IngStina

Keep us waiting too long, Ian, and we may not be ladies anymore.

Baby75

Foot tapping impatiently, Come on Ian we are waiting

victoria24

stumbled accross this thread and love the narrative ian, you sound like an ace family
more please before you publish your memoirs and I'll have to pay for it!

Ian & Sharon

Well onwards and upwards, so I thought I’d phone my Dad again and see when he was going to come down? The phone started to ring and then I herd my father’s voice, hi Dad I said, how are you? Fine came the reply, he then told me that he was busy and he’d ring me back latter! I asked when he was coming down and he said in a few days, great, my own Dad could not be arsed, at this point I was on a big low and started to get very emotional. What could I do now I was at a complete lose end, so in times like this there’s only one place to go, yep the pub! I got my coat and started the walk to my local, now I’d not been in for just under a year and the people there knew Sharon more than me as I’d only lived in St Helens for a couple of years, I was “Sharon’s husband” so the people who drank in there were not my close mates just people who I knew through Sharon and her sister. I walked in and it was like I’d just left, it was 4pm and the same people were there, sat in the same places drinking the same drinks eating the same crisps! It was quite bizarre! I ordered my pint of carling, the bloke behind the bar said he’d not seen me for a while. I told him that I’d been living in New Zealand for the past 10 months, he just said “oh I bet that was nice” just as I was about to tell him all about it he turned round and walked off, ok fine I thought. Then I herd the voice of Billy, Billy was a good friend of Debbie and came to the night doo of our wedding, he seamed made up to see and asked how I was and how the trip was? I started to tell him and after a few minutes could tell by his eyes that he had switched off, what was the point in telling how it was when people did not want to listen. It did surprise me that people did not want to know how we’d got on, but if you think about it there are a lot of people who have had the opportunity to move countries and haven’t, and there are more who just have not had the opportunity and wish they could, how lucky were we to have been given the chance to experience a different way of life, I knew how lucky we had been I just hoped Sharon would come to her senses and give me the nod to go and book the flights!
After a couple of pints I started the walk back to Debbie’s, Ian was meeting me there to take me to his, I had time to ring Callum and arrange to go and see him before he turned up.
Ian picked me up and it was like I’d never been away, you can do that with some people, you know not speak for ages and then when you do talk everything just falls in to place, well that’s what I’m like with Ian. He’s a funny bloke with a witty and direct way of explaining things, if your in the wrong he’d tell you and call you a prick. But if you were right he’d back you up 100% at the end of the day he was just a good mate. We got to his and he said that some of the lads were going to pop in, great I thought but there was a couple of them who I’d not talked since I’d left. I thought it would be great to see them but at the end of the day the closeness had sort of gone because they not been bothered to stay in touch, people who have gone through this will understand, it is quite a strange feeling.
So that night was ok, yep just ok, we played video games had a few beers and a couple of joint. At the end of the night I asked Ian was that a typical night now? He said yes and went in to the details why, it seemed that the young kids down town were always trying to prove them selves and it was not worth going to the pub, you didn’t go out on your own and walking back from the pub by yourself was a definite no no! People had been stabbed and being beaten up was a every night accurance and not just left for Fridays, the” hoodie” ruled! So they now take turns going round to each others house to play on the “play station”. So this was what I was going to be doing on my Friday night from now on, I’d rather be having a bbq even if it was in rainy Auckland.

Baby75

Whoo Ian Nice home comming,

please, please dont leave it so long for the next bit

IngStina

Bump

Trixie_b

There is a whole heap of people here desperate for you to tell us! come on, next installment please

pleccy2000

Great story, I've just read through the entire thing again. Please tie it up for us!

Ian & Sharon

Hi Pleccy, are you now in NZ?

Anyway here's some more!

Well that morning Sharon came to her own conclusion and told me to book the flights back to New Zealand, I was made up but knew deep down that this would now be my last few days in England; I knew England’s green and pleasant land was not so green and certainly not pleasant. What ever happened to us from now on I knew that we or should I say I will not be returning even if going back to NZ was not the right answer we would move somewhere different, perhaps Italy who knows!
The first thing I did was check my watch to make sure it was the right time not only to call Rhys but to also call the shippers and Robbie, Rhys as expected was made up and told me to get back to him with some dates and he’d take things from there, same with Robbie he told me to ring him when I knew when I’d be travelling down to Christchurch. I rang a few travel agents and got a couple of quotes, bloody hell more money this had turned out to be quite an expensive “blip”.
I did not book anything just got an idea of flight times and which would be best for us, I could not book anything because we needed to tell Sharon’s Mum & Dad first, at the end of the day it was the right thing to do. I asked Sharon to tell them as it would be better that it come from her, “thanks’” she said. Sharon’s Dad knew what was going on and when she told him it did not come as a surprise, he said that he would go and meet Syl from work and let her know of our plans. Well those 20 minutes dragged and I knew that when she came back it would be me that would take the blame but was not expecting the actual comment! Just then the door opened and there she was, it was raining and she’d been at work since 5am so you can imagine not only how she looked but how she must have felt. She looked directly at me, straight in the eyes and said “your doing my head in” all I could say was “sorry” as she brushed passed me to go upstairs, a few minutes latter I could hear a faint sound of crying. What could we do we had to tell her and could not leave it until the last minute at least we know had a date to work too and could plan our second escape from the UK.

IKlapwijk

I've only just come across this thread!

This has been the best and longest coffee I've had whilst reading this!!!
Good luck and please write more - can't wait to see what happens!!

Isabelle.xx

Baby75

more please, like now lol

great stuff Ian

Bobs Chocolate

Me too. I want to read the story from the beginning but the first page is almost intimidating so much to read! And I have not even gone through all the picture threads.

Trish-n-McGill

Started reading this in the wee small hours........read a bit more over breakfast......and the final bits over coffee...........then it stopped! Like many others it seems, I'm hanging on your every word and want to know how the outcome was arrived at.......
(PS. If you want a proofreader before you go to print, Ian, I'm your man (well, woman) )

anniiee

Just came accross this thread and had to read the whole thing !! brilliant story.....please tell more

Trixie_b

hurry up Ian!