Good Morning New Zealand! Land of the long white cloud! | Migration Tales

Wow! What a journey! I’m not going to lie. I still have this feeling that I’m going to wake up and realise that I had actually been dreaming. Instead, I’m still sitting in a Home Affairs office, fast asleep because I’ve been there for hours waiting for nothing to happen. Yeah being here is weird – in the sense that I didn’t think it would EVER happen! I started making plans for if things don’t work out – but here we are!

When I was 18, I visited New Zealand and I fell in love.

I fell in love with everything about this place. I remember sitting on the plane to Sydney on my way home, just sobbing my heart out. I cried and I vowed I’d be back.

When I got home, I applied to law school but I didn’t get in. If I had, I would have moved back immediately. As life often does, it showed me that my plans are not necessarily meant to be and so my life carried on.

Never give up on your dreams

Seventeen years later, a dream I had never given up on has finally come true. Just after midnight, the plane descended and I saw the lights down below. The city that will be home. We got back to our accommodation and I had a nap while the husband entertained the toddler. At 5, I woke up and it was his turn. Oden finally went to sleep just before 8am.

So I was sitting in the lounge listening to the happiest birds singing – watching the garden as night turned to day. Being Capetonian means seeing the green grass was a little bit shocking. It took me a minute to adjust to the colour! I’m sitting here alone, trying to take in every second of this first day.

The first day of the rest of our lives.

It’s weird isn’t it. The feeling of peace that can come from a new beginning. Somehow everything feels hopeful and filled with excitement for what is to come. New Zealand certainly will not be without challenges but I’m ready to tackle those on.

Saying good-bye to our life in Cape Town, our family, our friends, our home, our “normal” was so hard.

It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. Saying goodbye to my house was heart breaking. It is just a house but it’s the house my son was born in. It’s the house we started our married life in. It’s the house we grew our family in.

It was literally my dream house. It ticked ALL the boxes…and now, I’ve traded in that dream house for the dream life.

I’m so surprisingly calm right now. There is no panic. There is no stress. There are no what ifs.

It’s probably the jet lag, tomorrow I will no doubt be facing my new reality with different worries and concerns but for today, I’m just taking in this moment. For this moment right here, is perfect!

Hello New Zealand.

Thank you for welcoming us with open arms!