[thepiesleys]

We said we would give ourselves a year in NZ and that year will be up in November and we will be on a plane back to good old blighty. We promised each other that if we loverd it we would sell up in the uk and stay, if we did not we would go home to our jobs and our house in the uk,( so glad we have the option)

We have had a wonderful year with absolutly no regrets about our time here but here in New Zealand we have nothing different to what we had at home except that we have our wonderful family and friends back home to share it all with. There is just too much of us all missing here and when all is taken into account not enough positives to make the sacrifice worthwhile.

So a quick phone call to sue's parents to ask if we can stay over christmas to which they responded "ooo we can make up for last christmas, we always felt last christmas was cancelled cos the children weren't here and we were dreading this one" and tickets open for either an Oct?/Nov return and we're away for our next adventure. As they say here "All good"

The Piesley's

[StevieD]

Good luck guys! Sounds like you have had a wonderful time anyway....

[gil]

Sue and Danny and boys,

Glad you're doing the right thing for you and really sorry to see you go, we'll miss you :yes.
Best get some of these in before you go then :cheers:cheers:cheers

Sewells
xxx

[wiki]

Congrats on the decision and all the very best :nice1

[pinkpiggy]

So a quick phone call to sue's parents to ask if we can stay over christmas to which they responded "ooo we can make up for last christmas, we always felt last christmas was cancelled cos the children weren't here and we were dreading this one" and tickets open for either an Oct?/Nov return and we're away for our next adventure. As they say here "All good"

Can't quite make out whether this means you are returning to the UK for a holiday or for good. Have I misunderstood? :confused:

If you are returning to the UK for good what are your reasons? It may help those still making the decision and going through the immigration process.

I wish you all the very best for a long and happy future full of adventures. :cheers

[zardell]

Wishing you all the very best for a happy future back in good old Blighty.

You've got me humming that 'Home for Christmas' song now ....:laugh :laugh

Don't loose touch,

Julie

xx

[thepiesleys]

Thank you all for your best wishes.

Pink piggy, yes we mean for good, we will stay at my parents for a short while because our property is rented out to some really nice people and we have no desire to give them notice untill after the christmas period.

Our reasons are many and varied - To sum up I will refer to our original post.

but here in New Zealand we have nothing different to what we had at home except that we have our wonderful family and friends back home to share it all with. There is just too much of us all missing here and when all is taken into account not enough positives to make the sacrifice worthwhile.


Thank you

[The Hodges]

Good Luck with moving back. Keep us up dated

[leachio]

Good luck guys, dare i say Im a wee bit jealous!! I totally understand the missin family and friends thing.

All the best and please dont be strangers!

[auskiwi]

Good luck with your journey home. We are also heading back "home" (to the U.S) after 10 months in NZ. It feels good to have at least given it a shot doesn't it - at least we will never say, "I wonder if..."

Like you, we are so looking forward to being back with loved ones and friends whom we have missed terribly. Moving away gives you a whole new appreciation for 'people' doesn't it?

Amy.

[thepiesleys]

Auskiwi

Yeah, we were talking about that the other day. We came and tried it, enjoyed lots of it, answered lots of questions about ourselves and our family unit and feel satisfied we tried and happy to go home.

Leachio

Thanks for your wishes, i have read some of your posts about how you feel being in NZ and share some same circumstances, all of my children were ill one after the other very quickly here then i had to spend a small fortune at the dentist for myself, and work a 50 hr week so our my OH and children spent a lot of time without me which we all hated - but having said all that i know we could have built a new happy life here, things have settled nicely and we are all more at ease about everything 8 months in- but i just can not bare the thought of my children growing up not knowing the closeness of an extended family - nanny's g.dads, aunts, uncles, etc - we were all close at home and although i thought it would be o.k it just is not, ( all the children's birthdays and xmas for us were really flat because everyone would have called in etc.) i read elsewhere on the forum someone said "when you know, you know" and to be honest i felt that way really quickly. We, as a family never said it was forever, we would just see how it went, and stay if we wanted to ...

i do admire those who have arrived with the intention of never going back and are determined to make a life for themselves and families here, no matter what, that i suppose would make you try harder when the going gets tough, i could never have sold everything and cut ties completely, i just didn't have that conviction that that was the right thing to do. So i think what i am trying to say is that if you really want it to work here than it will, focussing on all the positives - there are lots - but to put it bluntly we just don't like it enough here to want to stay forever without our family and friends around. We have made a number of good friends here and we now feel a bit s... leaving them behind!! perhaps were are just too bloody sentimental for our own good! ( me anyway)
I am sure your family here will do just fine and maybe you can holiday back home when homesickness is too bad just to see? we could not afford to fly 5 of us back for a holiday for a long time, maybe we would have, had we the opportunity before we made up our minds? - but only maybe!

sorry for the ramble but i really feel for the people on here who are not finding it easy to settle, it can be all consuming, we talked about little else for ages. i have felt more like my old self now we have made the decision, a weight has been lifted and i can relax and enjoy the rest of our stay here

Sue

[Lupin]

Good luck for the future :cheers I really do think leaving the door 'home' open is a good thing. Moving here isn't a test to see how long you can stay here, it's about life experience. I think it's foolish to be here for only a few weeks and scuttle back because even if you realise it isn't for you and yours long term, having come all this way and put yourselves through so much it's worth getting some of the benefits of living here. So, honestly, I think you've done well as a family to have known it wasn't for you early on and yet still be going back to the UK having had an experience of living here and enjoyed it :clap

All the very best for your last few months here and planning a family Christmas at home :raebanana

[marcia]

Good luck - at least you'll never be sitting in rocking chair and saying to the grandchildren, 'we could have gone to live in NZ, I wonder what if.............'

