Chartwell Library
Lynden Court, Hamilton
Friday 7 August
12.30pm
Robin (Robby) Robilliard has recently published her memoir, Hard Country,
which reflects on her life with husband Garry and their family in the isolated
Golden Bay, at the very tip of the South Island, far away from family and
friends. When they arrived there in 1957 it was a very different place to the
vibrant and richly diverse community there is today.
In Hard Country, Robby begins by bravely asking herself whether she
would have chosen the same life, having known just how hard it was
actually going to be.
“The extraordinary beauty of this Golden Bay region feeds my soul
daily” says Robby. “Living in such isolation behind the great Takaka
Hill has forced many of us who live here to do things, achieve things
that we may never have done in a more conventional area.”
It had been the Robilliard’s dream to have their own farm, and
despite the odds, this is where they remain to this day, over 50
character-building years later.
Robin's event is supported by The Friends of the Library and Poppies Bookshop
who will have books for sale and signing.