From polo to produce
Words: Pattie Pegler | Images: supplied
The fruit and vegetable shop in Woodend has changed a little. With flowers, fresh bread and pantry staples added to the existing range of produce, owners Becks and Dryden Power are transforming it into a cornerstone for the local community.
This is more than just a business for the couple – after years of travel, it’s about putting down roots. Or coming back to them for Dryden, who grew up on his family’s farm between Woodend and Rangiora, and attended Tuahiwi school then Rangiora High before completing a farming degree at Lincoln University.
Early days
It was his love of polo that took Dryden to the United Kingdom, where he worked in a professional polo stables. Becks spent her time as a nanny nearby. “I had been reading Jilly Cooper books and decided I wanted to marry a polo player,” she says, laughing gently at the memory of her 20-year-old self.
The couple fell in love and soon married. Since then polo has taken them all over the world – it’s been far from a straight path from the UK to Woodend. At first, they followed the seasons between Britain and New Zealand, before settling into farming once their children Oscar and Grace were born. The pair knew they wanted to raise their family in New Zealand. Even then polo remained a passion; a small business importing gear from Argentina; some time hosting polo holidays in the Hawkes Bay, and Dryden taking short term contracts in Asia coaching at private clubs kept passion close by.
Working with royalty
When Dryden was offered a job in Brunei as the polo manager for the Royal Family in 2015, it was an opportunity he just had to take. So the family moved there.
Things got busy. Dryden was managing the royal polo teams, the yards and the horses, as well as acting as a personal riding escort for the Sultan. And yes, he did travel to Europe with them on a private jet – but it wasn’t all glamour. There were plenty of challenges: 150 horses (all stabled), a team of 70 staff and a lot of protocols to follow.
“I learnt a lot about myself,” he says. “I learnt about patience, dealing with bureaucracy and communicating with people.” Oscar and Grace, at this stage were both teenagers attending a ‘wonderful’ international school. It was a big appeal of the move, Becks says, with a very high standard of education, traditional values and the experience of a very different culture.
But for Becks herself, things felt a bit harder – she wasn’t able to work and admits to being a little bored. It was hard to forge friendships in a community largely made up of expats. “It’s a very transient lifestyle,” says Dryden.
“Expats come and go, so you don’t get to make those deep connections and friendships.”
Dryden’s three year contract was renewed, twice, and he stayed for nine years in Brunei. But when daughter Grace wanted to attend University, Becks headed back to England with her and took the chance to reconnect with family and her home country. She may not be a polo player, but Becks has felt at home amongst horse preparation and management, and was heavily involved with the sport for many years. During the ‘Brunei era’, she worked for a polo store in Singapore and did two summers in Auckland as polo manager for the Cleveland-based club.
Power move: the return to North Canterbury
After years of wandering the globe, in 2024 the couple decided to move back to New Zealand. They bought a home in Loburn and the veggie shop in Woodend, now rebranded as the Country House Greengrocer.
“We wanted to create a base,” says Becks. “A place we could come back to as a family, and the store is part of that.”
Since then, they’ve enjoyed 18 months together under one roof. However, daughter Grace has recently upped sticks to Melbourne in search of a career in writing. It was a tough time for Becks to see her daughter move away, even though she’d made a similar move herself in her twenties, leaving her parents behind. “I understand now what that feels like,” she reflects.
Meanwhile son Oscar has embraced the return to New Zealand. For the moment, he is part of the team at the The Country House Greengrocer and finds himself following his father’s footsteps, carving out a career in polo.
“I hope he makes the most of it and just enjoys it, while he can,” says Becks.
For now, wherever the family may roam, their anchor is right here in North Canterbury.
