Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit. I stared at the email. Your application for a 2021 Resident Visa has been approved. Holy shit. ARRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH. My insides flipped. I looked again, just to be sure. Really? I’d been waiting so long for this I wasn’t quite sure it was real. Oh but it was. I’m nowContinue reading “Residence Relief”
Tag Archives: nz
4 years in Aotearoa New Zealand (and counting)
I got reminded of my kiwi-versary today, by the first friend I made when moving here. She must have noted it down at some point, because she congratulates me every year. It’s not a date I have in my own calendar, or really plan on marking, but when I think about it, it’s a prettyContinue reading “4 years in Aotearoa New Zealand (and counting)”
2020 roundup
New Years Eve, 2020. What a year aye? What can I say. I’ve sat here for a while, hands poised over the keyboard, but not much is coming out easily. I don’t normally do end-of-year posts, and I’m not a resolution-maker, but it felt somehow fitting to write something this year. I’m keen to notContinue reading “2020 roundup”
A year in moments #22 – the supermarket
I stood staring at shelves full of tins, boxes and packets, squinting my eyes, as if to try and focus. But they were fully focused, that wasn’t the problem. You know when you go abroad to a foreign supermarket, and it’s fun and exciting, and you laugh at all the different names for things? It’sContinue reading “A year in moments #22 – the supermarket”
A year in moments #20 – a random video call
25th April 2020, 13:15 and a Facebook Messenger notification popped up in my browser while I was going some admin on my laptop. ‘Morning! You OK?’ It was not morning in New Zealand, so it had to be someone in the UK. I smiled. Anyone from there messaging me in the afternoon on a SaturdayContinue reading “A year in moments #20 – a random video call”
Caricatures and containers
“I’m glad to be back in New Zealand but it’s definitely not the homecoming I’d envisaged,’ laughs Abi. She arrived in New Zealand on 1st January, returning after years living away in the UK, Switzerland and France. She was just getting settled and had some job offers on the table when lockdown hit. ‘Lockdown wasContinue reading “Caricatures and containers”
Mountaintop moments
I sit on the rock and think about all the times I’ve been here, at the top of Mount John, but I’ve lost count. I think back to the first time; March 2014. I wore my green walking trousers and a black t-shirt that was a size bigger than I’d usually buy, the result ofContinue reading “Mountaintop moments”
2 years in New Zealand
Well, hasn’t that flown? I’d be lying if I said I still didn’t feel a bit sad that the relationship I came here for didn’t work out. Or rather, I guess the thought (or hope) of the relationship. I’d got to the point I was just about ready for, you know, one of those relationship-thingys,Continue reading “2 years in New Zealand”
A year in people #77 – Marsha
As I saw her come through the airport arrival gates, my eyes filled with tears and my throat burned; it took all I had to not burst into a massive pile of sobs and snot. A massive wave of relief and emotion rushed over me. The last time we’d seen each other was when I’dContinue reading “A year in people #77 – Marsha”
The Paps Life 