Part 27: Day two in a locked down house (you should read this title in the Big Brother voice)

So we're on day two of lock-down, and we have a minimum of four weeks of it.

It's taken some structure and scheduling to get us working remotely - and simultaneously parenting sufficiently.

For those who read this and don't know us:

• I work at a University and I am working remotely; some of my work involves participating in online calls, committees and meetings, I also have a team of people who I work with, some of my work is self-paced; creating, connecting and planning.
• My partner works at a pipe and climate control company and he is also working remotely; he is usually out on the road.
• We have a four year old daughter who usually attends daycare, she is (obviously) home too.

That presents some pretty challenging dynamics.

In preparation, I wrote a schedule prior to day one. Then we trialed it. Then at the end of day one I rewrote it. It's now the end of day two and I will rewrite it again this evening. The timing of some activities need to be matched with energy levels (of our daughter and of us) and that's taking some manipulation to fathom out. I take my hat off to childcare workers, you are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

Our daily schedule version 2

Our schedule needs to be flexible (due to the demands of work for both of us), so it is designed to capture specific activities that our daughter can do independently, and activities that we parents can divide between us - to give each other time to focus on work - as well as a daily walk / bike ride, which we do as a family (while maintaining physical distancing).
Note: I am taking on the daily PE lesson, I could barely walk when I woke up this morning.

Balancing parenting and remote working is hard. We are, and have always been, very mindful of screen time. However, we have also had to relax the rules a bit so that we can dedicate time to focus on our work. That brings a fair dose of guilt with it (doesn't anything related to parenting?!). However, we are focusing on what matters, we are realistic about what we can achieve, and we are thankful that we have employers who understand.

An obstacle course in the garden

We also have perspective. We are not unique in this situation, there are plenty of families out there who are all locked down together, some have several children of varying ages at home, some are separated (which adds another layer of complexity), others have children with serious conditions and special needs, some are caring for elderly relatives, and there will be many many more in situations way more challenging than ours.

This unique, historic event that we find ourselves part of requires us to be kind, caring, patient, open communicators and trusting of others. Something that we can all find within us if we dig deep enough.

Kia kaha💗

Part 25 - leaving your heart at the airport

It’s January, 2019. We have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. My mum came to visit us for the first time in New Zealand since we emigrated in 2011 - it was amazing showing her the country we call ‘home’. We visited a living Maori village, we kayaked at night to see the glow worms in a canyon, we went to the beach, we saw waterfalls (lots of them!), we went shopping (lots of that too) and we spent time and energy on each other. It was so fulfilling to see my 2 year old daughter building her relationship with her nanny. Most of all, it was lovely to just be ... together. To have mum around as part of every day life.

Then comes the inevitable time of having to drop mum back off at Auckland Airport for the long trip back to Wales. This is that pit in your stomach that just won’t go away. This is the dread that you feel when you’re on the way to the airport to pick them up in the first place; knowing that next time you’re here you’ll be dropping them off. This is that ball of fire in your throat which hurts and feels like it will never go away. These are the tears which fall inevitably and consistently and effortlessly because it hurts so deep inside. This is leaving a piece of your heart at Auckland Airport, every time you come back to drop off the most precious pieces of cargo you will ever be connected to. Every. Single. Time.

And yet this is the life we chose. We chose to live 12,000 miles away from the people who complete us. We chose New Zealand. Others are not so fortunate and are separated for a myriad of reasons beyond their control. We chose it. It doesn’t make it hurt any less. And so we look forward to the ‘next times’.

Part 24 - Sometimes I wobble

So much has happened since I last wrote here in 2014:  we've moved house - I've lost count of how many times (pretty common out here when you're renting); we've been back to the UK for a holiday - and my big brother & Lucy's beautiful wedding;  I've had the absolute pleasure of one of my younger brothers living in the same country as me for the past 2.5 years (he was on a work holiday visa); we've continued to work and catch up with friends and generally live life. We've also had our first baby - a little girl who is now 16 months old and the absolute light of our lives. Her smiles and laughter fill our days - and our phone memory. She is also the reason for this post - sometimes I wobble.

Up until she was born I was so confident in my decision to live 12,000 miles away from the people I love the most. Up until she was born I was 100% committed to my new life in New Zealand. Up until she was born I could never see myself going to live back in Wales. I was - and still am - a big believer in the quote 'not all those who wander are lost' ... I actually have this quote framed in my house.

And then she arrived - a beautiful, healthy 8lb bundle of joy, light and love. She rocked our world.

So now, sometimes, I wobble. I think about everyone who we're denying her access to - and everyone who loves her so much from so far away, and I wobble. I question 'what if ...?' and 'how can we ...?' and ultimately 'is it still right for us?'

Then we talk about why we emigrated, what we were seeking when we chose NZ, what it means to us - and now to her as well, I look at the support we have around us - people who have our absolute best intentions at heart and are essentially our extended NZ family, and I am comforted. The life she will live here in NZ will be amazing and she is no less loved for living 12,000 miles away.

I'm under no illusion - one day she'll temporarily leave us to do her Overseas Experience (OE) and she'll be thankful to have such a warm, loving family to welcome her on the other side of the world, and UK citizenship of course.

Sometimes I wobble, and that's ok with me.

Part 22 - 20 things you have to love about New Zealand

When you are emigrating to a new country it's really important to do a fair bit of research about the country you're moving to...not only so that you know what you're letting yourself in for but also to limit the 'settling in' period - it's not such a shock to the system.

I was a bit addicted to the different expats forums prior to moving (namely http://britishexpats.com/forum/ and http://www.enz.org/forum/ and http://www.expatforum.com/expats/new-zealand-expat-forum-expats-living-new-zealand) and they provided a plethora of information which was really useful both during the information gathering and visa application stages as well as during the transition geographically and later on when settling in.

What I am hoping to achieve with this post is to give you some insight into living in New Zealand (specifically Invercargill & Auckland) and some of the things that stood out for me...based on my previous 29 years living in Wales, UK.

There's nothing worse than people constantly complaining about what they miss about not living in their home country anymore (although we're all slightly guilty of it) so please don't think I am doing that...it's just my insight into the things I have come to know and love about my new home country and more specifically, the Kiwi's who I have met.

