3 months in Australia

 So...

Here we are back in the UK.

We spent a wonderful 3 months in Australia with daughter (and new husband), nephew, his wife, my grand niece, friends and their children and our new in-laws. Rekindling relationships after being isolated since January 2020. Strange weather though as it rained almost non-stop. Grey skies and later towards June really cold frosty mornings.

Didn't stop us doing any bushwalks and as usual I got leeches! How, I don't know as no-one else did. 

Moving from house to house spending time with all was great and so much fun. We loved every minute.

It was an odd feeling not having to wear masks, show vaccination certificates, scan into places that we visited as it was the norm in NZ. At Auckland airport we had to have a negative PCR 72 hours prior to the flight, show vaccination certificates, scan into the airport.  Paper work, paper work, paper work. I thought we'd get the same treatment at Sydney airport, but no, they simply waved us through.

I had a surprise birthday party arranged by Ashlee (our daughter) on the Saturday of the weekend we arrived. I kept wondering why no-one was coming to see us or invite us over as normally there is a bombardment of invites. Turns out she had been very stern with instructions that NO-ONE must let on what she'd arranged. 

Hubby mentioned on the Saturday morning (we arrived Friday) that he wanted to take a drive somewhere, can't remember where, probably a garden centre or something. He kept dilly dallying which I found somewhat strange but never questioned it. 

Lol, well when we arrived (not a car in sight) but as I walked in the door "surprise!"

And then there was the wedding...it finally happened after being postponed twice. Ashlee was determined that we would be there on her special day. Thankfully Traevis was able to fly in from UK and so as a family we were once again together for 4 weeks of togetherness and happiness. This will be on another post.

We watched Eurovision and dressed up for the occasion. 

Everyone kept us very busy.

After being isolated for so long from everyone we love, it was the best time ever.

Farewell New Zealand

Tomorrow we leave New Zealand, spending 3 months in Australia before flying back to UK to live.

Future plans

I approached my old sleep lab in the UK last year about a job when I knew for definite we were going back.

Keen to see and catch up with my colleagues. Some new faces as to be expected but mostly the "old guard" are still there.

Queue the new head. Quite a force to be reckoned with. 

We had a chat last week. My word, the changes. The sleep lab being dragged into the future lol.

Anyways much to my surprise, after the chat about what's happened, is happening and the future plans, she asked if I would start working for them remotely as soon as possible, not only reviewing patients but also mentoring some of the junior members of staff. Eh?

I'm not unkeen (if that's a word) but it was not what I expected. And, I still have a full time job here as head of a department. So, no, it's not possible. But once I leave for Australia it is something I'd consider. I'd have to work at night as the time difference is considerable. But yeah, I'm open to it.

She said it was okay to live anywhere in the world and do this job. That statement blew my mind completely! This opens the doors to the possibility of living in two countries every year.

Amazing what's happening in the world these days. Although I shouldn't be surprised, I am.

2022

 Coming to NZ has been revelatory.

I knew I was coming back to complete a cycle but never imagined how deep I would dive. Thought it would be a bed of roses lol. It started off really well slowly descending into a very long "dark night of the soul" without me noticing. This mirrored my first physical incarnation as I acclimatised to being in a body. I initially felt the connection to Source which slowly slipped away as the denseness took over.

But this is not to say that NZ is a dark place. It isn't. It's just the place I needed to be to not only complete the cycle but also to know and experience the deep dive of lifetimes. It is time to go up and back to the space of being part of Source.

2022 feels like it will be lighter but as with 20/21 still need to be flexible as plans go awry. My human self experiences this as a disastrous situation. 

Living in the NOW is a hard lesson. I didn't realise how much I plan ahead. I feel myself getting anxious and overthinking instead of allowing.

Let go, let go and allow. Harder than I ever imagined.

Nothing about this past year and the move has proved as we planned it.  Everything is pretty much up in the air, except that we are to leave NZ. There is a deep pulsing to leave but where we'll be in the next year, isn't clear even though there is a plan in place.

At this stage, we are not even sure we will get to Australia for the 3 months as planned to catch up with family and friends and to attend Ashlee's wedding. Flights are booked for both Australia and UK but these have been cancelled in the past. Forcing/willing it to happen doesn't work any more.

I will probably look back at our time here with fondness but at the moment that's not a word I'd use.