Then she looked north, saw smoke and knew her house was on fire.
''You just know, don't you,'' she said after about a dozen firefighters from Palmerston, Hampden and Kakanui with two fire units and three tankers had put out the blaze in the home her family has owned for nine years.
''Only two years to go ... ,'' Mrs Robinson said, explaining that by then it would have been mortgage-free.
But she still had her sense of humour - one of the first things she retrieved from the house was a sign saying: ''Bugger!'', which she held up with a smile.
The house is north of Hampden just before Kakaho Creek; the contents were insured.
It suffered extensive fire damage in the main bedroom at the back and hallway and major smoke damage throughout.
Mrs Robinson, husband Glenn and two children Jacob (7) and Mya (4) were not at home when the fire broke out in a bedroom.
Mr Robinson, a commercial fisherman, was out at sea but returned as soon as he heard the news.
They had somewhere to stay until decisions were made with the insurance company, but had very little in the way of clothes because of the smoke smell and damage.
Mrs Robinson suspects the fire started in a dehumidifier she left running in the bedroom, but Palmerston chief fire officer Gary Johnston said a fire safety inspector would be called in to ascertain the cause.
When she arrived, just ahead of the firefighters, she found a passer-by, who had reported the fire, spraying a garden hose through the bedroom window, but because of low pressure with a tank-fed supply, it was having little impact.
Mr Johnston said the fact no-one was home meant by the time firefighters arrived, the fire was well involved and had spread to the roof.
While the remains of the fire were being dampened down, friends, firefighters and others helped remove furniture and other belongings to a separate garage, which was not affected by the fire.