So here they are: 20 things you have to love about New Zealanders:

1. No one crosses the road without the little green man telling them that it's ok to cross. This is understandable to some degree in a busy city like Auckland, but I witnessed the very same thing in Invercargill and it's the same in Auckland on tiny roads which are clearly visible. You even get a countdown after the green man, saying how long you have left to cross. Everyone pushes the button to cross and waits to be told before they do. Even the dogs here know the sound of the beep and know they can cross the road. If you feel like risking life and limb by crossing without the green man then everyone watches you...I'm sure they are admiring the courage and rooting for the individual to make it across but you feel like an outsider doing it. I now wait for the green man every time...I feel like the kiwis know something I don't.
2. The language is quite old fashioned. I have never before used the words 'stockings' to indicate 'tights', 'slips' and 'singlets' to indicate undergarments, 'pants' for trousers, 'lollies' for sweets, I have never owned a 'pantry' (I've always just had kitchen cupboards) - and yet these are now in my everyday vocabulary. In fact I didn't even own a slip until very recently and yet it's a staple piece of clothing here to wear under your dresses.
3. We use truly seasonal fruit and veg. In the UK we were used to getting any fruit and veg required at any time of the year for the same price month in, month out. Yet here we have seasonal veg, seasonal prices. You can still buy a telegraph cucumber in winter but you'll pay almost $5 for it. It has made me so much more interested in using different veggies that I hadn't even considered before.
4. People talk about it being 'freezing' in winter. When we lived in Invercargill we had a flurry of snow and hail and it was pretty cold (we emigrated from a severe UK winter to a pretty cold Invers winter). Since living in Auckland I have gone soft...as have most of the people around me. So far I think the lowest temperature we have had this winter has been 9 degrees (we may have had one day last month where it was 5 degrees in the morning) but it's usually about 16 / 17 degrees by the afternoon - yet I am guilty of saying how 'freezing cold' it is! The other evening I had to pop out in the car at about 7pm on a Saturday night and I was really feeling the cold; checked the outside temperature gauge on the car and it was actually 16 degrees. That was the same night I got my flannelette (there's another old fashioned word for you) winter pjs out of the closet ready for winter.
5. They say 'no' to Starbucks. This is a bit of a generalisation but I don't know anyone here who would choose to go to Starbucks over one of the local coffee shops (of which there are plenty!) The coffee here is damn good and it's no thanks to Starbucks.
6. We officially use UK English here in NZ to spell words (like colour, flavour, etc) and yet the pronunciation of many words is in US English (eg garaaage as opposed to garage, darta as opposed to data, etc)
7. The bars get away with charging insane prices for alcoholic drinks and no one complains. In fact, there is a British bar in Auckland CBD called The Spitting Feathers and they have extremely cheap drinks and great meal deals (Wednesday night = steak night, a sirloin steak and real chips with 2 pints or 2 glasses of wine or 3 bottles of beer for $20) and they were banned by Auckland Council for advertising their drink prices on FaceBook because 'they're not competitive' - basically other local bars had complained because they couldn't compete on price. They just ended up being very creative with their advertising and putting up a picture of Heineken bottles with an image of 3 male deer next to it...3 bucks for Heineken. They are back advertising freely again now so I assume it was overturned.
8. Auckland is a truly multicultural city...yet the amount of tabloid style racism or multicultural angst I have come across is nil. I'm not saying it doesn't exist, I'm saying I've never heard it. The UK could learn a lot about living happily alongside other nations from New Zealanders.
9. No one is in a hurry. This is completely awesome...unless you are in a hurry. This is probably best illustrated when you're waiting behind someone at a red traffic light...the light turns green and for a few seconds nothing happens - they don't have their foot on the accelerator waiting for it to turn green so that they can speed off...people just take their time.
10. The men are very gentleman-like. In the office I work in we need to get into lifts to get to the relevant floor that we work on and I noticed recently that the men usually hold back and wait for the women to get into and out of the lifts before they do. I was heading to work the other morning and I walked through the mall underneath our building...as I was about to get onto the escalator there were 2 school boys heading towards it as well from another direction - I didn't even notice them until one made a point of waiting until I had got onto the escalator before he did. His friend had already hopped on - so it's not the same with everyone but it struck me that it was quite beyond his years to have done that. They were only about 15. I'm not one of those people who think that women should necessarily go first and I find it quite awkward to go in front of someone who was waiting before me (male or female)...that's the queuing Brit inside me...but it's quite endearing. This isn't to say that people aren't gentleman-like in the UK...it's just something I've noticed here.
11. New Zealanders pronounce 'e' as 'i'. This is purely an accent thing (and I am not one to talk on this subject!) but it has resulted in some comical misunderstandings...when simple terms like 'check in' become 'chicken', 'bed' becomes 'bid' and 'pen' becomes 'pin'. I won't even mention the confusing about going out on the deck in the summer...
12. We have loyalty cards for everything. In the UK we had loyalty cards for supermarkets, like Sainsbury's and Tesco where you earn points which eventually convert into a 'reward' voucher to spend in store. Well...this is on a whole new level - I have a loyalty card for Countdown (supermarket) and I use my FlyBuys card at New World (supermarket) and Z (petrol stations) but I have also been coerced into having loyalty cards for my favourite coffee shops (every 6th coffee is free), the Asian vegetarian shop (spend over $20 and you get a stamp...when you have 10 stamps you get $10 off a shop), fast food outlets like California Burrito (buy 5 burritos get your 6th free) and Pita Pit (like Subway but with filled pita breads...divine). People have huge wallets here and I think it's due to the amount of 'loyalty' cards they have...
13. There are 2 songs that you need to know to fit in at a sing song here, and the lyrics are questionable. You can learn them here (Dragon - Rain) and here (The Exponents - Why Does Love Do This To Me). We first heard these songs in a social club in Riverton and the whole crowd went insane singing at the tops of their lungs. So we made a point to find out what they were and learn them. Now I can be like a real Kiwi at a sing song.
14. What I previously understood to be a newsagents, is called a dairy here. Cute!
15. We have chips...and we have hot chips, and neither of these are what we know as real chips. So chips here are what I know as crisps and hot chips are kind of like chips you get in a chippy in the UK - except more often than not they are frozen. This is not a sneaky hidden thing...many of the chippies are proud that they use 'McCain' frozen chips and advertise it. Hence why we were so excited when we found real chips at The Spitting Feathers (still haven't found any curry sauce though)
16. Loads of the restaurants have BYOW (Bring Your Own Wine) and they charge a minimal corkage fee for you to drink it on the premises.
17. Everyone is willing to help. Maybe I have just been very lucky in the friends I made both in Southland and in Auckland, but it has struck me that everyone has time for everyone else. Nothing is too much trouble.
18. The 2nd of January is a public holiday...it's called 'Day after New Year's Day'. Need I say more?
19. They don't beat around the bush and have quite relaxed radio / TV regulations which allow for this. The first time I heard swearing on the radio here was in the morning - on the way to work, I was very surprised - but glad that they didn't feel the need to put crazy rules on everything. Let the people decide what they want to listen to. I was watching the news the other week - and they were showing the queen at one of the BBC Live Lounge shows...and it all looked pretty awkward...the NZ commentator said "the queen enjoyed this not at all awkward concert at the BBC' - say it like it is.
20. We celebrate mid-winter Christmas. In fact we had a mid winter Christmas with friends last night - it's winter so it feels festive and we got together for a nice roast and a few glasses of bubbles. We pulled crackers, listened to Christmas songs and watched Elf. It's July. I questioned the whole mid-winter Christmas thing when we lived down south and was told that 'it feels Christmassy in winter so we have another celebration then' which baffled me even more...it's Christmas at summertime here so how has it come to 'feel Christmassy' when it's cold? I guess it's because the population is largely NZ Europeans so their roots are in the northern hemisphere. Anyway, I'm not complaining, I heart Christmas so I am more than happy to have 2.

