Today is our second Easter Sunday in New Zealand. We watched a shimmering gold sunrise on the sea through the Kauri trees, listened to bird calls in the dead-still forest, had a gentle, leisurely breakfast and contemplated our blessings.
I am glad we are over the one-year milestone, which was a bitter-sweet bump, and now we listen to the gentle hum of our days. The last two months were among the happiest I can remember in a long time. “Pinch me! Pinch me!” I want to yell. Things can’t possibly be this... lovely.
We feel we have integrated fully in our community and that has helped speed along the at-home feeling. Of course, living in a spectacular area helps, but establishing friendships and playing a role in community life has brought us a sense of belonging we didn’t expect to get so soon. We have found it by volunteering at the kids’ schools, planting school gardens and going to working bees and community meetings. To me it feels like “This is what my life is meant to look like”.
I did a community education course for six weeks and am about to join Fitter, Faster Stronger, a boot camp I am certain to despair over. I tried one session last month and nearly died! It was only the shouts of “Come on sistah!” from the other participants that dragged me along from one obstacle to the next.
“Come on, keep going, suck it up!” is a sentiment I have come to associate with NZ. Teamwork, support and gentle motivation are big here. I am not much of a team player, but I could quickly get used to this. It feels like being carried on the shoulders of giants – anything is possible.
We have spent weekends going from one social event to the next, the best being a three-day camping trip with a group of friends.
Some of our favourite things after this time: the public libraries; parks; Piha beach; Tawharanui; Matakana; Goat Island; community education; school; babysitting clubs; friendly people; community-orientated people; untidy houses (because no-one has time to clean them); body-boarding in the warm, warm NZ sea; word of mouth; empty beaches; cleanliness; good coffee.
Things that aren’t easy: communicating with people on the other side of the world gets tricky with different time zones. We didn’t anticipate this before we moved here, but it’s true. People don’t want to talk early in the morning before their day starts, and night-time can get tiring.
Making time for family and friends overseas, when you have a full life in the present, is hard and needs some work. We now have a double friendship circle: the close friends we left behind in SA, and the new friends we have made here. Managing both feels impossible at times. Luckily Facebook helps.
Letting go of old ways is also hard at times. I still find myself converting prices to rands and muttering: “Rip-offffff! These New Zealanders are being ripped off, I tell yer!” And as a matter of principle I don’t buy the item. Life is really expensive here compared to SA and don’t let anyone tell you any different!
It is time to go walking at Piha. K found a new track there yesterday so now we all go exploring. Photos to come soon.
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