They danced to the Blues Brothers and romance bloomed. After she completed a two-year diploma in accounting, they organized a job for her with an electrical engineering company in Hong Kong. Coincidentally, Lance secured a contract to ride in the former British colony. They married in She prefers simple style to frills, but she is partial to her Jimmy Choo stilettos. The couple bought the farm he had fallen in love with as a boy.
The property, named Rockspring, sits high above the valley with degree views, including the mauve-tinted Kaimai Ranges to the east and the wildlife sanctuary Maungatautari Mountain to the west. Hobbiton, a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of thousands of Tolkien fans each year, lies just beyond a hill. The hectare property is a dairy farm with cows, milked by farm managers. When Lance and Bridgette bought it, the original homestead had long gone, but there was a century-old red barn that once served as a livery for stagecoaches, a heritage-listed school no longer in use , plus wide-girthed oaks planted by early settlers and kahikatea trees.
There was also a splendid expanse of prime pasture. Bridgette says that without a main house there were two farmhouses on the property , it was a blank canvas. One room is taken up with trophies won in New Zealand and international race meetings. The hilltop house mirrors the grand scale and colours of the valley below, where massive rocky bluffs trace the former path of the Waikato River. There are wide windows, wide corridors and tall doorways. Bridgette says Lance is impetuous and persistent.
I like to plan.
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Lance likes to jump in and do stuff. A striking aspect of the house, in addition to its elevation, is the size of the doors through which even basketball export Steven Adams would not have to stoop. Bridgette, also petite even in her highest Jimmy Choo stilettos, says he often forgets to eat. The main hallway is wide and paved with Italian limestone tiles. Two dogs have the run of the place, and they have scratchy toenails. One of them, an exuberant golden cocker spaniel pup named Freddie, arrived three months ago and has still to win over Austin, a stately long-haired dachshund who has been a pet for 13 years.
Austin went into a steep decline last year when his former companion, Jack, a labrador, died. Freddie was bought to cheer him up.
Racing consumed the couple for more than two decades of their married life. When Lance was at his peak, they were at a racetrack somewhere in the world most weeks. In , Bridgette, who also has a racing pedigree her grandfather was a bookmaker and her stepfather a trainer was appointed an ambassador for Ellerslie Racecourse, a role she held for five years. She says it involved talking up the industry which, by then, was in decline. For Auckland Cup week alone, she needed five outfits. Her life now is entirely focused on the Red Barn wedding and function centre , which she and Lance began 10 years ago.
The former livery where stagecoach drivers changed sweat-drenched horses for fresh steeds, has been given a modern makeover, but the original building is its heart. Bridgette has always enjoyed throwing parties and having guests to stay.
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The idea of hosting weddings appealed. It seemed like a good fit. If a staff member falls ill, she is happy to step in. The sisters love the racing industry, and Caitlin helps out with social media at Wexford Stables. Both are petite like their parents, and they were skilled riders when they were younger. Would the girls have ever considered being jockeys? It is said that top jockeys are born to ride, which gives them an edge over the thousands of journeymen who never make the premium grade. Lance had the pedigree, even before he rode his first pony. But his father discouraged him from hanging around the stables, probably because he knew the life was tough.
I remember a wheel once falling off the family car. His track record is impressive even by international standards. It includes 12 premierships and wins over his year career.
'Incredibly stressful'
He says some horses stand out. Something old, something new. The Red Barn, where stage-coach drivers once rested their sweat-drenched hoses, is now the venue for more than 70 weddings a year.
If you go to war, you want to be on one of them. When he retired, aged 39, he said there was nothing else to prove. He puts his success down to resilience and the ability to perform under pressure. He was the first Superintendent of the Auckland Fire Brigade in Asher moved to Tauranga in and opened a branch store. He returned to Auckland, but was still involved in grain and produce purchases in Tauranga and from Motiti Island between and He wound up his business in Auckland and returned to Tauranga to live in In Tauranga, Asher was also involved in:. In Asher ran for Mayor of Tauranga but was unsuccessful in the election held on 14 March George Vesey Stewart was elected instead.
Asher died in Tauranga on 16 February , aged 76 reg. The death of the above mentioned gentleman last week removed one of the connecting links between the first troublous days of this Colony and its peaceful and prosperous present. Mr Asher, who was 76 at the time of his death, was quite one of the old identities, having arrived in the Colony as a young man of close on 21 in the year One of his first ventures was the coasting trade in the Hauraki Gulf in which he became associated with the late Sir Donald McLean.
Later on, acting on the advice of some of his co-religionists of the Hebrew faith, he started in business in Shortland Street, Auckland, meeting with considerable success. He gave early attention to Fire Brigade matters and soon rose to the position of Captain of the Auckland Brigade and Fire Inspector, his services being rendered voluntarily.
The appreciation of his services by the citizens was shown by the presentation to him of a handsome illuminated address, made at a public meeting by ex- Governor Bowen. His Company was among the first sent to the front in the Maori war and claimed to be the first of the British volunteers to go under fire, being in action at Te Wairoa and other places.
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In he came to Tauranga and opened a branch store, being contractor for general supplies to the troops in various parts of the country, subsequently returning to Auckland and again coming back to Tauranga in , from which date he has resided here. He held the honorary post of Fire Inspector here for many years and made the care of the Brigade appliances the first charge on his spare time.
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Even to the last he was always to the fore when the Brigade turned out for practice or to a fire. Deceased had a family of eleven, three sons and eight daughters, of whom nine survive; much sympathy will be felt with Mrs Asher and the family in their bereavement. Bay of Plenty Times 20 February , p. Tauranga Memories : Tauranga Local History. Asher married Hannah Keesing in Auckland on 4 February Born in Auckland on 27 April , Benjamin died there on 24 June reg.
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They later ran a drapery business on The Strand in Tauranga which was destroyed by fire on 31 May Louis died in Symonds Street, Auckland on 19 June , at the age of 54 reg. Born in Auckland on 31 December reg. Involved with the first Volunteer Fire Brigade in Wellington in He died, aged 70, on 23 July reg. Born in Auckland on 9 December reg. He was a draper in Cambridge. Henry married Priscilla Moss on 23 November Henry died in Melbourne in Known as 'Annie' she was born in Auckland on 4 May reg.
They ran a business in Cambridge. Born in Auckland on 26 September reg.