I am not saying that New Zealand is without it's issues but this should provide you with a snippet of the things that I absolutely adore about my new home. I hope one day you'll come and visit and experience all of these things for yourself.

Part 21 – Easter: time to relax and recuperate

Well hello my lovelies! I know it has been far far too long … I blame my Kindle (more on that later).

 

I'm going to start way back at Halloween and give you a little taster of what that's like for us here in New Zealand. I absolutely love Halloween and in the UK would spend a wee while in the lead up to it preparing my pumpkins and stocking up on sweets for the kiddies – this all stems from when I lived with my mum, who used to go all out decorating the porch with fake spider webs and a spooky pumpkin lantern on a stool greeting the kids (and occasionally adults dressed up scarily too!)

 

It's somewhat different here – the Kiwis haven't hugely adopted the trick or treat lifestyle and in 2011 we didn't have many trick or treaters at all – maybe 2 (I can't really remember). But 2012 shocked me – we had around 18 callers! Luckily I had stocked up on enough sweets ('lollies' as they're called here) to cater for everyone and the costumes were fab.

 

Because it's coming into summer for us when Halloween happens the nights are very light so pumpkins don't have the same effect...they're also out of season so quite expensive to waste! Needless to say my pumpkins have stopped...but I do eat them all the time now so that more than makes up for it!as I would never have dreamt to eat pumpkin in the UK!

 

Change isn't necessarily a bad thing though – I also don't have any fear of being egged over Halloween here...I remember in the UK you would be less likely to pop to Asda on Halloween night for fear of the gangs of kids deciding you were an easy target but I have gladly seen no evidence of that malice here.

 

 

My pumpkins in the UK - 2010

Witch pumpkin - 2009 

Wolf pumpkin - 2009

Halloween was followed by bonfire night – you can only legally buy fireworks in New Zealand for 3 days of the year (prior to bonfire night) and during those 3 days a number of little stalls pop up on the sides of the road and in shopping centres where you can purchase to your heart's content.

 

As we live on the North Shore and have pretty awesome views over the city we decided to just drive up the road and watch from afar, it was lovely. They don't seem to do bonfires here though – just the fireworks (not that I have seen anyway).

 

Not long after bonfire night the OH (Other Half) and I had a free weekend and made a last minute decision to go to the theatre. One of my favourite films is Little Shop of Horrors (the Rick Moranis spoof version...not the black comedy) and it Auckland Theatre Company were performing it...and there were 2 seats left for that very night...perfect! When we got there were assumed it must have been a cancellation as our seats were on the very front row at the side of the stage...our feet were literally on the stage! It was an awesome show and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. We came out of the theatre into the bar area and there were canapes being served and drinks lined up along the bar...turns out it was the opening night and we were free to help ourselves! That was a turn up for the books! The cast were around enjoying a drink with family & friends and the director got up to make a speech...it was all very fun and a very random evening! You can read a review of it here.

 

November was busy in work as I had 80 or so summer interns starting and I look after their initial induction day – but they're a great, fun group to work with!

 

In November we also had a total eclipse of the sun in new Zealand for the first time in 25 years – we were all watching it out of the window in work but it was super bright! The day was quite overcast but I managed to get a better picture through the cloud is it gave some respite from the glare.

 

Auckland, New Zealand - total eclipse of the sun November 2012

 

Auckland, New Zealand - total eclipse of the sun November 2012

 

November usually signals the start of the cruise liners too – and we have many of those throughout the summer season. I have a pretty good view of the docked cruise liners from my kitchen in work.

View from the kitchen in work - often accommodating cruise liners

 

December starts with the unofficial beginning of summer – Crates with Mates day. The idea is that you get together with your mates and all bring a crate of beer to celebrate the start of hopefully an amazing summer! Quite a nice start to a season I think (although I'd prefer a nice NZ sauv...)

 

In December we headed down to Whangamata for the weekend as we had been invited to a friend's 60^th birthday celebrations. The theme? Americana! So I decided to dress up as Sandy from Grease and the OH went as Barack Obama (what a couple eh?!) Christine (whose birthday it was) and her husband John had arranged to book up all of the baches around theirs and a load of us headed down for a weekend of celebrating.

 

We got there on the Friday and settled in with a few drinks then on the Saturday the OH and I headed to the beach for breakfast and coffee before we all reconvened at Christine & John's for the activity they had planned for all of us. Basically it was a treasure hunt around the local town – we got into groups of 4-6...one person needed a camera and one needed to drive – the others were to complete the tasks laid out. We were given our packs and sent on our way! The pack contained an American flag hat, a list of things we needed to collect (think pine cone, staple, flexy straw), a map of the local area and a list of the activities and photographs needed to complete the task...things like leap frogging over a stranger, pictures with strangers on a roundabout, etc etc. It was all great fun!

