Gail Dickson .. my blog from Down Under

Long weekend this week as it’s Anzac Day on Friday (equivalent to poppy day in the UK but you get a public holiday for it). Didn‘t do very much … had a very lazy day. Did buy Regan’s first pair of real shoes though … in hot pink!! Both Australia and New Zealand have a severe lack of children’s shoe shops (or in evidence anyway) but my new PM has a little boy who is 5 days younger than Regan so I asked her. So found a shop nearby that sells Clarks shoes so bought some for Regan and also a pair for Kyle for going to school.

Today it’s our one year anniversary …. As I’m writing this, we would have been getting off the plane at Auckland International this time last year. I can’t believe it’s a year already but at the same time, it also feels like we’ve been here forever …. I show Kyle photos of people in the UK and his old house every now and again to try and make sure he doesn’t forget but his memory of back there is definitely getting less and less which is kind of sad.

So what have we accomplished in a year …

We made it here!
We found a good preschool for the kids, who enjoy it and have made friends.
We’ve both got jobs which are comparable in spec and salary to the UK (Bobby has had two … hopefully the second is better than the first!)
We have replaced most of the stuff we left behind (including the cars), we’ve decided where we want to live and we’ve bought our first kiwi house.
On a more personal/family note - Regan is walking and beginning to talk and Kyle has grown so much and is nearly at school (eek!).

I think we’ve done quite well … don’t you?

Do we have any regrets? None at all! I think day to day life is much more similar to our old life than I’d imagined however this is so much nicer a place to live it! Once you get out of work and do the 45 minute drive north, life changes back to crickets/chicadas chirping (dependant on the time of day) and beaches.

Do I ever see us living in the UK again? Don’t think so … things can change in a second so I’ll never say never, but I don’t think it would be fair to the kids to uproot them again and NZ life is so much nicer/more energetic for them that I don’t want to take them away from it. Also on a more selfish note … I don’t want to go back. I like it here …

Kyle has started swimming lessons again (waiting for a space for Regan) so we went there this morning. He never liked getting his head in the water when we used to go but today he got over that … he was great! He’s getting on really well.

After that we went for haircuts and again Kyle showed that he was growing up fast … he sat on his own with the hairdresser and even let her use the clippers which has always been a big no-no before this.

My hairdresser has been taking the odd walk-on role in Shortland Street (you do get it up there … it is a kiwi medical drama) and she told me today that she’s been filming 5 days a week for 8 weeks on a new programme that‘s going to be released in a few months. She seems to be enjoying it a lot so not sure how long she’ll be my hairdresser!

Hamilton was “interesting” at the weekend … Bobby and I both like motorsport but agreed that the V8s are a different kind of motorsport. The fans are very much Holden or Ford and very few of them actually seemed to have a favourite driver or team. An example …. We were sitting in the grandstand watching the NZ V8s and a couple of very drunk young guys came and sat in front of us. After a while, one of them turned around and asked “Who’s winning?”. Bobby answered that John McIntyre was winning and he got a confused look back …. “Is he Holden or Ford” came the reply. Bobby confirmed that he was driving a Ford to which the two of them started whooping and screaming. We took it from the reaction that they were of the Ford persuasion …. Now I have to ask … why on earth would you pay that sort of money (not a lot when you are used to paying for Silverstone/British GP tickets but quite expensive down here) when you have no idea who is racing??? Beats me! Anyway, the racing was okay although Holden got up to their usual tricks … must be a red car thing. Not sure if we’ll go back again.

The kids were good at the weekend though and were fairly well behaved at the racing. Kyle seemed to enjoy living in a hut for a few nights … it was a bit cold at night but the new sleeping bags were nice and warm so it wasn’t too bad. Again, not sure we’ll go to a basic cabin again unless there is no alternative.

This week has been a bit better work wise although still having major SI issues. Bobby started a new job on Tuesday as well … he hadn’t been enjoying the health care place so has moved to join the VF opposition! I’ve told him that I won’t be able to speak to him anymore …. He seems to be enjoying it so far so that’s good as he was having a much worse time than me in his previous role.

We booked Kyle’s 5th birthday party this week as well. It’s going to be in a place nearby called “Ivy Cottage and the Enchanted Garden”. If you follow the link on this page it’ll give you an idea of what the party is about. Should be good … it’s a bit different to the normal soft play type parties.

Apologies for not blogging for a couple of weeks … been a very hard time at work. I really didn’t want to go anywhere near a laptop when I got home.

My SI problems at work have gone from bad to worse, so much so that we’re looking to go elsewhere (ie another SI). It’s made for a very busy and extremely frustrating time! I’m totally exhausted and seriously considering a major career change. To be honest, I’ve been thinking about doing something more “useful and interesting” for a long time but it’s hard to find “that thing” that is going to both interest you and pay the bills at the same time. I’ll keep looking though and I’ll definitely find it one day.

The kids are doing okay. Nursery have started calling Regan “Regan Bear” cos she’s so cute and looks like a teddy with her big brown eyes! You can’t really complain when you hear the reasoning … She’s been off nursery nearly all week though with hand, foot and mouth! I’ve never heard of it so not sure if you even get it in the UK? She’s been fine though .. Just some blisters on (strangely enough) her hands, feet and mouth! Should be okay for going back to nursery on Monday.

Kyle’s doing great … they are looking at sculptures at pre-school just now so they went up to Long Bay on Friday to build some sculptures up there. We went up to take some pictures after work but it was getting a bit dark and some of the branches had fallen over.

Last weekend we were at a BBQ on the Saturday for one of Kyle’s friends from nursery and on the Sunday we headed to Bethell’s Beach on the West Coast. We’ve never been there before but it was gorgeous! I actually looked at a little cottage to rent at Bethell’s when we first arrived but decided against it as it was too far to the city … hmm, maybe we should have just gone … would have been great.

This weekend the weather has been a bit grey and wet so stayed close to home. As it’s the V8s next week at Hamilton and I could only find a basic cabin in a camp site to stay in, we needed to go and buy some camping type equipment. Bought some sleeping bags, plates and cups and stuff and will have to buy a basic camping stove during the week. It’s no issue as all of these things are basic kiwi weekend equipment (maybe not the sleeping bags!) as people just head off and have a barbie on the beach or something. I also bought a goose down jacket as I’ve been feeling the cold at nights recently. When we arrived last year, I thought that we’d never need our big coats again as I thought it was so warm. It’s sitting at an average of 21 degrees during the day and I’m feeling the cold. At night it’s got down to 10 degrees!!! Positively freezing!! I think I must have acclimatised.

Lastly, we’ve decided it must be time for Lynne to visit again as we‘ve run out of tea bags! The kiwis have some “okay” tea but it’s not great.