Lorraine Shortus

Originally from Ealing in West London, Lorraine arrived in Waimate via a backpacking trip to Australia and a chance meeting with a Waimate farm boy.

More than two decades on, she’s well and truly part of the fabric of the town - bringing colour, creativity and commerce to the main street through The Quirky Magpie.

Lorraine lives here with husband Jonathan, and while daughters Ruby and Lily are now both away at university, Waimate remains very much home.

What brought you to Waimate District?

Love! I met my husband Jonathan while backpacking in Western Australia - we both ended up working on the same farm. Our paths wouldn’t have crossed otherwise. I was a barmaid from London and he was a farm boy from Waimate.

We lived in Australia for a couple of years after we got married, but a hard drought made things less enjoyable. Jonathan had already spent nine years there and was ready to come home, so I just went with the flow!

Knowing we’d have his family around was a big drawcard. We first lived at Kaiwarua Station in Waihaorunga for about six months with Robert, then bought our first house and started our family.

What was your honest first impression when you arrived?

It wasn’t really about the place at first - it was just nice to be around family.

I’d only ever visited before and didn’t really know what to expect from New Zealand. Funny enough, it’s only this summer, after doing a proper road trip, that I’ve gone, wow, New Zealand is full of small regional towns - and Waimate stacks up really well.

Until you get out, you don’t always realise how good we’ve got it.

What’s kept you here?

Raising kids and being close to family.

I opened The Quirky Magpie six years ago now. Lisa and I only planned to open for six months to see what would happen, but it just kept growing from there.

It was very much a “let’s give it a go” situation. Six months turned into years pretty quickly.

How has Waimate changed since you’ve lived here?

Hugely. There’s been so much development on the main street.

I’m really proud to tell people where I’m from. I’m a bit of an ambassador for the place now! . And yes, people have actually moved here off the back of conversations we’ve had in the shop!

I really like the fact there’s more pride in town and an influx of people choosing to live here.

What do you tell people who are thinking about moving here?

That it’s affordable, you can travel to anywhere easily, and the community is incredibly supportive.

I end up saying hello to so many people - sometimes it takes ages to get around the supermarket because you keep stopping to talk. 

You can be as involved as you want - there are heaps of clubs - or you can keep to yourself. Either way, I’m always really happy to come home.

When friends or family visit, what do you love showing them?

The Quirky Magpie is always high on the list!

When my sister was here over summer, we went up the Whitehorse on a beautiful day, did the Gwen and wallaby park experience and spent time at Victoria Park. Of course, the lakes and boating. And Knottingley Park is lovely.