 

The activity ended with us all having to go to a local pharmacy which had already been given the heads up that we were going to be arriving and printing out our photographs and returning to John & Christine's bach to be judged.

 

The group are quite a competitive lot and this was apparent when the judging was announced! We all had to agree that the creativity of the winners was unparalleled and we celebrated with a few drinks (and a nap in my case!)

 

Saturday night was party time and we all got dressed up and had food and drinks into the early hours. All in all it was an awesome weekend. HUGE thanks to John & Christine for the invite and for such a fabulous time.

 

Whangamata beach

Christmas crept up and before we knew it we were wrapping up in work and preparing for the festive season (my office closes down for 3 weeks over Christmas). I had pretty bad toothache coming up to Christmas and ended up having a root canal a few days before Christmas day which made it all better! Aside from that Christmas was awesome.

 

It usually takes a wee while to wind down after work and ease into the Christmas holidays but this year we started our holiday by driving up to Paihia in the Bay of Islands after the last day of work and spent 2 glorious nights in a hotel up there. The result? Instant relaxation! I hadn't been there since we went for Valentine's day when we were here on holiday in 2010 so it is filled with happy memories for me and this trip was no different.

 

Lazing by the pool in Paihia

 

We had been invited to celebrate Christmas day with the kiwi family (like last year) but hadn't had a Christmas just the 2 of us since 2008 so decided to do just that. We awoke on Christmas day, had eggs benedict for brunch then headed for a walk along Takapuna beach while dinner was cooking. The day was quite overcast so it was perfect for a roast! Well, it was still very warm but no blazing sunshine so a roast seemed do-able!

 

My main gift from the OH was a Kindle. I absolutely love reading and have never really looked into getting one for myself – I love cracking the spine of a book, it's all part of the enjoyment. However, now that I have a Kindle I absolutely love it. Books are quite expensive here in NZ (you don't get the great deals you get in Asda!) and the Kindle allows be to indulge in my passion for reading without costing me a small fortune! For fear of sounding like a Kindle advert – it's just so convenient to take on the bus to read on the way to and from work and I head out at lunchtime to lounge in the sunshine and catch up on my latest characters. I have just checked my archive and I have read 28 books since Christmas day (see, I am a real book worm!).

 

A festive Sky Tower

Festive Lily

 



Mmm ... Christmas dinner

 

For New Year we also decided to have a quiet one and invited Ange & John over for a nice relaxing evening of bubbles, beer and games! At midnight we took a walk up the road and watched the fireworks from the Sky Tower and across the city, then headed back home to teach Ange & John how to play Oh, Hell (cards) and finally called it a night at around 4am!

 

New Year's Day the OH and I brushed off the cobwebs with a couple of hours out cycling in Long Bay on the craziest mountain bike track I have ever been on...some of the hills were so steep I was far to scared to ride down them and had to get off my bike and run down! We did find a nudist beach though which I found rather amusing (childish, I know!)

 

At the top of a scary hill

 



The OH taking on a hill like a pro'

 

Beautiful views

Beautiful views

 

The OH was working in between the public holidays over Christmas but I finally was on leave until 14 January – it's pretty quiet all around Auckland until the kids go back to school in February (after their summer holidays) as everyone heads North for the summer.

 

During the Christmas break our landlady told us that she was selling her house (next door to us) and going travelling to the UK and Europe so we consequently decided to move house. We knew we were going to move in 2013 anyway and thought it would be good for her to have secure tenants in the unit while she was away so we just brought our plans forward. We just needed more space. I may have mentioned previously how crazy the housing market is here (both buying and renting) so apologies if I am repeating myself! When you are looking to rent a place here you really need to get stuck into it because the houses are snapped up within hours.

 

I started looking while on Christmas break and found a few places which were gone before I'd had chance to even look at them but managed to squeeze in a few viewings. We found a place just up the road from the unit we were living in and it had just been listed so I arranged to view it at 4pm that same day and by the next day we had sent in our application forms to live there (yep, you apply to rent and they choose who they think is the most suitable tenant) and by the following morning we had it secured. Within 3 weeks we were moved in to our new 4 bedroom house (well...3 beds and an office space really) with a spacious garden and decking area. Perfect!

 

Lily has settled in quickly and loves all the space she has to roam around, and she didn't go missing (bonus!)

 

Lily

January saw Auckland Anniversary weekend when we headed to the Auckland Seafood Festival with Ange & John and had a great time eating seafood, drinking bubbles and listening to music. It was a great day out and I managed to taste my first ever oyster at teh Bollinger & oyster stall! The Bollinger was lovely, the oyster...not so much! To be fair it wasn't as slimy as I thought it would be but it just tasted of the Tabasco and vinegar which I put on it so I didn't really see the point. I may try them again somewhere else 'cause the OH loves them so I'd like to see if they grow on me!

 

Auckland Seafood Festival 2013

Mmm ... scallops!

Great music

 

Then Waitangi Day followed closely in early February – we spent the day at the beach and then headed home to discover that we were under tsunami watch as there had been an earthquake off the Cook Islands. We didn't have a tsunami thankfully.

 

February was crazy in work as we had our 90 or so graduates starting with us and again I look after their initial induction day – again, they're a good bunch of new joiners to work and interact with and a good day was had by all.

 

We also headed to Devonport food & wine festival in February with some fellow Welshies Clare & Ben. Great food, great wine, great company and topped of with music makes a fun day out! We also randomly met a guy who has lived in New Zealand for 10 years but is originally from Blackwood (where we lived before we emigrated) so it was good to chat to him and his wife – and their friend Scottish John!

 

Devonport Food & Wine Festival 2013

 

Throughout summer we also managed to get tickets to see Stephen Merchant live on his Hello Ladies tour - he was absolutely hilarious. For those of you who can't quite place him he co-wrote The Office with Ricky Gervais as well as Extras (which he also starred in). If you get chance - see him, he is funny!

 

Waiting for Stephen Merchant - yes the room did full up!

 

We have been to the Silo Cinema at Silo Park in Auckland a few times over the summer - it's a great Friday evening out. Basically there are tall silos at Silo Park and each Friday they project a film onto it - people head over there with pillows, duvets, bean bags, snacks and drinks and settle in for the night. They have food stalls which serve up some pretty tasty food (the Hungarian breads and clay oven cooked pizzas are personal faves!) and a couple of market stalls too.

