"It's the serenity, mate," Simon Smith enthuses, legs stretched out, on the back porch of his Dunback crib.
"It's just got the best of everything here, really."
Mr Smith and partner Annette Cadogan bought the 4ha property three years ago, after scouting around the area for the perfect home away from home.
The weatherboard farmhouse was built in the early 1900s and includes a collection of ramshackle huts and outbuildings.
"It's like Central Otago, but without the crowds of people," Ms Cadogan says.
"It feels like you're out in the country but we're only 45 minutes from town [Dunedin], so there's no panic if you forget anything or need something."
"You've got the Maniototo to your left and to the right there's Oxfordshire," Mr Smith said, casting a sweeping arm across the landscape.
"There are only two street lights in town.
"The stars out here are amazing. You get the full impact of the Milky Way.
"The weather is outstanding, too. It gets up to 35 to 36 degrees easy enough.
"On top of that, the people around here are fantastic as well.
"There are some real characters.
"Although, they tell us you've got to be here for 30 years before you're considered a local," Mr Smith says with a chuckle.
"We've just been made to feel so welcome here.
"You'll always get an invite over when someone's having a shindig.
"The neighbours keep an eye on the place when we're away.
"The dairy is brilliant, the landlord is friendly at the pub ...
"You're just really well serviced and you don't want for anything."
"There's the odd down side.
"Like, there are only two channels on TV," Ms Cadogan says.
"We were up here when the Australian bushfires were happening and we didn't see the news for a couple of days.
"We saw the sky was a funny colour and we had no idea what caused it."
Ms Cadogan teaches fashion at Otago Polytechnic and has a label, Iris.
"It's nice to have that change [from fashion]," she says.
"We just garden and potter about.
I've been getting into gardening a whole lot more up here.
"The only hassle is having to go back to Dunedin."
Mr Smith works as a real estate agent in Dunedin.
"Why don't real estate agents look out the window in the morning?" he asks.
"So they have something to do in the afternoon!" he chuckles.
We laugh until we stop.
The atmosphere is very relaxing and the crib will obviously be the scene of much fun and hilarity over the coming weeks.
"We've had 14 or so staying here before, with people flopping on the couches and things," Mr Smith says.
"Even Monts loves it out here," Ms Cadogan says.
"He's started catching rabbits."
Monts, who is named after Mr Smith's favourite wine label, is their 17-year-old cat.
Their 15-year-old Ridgeback-Labrador cross, Charlie, also seems right at home.
"Charlie by name and Charlie by nature," Mr Smith quips, for what is probably the 10,000th time.
Charlie is deaf and barks like a hollow log.
But he doesn't seem to mind and was tearing a football to pieces during our visit.
The couple enjoy Dunback so much they are trialling a permanent move from Northeast Valley.
"It started as a holiday home, but it gets into your blood.
So we've starting commuting back into town," Mr Smith says.
"We'll live here till winter, anyway, and see how it goes," Ms Cadogan adds.
There are plans to convert one of the sheds into a workroom for her fashion label.
But well-tended vegetable plots around the property declare what the real passion is out here.
"We've got the Shag River down there, too, so you can have a nice dip on a hot day," Mr Smith says.
"There's a couple of trout down there, but they're very, very cunning.
"The neighbour has a nice boat, though, and he takes us out to Moeraki for blue cod.
"It's good for wee day trips, too, to Macraes, or it's only 40 minutes to Ranfurly to poke around the second-hand shops, or 20 minutes to Moeraki."
But, while the crib is close to perfection, it still needs one last finishing touch for Mr Smith.
"I'd really like a tractor.
"You've got to have a tractor when you live in the country, I reckon."
