MattandJax

i know what you mean. My poor old dad is wheelchair bound and would never do the trip and i fear i may never see him alive again, but you have to make the best decisions you can. if we waited any longer i would be too old to emigrate. but he's got himself a lappy and with a bit of coaching is now a skyper. its a great way for us to keep in touch and actually see the person.

Wessa

Ive come to the conclusion, it's going to be easier to take a trip back to the UK and do the rounds in a year or so than wait for them to come to us.. Like you Jax, they are getting older now and the flight would be a struggle..

Thats good the old man can do that eh.. My dad/mum has just done the same.. I find it funny how i have to keep telling him to stop shouting.
I see more of my family via Skype than i did when i was in the UK..
It is nice to see them in person tho, just not the same..

shirl

Yes we skype too! Lots of rellies back there have it although my mum wouldn't know where to start and is deaf as well so I write her letters and ocassionally ring her and let her rabbit on about what she has been up to as she doesn't write due to arthritis. It's a shame that the phone's aren't easier to use for the hard of hearing, my family tried one that typed what you said but even my brother couldn't set it up so it was taken back to the shop. Surely there must be an invention somewhere to make life easier for those not savvy with technology!!

keeny

This is a great post Shirl, thank you We are planning our first trip back to Uk for next March for 3 wks, and really hope we get the same feeling.

shirl

Oh great, how long is it since you have been back?

Denise01292

Hi Shirl,

Nice to read your post. I'm feeling a bit unsettled at the mo. I don't think I'm home sick, but I do feel a bit people sick . Glad your happy and feeling positive.

Denise

keeny

we've been here 2 yrs next month. Left Uk on 15th July 2009. So by time we go back for this planned hol we'll have done the best part of 3 yrs here.

strange1

It was really nice reading about your trip back to the UK. My husband wants to go back to the UK as we have only been here 6months I think it is a bit of a waste of time & money So he is going to go back next May to see whats it's like I think he will be shocked I still want to give it atleast 2yrs yes I do miss my close friends who we still keep in contact with & have 2 lots of friends coming out this year. Lets hope next years trip helps him make his mind up!!!!

Batty

I'm reading this in Ireland. Arrived last Saturday and feel I'm only over the jet lag today (Thursday). My son's getting married in Sicily on 17 June so my return trip is Rome via Hong Kong and side trips to and from Ireland. I slept a total of 3 hours during the whole journey - 38 hours door to door. These journeys are like labour pains - you need at least three years to recover before doing it again

Anyway, I'm enjoying seeing my family but because of Facebook I feel I haven't missed much of their lives during the last three years (since I was last here) and it's really a case of catching up on cuddles

"Home" is out in the middle of nowhere - the nearest supermarket is 5 kms away - so it's very peaceful and very green, and doors are triple locked at night because of burglars The overhanging trees are beautiful but the narrow roads also get to me - going for a walk along a narrow windy road and hearing a car coming is really scary - which side should I stand on to be safe????

Unemployment is up this quarter to just under 15%, prices seem more expensive than in 2008, a yearly property tax (rates/council tax by another name) is being brought in next year, water charges are being brought in also (Irish people object as a matter of principle to water charges so it'll be interesting to see how that goes. It was attempted a few years back and had to be dropped). Electricity and home heating oil has doubled in price - my sister's electricity bill is €300 for two months and she says that seems to be what everyone is paying. That's twice what we pay.

Houses on sale for over €300k a couple of years ago have been standing empty since then and can now be bought for €125k from NAMA (the so-called Toxic Bank set up to take over the debts of the developers) if you'd like to live in an estate. Developments were half finished and abandoned so the poor souls who bought off plans are sitting in houses that are in the middle of a building site that might never be finished. This is common throughout the country.

There's lots of resentment of 'foreigners' fuelled by incidents like the one in the local paper about a gang of Polish men beating innocent people on the streets of our nearest big town.

My sister told me that our area is doing quite well because we've only had one suicide - there has been a bit of a suicide epidemic countrywide.

I've got just under two weeks to go and I'm already looking forward to being home. Mostly because hubby's there but also because I miss NZ. I miss my life there. I have asked myself if I'd live here again and my husband has always said that he'd like to come back sometime but I can't see myself here at all now. I miss the size of NZ and the birds and the smells. I love my job and my friends and I never got on here as well as I have over there so, apart from family, there's really no reason to want to come back.

Although people seem to stay the same when you leave, the world around them changes so it's not the same as you remember. If our prices are going up in NZ they're going up here too e.g petrol is around €1.50 a litre and diesl is €1.41. We complain about crime in NZ but a woman was beaten so badly she has a brain bleed, in a church, during the daytime only 7kms from us and it didn't even make the local paper never mind the national ones.

Living out here in the wop wops is pretty easy and apart from being aware that there's always someone waiting to take your stuff it's not all bad but this IS the wop wops so by its nature it's going to be better to live here. I made the mistake once of moving back from London because of how the family lives here but we couldn't afford that lifestyle so it was a very different life that we had. I'd never make that mistake again.

I think if anyone's feeling unsettled they should take a trip back before they make up their minds that NZ is crap and before they start telling everyone who will listen that it is. It really isn't.

ex geordie

We have been back in the UK for 3 weeks now after spending 7 years in NZ. We loved NZ but all the scenery and better weather can not compare to the good feelings of having your family close at hand .

shirl

You are still there after 3 weeks - I was ready after 2 to come back lol!!! Yes I agree family is a tie but I wonder whether the novelty of having you back will soon wear off! I hope not and I hope they appreciate you being there. It will be great to hear from you in say a year or so to see how things are progressing! I have a daughter and grandchildren there, a mother, a brother and sister and nieces and nephews and cousins but they are all so busy with their own lives I doubt they will notice we are on the other side of the world except when they need a cuddle or something! Skype for us is a godsend to see the rellies and it really is like having a visit with them. Hope all goes well for you, it was obviously the right thing for you to do.

shirl

Nice post Batty and totally agree that people should take a trip back and live there for a while before making such a big decision. It really is a case of those of us who have made the leap to move to another part of the world making a change in our lives and expectations and those others left home still doing the same thing on the same day, going to the same pub, club etc, seeing the same old same old. It is like going back in time isn't it! Like we have all done something and they are all stood still!

shirl

I was very homesick for a few years, that is why I waited so long to go back, nothing worse than going home while in that state as you look at it through rose coloured glasses. Best to be a little more settled before making the leap back and then look at it all in the cold light of day and question whether the first decision to move to another country was the right one! For me it was I am sure, BUT I do miss the history and the closeness of Europe but there is a big world waiting to be explored. Off to USA in October for a holiday to see our Son and family - now that is closer!!! Yay!!

Big Glen

HI
We are having a bit of a wobble here at the moment now the honeymoon feeling has worn off. Wife has settled well in her job but our Daughter is finding things a little hard although she has made a few mates .She is also in the school basket ball squad. I am struggling to find work. We are here on work visas due to wifes job offer was running out of time and it was the quickest option to get over in time.
We know things will be hard ...but worth it and have given ourselves 2 years to get settled and to see how things pan out.
It would be great to meet up with fellow brits in the area but I cant seem to find them ! Are we the only ones in Blenheim ?
Sure I miss my family but not UK that for sure. I love it here even tho I feel a little isolated form everyone so what Im trying to say is time will tell and hopefully life will workout ok for us here. We do plan on visiting family in the UK in a couple of years from now. I wonder if my opinoins will change of the uk when we visit ?

cappuccino

That's the exact reason why I am NOT going back to the UK - I am quite happy for my dysfunctional family to be 12,000 miles away