Part 20 – Sun, Surfing & Snow-Capped Mountains

Can you believe it’s October already??! It’s surreal. I am sure that when we emigrated we also went into some sort of time travel tunnel because the days, weeks and months seem to go so much quicker over here! It really is crazy.

 

The Asset Sale Protest in Auckland

 

The Asset Sale Protest in Auckland

 

We have lived on the North Shore for around 4 months now and still absolutely love it. Somehow the weather always seems to be better here than in the CBD (not that we ever lived in the CBD, but I work there). About a month after we moved we headed to my work’s ball...the theme was the Diamond Jubilee and it was held in the viaduct at the events centre. It was amazing – loads of British themed things, like 2 London guards on the door, an amazing brass band, the colours were red and green and everyone got dressed up in fancy clothes. It was a great opportunity to dress up nicely, it’s widely known that they don’t really do pomp and circumstance here...you fit in whatever you’re wearing – a Saturday night out can be had just as easily in flats as it can in heels. It’s probably more dressy up in Auckland than where we used to live – Invercargill – but nothing like in the UK where if you were out for a big night with the girls you went all out in dresses and heels! I like that you don’t have to get dressed up if you don’t fancy it but the ball was a great excuse to go all out.

 

Diamond Jubilee Ball

 

Diamond Jubilee Ball

 

The day after the ball the OH (other half) had gone to pick the car up and I was relaxing on the sofa, sleepily easing off the effects of the night before when I decided to look up pets on the SPCA website (those who know me in real life, know that this wouldn’t be an unusual thing for me to do!) Then I decided to take a look on TradeMe to see if there were pets on there (TradeMe is NZ’s equivalent to eBay...we have eBay as well but TradeMe is HUGELY more successful here) and sure enough there were lots of pets on there. So I started to look through and found 2 beautiful long haired cats...I had a feeling our landlady would be fine with us having a cat as there’s a cat flap in our front door (something of a giveaway), so I waited for the OH to return and broached the subject with him. He was all for it so I sent a text to our landlady who was happy with it too...yey!

One of the cats had only been listed that same morning so I contacted her owner and sure enough she was still available so I arranged to pick her up the following day after work. I was like a child at Christmas on the Monday....so excited about getting her. We went to get her and she was so beautiful, I picked her up and she was more than happy being cuddled so we took her home. It turns out she was originally a rescue from the SPCA and was given to a child for her birthday present, but then the family had to move house and couldn’t take her with them so they gave her to their neighbour (the people we had her from), but their cats just hated her. They’d given it a few weeks but said it was unfair to her and the other cats so had to re home her. She was 2 years old and her name was Alice...well that felt a little weird to me as I have a friend called Alice and didn’t think it really suited her so I renamed her. Her full name is now Princess Tigerlily but you’ll be glad to hear that we have shortened it to Lily, she loves her new name :)

Apart from miaowing a lot at night (just getting into a new routine, I guess) she had settled in well and was using the cat flap to come in and go out as she pleased. About a month after we took her in we went out for the evening, leaving her on the sofa and when we ended up staying at a friend’s house. This isn’t a big deal as she only eats dry food so wasn’t reliant on us for feeding. When we got home the following morning she was out, this wasn’t unusual. But as the hours went on it was very out of character for her not to come back at all. Day turned to night and she still wasn’t home. Naturally, I was very worried about her. As the days went on I shed lots of tears and was hoping that some old dear had just taken a shine to her and she was living in the lap of luxury. I listed her as missing on a website called Pets on the Net, also put her on TradeMe in the Lost & Found section, printed A5 flyers and posted them in 80 houses in the neighbourhood, contacted the 2 out of hours vets locally and registered her as missing with them, rang around loads of the rescue places and sent them pics too – just in case she was picked up as a stray....I just did everything I could think of. I even called the local council and asked if they’d picked up a deceased cat which matched her description. Luckily they hadn’t – and I had a gorgeous lady from the council call me regularly from that date on, asking if she’d come home. I’ve never experienced customer service quite like it!

Then a week after she went missing I found her collar out on the road at the end of our drive which was odd – it had been ripped off which made my imagination run wild and I was convinced she had had a scare and run outside her territory so didn't know how to get home. Throughout the whole time she was missing I also had a feeling that she was stuck somewhere.

Then...12 days after she'd gone missing we went to bed and the OH literally leapt out of bed after 20 mins or so and was listening by the window...and there she was...in the garden miaowing. She crept in and was really timid and flinching at loud sounds, looked quite thin and I could feel her bones in her neck & hips, also had a broken tail – it was all limp and hanging down so she looked really sad! :( But she was home and that was the main thing :)

 

Lily - when we first had her...

 

...and now....sans tail (still just as beautiful!)