 

We went to watch Top Gun there a few weeks ago and it was like being at the cinema with a HUGE group of naughty (but funny) people...they were swit swoo-ing and whistling when Tom Cruise was getting lucky with Kelly McGillis and singing along to the theme song Taky my Breath Away. It was great fun. We spent Valentine's Day there too as they were showing The Princess Bride (one of my favourite films from my childhood) and the OH had never seen it! It was a perfectly lovely evening.

 

 Silo Park, Valentine's Day

 

Silo Park, Valentine's Day

 

In February we headed out to see Auckland Lantern Festival - it was a great reminder of how busy places outside of NZ can be! I don't think I've seen that many people in one place since I moved here...there were literally thousands of people looking at all of the amazing lanterns and the food stalls were swarming with people...it was quite difficult to get around and see what was on offer!

 

Auckland Lantern Festival 2013

Auckland Lantern Festival 2013

Auckland Lantern Festival 2013

Auckland Lantern Festival 2013

 

So summer is now over for us and we are heading into autumn...you'd never know it though, we have had an absolutely outstanding summer (even according to the kiwis I know!) and the sun continues to shine – much to the dismay of the farmers who need the rain. We have been officially declared a drought zone due to the lack of rainfall. I am absolutely loving the weather but I do feel for the farmers and the animals who are out in the dried up baron lands.

 

In March we headed to Diamond Day at Ellerslie again (we went last year with the OH's parents and the kiwi family) and enjoyed dressing up to go to the races with friends Ange & John and Andy & Heni. It was a beautifully sunny day and a couple of people had wins which is always nice!

 

Diamond Day at Ellerslie

Diamond Day at Ellerslie

 

The day after Diamond Day I had signed up to run the Round the Bays fun run again along with around 70,000 other participants. I wasn't sure if I'd feel up to it after a day at the races but I got up and ran the 8.4km and even knocked 3 minutes off last year's time. You can't really be competitive with the run as so many people prevents it – you don't usually get to the start lines until around 5-10 minutes after the start gun has gone off and for the first 3kms or so you are ducking and diving between people to find some space. It's great fun though and all for a good cause. The OH declined running it this year, opting instead to have a coffee and sit in the sun on the decking!

 

I was able to spend a fab evening catching up with a friend who I used to work with in 2008 last month - Stacey - who was here with her work. It's so nice to see a friendly face from the UK. You always take for granted having lots of family & friends around and when you emigrate it becomes apparent how much you miss just being able to catch up with people as and when you feel like it!

 

One thing I must mention (it would be rude not to) is the amazing rugby match that Wales won on 16 March 2013 to secure the 6 Nations winners title again for the 2nd year running. They played a spectacular game against England (who were looking for a 6 Nations grand slam) and beat them 30 - 3! Simply amazing - well done Wales! Now I'm not a Daily Mail reader but you can read a pretty spot on account of it here and a more accurate moment by moment replay courtesy of the Guardian here.

 

A couple of weeks ago the OH went out on a stag do and I went on a hen do for friend and her fiancé who are getting married next weekend which was good fun. The stag do consisted of early morning golf (the OH sat that one out) then a day at the cricket, then drinks in town and the hens night was quite sophisticated starting out at a very nice Italian pizzeria , closely followed by drinks in town and ending with her dancing on a bar ... 'nuff said. So we are looking forward to our 1^st kiwi wedding next weekend – should be fun!

 

But first things first it's Easter weekend this weekend. Last night (good Friday) in the absence of family we had friends over for dinner and drinks – I managed to successfully cook a leg of lamb and potato salad followed by my very rich chocolate mousse. Ending the night at around 2am singing Delilah with guitar makes it a good night by my books!

 

We're out for dinner this evening with our fellow Welshies – heading to Tanuki's Cave in Auckland … awesome place, amazing food & great atmosphere!

 

Tomorrow I am hoping we'll get chance to catch up with a friend who is here on holiday with her husband and son. Also planning to head to the beach over the weekend for a nice stroll or two as next week is going to be a little hectic in work – I'm heading to 3 of the other offices to facilitate a programme in the space of 2 days so I am planning on resting and recuperating as much as possible over this long weekend.

 

Luckily, Easter in New Zealand means that you are forced to relax – none of the shops are open on Good Friday or Easter Sunday by law which I think is great. Coming from the UK where you can pretty much shop 24/7 (even Christmas Day sees some local shops open) it's lovely not to have that option available to you. The dairies and essentials are allowed to open but none of the big supermarkets are open and many of the bars close at midnight on Thursday before Good Friday and reopen on Tuesday morning. You are not allowed to buy alcohol anywhere on Good Friday or Easter Sunday.

 

So I am now going to head off and relax. I wish you all a happy, healthy, relaxing Easter … with a bucket load of chocolate thrown in for good measure.

Part 19 – GOOD MORNING Cwmbrân!

So after a few hectic months came the greatly anticipated month of April. Rightly so as I was heading back to the UK for my best friend's wedding and 3 weeks of catching up with much loved and missed family & friends.

I had a completely crazy week in work preparing for my time away from the office as I was initially taken on to cover maternity leave because 2 girls in the team were off for a year....from March! So 4 months into my new role I found myself fully immersed in work, the 2 gorgeous mums-to-be had gone off on parental leave and I was busy preparing to go off on my trip so it was all systems go. I was sure to pre-empt anything that could happen while I was away and that was that – I left work on the Friday and flew back to the UK the following morning. Unfortunately I was travelling without the OH (other half) – any ex-pats who live in New Zealand will know that the cost of flying from NZ to the UK and back is dramatically different to that of UK - NZ - UK – and travelling alone is a pretty normal thing for ex-pats here – for that very reason.

I had only told a few people my real return date to Wales (conveniently the 1^st April!) because there were a few surprises up my sleeve! The truth keepers were:

• My mum (she was picking me up from the airport, so that would have been a difficult one to get around!);
• The bride-to-be – Jo (I didn't want to add to any nervousness she already had by saying I was arriving the day before the wedding!);
• My dad's wife – Kim;
• One of my closest friends – Becky;
• One of my other closest friends – Hannah's husband (not Hannah herself!)

And that was it. Everyone else was told I'd be arriving the following week – around the 6 April (sorry if you were one of the ones I white lied to...I couldn't risk the real date getting out!)

