From young farmers to lifelong friends
A Young Farmers exchange competition more than 50 years ago took Lex Young halfway around the world and led to friendships that have lasted a lifetime.
To get there he first had to win at district, regional and national level.
“I remember thinking I didn’t have much chance,” he says.
But he did - and the trip became one of many adventures he’s recording in a book he began writing more than a decade ago.
Market mornings
We first met Lex Young at the Waimate Community Market.
It took three separate visits to get him to agree to a photo, but the yarns were worth it.
Lex grows flowers and produce from seed and sells them at the market each week, including the gladioli he’s become well known for. He’s been accused of being Dame Edna, he reckons.
He’s also a wood turner, with a line of beautifully finished bowls sitting alongside the plants.
A steady stream of people stop by - some to buy something, others just for the banter.
But last Saturday he arrived with a framed photo and another story.
Bringing the party forward
The photo shows a young Lex in Glen Urquhart, Scotland in 1977.
“Just up from Loch Ness,” he says. “I told you I’ve been known to wear skirts.”
It was taken while he was on the exchange programme - his father must have liked it Les reckons, because he got it printed and framed.
Later this month he’s heading to Tasmania to catch up with three mates he met during that exchange. The group made up of Kiwis and Aussies has made a habit of meeting every 20 years.
This time though, they’ve brought it forward ten years because one of the group died suddenly recently.
“I’m the oldest by 12 days,” Lex jokes. “I think they’re a bit worried I won’t last the distance, so they brought the party forward.”
Lex has a book of sayings he keeps, and one of his favourites sums things up.
“You should live every day as though it’s your last,” he says. “Because one day it will be.”
Fencing in Western Australia
During the exchange they were billeted with families in Ulster, Ireland. One evening Lex was out at a silage machinery demonstration when he ran into Mike, an Aussie who was also on the exchange.
Lex invited him back for a cuppa with the family he was staying with.
“Bugger me,” Lex says. “Mike ended up marrying Margaret from that family.”
They became firm friends and Lex spent around four years heading to Western Australia for a month each winter to fence for Mike and Margaret.
By the time Mike turned 60, the friendship had become part of the family story. At his birthday, their daughter Verity joked it was thanks to Lex that she and her three siblings existed.
A few adventures along the way
It’s clear Lex has had some adventures over the years.
Like the time he went to an Aussie Rules football match, where they cleared scrub to make the field and played amongst the kangaroo poo.
Or finding out how small the world can be.
On one trip to Australia he found himself at a sports match after-function. Looking across the field he spotted a face that seemed familiar.
“He came up to me and said, “what are you doing here?”
The man turned out to be a neighbour from his Central Otago days.
“He was tractor driving, I was fencing, both in the middle of nowhere and ended up at the same place.”
The memories kept piling up over the years - like shepherding in the Mackenzie, working as a stud master at Ben More Station in Porters Pass breeding Limousin cattle, sheep farming at Avoca on the Waimakariri and crossing paths with a long list of characters along the way.
Not bad so far
He would share these yarns with friends and family.
“Someone once said, you’ve done some interesting things in life, you should write a book.”
Margaret told him the same thing one day and he went off to work and thought about it. He came back and told Margaret he’d thought of the title.
“Not bad so far.” he laughs.
Lex began recording his adventures about 14 years ago, it starts with his shepherding years in the Mackenzie, and he’s up to 1972.
He’s a busy man though, he’s off with his brothers to look around Molesworth and then heading to Tasmania to catch up with Mike and the mates he met during the Young Farmers exchange.
And there’s the wood turning, he recently made a whole lot of wooden tulips with his guild mates to raise money for Parkinsons New Zealand.
Stop for a yarn
Most weekends though, you’ll most likely find Lex at the Waimate Community Market.
“I used to be a stud master of pedigree cattle, but it’s so much nicer being a stud master of flowers.”
A steady stream of people stop for banter as well as to buy something.
A yarn with Lex should be high on the list next time you’re at the markets, he sells out quick so get in early.
There are still plenty of stories left to tell.