 

I called around local vets who quoted me everything from $600-$1000 to have her tail amputated. I don’t usually focus on price when it comes to vet services but this seemed very very extreme to me: it's not an essential limb and she had no feeling / pain in it so it wasn't a necessary operation, I just wanted it out of the way as it was a dead weight for her. Finally I had a quote from a vet who said $280-$380 which was much more reasonable. I went to the vets and was surprised at what I found, they had a couple of their own cats wandering around, even a dog came in too at one point...and I started to wonder if I’d made a mistake. The vets I have always been to have been extremely clinical and smelled of bleach, not other animals! But my fears were quickly diminished when I saw how much this vet clearly loved animals, Lily was more than happy to be picked up by her and the vet calmed my nerves as I left her with them. I had also read 2 reviews online which talked about their clear love for animals.

It was the best example of ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ that I have ever experiences, I went to pick her up at the end of the day and Lily was a bit groggy from the anaesthetic but they’d also used a slow release 2 week antibiotic injected into her so that I didn’t have to feed her tablets or anything. Their mission statement online says ‘We strive for a high quality medical service at an affordable cost. We have a passion for animals and their well being’ and they truly do. They are an amazing vet service who even called me a few days after Lily’s operation to ensure that Lily was doing ok and that I was happy with her progress. Lily’s new bobtail healed with no dramas and 2 weeks later she had her stitches removed and was allowed out again. A bobtail actually suits her - it will look even better when all her fur has grown back...it's been 3 or 4 weeks already and it's coming back slowly but because her hair is soooooo long, it will take ages before it looks 'normal' again! A huge thank you to Northcote Vets – I will never use any other vet services for my Lily!

Since I last wrote I have also stepped well and truly into my 30s – I am now 31 and I was more surprised at turning 31 than I was turning 30! We rented a beach bach at a place called Mangwhai Heads – a very quiet place which a lovely beach – and spent the weekend there. As me & the OH share the same birthday we have to ensure the day meets both of our needs (I wanted to run a half marathon on the morning of our bday but that was apparently a non negotiable ‘no’!!) Our birthday is the first day of Spring here in NZ – much better than the first day of Autumn that it used to be in the UK!

A couple of weeks ago we also made our first trip to Waiheke Island for dinner. Eight of us went altogether and had a great time eating great food and drinking fab wine at Te Whau vineyard – it’s highly recommended. Our waiter noted that most of our table was British and we were excited to hear that his partner was in the group Frankie Goes to Hollywood! Amazing! Frankie says Relax and we were doing just that! :)

The sun setting over the city, view from Te Whau vineyard, Waiheke

Breathtaking Waiheke views. Rangitoto volcano in the distance

 

I also took part in my first volunteer day with work last month - we helped out at The CanTeen event called The Crank. Basically it was a 12 hour RPM indoor cycling event where team members took turns doing an hour long RPM session run by the Les Mills instructors. We were manning drinks stands, meeting and greeting people as they came in, registering people, etc and I also did an hour on the bike for one of our work teams. The session was hard going, those instructors are machines! but it was a great event and over 1000 people cycled through the day which ran from 8am - 8pm. Cancer is something that is dear to my heart; my nan died of breast cancer when she was in her 50's and a good friend of the OH's passed away this year and he was only in his late twenties so it felt good to be doing something to raise money for the teenagers (and families of) who suffer from this horrible illness.

CanTeen event - The Crank - inside The Cloud, Auckland

No other big news here really, there have been a couple of earthquakes in the North Island this month but they have caused no real damage and we didn’t feel them up in Auckland (so don’t worry mum & Dad!!) – there was actually a nation-wide earthquake drill in NZ last month as part of New Zealand Shakeout (the earthquake public education campaign) to ensure that everyone knows what to do if the worst happens. You can find out more here if you’re interested.

I just want to finish by saying how much I truly love New Zealand, the title of this post was alluding to that. It only takes a day of sunshine for me to realise how lucky I am to live here and this day happened when I was in Wellington for work. I had facilitated a session in the Wellington office and was heading back to the airport to catch my flight to Auckland and the driver took me the scenic route to Wellington airport. The sky was blue, the sun was beating down and a large group of surfers were out in the sea lapping up the beautiful weather, while the snow capped mountains looked on in the distance – it really was one of those ‘wow’ moments ... and I didn’t have my camera with me. But to be fair, I have had loads of those ‘wow’ moments here and I have shared some of them below. You'll notice that a lot of these have the sea in them, because that's a natural beauty spot for me; but the terrain here really does have something for everyone! If you have never been to New Zealand I urge you to come – you will not be disappointed.

 

View of Auckand City from Mt Eden

 

Clear blue water at Eastern Beach

 

The gannet colonies, Muriwai

 

Lion Rock, Piha

 

Muriwai

 

A Praying Mantis

 

Rotoroa Island

 

Hole in the Rock, Rotoroa Island

 

The New Zealand sky



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