Having a secret like that is one of the hardest things I have had to do. My dad's birthday is on 2 April and this year was his grand 50^th...and I told him I wouldn't be able to make it (what an awful daughter I am!) all for the sake of a surprise. So...after around 34 hours of travelling I landed at about 11:30am and was absolutely delighted to see my mum & her partner – Mark – who picked me up from Heathrow airport. After lots of hugs (cwtches to the Welshies!) and tears we headed back to Wales. I have never been happier to see the 'Welcome to Wales (Croeso i Gymru)' sign on the Severn bridge. Knowing that friends and family were mere minutes away was so exciting.

The Welcome to Wales sign

We made it back to mum's for 2:30pm where I jumped in the shower, freshened up then text Kim to see where she and dad were. I knew that they'd been out for a meal the night previously with a group of friends for his 50^th and they were heading for lunch at The Greenhouse on the Sunday followed by a few drinks at The Crows Nest. They'd already had their food and were happily seated at the pub. So mum drove me to the Crows and as we drove passed I could see them sat outside chatting to friends...so we scooted around the back of the pub and my heart was thudding in my chest as I got out of the car and weaved my way through the pub to head out the front. Dad had his back to me so I put my finger over my lips to signal to the others not to say anything and give the game away – which they didn't – and I just leant down by dad's ear and said “have you ordered a beer?” He looked at me like he'd just seen a ghost! Shocked just isn't the word, I honestly thought he might have a heart attack! That would NOT have been a good result! After many questions (namely: 'how did you get here??') and lots of tears we settled in for a fabulous evening of catching up and enjoying a few drinks. While we were at the pub the weather forecast came on...SNOW ALERT. I kid you not – snow....in April! Needless to say I hadn't packed for snow so I made a mental note to go shopping the next day for jumpers and tights!

After a great night with dad I had another surprise planned for the next day – Monday. I had contacted one of my best buddies Hannah's, husband – Chris – to tell him when I was coming back and that I wanted to surprise Han. He was well onto it, we arranged for her to have the Monday afternoon off work (dummy meetings in her work diary & everything!) so that we could catch up. How he managed to keep it a secret I will never know – especially with someone like Hannah to fool! To give you some indication of how hard she is to fool – everything was going swimmingly with my surprise plans while I was in NZ. As long as I didn't speak to anyone face-to-face (or rather, on Skype) then I found it easy enough to fool them. However, when I landed in Amsterdam (1 hour away from the UK) I got a text from Hannah asking if we could Skype prior to my trip...I panicked! I called the OH who was in NZ and he said to say we were out with friends – this meant he couldn't go on FaceBook or Skype until the surprise because she'd see him on there! I was sure she'd rumbled me.

So I took the train from Cwmbran to Newport (where I used to work with Hannah) and got the receptionist to contact Lyndsey to come and meet me. She took me up to their office and I chatted and caught up with their team and then one of the girls called Hannah into their office 'urgently'. SO in came Hannah all smiley and said 'what?' then she clocked me and SHE CRIED! This is no mean feat, Hannah cried (I'm really going to rub this in!). It was so lovely to see her, then I broke it to her that her husband knew all along and that she didn't have work that afternoon. So we wandered down to Revolution and had lunch and wine and a jolly good, long overdue natter!

Following that the gorgeous bride-to-be Jo met us in a pub in Cwmbran and I thought she was going to strangle me. I have never been cwtched quite so hard in my life! Hannah & Chris headed home and I went for a meal with Jo, her husband-to-be – Jerry and Jerry's dad (I think they'd been out sorting out suits!) It was a truly lovely day.

My final surprise was scheduled for the Tuesday (I had to cram all the surprises into my initial days back for fear of them falling through!) The beautiful Becky-Do (that's not her real name) had arranged for all of the girls I used to work with at UDEX to get together (we used to meet regularly for dinner, in fact they still do!) - unbeknownst to them I was going to join them. They are such an awesome group of girls and I was really looking forward to a thorough download of information about what they'd all been up to. So Becky picked me up and drove to The Greenhouse where we were going for dinner.

The plan was for all of the girls to already be seated inside...but we all know that the UDEX girls are NEVER on time! So Becky had a master plan...I was to sit in the passenger seat of her car with her coat thrown over me to hide me – while she went into the pub to make sure everyone was there. So off Becky went. As she got out of the car Lex turned up with Neasha and Lucy in the car and PARKED NEXT TO US! So I'm trying my hardest not to move (or even breathe) underneath the coat for fear of being found out! Apparently Neasha asked Becky “what's all that in your car?” to which Becky (thinking on her feet) said “just boxes, for Lexie to have later. Come on, let's go in” and was being quite forceful getting everyone inside (later on Neasha told me she wanted to tell Becky to 'chill out' but she refrained!). So I'm in the car peeping out from under the coat each time I hear a car, wondering if it's one of our girls – when I realise there's an old woman in the car next to us! I bet she thought I was from the local mad house and that my 'friend' had left me in the car while she went for food, hee hee!! Bec came back after a few minutes – under the guise of getting some books for Rachel – and we giggled our way into the restaurant. Their faces were a picture. You know when someone's looking through you and not registering who you are? Well – it was like that at first, some of them clocked me walking towards them but it took a moment to register! It was hilarious. Another fabulous evening with a gorgeous gaggle of girlies ensued!

At this point I just want to thank each and every one of you who either knew my real date for coming back and didn't tell a soul – or those of you who saw me in those initial few days and didn't mention it on FB or any other social networking sites. The surprises were amazing and I really enjoyed them – but I don't think I could do it again, it was so stressful!

My initial week was dedicated to surprises, wedding planning / rehearsals / preparation. Then Jo & Jerry's wedding on 7 April which was a truly spectacular day – I only wish the OH could have been there. It was just perfect, and I can't imagine there being a couple more perfect for each other. Thank you for asking me to be your chief bridesmaid – I was privileged.

Over the next few weeks I caught up with so many people who I had missed over the previous year, friends, family, The OH's family (and the cat we used to own – Minky!) and my littlest brother – Wallace. He had grown so much! When I left he was shorter than me and when I returned he was a fair few inches taller! It's amazing the changes that can happen in a year. My 2 other brothers live in Beijing so it was a shame not to be able to catch up with them. Hopefully it won't be too long before we're all in the same country at the same time!

