\u201cWe kind of always thought that was going to be it, and an opportunity to buy into that farm was going to be achievable.<\/p>\n
She said all of a sudden they didn\u2019t know what to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you lose your goal, you kind of lose a sense of purpose, and we wanted to try and find a purpose again.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the April 2025 sale, Hayden took a farm manager\u2019s job in Feilding, and Anastasia stayed on the family farm until January 2026, when she would commute back while they still had the lease until May.<\/p>\n
She said they looked into buying a house and put in a tender for a small piece of land to rear calves.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing really felt right; we didn\u2019t feel right in Manawat\u016b, and we didn\u2019t have any solution.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you stayed there, it\u2019s like a reminder of what could have been or what you thought was going to be.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anastasia said they decided at the start of the year to live in a caravan and in March \u201cpulled the trigger\u201d and bought their \u201ctiny house on wheels\u201d. <\/p>\n
Hayden Tristram, from left with daughters Kiara Tristram and Ariella Tristram, who have settled into their new caravan life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been the only decision that has felt right.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said after moving out of their house on September 6, they have had valuable caravan life lessons. <\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t park in the shade, carry some hose fittings, be mindful of your electricity outputs and just relax into it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their goal now was to find work on different types of farms despite only working with sheep and beef.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to do farm contracting, and there is a couple of barriers that farm contracting will offer on the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne is that people won\u2019t know us, and two is accommodation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anastasia said they addressed these with the self-contained caravan and posting their journey to social media.<\/p>\n