John Lindsay (58) has sold the family sheep farm - "the Crown jewels", he jokes - to Peter and Margaret Hore, of Kyeburn, and is shifting to Ranfurly.
He has spent 42 years on the 670ha property, which was farmed before him by his father, grandfather and great-grandfather.
"Was it a wrench? It was a hard decision, but at the end of the day, that's just the way it worked out," Mr Lindsay said.
He was farewelled from Wedderburn at a recent district Christmas "do" and resident Graeme Duncan pointed out the Lindsays were among the area's original settlers.
John's great-great grandfather George Lindsay came out to New Zealand from Scotland in 1878 and worked in East Otago.
He died in 1916 and is buried in the Palmerston cemetery, but his grave is unmarked. The Wedderburn descendants plan to have a headstone placed on his grave.
George's son took over a property at Gimmerburn and then moved to Cornaig around 1900. The property's name was a nod to the family's Scottish links.
Each successive generation of the family has named one of their sons George.
"With that kind of tradition, you could hardly say no," John's mother Tup said, and so she and her late husband George gave that name to their eldest son.
John Lindsay is adamant he is not retiring.
"People call it retirement, but I call it a change of lifestyle. I'll be my own boss and do some casual work and tractor work. I haven't cut my links with farming. Once you're a farmer, you never really stop."
The district's farewell present was a garden voucher and a plaque to go on a tree, so he will always have a reminder of his time in Wedderburn.
However, the family's links with Wedderburn are not entirely broken, as John's elder brother George still has a farm in the district.
It is a tight-knit community, which continues to thrive, partly thanks to the business generated by having the Otago Central Rail Trail on its doorstep, Mr Duncan says.