My bed partners in the UK: Lazy Girl & Naughty Kitten

It was a great trip and I am already looking forward to the next time when I will have the OH by my side. I am also excited that so many people are planning to come out and visit us here in NZ. It will be lovely to share our new life with you all (and hopefully encourage you to stay!)

I left the UK on 17 April and was so sad to leave people behind (despite finally finding out what it means to be so cold that your bones feel cold!) It helped that I was coming back to the OH but it was still difficult. It's times like that when you're really tested as to why you did this in the first place, seeing everyone unhappy and feeling it yourself.

My case which was only 14 kilos on the way to the UK (and half of that was gifts) was pushing the limit at 23 kilos on the way home. Filled with clothes, books (very very expensive in NZ compared to the UK) and DVDs (we have a region 2 DVD player....the things you don't think about when you emigrate). When I was waiting to board at Heathrow I was surprised to see a guy in a high-vis jacket who worked at the airport and on his back it said 'Silence Team LHR' … I thought things must have got a lot stricter in the UK since I'd left originally – until I rubbed my eyes and looked again to find it actually said 'Service Team LHR' … I blame the emotions.

After another 34 hours or so travelling I was greeted at Auckland airport by the OH and I must admit it did feel nice being able to wear flip flops (despite the fact it was autumn!) and not being cold. It was so lovely to see him and to be back in New Zealand. Despite missing everyone it really is such a beautiful place – you can't help but be bowled over by it. Straight from the airport we headed to the dentist as I had a dental appointment for a check up and polish. Quite overwhelming when you're tired and disorientated, to say the least. Bad planning on my part there.

I always seem to have quite intense jet-lag coming to NZ from the UK (via Kuala Lumpur / Singapore) and this time was no different. By 6pm you're struggling to keep your eyes open and feeling quite sick from tiredness. I got home on the Thursday and didn't have work until Monday so I had a few days to orientate myself again.

On my 1^st day back at work it was evident how much I had been missed...the amount of time that had been dedicated to decorating my desk (and drawers, and phone, and divider) with England flags was impressive. Obviously they know that I'm Welsh and know how frustrating it can be when people ask which part of England you're from (not that I have anything against the English but I am just not from England) – which they inevitably do because to the untrained ear I just sound 'British' – so they used this knowledge to their advantage and my desk was awash with St. George's Cross. The Kiwi's / Aussies have the same issue – people hear the accent and just assume one way or the other (usually assuming that NZ'ers are Australian).

You can't leave your desk for a minute... 

Very funny girlies!

I also came back to some pretty random conversations in work. One which stood out particularly was being asked what a 'swede' was (the vegetable, not the race of people). Honestly, I mentioned a swede and 2 of the girls in work asked me what it was. Then one of the piped up “oh I think I know...it's like a courgette right?” Very funny indeed and not something I was expecting to have to explain. I resorted to Google images. They do have them here (as you will know from my previous posts referring to buying them via an honesty box in Invercargill) so it was very entertaining. That said, there are lots of veggies here that I do not have a clue how to cook but I am determined to learn (silverbeet is first on that list!)

Following my trip we had a few quiet weekends as we settled back into normal routine. We had a drunken Skype call with friends from the UK – the joys of being 11 hours apart! We were having breakfast on a Sunday and drinking tea while friends of ours had been out for the evening and wanted to show us some dance moves on Skype...very very entertaining – you know who you are!

Andy & Heni came up from Tauranga one Friday night as Andy had an interview in Auckland so they met me from work and we all went into Howick for a few drinks then headed home to compete on the Wii!

The following day we were preparing for a new house guest. Ange & John were relocating from Tauranga to Auckland so we went for lunch and Ang moved some of her things into ours. It was lovely to have Ange staying with us for a couple of weeks while she started her new job and John tied things up back in Tauranga. Then 3 weeks ago we helped them move into their new home on the North Shore....closely followed by us moving to the North Shore! Plus, Andy & Heni are moving to Auckland too as Andy has just landed a new job – perfect!

We stayed with them for a few days during their 2^nd week in their new home and then last weekend we moved into our own new place. The house is quite the sun trap and it means that I leave the house 40 minutes later than I did in Howick in order to get into the city for work. I always thought the North Shore was a nightmare for commuting but it turns out it isn't at all (I suppose it depends where you are). I catch a bus from our street and it take around 20 minutes to get into the heart of the city. Not bad at all!

In other goings on this month Stef left work to move back to Melbourne with her husband (she's Australian, he's British) so that was really sad. I'd grown quite close to Stef as she sat next to me and was my assigned 'buddy' when I started my new job so I was upset to see her go but at the same time I knew how much it meant to her to be back with her friends and family so it was bittersweet really. Also gives us an excuse to head to Melbourne for a visit! We gave her a good send off and went out dancing so that was lovely.

Well, this weekend has been a glorious weekend of sunshine for us despite it technically being winter (sorry Britain), and we've certainly taken advantage of it (although we are also eating wintery food!). Friday night we had a lovely Quorn chilli, then Saturday we headed out to take a look at Brown's Bay then had a nice 3 course meal at home and this morning we had eggs benedict for breakfast then headed out to have a look at Halls Beach & Little Shoal Bay where we had a picnic. I also went for my 1^st run on the 'Shore this morning. A nice gentle 4.38 miler and I didn't get lost – result! The temperature here for winter is very very mild. We've had the odd day starting out at 3 degrees but I can count them on one hand so far and by the afternoon it's usually around 14 degrees. Saying that I think you do acclimatise pretty quickly! I have been known to say“Oooh it's SO COLD this morning” only to look at the temperature gauge and it's actually 11 degrees...I know I know...I've gone soft! Don't get me wrong, we have had some rain – and occasionally it's been quite monsoon-like, but by and large it's been a good winter by my standards. Plus – I don't mind it raining so much here as we seem to have THE BEST rainbows. Just take a look at them in all their glory...

Gorgeous NZ rainbow...

...and it's reflection in the sea

I even got a rainbow as I landed back in NZ

Part 18 – An Autumnal Update

Is it just me or is this year flying by?? I cannot believe that it's almost mid May (and I'm only updating you on March!) and we're talking a leisurely stroll back into winter. But winter in Auckland should be quite dramatically different to winter in Invercargill – warmer but more drizzly so I've been reliably informed. Autumn has been treating us very well indeed so far, we had 2 days of torrential rain and strong winds last week and I thought that was going to be the start of autumn but it's been gorgeous again today and rather warm. It does get dark quite early (it's now 5:40pm and it's getting dark) but the mornings are still quite light.

