Hello from the other side

 - of the Tasman, that is !

The last few weeks have been a blur of boxes and sorting and selling and packing. I'm glad that part is over.

After farewelling workmates and saying goodbye to the stress of packing and cleaning we headed south for a couple of days in Wellington. Time to catch up with friends and family there as well before that early morning flight.

On the way we stopped in Taupo and caught the sunset - and got up early in the freezing morning to catch the sunrise too. 

In Wellington we were reminded of the weather we had left behind. Idyllic one day, horrendous the next; but that is what makes it great at the same time. Not enough time to see everyone though. Maybe on the next trip.

We were up bright and early 3.30am ! and off to the airport for a relatively smooth trip arriving in Melbourne at 8.00am. We needed to visit the bank where we had opened our accounts, so we caught the bus into the city and found a great place to get some breakfast (no food on the plane for our fare option).

It had been awhile since my last visit to Melbourne - maybe 12 years ? surely not that long. But it all still felt so familiar. We enjoyed wandering around in the sun before catching the bus back and picking up the rental car. 

Bendigo (new home town) is just 90 minutes from Melbourne and has regular bus and train services, so I KNOW we will be back that way to catch a show or two, or to just wander the streets.

Almost over

When I woke up Thursday morning I felt SO much better. It was great !

We returned the rental car and then decided to do the Hop On Hop Off bus tour so that we could get a bit of a look around LA and Hollywood. Jackie came with us which was fun. The HOHO in LA offers several different routes and you can transfer between them at no added cost. Bonus.

We caught the Yellow route from Santa Monica to near Beverly Hills and then transferred to the Red route which goes through Hollywood.

My cold or whatever it was had transformed itself again by now and I had begun to think it was more like an allergy reaction. So frustrating !

We hopped off the bus in Hollywood near the Chinese Theatre and had lunch before wandering along the walk of fame for a bit, and then completed the loop back to transfer onto the bus back to Santa Monica. 

Another visit to the drugstore and hopefully the right cure. There was just time to squeeze last minute things into our cases, and enjoy our last meal with Jackie and David. Then off to the airport, to find traffic chaos !!

Goodbyes and thank yous were said and we made our way to check in. They were pretty slow, particularly at security. It is such a pain, but I'd much rather go through all of that and know that everything possible to ensure my safety has been done.

As it turned out by the time we were finished at security it was almost boarding time. So some rushed purchases were made, and we made it to the gate. I was starting to feel a little better as well - and hoping that I would make it through the flight okay.

The thought of my own bed kept me going.

Winds of change

Well gosh darn it - I haven't been here for what seems like eons.

I have been taking photos and making mental notes to update life's happenings, but woops.

This time last year I was an emotional mess which resulted in making what now seems like the dumbest decision in my life. However, life goes on and in the past 12 months I have experienced many new things. New jobs, new cities, new journeys, new friends and new beginnings.

But those winds of change have blown in again and unsettled barely formed plans. Christchurch has been farewelled, and home looks like it could be further north than ever before - in this country at least.

Sometimes this seems like a half baked idea, but then I think..."My job was just not doing it for me anymore, and the likelihood of my contract being extended past the end of the year felt pretty remote. So best to cut bait and run now ahead of everyone else hitting the job market" I also don't think I ever considered that Christchurch would be my forever home - though I am open to returning if the time was right.

We had some winter weather - even a teeny bit of snow - not enough to cause chaos, or even to hang around for long and look pretty, but snow after all. Another new experience.

We had a spur of the moment road trip to Dunedin (for lunch) as you do. If I had realised how close this great city was to Christchurch I would have made many more regular trips. We found this yarn-bombed tree.

and this on the way back

Spring was definitely in the air over our last few weeks in Christchurch, but we ended up missing the best part of our beloved rental property's garden -the Magnolia tree and Cherry trees coming into flower.

...and definitely going to miss this drive to work,

and the fun times with new friends. It's been great. What will the next 12 months bring ?

Haere ra Ingarangi, ka hoki tatou

Farewell England, we will be back

It all got too much for me, the money, the waiting, the uncertainty - even the wretched decision making. But the decision has been made and with a real heavy heart we're sticking with the choice we made.

We left Suffolk yesterday after having been to Ipswich the day before to send some boxes of extra bits and pieces home ahead of us (hopefully). It was a long sad drive full of regret and indecision. We paid one last visit to Framlingham to donate some more clothes and books to the East Anglia Children's Hospice shop and get something to eat from the market. Then off to Shipston we went (the looong way).

We stopped on the motorway to take some photos of the glorious colours that the leaves are turning, and then headed first for Leamington to have afternoon tea with some cousins we just kept missing other times we had stayed there. it was great to meet them and share some of our experiences, tinged with sadness that it had happened so close to the end. Then out for dinner and back to Shipston for the night.

Today, we left our hosts to head south to Heathrow. It has been fun unravelling some family tree mysteries and identifying faces from old photos together. It had been suggested that we go to Harry Potter World on our way, but we decided against it since the tickets had to be bought in advance and were for timed entry...what if we got lost and didn't get there in time ?

So instead, after a quick trip back to Leamington for some shopping (only lip balm it turned out) we headed south through the Cotswolds....and made a detour to Chedworth to see the Roman Villa. That National Trust membership we bought at our visit to Montacute House back in July has been well worth it. Parking is pretty minimal at Chedworth, and a lot of what you see is just remaining walls. But the heritage centre is truly amazing. Walking on metal and wooden platforms suspended above the most amazing mosaic floors. There are a few glimpses of mosaic floors as well in the bath house, but most exciting is the area - now re-hidden under the grass where an incredible find of intact mosaic floor was just discovered in August 2014 - last month.

Then before we turned east to come back to London we went to hunt down a spot that was on our bucket list.

Who knew we were this close to home !

But soon we'll be closer. We're leaving tomorrow, it's time to rebuild...and I am already planning how and when I am going to get back here. We've done so much, but there is still so much left to do and explore, it can't truly actually be the end.