[kokopeli]

This is a toughie, but it’s one I’ve been mulling over for a while. I think the fact that I’m 40 this year has made me all reflective…

We left the UK about a year ago and have been in NZ for about eight months. For us (that’s Mrs K, me and three kids) moving to NZ represented a chance to ‘start again’ in a new place with a clean slate. If that sounds like we had messed things up in the UK, please accept my word that we hadn’t. We had a nice house, lived in a great place and had a good lifestyle. We just fancied a change and wanted to have an adventure.

Whether or not you change as a result of living in a different country is really hard to say. Whatever you do, you’re still you. You still see the same face in the mirror. I guess you still have the same habits, fears and insecurities. Maybe a few more because living in a foreign place is different and it does take time to adjust.

The hardest things for us were not knowing any people and not knowing where anything was. We bought decent map books, picked up leaflets everywhere we went and talked to pretty much everyone we met. If we parked next to people on campsites, we got out of the van and said Hi. If we sat next to people on trains and planes, we talked to them. We called Glenda when we got to Kerikeri and went over for coffee and muffins (thanks again G). We stopped our campervan and brewed coffee for very tired two cyclists at the top of the Cardrona Pass. We wouldn’t have done any of those things in the UK. We’d have been too busy, too worried, too ….. us.

Having been in Christchurch for a while now, we go and see things if they’re on because we appreciate the fact that people have made the effort to come to town. Lloyd Cole, the Penis guys, Swan Lake. It’s relatively easy to do things like that in the UK, but somehow, we never did. We also make a point of getting outdoors and doing loads of things as a family. Yesterday, it snowed on the Southern Alps, so we drove out along the Arthur’s Pass because none of us have ever seen proper mountains in wintertime. I can recommend the pies from the Pie Shop in Sheffield on Highway 73 - they're fabulous if you’re ever that way!

Apologies if that's a bit if a ramble. Like I said, it's a really tough question