All the best to you and yours for a safe journey back to the uk!

[Kim39]

Just to echo all folks words on here and i will wish you all the best for your return. Overall life is one big gamble wherever you are on this crazy planet and you have tried it and decided its just not for you for various reasons, and those reasons should be respected by all. I have thought many times in the last 21 months to return, but for different reasons to yourselves. At least you can say you did it and not sit there in a few years time thinking what if. Circumstances change on a daily basis, and who know's after having a taste you just might realise the need to do it again, but my friends, once again good luck:yes


Kim

[Pip]

Hi Dan/Sue,

Just wanted to say best of luck for the future! We've watched your posts for a while as you came out a couple of months before us. I'm a true believer in "you never know until you try it", and you came, you tried it, made it work, but realised that other things were more important to you. At least you can now go back 'knowing', as opposed to staying in the uk and wondering "what if".

Enjoy the remainder of your time in NZ, and good on you for having the courage to follow your convictions.

We're still undecided, but planning to stay for at least 2 yrs - but, whatever else, - moving to the otherside of the world certainly helps you figure out whats really important in life and what isn't it....!

Have a safe trip back...

[auskiwi]

Sue: It's amazing the sense of peace you feel once a decision has been made. Knowing we are heading back has made me truly able to appreciate being here for this last month! There's no denying NZ is a spectacularly beautiful place....

Amy.

[thepiesleys]

Booked the flights today - leave Auckland on the 29th September at 21.45 and arrive Heathrow 30th September 11.00am. Work at 9.30am 1st October. :wah

[jubjub]

TCrumbs, thats a bit sooner than you really wanted, are you still going to get your Cook Island trip fitted in?

[auskiwi]

We booked and paid for our tickets a couple of days ago too-leaving Auckland for Oregon on Aug 5. This is the first time we haven't had to pack ourselves, so it doesn't feel real yet as our house is still in tact! The removalists are coming on July 26 and 27. If we were self packing, our house would be a disaster area of boxes etc by now! (We discovered it was about the same price for door to door removalists service as door to port +transport+port fees etc!!).

[gil]

Booked the flights today - leave Auckland on the 29th September at 21.45 and arrive Heathrow 30th September 11.00am. Work at 9.30am 1st October. :wah

:wah:wah Right The Piesleys, PM/email us and get yourselves over here for a big celebration dinner, celebrating that we know/met each other and to your new life in Blighty,

Gil
xx
PS I do not DARE tell William Max is going back to UK :no

[ElizabethD]

I have enjoyed your posts. Congratulations on making a decision and not looking back.

We are leaving a bit earlier than expected (that whole job loss thing I wrote about). We leave next week and everyone else is really excited about it. It was a rough week with the freezing cold, the lack of insulation, the discovery of a MOUSE in the kitchen all topped off by a huge electricity bill. I just feel like we are running out of here now. I don't want to forget the beauty of a sunny day with the warm sun on my back and the smell of the clean air after an especially windy day. I am sad...but the excitement from the family and friends at home to hear of our return is a reminder to us what is really important. We gave it our best shot and there are simply not enough good things to keep us here.

[thepiesleys]

TCrumbs, thats a bit sooner than you really wanted, are you still going to get your Cook Island trip fitted in?

Sal - yeah we will fit the trip in, we get back from the Cooks on the 27th. Were also squeezing Sydney in before we go...:D

Right The Piesleys, PM/email us and get yourselves over here for a big celebration dinner, celebrating that we know/met each other and to your new life in Blighty,

Gil
xx
PS I do not DARE tell William Max is going back to UK


Gil - thanks we will be in touch...Sorry about Will.

[thepiesleys]

hi Gill

i have only just read your post,( and Danny tells me niche) of course we will be having a drink (or 3) before we go, and i too have had Max get quite upset when he said oh how about Will? - they must swap emails, i can always send him over for the hols!!
- oh and you would have to take joseph too!!

thank you all for your best wishes, the process of returning is speeding up at quite a rate, i handed my notice in today and have secured work in the UK!
no rest for the wicked they say - dont know what i have done to deserve the non-rest, must be all that mispent youth stuff!!

anybody know a cheap way of sennding a few crates back? mainly much loved toys and books i can't live without.

Sue

Sue

[Marie P]

Hey Piesleys family.

Just wishing good luck for your journey back .:nice1

Hope we can meet up again ,if not it was nice meeting you all .

The Parker family.