Fourteen years and counting

Hey Thinking out loud here xx :D

Here is a bit of a surprise blog post, I wasn’t expecting to upload today, but since it is the fourteenth anniversary of my family and I moving to New Zealand I thought I would write a little post talking about it. Hope you enjoy, I will be back on Thursday with the weekly upload hope you enjoy this one.

Where have fourteen years gone, It’s hard to believe that at ten years old my family and I made the life-changing move from everything we knew in the UK to New Zealand a place we knew nothing about. I remember spending our last night in the UK in the airport hotel in Manchester, I phoned some friends as once final goodbye with us not knowing how long it would be until we would be seeing them again.

Then off we were on our way to Singapore, where we would spend the next few days exploring and learning about a new culture and new foods. The heat lets not forget that first bit of hot air that hits you when you walk out of an entirely airconditioned airport, and the rain that feels like someone has left the hot tap running but what a beautiful country it was and a place we have been sure to revisit.

We then made our way to Australia, where we landed in Sydney, we met up with one of my cousins and his wife. What an experience and a little bit of a hint at what our new lives would look like. We didn’t make it to the famous Bondi beach, and I do still have it on my list of places I one day will visit. We do though see the harbour bridge my dad and brother did climb it, and we did go to the Opera house what a fantastic piece of architecture it is. I also remember thinking wow I’m in the home of Hi-5 which at the time was mind-blowing for me I was a fan and used to watch it in a morning before going to school.then after a little less than a week we were back on a plane for the very last leg of our flying journey.

A few hours later and me having been asked to hand out sweets (that was my first introduction to the word lollies, which I now do use.) once they were handed out, and myself and this other kid were back in our seats we began the descent into Auckland New Zealand. Home of the Kiwi, the bird and the people, also Maori, the land of the long white cloud Aotearoa (and it does have some beautiful long white clouds.) It’s also the home of the extinct Moa, the culture and of the Maori and the language of the Maori. The country where although rugby was invented it is very much a beloved and harnessed sport despite what trivial pursuit says about gold being its number one sport and our new home.

May 19th holds a lot of memories. A lot of emotions but so many new beginnings. It’s a day I won’t ever forget and one I will always cherish and be thankful for. It’s a day when we indeed were just the four of us in this new country, we spent the first night in a hotel where as soon as I saw the bed I fell asleep I think it might have been sometime in the morning. However, I slept until the arvo then still managed to sleep that night. Jetlag was a killer and had hit me on both stops before getting to NZ.

The next day we then picked up a campervan our home for the next week as we travelled around the north island and found where our new home would be. It happened to be a place north of Auckland where we on our week-long travels kept going back to and has since been our home for the past fourteen years minus a few years for me where I have been in Australia. Though NZ is still very much my home and a massive part of who I am.

We grew up on the hibiscus coast and what a beautiful and unique place it has been. From stunning beaches to breathe, taking walks and kind-hearted people. Along the way, we have met some exceptional people for me, that is my friend group from high school who I honestly see them as being like my extended family. Since growing up away from my fam they somehow over the years have become the family, I’m so glad I have in NZ. Without them, I know life in NZ wouldn’t have been the same or nearly half as easy as it has been so for those lovely people I am forever thankful and can not wait to see them once I can be with them.

I can’t lie though it hasn’t always been easy, with family events we have missed, to births and deaths in the family. Though with technology the way it has evolved more so over the past five years, we have been able to be apart of some of these events through video calls. We’ve had some 2 am weddings in PJs, being in attendance from the comfort of my mum and dads bed. We’ve also been fortunate enough to attend funerals one that was also a 2 am attendance that also happened to be on the day of one of my best friends wedding. These times though have only brought us closer together as a family of four and only made us stronger.

Yes, my brother and I have fought like siblings do but I feel with moving halfway around the world at ten and thirteen and having only each other to hang out with and explore new places we learned pretty quick how lucky we were to have each other. Yes, we do still have our moments but remember what siblings are for, they are our first best friends, always there when we need them and are the first to set you right before your parents get to you.

As my mum always says its six of one and half a dozen of the other. When I was little, my maths wasn’t that great, so I was confused as to what she was saying. As I got older, I ultimately understood what she was saying, so I always tried to make it out like I never did anything lets be honest I was just as good at annoying my brother if not more so than he was at annoying me. Does anyone see a little angle around here where butter wouldn’t melt? But the move did teach me that we are so lucky to have what we have.

I am so grateful and thankful to my parents for making the tough decision of leaving there parents, their siblings, nieces, nephews and friends. To give my brother and me a different childhood to what they had, and for all of us to experience a similar yet different way of life.

I would never have thought I would be walking to beaches in bare feet, crossing hot summer melting roads in bare feet, and playing in a playground in bare feet without teachers telling me to put my shoes back on. What a childhood, what a life even with the stubbed toes, foot cut open and still learning to listen to my parents when they are right.

Thank you, mum and dad, for an amazing fourteen years, we’ve had some incredible times over the years, and I can not wait to see what the next fourteen years bring us for our lives in the beautiful Aotearoa.

Thank you for reading love always Thinking out loud