Anniversary Day

THEN

We arrived in NZ on 31st August 1997. Adrian had been here just on two months ahead of us and in that time had bought a house and a car and been very lonely and miserable. The flight from SA to Perth/Sydney was not too bad as the boys slept most of the way. In Sydney they woke and the flight to Wellington was a bit more difficult. We only had two seats between us and they gave me “baby slop” for Colin who was 20 months old. We landed around midnight and were met by a wonderful couple who helped me with the boys and the luggage and stayed with me whilst Adrian got the car. Even at that time of night I could feel the freedom – I wasn’t at all scared. We drove home to Whitby to our new house and all tried to go sleep. The next day, Adrian took us into Wellington to look around. I was struck by the beauty of the city.

We slowly settled into life in NZ, discovering new things all the time. I was very sad to start with and cried every day, but soon found myself crying less and less. We met people, generally other South Africans and slowly settled into life in our new country. We almost had to learn a new language when we cam here as there were many expressions that were foreign to us. We also had to discover new foodstuffs and favourite brands.

Ross started at Mana Montessori and in no time I was chairperson of the committee and building new premises. Then Mom and Dad arrived and within six weeks were found a house for them. Whitby was hard to live in as not many people were very friendly. We joined South Africans in Wellington and soon enough I was the chairperson there.

Ross started school at Adventure School and Colin went to Adventure Kindy after a not very pleasant year at Montessori. Both of them loved their new schools. In the meantime, Adrian left the BNZ and started working at NBNZ. The next thing I found myself working there too as a PA to Adrian’s senior manager.


We slowly realised that we were outgrowing our house and started looking around. By a stroke of luck, we managed to buy a lovely house in Tawa in a private deal through someone I had met at NBNZ. Colin started school at Greenacres and Ross went to Year 2. By the end of Year 2 we realised that Colin was not succeeding through a series of useless teachers and moved him to Redwood School.

The Adrian left NBNZ and went to Westpac which was a thoroughly bad move. After three years of job hunting, he moved to DataMail. In the meantime, I was made redundant from NBNZ and at the same time was appointed a part-time teacher at Tawa College. Ross moved on from Greenacres to Tawa Intermediate as did Colin. Mom and Dad moved to a house closer to us.

We became New Zealand citizens as soon as we could (in 2000) and happily swore allegiance to the Queen and all her heirs etc etc. We also know the national anthem better than many others. We have seen much of New Zealand – most of the South Island and the North Island more than half way up – in fact more than most New Zealanders. We have also travelled overseas to Australia, South Africa, Singapore, America and Fiji. In fact, I almost feel that I’m nearly home when we get onto an AirNZ plane.

Adrian is a Lions member and has been to a number of conventions; in fact, this year he is a Cabinet member. I discovered Scrapbooking and made many friends through it.

The last ten years have treated us well and in the words of a Circle Journal I took part in – we took a gamble coming halfway round the world, leaving everything and everyone we knew behind to a country we had only seen few photos of …and won! This country is safe and secure and an ideal place in which our children can grow up. We live in a pleasant suburb that has walkways and our house is within easy walking distance to the schools and the train station. There is an excellent train service into the City . We have a lovely house which we are slowly repainting. It may not be the tidiest house in the world but it’s comfortable and spacious and suits our needs. We have five bedrooms, two of which are downstairs which are ideal for guests or for when our sons are a little older. The family room has a beautiful view down the valley to the sea and we have a beautiful view across the rest of Tawa. Are we glad we came? Without a doubt

NOW