For 23 years, the warm, lively voice of Country Life presenter and producer Carol Stiles has been synonymous with RNZ's rural storytelling.
As she moves on from the job, Carol chats to Sally Round about what she saw and learned.
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Carol says the best thing about working as a rural journalist on Country Life has been the people she's met.
Over 23 years, a mix of "farmers, growers, old-timers, characters, pioneers, innovators and scientists" have welcomed her into their homes and trusted her with their stories.
"I've had the pleasure of travelling down some very, very quiet country roads in some very remote spots and meeting incredible people."
Journalist Carol Stiles receives an award from the NZ Guild of Agricultural Journalists and Communicators in 2017. Photo: Federated Farmers
To any aspiring rural radio journalists Carol has some parting advice:
"Even now, after all these years, I get back to the office and I haven't collected enough background sound, and every silence sounds different so make sure you get plenty of that. Always pack your raincoat and your gumboots. And go back. If you feel there's a question you should have asked but didn't, or maybe you should have spoken to that person standing in the corner of the room, go back. It's always worth it."
She loves radio for its ability to allow listeners to feel they're "right there" with the Country Life presenter and whoever they're talking to.
"The sound of people's voices often tell so much more than the words themselves."
That said, Carol claims that every week for the last 23 years she tried to think of just the right words to sign off a Country Life episode but always ended up going with the same two words.
As she moves on from RNZ, Carol's message to her colleagues and Country Life listeners is the same.
"Bye, now!"
Carol Stiles won the 2019 Federated Farmers Broadcast Journalism Award for her stories Spectacular Speckles are turning heads and First Farm - a 15-year journey to farm ownership.
Below is a gallery of some recent photographs Carol has taken for RNZ. Her shot of Steve the Saddler won the 2020 Federated Farmers Rural Photography Award.
