one year on

It has been over a year now that we have been living in the land of the long white cloud. Though it's mostly been a brilliant, eye-opening time, it has by no means been a totally easy ride. We moved to a country literally at the other end of the Earth where we have no family and knew almost no-one. We had to find ourselves a place to live, buy a car and I had to get myself a job. We had over two months with no furniture and possessions except the clothes we bought over in our bags on the plane because the container we shipped was hugely delayed. I was lucky enough to land an amazing, dream job after just a couple of weeks and we found a sweet (albeit very compact) apartment to rent in a great location. I've missed my friends and family back home a crazy amount. There's been so many moments I wish I could have shared with them or just popped around to see them for a cup of tea and a chat, but I've also forged new friendships and met some awesome people along the way.

We live a short drive away from some of the most beautiful scenery on Earth and have stunning beaches on our doorstep. Some things we've found to be more affordable such as rent and childcare, and other things to be extortionately expensive in comparison to what we were used to in the UK- food and drink, both in the supermarket and also in restaurants and bars, furniture, clothes, books and basically everything bought from a shop is at a premium. This has meant we've had to learn to find our fun without much in the way of retail therapy or eating out- hello picnics on the beach, lots of home baking and barbecues with friends. Even more so now Rose has arrived and we are surviving on just Curt's salary.

We've experienced a warm Summer and also the more rainy but still mild months of Winter. There have been stressful times and joyful times. We've gained a child and there's been moments when we would have given anything to have our family close at hand to babysit for an evening, to be able to pick up the phone for an impromptu chat or to ask for some advice (the 11 hour time difference can be a bitch). One thing we will be forever grateful for is the existence of Skype, it makes being so far away seem feasible and our parents are still able to know their grandchildren and see them often.

Am I glad we made the move? Absolutely. In spite of some of the more challenging aspects I would do it all again in a heartbeat. Home for me will always be the green fields of England and I'm pretty sure we'll return there for good one day, but for now we're enjoying the adventure. I feel proud that we are giving our children a chance to see and experience something of the world.