Maybe I should have called this blog "The View from the Aeroplane" considering the amount of airmiles accumulated since my last post way back in May 2009. Back then, my family was preparing for our first visit to New Zealand in 4 years, for the month of August 2009. I had been warned off looking for jobs or doing anything that constituted wanting to move back to New Zealand by my darling wife Pip. Not wanting to rock the boat, I cancelled some job interviews I had set up in Auckland beforehand and switched fully into holiday mode.
Then 3 weeks into our 4 week holiday came the turning point. During another glorious sunset over Stanmore Bay Beach on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, Pip turned to me and said "You know, I think it's time we moved back." After a momentary pause to reflect on some possibly useful meetings that had been recently cancelled, I felt strangely calm and peaceful.
Yes, I agreed, it was time.
What then followed is an extraordinary chain of events for any family to go through. We arrived back in the UK from our NZ holiday on 31st August 2009. A mere 132 days later, we had:
- Sold our house
- Sold our car
- Given away tons of books, clothes, toys, furniture (and the BBQ) to friends and neighbours
- Moved into a friends house in South London to housesit for 6 weeks
- Endured the UK's worst winter for 30 years
- Booked a house to rent in Auckland on the internet while drunk
- Tried to see every friend and family member we could before we left which raised our drinking and eating to a heroic new level
Then on January 10th 2010 during a snow shower, we took off from Heathrow on a one-way flight to Auckland via Dubai and Melbourne. The adventure had really started now, and there was no turning back.
We had a couple of days in winter sun in Dubai that quickly erased our memories of the ice-laden footpaths and snowdrifts in London. Lucky enough to have good friends living there (Pete & Sol) and in nearby Abu Dhabi (Neil & Sam), we were able to have some relaxing catch-up time with them before embarking on the next leg of our migration to Melbourne.
Pip's best friend Challen and her husband Shaun were the perfect hosts in Melbourne, and we had 4 very full days of fun and relaxation with them and their daughters Phoebe and Scarlett. There was also time to catch up with more good friends Sarndra and Steve (and their kids Hannah & James), before it was time for the hop across the Tasman to good old Auckland.
So on January 18th 2010 we touched down in Auckland ... sun, cloud and humidity.
Around the world and back again in 141 days ...
.. that sounds like a good title for a book.
