Sunday 22 January 2017

Our New Zealand Move - Week 1 Update

Well here we are in New Zealand starting our new lives and I have found time to do a quick update.

The trip over was all going well with a baby who slept for a lot of it and had no trouble with his ears from what we could tell until trying to land at Wellington airport.  Winds of 145 km per hour saw our first landing aborted and on our second attempt which was bumpier than the first Kingsley woke up and promptly vomited all over his father.  Thankfully it had been a little while since he had fed and it was not too dramatic.  But the second attempt at landing was also aborted and our plane was diverted to Christchurch.  On arrival in Christchurch we were advised that we could not be cleared by customs and quarantine and therefore had to spend the next 2.5 hours in the plane.  Thankfully it was a half full flight so it was not too claustrophobic and our ticket had included a meal just after take off from Brisbane.  We had also packed snacks and I had some bottles of expressed breast milk so none of us were left hungry.
After a few hours on the plane we took off again and this time landed in Wellington with not too many bumps along the way about 3 hours later than expected.  Thankfully our dog Jessie was not on our flight and was due to land a bit later so her flight was only slightly later than predicted.
By the time we passed through the airport, collected all of our bags, waited for Dad to pick us up, had dinner, picked up Jessie and did the 2.5 hr drive to Mum and Dads it was after midnight.  It was a long and exhausting day but it was done.

Since arriving we have been quite busy looking for a house to rent, Hubby has been looking for a job and has interviews lined up, we have been up to the farm and inspected our shed in person and are very happy with the result.  All the trees that we have planted over the years are growing well and bushing out nicely and our paddock grass was waiting for the hay makers to come and cut it which has now been done.  The weather has been quite changeable with showers, wind, sunny days and mild temperatures which is nice after the hot weather we left and what we have been told we left behind.



Jessie is really enjoying having lots of space to run around on again as mum and dad have 5 acres and we have been taking her up to our farm when ever we go.

Jessie sitting at the front of the open bay of our shed

Here are some obligatory baby photos of our little man.  He is a real talker and loves to talk and roll over.



He has been enjoying cuddles with Nanna and Poppa.

Having a laugh with Nanna

Watching TV with Poppa
We also took him to visit his Great Grandmother (my dads mum) who turns 90 this year.
We will be going to see his other Great Grandparents on the 30th and lots of other relatives that week too.


Since arriving at Mum and Dads we have been spending time out in the veggie garden picking strawberries by the kilo every few days and beans by the bucketful.  There has also been cucumbers, gherkins, plums, apricots, snow and sugar snap peas and beetroot to harvest and enjoy.  Rather than start a veggie garden of our own in pots at our rental or up at the farm straight away we are just sharing what Mum and Dad have grown (which is plenty for all of us) and we are planting out enough winter veggies for all of us.
Mum and I have also been preserving the harvest.  Beans have been blanched and frozen, chutney and pickles are being made, fruit stewed and bottled and I have got some gherkins fermenting.  Later this week Dad will be killing a sheep as well so having had to get rid of all our food before moving and start from scratch again it is nice to know we will have home grown meat and vegetables to reduce our food bill as we look to build up our pantry staples again.

Lacto fermented gherkins
I am hoping to catch up on some blog reading this week but we will see as I keep thinking I will and other things take priority.


16 comments:

  1. How lovely for you to be "home" Fiona, with your own little family but amongst your wider family. Kingsley looks like he's a happy and healthy little fellow and how lucky to be close to his grandparents as he grows. I can't wait to see what you do with your land. What an opportunity! Meg:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Meg we are very blessed and there are lots of plans in the wings for the farm.

      Delete
  2. What an ordeal with your flights but that's the one thing you can rely on when travelling ... plans change that are out of your control. Kingsley looks so cute and I love that you had a photo of him with his Great Grandmother. See if you can get a print of this and post it in the mail to her (snail mail is so nice to receive). Sharing your parents garden makes so much sense at this stage so you can do lots of planning with your land and house build and of course spending time with Kingsley too. Glad to hear you have started your new life in NZ....seems like a long time ago when you talked about it first on your blog. Good to see you are all doing well dog included. Regards Kathy A Brisbane

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kathy we just had to roll with it. Sadly my Grandmother has macular degeneration and is nearly blind but we will visit her as often as we can which should be at least every 3 weeks. We are off to see my other grandparents (yep I still have 3 alive) next week.

      Delete
  3. It was good reading your post. Cute kid enjoying with his grands. Both are feeling happy:)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Lovely to hear that the trip to NZ is done and dusted and you all arrived safe and well....lovely pics..Kingsley is very cute. Looking forward to all your updates as you set up house. Exciting times ahead Fiona. :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Suzie there is lots going on so when I have the time I will keep you all updated.

      Delete
  5. Thanks for taking the time to update us all. Your little Kingsley is so cute. Enjoy the time with family.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great to hear that you all made it safely. I bet Jessie was glad to get out. You timed your move perfectly as the weather in SEQ is disgustingly hot and humid and on the Sunshine Coast there has been very little rain - probably more in Kilcoy. When it's like this I dream of a move to Tassie or NZ!!
    Little Kingsley looks very happy. I'm so pleased it's all working out as you have planned everything so well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jessie was very happy to see us that is for sure and she has settled in well. We considered a move to Tassie but then we would not be near either of our families so that did not make much sense.

      Delete
  7. Doesn't he look like his Great-grandma? Both my kids inherited the blue eyes of their grandparents - one from each family. So lovely to see all those new connections, taking form.

    Here's hoping the rest of the change goes smoothly - like finding a nice job soon. Looking forward to seeing how you guys find your home in NZ.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Chris yes the eyes come from her to my Dad to me and now onto Kingsley, but he got his fathers dimple chin and nose we think.

      Delete
  8. Very very nice post you wrote!!! I love all those beautiful pictures. Kingsley looks so cute and happy!!! Keep enjoying each other:)
    Jessi

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is so exciting! Hoping that jobs get found soon and you can progress to building on the farm soon and moving in permanently. What generous people your folks must be to have you stay and share - lovely.
    Since you have moved I got to doing some research about moving to NZ from Australia. It seems simpler than I thought with no visa requirements and NZ have a job shortage in many areas (they even publish a list!). The thought of moving across is niggling in the back of my mind.

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear your thoughts...
Thanks for taking the time to comment