Goodbyes - Part 2

April 2015 

Hi, Rach here. I figured it's about time that I say a little something. Here goes!

We're sitting in Dubai Airport at the moment. It's massive and fairly grand. We've completed the longest stretch of our journey, 14 odd hours from Brisbane. Our next flight should take approx 7 hours to Gatwick. We're really on our way now!

We had a lovely time in Brisbane catching up with Chris and Nicole and Korah, and we met Nova for the first time. Unfortunately both the girls were sick so they weren't themselves. While we were there we caught the train to the Goldie and hung out with Stace and Blair and Rhi which was very cool! We were both very mindful of making the most of the sunshine over there seeing as we might not get a lot of it for a while. 

Goodbyes - Part 1

April 2015 

It feels pretty strange right now.

We're unemployed and with no fixed abode. Our life in Wellington is over for now. The grand and decrepit 66 Central Terrace, where Rach and I found and fell in love with each other, is only a memory now. No more Hamish the cat, no catching the cable car home, no sitting on the sun drenched patio admiring that view.

I'm not at the heart of criminal law policy and politics. Rach isn't working for the dolphin killer oil company.  We both had huge and emotional farewells from our jobs, did our final flat clean up (a mammoth task carried out gradually over the course of a few weeks) and flew out of Wellington on Saturday 11 April to the Bay of Plenty.

We've even had our flat bond refunded in full (netting me a $5 win from a bet with Rach) so the formal Wellington ties have been severed. The life we had built in the capital has ended - for now at least.

We're now in a strange state of limbo - Wellington is over but London hasn't started - in a mix of excitement, trepidation, anxiety and sadness. We've had a few days' relaxation, catching up with family and wandering through the farm. And it's been a huge culinary week - saying hello and goodbye over many extravagant and delicious meals.

This afternoon we both said our goodbyes to our Te Puke family before hopping on a tiny little 20 seater from Tauranga to Auckland. Now our first few job applications have been fired off across the globe, and we're slowly working our way to London (via Whangarei and Brisbane). 

It's starting to feel more real.