It’s going to be a little quiet here……..

Well; it is almost over. Our time in New Zealand has flown by and after nearly 18 months we are packing and making plans to have a last minute wander around.

Then it’s back to the UK for a much needed family re-union, curry and a few beers. Not quite sure in which order they will come but I’ll take what I get!

I will miss lots of things about New Zealand and I suspect that these may increase over time as the bits that I won’t miss fade from my memory, rose tinted spectacle style.

Kara Heights Rise

Mostly I will miss the space that we had out here. Many houses come with 2-3 acres (as did ours), which is a pretty ‘standard size section’ once you get outside the town.

Imagine the cost of that in the UK or Norway! Here it could be had for a lot less than a £100,000 which would just about buy you a English ‘standard’ plot of about 0.2 of an acre!

I won’t miss the houses though, as they are simple affairs. Mr Edis, a friend of ours has a shed of far superior design in his garden! I gather that standards are slowly creeping up though.

It is the spirit of the Kiwis you see. Mend, make do and ‘toughen up’ is the theme!

“If it’s cold when you get out of bed…… don’t bl**dy hang about!”

It must be all those pioneer genes.

Beaches aplenty

Next mostly I will miss the beaches and  the sea. Oh, and a couple of good friends that have reinforced the lesson that sometimes you have to follow your heart  and to hell with the consequences!

I’ll sign off now for a bit and the next post should have a completely different feel to it, coming from the other side of the world.

Question is, will it be “thank goodness, back to normal” or “why on earth did we leave”………

Stay well