peebles16
27th January 2009, 05:42 PM
Flipping heck how time flies – we arrived on 17th January 2008
I do still remember our first meet-up with ENZ folks and looking like a rabbit between the headlights it all felt a bit surreal;)
How things change in a year though eh? We’ve done so much and I suppose the big thing for me (and tis me that posts so don’t mean to sound self-centred) but I got a job and that has made such a difference. It’s a great job too, working school hours in the local community and the staff are not too bad... We’ve got not a bad social circle going too and, whilst a lot of our friends as Brits, we have a few kiwi pals too although still haven’t found my Friday night wine buddies just yet….
OH and the kids have settled really well and have loved it from the minute go! Yes, we have our issues with behaviour and boundaries etc but with 2 boys that’s just the norm…..They seem to be really doing well academically and in sports are finding out what they like or not as the case maybe!
We’ve spent a lot of time travelling in NZ and intend to continue to do so – been up to the North Island a couple of times as we have friends in Wanganui and had the luxury of meeting up with Mels and Scotty69 too. We’ve also been to the West coast a few times, Dunedin, the Southern Lakes and have lots more trips planned. Especially when me Mum and Step-dad come over in March :clap We’re not ourdoorsy folks generally but have enjoy our forest tramps and body boarding at the beach with the best of them….
We’ve had a pretty bumpy ride with family illness in rapid success since we arrived :( Obviously that’s had a bearing on how I have coped but Dad is doing really well now… I still get the odd pang of people-sickness but that is less regular now and it is about missing folk and not the UK or ‘home’ as such. I do feel that I am being a bit more distance with friends back in the UK and I suppose that is natural but can sometimes be a bit hard when they don't stay in touch. When we first arrived everyone was so interested to hear about our life in NZ but now it's not so new and exciting emails and phone calls have quieten down a bit... That's partly down to me too cos the reality is we are doing normal things like school, work etc and sometimes it's just too hard to find the time....
Our only gripe I suppose is finance cos we didn’t have the lovely equity/nest egg we had planned to bring due to house sale issues, so trying to save now for a house deposit! It’s a challenge cos we are pants with money but a necessary evil!
This forum and the folks on it have been brilliant. Whilst our immigration stuff was pretty straightforward we’ve met some great folks through this forum and have gotten some great advice from shopping to bed-wetting. We also got OH’s dream car from Nippa&Pippa and a fabulous baby blanket gift from the very talented Pinkpiggy :yes
So, enough rambling, I think it’s true to say that we are happy here in NZ and feels more like home every day
Karenx
I do still remember our first meet-up with ENZ folks and looking like a rabbit between the headlights it all felt a bit surreal;)
How things change in a year though eh? We’ve done so much and I suppose the big thing for me (and tis me that posts so don’t mean to sound self-centred) but I got a job and that has made such a difference. It’s a great job too, working school hours in the local community and the staff are not too bad... We’ve got not a bad social circle going too and, whilst a lot of our friends as Brits, we have a few kiwi pals too although still haven’t found my Friday night wine buddies just yet….
OH and the kids have settled really well and have loved it from the minute go! Yes, we have our issues with behaviour and boundaries etc but with 2 boys that’s just the norm…..They seem to be really doing well academically and in sports are finding out what they like or not as the case maybe!
We’ve spent a lot of time travelling in NZ and intend to continue to do so – been up to the North Island a couple of times as we have friends in Wanganui and had the luxury of meeting up with Mels and Scotty69 too. We’ve also been to the West coast a few times, Dunedin, the Southern Lakes and have lots more trips planned. Especially when me Mum and Step-dad come over in March :clap We’re not ourdoorsy folks generally but have enjoy our forest tramps and body boarding at the beach with the best of them….
We’ve had a pretty bumpy ride with family illness in rapid success since we arrived :( Obviously that’s had a bearing on how I have coped but Dad is doing really well now… I still get the odd pang of people-sickness but that is less regular now and it is about missing folk and not the UK or ‘home’ as such. I do feel that I am being a bit more distance with friends back in the UK and I suppose that is natural but can sometimes be a bit hard when they don't stay in touch. When we first arrived everyone was so interested to hear about our life in NZ but now it's not so new and exciting emails and phone calls have quieten down a bit... That's partly down to me too cos the reality is we are doing normal things like school, work etc and sometimes it's just too hard to find the time....
Our only gripe I suppose is finance cos we didn’t have the lovely equity/nest egg we had planned to bring due to house sale issues, so trying to save now for a house deposit! It’s a challenge cos we are pants with money but a necessary evil!
This forum and the folks on it have been brilliant. Whilst our immigration stuff was pretty straightforward we’ve met some great folks through this forum and have gotten some great advice from shopping to bed-wetting. We also got OH’s dream car from Nippa&Pippa and a fabulous baby blanket gift from the very talented Pinkpiggy :yes
So, enough rambling, I think it’s true to say that we are happy here in NZ and feels more like home every day
Karenx