Rural, yes. Bachelor, no.

While this year’s Rural Bachelor finalists are announced in the leadup to Fieldays, last year’s winner packs up his things ready for a new challenge. There is a mountain of rubbish in Jeff Peek’s office and the same in the lounge. He is going through the house biffing crap, to use his words, and his pantry is now just a box full of condiments.

A new challenge awaits – he is moving from the farm he manages in Morrinsville, with a herd of 350 cows, to a contract milker position in Pirongia, where he will milk a herd of 660. But it is not only his job that is changing. As Peek boxes his belongings so does his partner, Jasmine Bloxhan, as they prepare to move in together.

They met six weeks after Peek won the Rural Bachelor title. He said it was the competition that was the catalyst. It opened doors for him in the dairy industry by introducing him to farmers all over New Zealand. And it made him a more diverse social network, which led to his introduction to Bloxhan, by a mutual friend.

Bloxhan is a jewellery maker by trade.

What kind of jewellery?

“Jewellery.”

She also works on a small dairy farm in Otorohanga. When Peek went there and met her, her boss and her friends he was like “ohh”.

“To start with it was the ol’ courting thing, she’d come here for a dinner and a movie then she’d bugger off home,” Peek said.

It was a big commitment for the two farmers, beginning a relationship with someone who lives an hour away. During calving was especially tough. He would finish work at six to shower then drive an hour. They ate dinner around nine then he would drive back before the morning milking. The effort was worth it.

“Jas is bloody good eh, we get on like a house on fire. We’re very similar in terms of what we like to do – being outside, having a good laugh, having some fun, going to the beach. She loves a laugh and a joke and she hates sitting down doing nothing. It motivates me to go and do lots of other things as well. She’s very hardworking and it’s going to be pretty cool to watch her take that step into a bigger farm,” Peek said.

For their second date Peek turned up the romance. He organised a surprise dinner at Fahrenheit restaurant in Te Awamutu – Bloxhan hates surprises. And he bought her flowers.

What kind of flowers?

“Flowers.”

Amidst the mayhem of a moving household Peek picks his favourites of the group announced as finalists for the 2015 Rural Bachelor of the Year. “You can stalk them on facebook,” he advises. Bets could be on between himself and his rugby mates over who will reap the newest rural bachelor title.

The contestants might get a shock if they think it is going to be a holiday, Peek says. For those wondering, “there’s not as much drinking as you might think”. He remembers the media coverage as confronting.

“We had a Dutch woman there from Belgium or somewhere like that – has like millions of followers on this rural TV programme. We didn’t have a clue what she was saying or what was going on and she was interviewing us, rattling away – and that was broadcast over there.”

Still, Peek would recommend the experience to anyone. And he plans to enter a few of his rugby mates in years to come.

It still feels surreal. He finished work last Thursday, but even after five sunrises, the fact he is leaving has not dawned on him just yet. He will leave behind his favourite “old girl”, cow number 152. She is one of all the farm workers’ favourites because “she’s a top cow”.

“Cows have personalities, they are quite quirky creatures.”

“She (cow number 152) gets preferential feeding so if she turns around and wants more feed in the shed she gets extra palm kernel thrown at her. She’s a kiwi cross, she’s a lovely big cow. Give her a pat on the head, give her a pat on the back and off she goes in the yard. I gave her a pat on the head and said goodbye.”

For the Rural Bachelor 2015 finalists “advice wise – enjoy it, it’s a bloody great week.”