Gonzalo "Gonz" Bascur (33) and Nayabet "Naya" Espinoza (28) were both born and raised in Los Angeles in central southern Chile.
They went to same high school but met on a dairy farm in Mid Canterbury in 2013.
Before coming to New Zealand, Mr Bascur was working as a veterinary assistant on a dairy farm in Chile, milking more than 6000 Holstein Friesian cows.
A Chilean friend working on a dairy farm in Mayfield, near Ashburton, recommended he come and work with them to milk about 1300 cows.
"I thought why not?" Mr Bascur said.
He moved from a bustling city with a population of more than 185,000 people to a sleepy village of about 200 people to work as a farm assistant.
At that time, Mrs Espinoza was at high school in Los Angeles, studying agriculture.
After finishing high school, she was one of four pupils selected from the agriculture programme to work in the New Zealand dairy industry in 2013.
She started working on the same farm in Mayfield, as a farm assistant. Mr Bascur was her neighbour, she said.
"That’s how we met and not long after we started dating."
The farm work was "intense" including three calvings a year and there were communication issues.
Opportunities to improve their English were limited on the farm, he said.
"It was a nightmare," he said.
"We didn’t have a nice experience," she said.
The couple were told to either "suck it up or leave" so they left, she said.
They moved to Dipton in Central Southland and Mr Bascur started working as a farm assistant for Alan Maxwell, milking 600 cows from October 2013.
She worked as a relief milker in the area for more than a year until Mr Bascur was promoted to second-in-charge and she filled his vacant farm assistant role.
For the first time, the couple were making decisions about the day-to-day operation of a farm, she said.
"It was the perfect farm for us."
Their boss was patient as they worked to break down the language barrier between them.
"He was able to see the good in us and slowly we started improving our English."
In Dipton, the trust their boss had in them sparked a desire to progress in the industry and they started Primary ITO agricultural courses and formal English lessons.
They joined a gym to improve their fitness and to have an opportunity to speak English, she said.
"We even went to church on Sunday, we are not very religious but we went to talk to to people because there were only the two of us on the farm."
A holiday for a month in Chile in 2015 strengthened their resolve to progress in the dairy industry in the South, she said.
"Everything at home was so crowded and busy — after three weeks we were ready to come back."
Career progression in the dairy industry in Chile was not possible in a way it was in New Zealand.
In Dipton in 2017, they took a step up their career ladder, him as manager and her as second-in-charge but they wanted to progress further in the industry.
In late 2017, they wrote a commitment letter listing what they wanted for their next step and both signed it, she said.
"We thought if we put it out to the universe we might be able to achieve it."
The goals were for both of them to get a better job, working for a good boss, milking more than 700 cows on a farm near Invercargill, which employed more than three people who speak English at work.
He wanted to be the manager of the farm and and she wanted to be second-in-charge and be paid respective salaries of more than $65,000 and more than $55,000.
The couple also wanted to be able to keep their two dogs, labrador Facundo and Jack Russell Lily.
Before signing the letter, the final goals were to keep their existing good friends, meet new people and remain a strong couple, who were happy, she said.
"The letter gave us a clear path of what we wanted for our lives."
Soon after signing the letter, they searched for jobs on website Farm Source and started talking to potential employers including Gerald Spain.
Friends who worked for Mr Spain recommended them and they started on his family dairy business Long Acres Farming in Mokotua, about 20km east of Invercargill, at the beginning of the 2018 season.
They started in their goal roles of manager and second-in-charge, milking 700 cows on the nearly 230ha farm.
Both of their salaries were more than what they had hoped for in their commitment letter.
The salaries they were chasing in the letter seemed "silly" now, she said.
"It looks like a tiny amount now."
Since moving to Mokotua, Mr Bascur placed second in the dairy manager category of the 2020 Southland-Otago Dairy Industry Awards, winning $4900 in prizes and two merit awards.
In a bid to one day becoming self-employed contract milkers, the couple committed to saving money and started reading books about wealth creation.
The dream of becoming contract milkers was realised on Long Acres Farming at the start of last season, she said.
"Our first season as contract milkers has been amazing."
The Covid-19 pandemic stalled them becoming New Zealand residents and delayed their goal of becoming contract milkers by two years.
A new goal was to be finalists in the contract milking category of the Southland-Otago Diary Industry Awards in their third season of running their own business.
Another goal was to buy a herd of 500 cows and become sharemilkers in the next five to seven years, hopefully in the South, she said.
To ensure they stayed committed to their plan they maintained a close relationship with their accountant and had quarterly coaching sessions from them, she said
"For our first year as contract milkers it was crucial."
Now they ensured they built on their reputation as good dairy farmers to help them become sharemilkers.
When it was noted there was no mention of children in the commitment letter, the couple laughed.
They discovered they were pregnant on their third year on the farm in Mokotua, she said.
"Which was kind of a surprise but a good surprise. In every way, everything has worked out for the best."
