I have been in NZ for over a month now and I feel like I am getting the hang of it. People that really know me know that I’m a pretty sensitive soul and as I get older I am getting better at recognizing that in myself and learning to nurture that part of me better. I also know that it takes a long time for me to really “arrive” at a place. My body and to some degree my mind can travel anywhere but it seems to take a while for a soul to really arrive. As the philosopher, Douglas Adams said “No matter how fast the body travels, the soul only travels at the speed of an Arcturan Mega-Donkey” – OOlan Colluphid”. People use words like “landing” and “arriving”. This really applies to me also. The transition from one place or mindset to another is something I have always found a bit stressful and the stress then makes me act out old habits and is generally exhausting. It can really take me out of the moment and I can be ungrounded. NZ so far has been everything I have wanted, getting what I want is a strange thing for me, being happy was not my normal so. I am always working towards the ideal that I deserve to be happy. Compared to 6 years ago I am so much better at it but at times of stress, I can forget that and fall back into old habits and thought patterns. Depression is a real insidious influencer that knows all your “buttons” better than you know yourself.
Being greeted and accepted into a loving family as one of their own means so much. Kiwi people in general also are just so open and generous with their time. Having friends that have moved over at similar times to us is great to be able to follow and build our friendships here and Gabby’s friends, as they did in the UK have welcomed me with open hearts. The pace of life here is much calmer, conversations easier, I find there are a lot fewer motives behind conversations. People seem happy, I like to say at the moment “they are like the Irish but without the misery”. This is not totally true though, Kiwis have a very strong sense of self and identity, just really don’t need to shout about it. In fact, there is very little shouting really. It is great to be out of the UK “news cycle”. News here is not about fear-mongering as much. You can listen to or read the news and it does not cause massive anxiety and it is easy enough to avoid it altogether. NZ radio is a lovely mix of good music and good conversation. The weather is a mix of (at the moment) mostly nice sunny days, some overcast and sometimes there is rain. Sometimes it rains so hard you can hear and see nothing else.
I still can feel London a bit in my bones, I’m still vibrating from all that noise. It is so much quieter here. The air does not taste of smog, there is not constant traffic noise, the nights are darker. You can hear the birds. Nature is so much closer. It being summer here does help but so far everything is as I hoped it would be. Of course, it is not all paradise, some things are very expensive but you adjust accordingly.
I have put out some feelers for work and hopefully some projects will come in, it is a quiet time of year at the moment as it is still the summer holidays.
Converting the Van has taken a LOT longer than we expected but we are getting there and I am very happy with it. Mike has very generously donated us his van, Gabby and I finally agreed on the name Jackie (after Jackson Pollock)
We are ready for our first trip in the van. She is far from finished but the bare bones are there. It has taken longer than expected but I guess we are not in a mad rush and it has been a real learning experience. We are hitting the road today, we are heading north! I am excited to see more of this country.
