple of local ladies in an abdominal leg raise, "as you do".
"It sparked a suggestion by the girls that I should be running a fitness class in Macraes."
Hand kept to his promise and set up a circuit gym class on a Tuesday evening at the local hall, bringing several of his exercise machines from home along with weights and a punching bag.
"We do a 90-minute session and go to the pub for a drink afterwards."
Since rugby season has finished, he has also added a Thursday night session.
For Hand, bringing fitness into the lives of others has been a "game-changer" for his own wellbeing.
"It's given me structure and purpose in my week away from farming. It's not until now that I have taken a step back and can see just how tunnel-visioned I was on the farm; doing 12 hours a day, seven days a week."
Hand's advice for others in the same hamster wheel trap: "Do one thing different that gets you off the farm. Go out of your comfort zone and take that small step; you might just be surprised where you end up!"