A quick update on the rest of the OH's (Other Half) parents trip: they experienced Howick's Saturday morning market – full of yummy food treats as well as arts and crafts and other random bits 'n' bobs. Then we finally made our first ever visit to Auckland night market. It is absolutely amazing! Loads of stalls with everything you can think of – fruit & veg; clothes; make up; massages; trinkets; computer and phone accessories; jewellery, etc etc. THEN when you think it can't get any better you just follow your nose and the final aisle is the food aisle. I felt like I'd been transported to an Asian food festival. It gets so busy with people and the food looks amazingly fresh – from sweet churros with chocolate sauce (ALWAYS the longest queue) to an impressive paella; pad Thai; squid legs on sticks; quails eggs on sticks, loads and loads. It prompted me to promise never to cook on a Saturday night EVER again.

'The City of Sails' - Auckland

Sunday we headed to Mount Eden and walked around the Mount and headed into the town for lunch in a café, it was absolutely gorgeous! We were only expecting cafe style food and yet it was quite gourmet when it was presented. I had a beautiful felafel salad and the others had lamb shanks (when in New Zealand...) and tandoori chicken sandwiches. Sounds normal, looked and tasted amazing!

View of the city from Mt Eden

Following the weekend, the OH's parents headed off to Wellington – they flew down for a few days to see the sights and then got the Overlander train back. It's a 12 hour scenic train journey so it's a nice way to take in the scenery. They had a bit of trouble when leaving Wellington as their train was leaving at 7:30am. So they left the apartment they had rented at 6:45am and there were no check out instructions...so they went outside to call the out of hours number and the door closed – and locked - behind them. The out of hours lady told them to just leave the key in the box outside...but then they had to explain that they couldn't do this now as they were outside...but their cases were locked inside! Just as the lady (grumpily) came down in her night dress to unlock the door they realised the card attached to their key opened the door so they opened it themselves as she was walking towards them! Needless to say she was NOT a happy lady...but it made for a great story to tell us upon their return :)

The following weekend there were headlines in the papers claiming 'Tick tick tick STORM TO HIT' and news stories were encouraging people to stock up on water supplies, etc so we didn't make big plans to go anywhere. As it happened it didn't really hit us so Sunday afternoon we headed out to show them Maraetai and Beachlands. They are 2 gorgeous areas not too far in the car from where we live. We just relaxed with a coffee and collected shells on the beach. Those of you who know me, know that I HAVE to collect shells each time I venture to the beach – which is lots - and this has resulted in me having to cull my collection on a regular basis.

For their final week they headed down to Rotorua which is an amazing place to visit. It's a geothermal area where there are lots of bubbling mud pools, smoke coming off the floor and geysers that go off regularly - it's generally a great tourist place. They went to Te Puia Cultural Centre which is fantastic – I'd definitely recommend a visit and be sure to include the cultural performance too, it's money well spent. Listen out for the traditional New Zealand love song 'Pokarekare Ana' which made me cry.

The OH then met his parents in Mount Maunganui (another great place) where they stayed at a friend's gorgeous bach (pronounced batch) in Whangamata (pronounced fong-u-mat-ta). They headed to the lovely Hahei and Hot Water Beach where you can rent metal spades and dig yourself a hole in the sand, with the geothermal activity underground the water seeps up into your little pool and it is BOILING HOT – literally I couldn't sit in it when we went. We had to wait for the sea to rush in to cool down our very own beach spa. It's quite entertaining watching everyone digging holes in the sand. Check the tide times if you're planning on doing this as you don't want to be caught out! On the way back to Auckland they all went to Whitianga (pronounced fit-ee-ang-a) and Waihi Gold Mine which they enjoyed.

For their final weekend in Auckland we had tickets for 12 of us to head to Diamond Day at Ellerslie racecourse. It was a fantastic day where we all got dressed up and had an absolute ball trying to bet on the 'right' horses. Not an easy task but great fun all the same!

Action shot: Diamond Day, Ellerslie

They left us on March 14 and we had new visitors the following weekend – friends of ours called Andy & Heni who live in Tauranga. They came up to stay with us on Friday night and we headed downtown for a night on the tiles in Auckland city. The three of them met me from work and we had such a great night – we didn't get home until about 2:30am which is our latest night out since we emigrated I think! We spent a lovely Saturday at Mission Bay eating fish & chips, then they headed home.

On the Sunday morning a fantastic Welsh rugby team beat France to WIN THE GRAND SLAM in the 6 Nations!!!!!!!!!!! We woke up to the news having not got up for the match itself at 4am because we were running the Round the Bays fun run (along with 70,000 others!) at 9:00am. We ran it in our Welsh rugby shirts as a display of pride and actually met another Welsh couple who were sporting a Welsh flag in their backpack. As you can imagine with so many people taking part the starting pistol goes off and....you don't move...you have to wait for the movement of the crowd to catch up to you. For the initial 3kms or so you're walking and dodging the walkers and the people with prams - after that you can get into jogging! It was a great day and we had a massage after the race as well as lots and lots of chocolate from the Cadbury people who were stocking everyone up.

The crowd behind us, walking to the start line

The start line

After another busy week in work we headed to Rotoroa Island (not to be confused with Rotorua). I won 2 return ferry tickets so off we went. Rotoroa Island is a gorgeous 82 hectare island in the Hauraki Gulf which used to be owned by The Salvation Army: alcoholics were sent there to dry out by court order. It was an absolutely fascinating place. No food is sold on the island so we put together a lovely picnic and caught the 8:45am ferry there followed by the 5:15pm ferry home. It was beautifully sunny and we spent the day walking, reading, sun bathing and swimming. When the OH went into the sea in one of the bays on the island he was only waist high when a stingray swam right past his legs. It was awesome!

Rotoroa Island

The welcome hut on Rotoroa Island

The hole in the rock, Rotoroa Island

One of the many bays

Simple beauty

The Chris Booth sculpture on Rotoroa Island

All in all it was a pretty hectic February followed by a pretty hectic March – soon to be followed by a very hectic April - IN WALES - which I'll update you with next time...