(Bed)Room with a View

This is the view which greets us when we open the curtains every morning. We are so lucky to have this house, and to have such a large amount of space. The birds sing constantly, though when they party on the roof wearing their Doc Martens, it is very loud! I have only seen a rabbit a couple of times, scampering across the orchard (which is the view from the kitchen sink) but that is still twice more than I had seen rabbits in our garden in Hemel! The kingfishers have a favourite perch in a tree near our first floor deck, which overlooks a pond. We can see them clearly at the moment, as that tree has no leaves, but they are in bud and will soon probably hide the birds. We have not seen the ducklings lately and fear there may be only a couple left. There is also a pair of mandarin ducks that rest on our grass at times. And the streams are streaming with eels….!

The weather is getting warmer. We were in a shop today and it was quite strange to see spring bedding plants on display next to the Christmas cards. It can be cold at night still and very few NZ houses have heating. We just have a fire in the living room – don’t know how we’ll cope in real winter here! Expect lots of requests to send out blankets and hot water bottles. There are also many more bugs than at home. We have a cockroach or two here most days, which is normal. They are much larger than the little ones that we had on the night train in Vietnam. The first night here, one crawled across the top of the cooker while I was cooking our first meal, which was a little alarming. Also, one climbed up Anna’s (bare) leg while watching TV the other night. You probably heard the scream actually. (Have I put anyone off visiting yet??) But it is fine, and we cope - with a large can of bug spray!

Joe is the first of us to get into a routine. He is at the Boys College, as per uniform photo. Having the other Joe there really helps and they are in most classes together. Joe is even back into the routine of homework.. The choices of subject here are amazing and seem more creative to our UK minds. He has social studies and business studies lessons and could learn Japanese, or Spanish, carving with wood or bone, philosophy and / or all sorts of sports and IT related subjects. Teenagers can drive from 15 here, and when we pick Joe up, the car park is full of teenage boys climbing into their cars, some of them have surf boards strapped to the roof and are probably heading straight to the beach! So much testosterone in so little space! But Joe looks the part with his surfy school bag and growing hair….

Anna has a part time job working at a green grocers along the highway. She’ll be working all this weekend and then every Saturday and has already worked out how much she’ll be earning and what clothes she can then afford to buy. Her enthusiasm for the job is admirable as it is not the type of job she was searching for. She has applied for a Diploma in Fashion and Creative Design at the Bay of Plenty Poly, which she is also very enthusiastic about. I don’t understand how they can take 16 year olds but they do! This will start in February and Anna can expect an interview sometime before Christmas. Anna now has passed her theory driving test and is driving with L plates whenever she can. Our car, like most here, is automatic so it is easier, but she is progressing well and it suits her. In six months she’ll be able to apply for her restricted license. She’ll be able to drive in the day time, but not carry passengers unless one of them is an adult who is an experienced, and sober, driver. This will give her much more freedom.

Simon starts work on Tuesday (Monday is a BH) which is a week earlier than we had already planned. This has been his choice though as we are ready for work now – and we need the money! He has been in to meet his team and says that they all seem very nice and that they are very busy. He even has his own office. Can you imagine every social worker having their own office at Apsley?? What would DR say?

I am waiting till Anna is settled before starting to work myself. We are so far out (man!) that she would be completely isolated in the day time. I was getting a bit frustrated that I did not receive responses to the few calls and emails I made. It is also difficult to find out about work with people with LD – there is certainly no equivalent to a CLDT that we can find. However, today I have applied for a Community Support Co-Ordinator’s post. It does sound like it is mainly with children who has physical disabilities but am sure I have transferable skills and all that, and the pay is better than I thought. They should snap me up!?

The rugby season here is coming to a close and the Carter boys plus Joe and I are going to the domestic cup final on Saturday in Hamilton. There will be many famous names playing. (Good to hear that Sarries finally had a good result against Bath – that’s always a good fixture. ) Then it will be all cricket and guess that this will take up most of our weekends over the next few months. The Carter boys have made their own wicket - measured it, mowed it, rolled it and everything, and am sure it will get a lot of use.


I have also made some friends with other British women who have just moved out here. I had been concerned that ex pats may be very anti – British but have met people with the same open minded attitude we have about coming here. That, and a shared longing for Monsoon…..! As well as being able to chat about shared experiences, other people have brought more stuff out with them so we have been benefiting from that too. Being our age, their children are inevitably all younger than ours, but may be lots of babysitting opportunities for Anna.

Having the Carters here is fantastic and we certainly could not have done this without them. They have been a great practical help, good people to put up with our silly questions, and great company too ( we are about to host our first BBQ). We do miss family and friends though, and being able to keep in touch so easily is a real help. So please keep the emails coming! I am nowhere near as homesick as I feared I might be. This is a lovely place to live.


Emma