[irishliz]

Well we have been in Wellington for one year now and thought it would be good to do a quick update.

We have really enjoyed our first year in NZ, and are making sure we are making the effort to make friends and see some of this beautiful country. The children love school, nursery is very good as well. And work is as expected - although both of us find that confrontation when things aren't going right is totally avoided and sometimes it is difficult to get discussion on what needs to be done. And we have lots of morning teas!!!!

Overall our experiences have been fantastic and we would do it all again.

We said after the first year we would make a decision on whether to stay or not long-term. And for us we have made the decision to return to the UK by Spring 2010. There are two reasons for this - the first is crippling homesickness from me particularly for my friends in Liverpool and my family in Ireland who I have always been close to. And the death of the children's grandfather really brought this issue out. And the other reason is that finances dictate that although we feel we could actually manage to live here quite well, once we stayed beyond the two years we would not be in a position financially to make any further future choices. And I know the crowds will drive me mad but I cannot bring myself to give up the financial security we had in the UK, especially in the current climate.

Short and sweet and I hope honest!

[peebles16]

Thanks for the update Liz and also for being so honest, I can certainly relate to the homsickness :yes

Hope you do enjoy your time in NZ for however long it may be and just think of all the bragging you can do when you do get back to the UK :D

Karenx

[shakyle2906]

Lovely post Liz - hadnt realised you had been here that long!

Sharon
x

[Carey]

How brilliant that you tried it; congrats on having the courage to try NZ and to make the decision that is right for you. Enjoy the rest of your time here.

[NikT]

How brilliant that you tried it; congrats on having the courage to try NZ and to make the decision that is right for you. Enjoy the rest of your time here.

I'll second that!:nice1

Nick.:cheers

[Scotty69]

Lovely honest post, hope you enjoy the rest of your time there :nice1

Natasha

[virgoIT]

Enjoy your great time dear.

pray 4 us.

[thewoodies]

great to hear an honest post even though we are just about to leave for NZ!! You talk about financial security in the UK - are you aware we are just going into recession? Banks going bankrupt, houses not selling , jobs starting to be lost etc etc.... teenagers stabbing eac other etc etc ....are you sure your homesickenss isnt making you remember UK in a rosey glow.

Just an honest observation but then its easy for me to say i dont feel homesick YET!

[irishliz]

Of course we know the problems in the UK - we would have to be pretty stupid not to - but without going into details we are much better off and more financially secure in the UK due to the type of work we do. Here we do not have any protection at all if we are surplus to requirements.

And yes we are concerned about the rose-tinted glasses - the crowds, hoodies, etc but it is the positives for us - families, friends, etc. that are the main drivers.

But we do love it here and might even come back - who knows. Glad we have options though.

And for those of you about to come here or planning the journey - absolutely we would do it all agian and I can't stress that enough. We still have alot of time here and really looking forward to that as well.