When Swiss couple Joerg Agostini and Nicole Fehlmann decided to move back to New Zealand, a major attraction of Dunedin was the proximity to good surfing beaches. Not that they knew much else about the city. But for a surfing enthusiast like Mr Agostini, it ticked the boxes.
The pair, who are graphic designers, founded the cleverly named design agency SWIWI, a fusion of Kiwi and Swiss.
Not only did it represent their homeland and adopted land, but also the Swiss precision and planning skills, coupled with the more relaxed Kiwi lifestyle.
Mr Agostini came to Queenstown originally to attend language school and ended up settling in the resort, spending nine years there.
Ms Fehlmann came over to spend time with him and, after returning to Switzerland for a "proper catch-up" for three and a-half years, they decided to return to New Zealand.
While here, Mr Agostini had picked up surfing but was frustrated only having the chance to go about once every three months and even then there being the chance there might not be any surf when he got there. He wanted to have enough time to pick it up and learn.
Ms Fehlmann, who grew up close to Basle in Switzerland and later lived in the city, was keen to move somewhere with more culture than Queenstown. They both loved their time in the resort but were looking for a change.
Two of their friends — coincidentally both surfers — had moved to Dunedin and suggested they try the city instead of heading back to Queenstown.
So they moved to Dunedin in December 2015, were given a tour of the city by their friends and promptly found it an "amazing place".
"People are so friendly and helpful. It feels like a proper community," Mr Agostini said.
"We’re so glad we made the decision to come here and experience something else," Ms Fehlmann said.
While neither were daunted about living in New Zealand, what was nerve-racking was establishing a business here.
They wanted to be self-employed but embarking on such a venture in a city where they did not have a social network to help in getting work was "definitely scary", Ms Fehlmann said.
They were experienced in graphic design but running a business was something that was new to them.
The main thrust of their business was helping businesses to promote themselves. What they were particularly passionate about was branding.
Listening to a client and getting to the bottom of how they wanted to portray themselves and putting that into a brand was exciting, Mr Agostini said.
Work was slowly picking up from Dunedin clients; most of their clients were from Switzerland and the United Kingdom and they also had one in the United States.
The beauty of being a graphic designer was "all you need is a computer and internet and you’re pretty much sussed", Mr Agostini said.
They worked from home in the first month but it was good to move into an office space, where it was definitely more productive, Ms Fehlmann said.
They did not want to be confined to an office with just the two of them so the shared space at 104 Bond St worked well. They could talk to others and get to know what they were doing.
The couple were trying to get their "name out there" and wanted to deal with local clients as much as possible.
Living in Ocean View was a novelty because Switzerland was landlocked.
They enjoyed walking to the beach most nights to make the most of the opportunity.
His surfing had improved ‘‘quite a lot’’ and he was relishing being able to find waves so close to home and being able to go whenever he liked, Mr Agostini said.
She did not share his passion for surfing as she didn’t like not being able to see the bottom when in the water, Ms Fehlmann said, laughing.
Family was really the only thing they missed about being away from Switzerland, although Skype allowed them to feel close "to a certain extent", Mr Agostini said.
In Switzerland, there was also the close proximity to other countries.
"In New Zealand, if you want to go on holiday, you have to take a plane," Ms Fehlmann said.
