There are some things you can never truly explain, but as I sit on the deck of Connor’s family bach typing this, a few words come to mind – gratitude, triumph, and relief. It’s been a tough few years, with a lot of ups and downs to get us to this point, but we’re here, and I couldn’t be more grateful. Grateful for my parents for having us stay at home whilst we pay off the debt, grateful to Connor’s family for welcoming us back to NZ, and grateful we have the opportunity to be down here. There’s no wifi, no signal, only birdsong and sunshine, and its pure bliss.
We’ve been back just over a week now and it’s a strange feeling being back in Nelson, I feel as though on my return to England I grew so much as a person. I made new friends, pursued my love for photography, showed Connor around most of the UK, and saw it all in a different light. I think once you go travelling you learn to appreciate what you do have, rather than wishing what you don’t. That’s why its strange to be back, because I feel a completely different person to who I was when I was here last. It’s a feeling that everyone feels when they return from travelling, but I didn’t think I would feel it once I came back from England.
Some things have changed, prices have gone up, a few new houses have popped up, and traffics got busier, other than that, everything is ticking along as it always has done. We’ve been sorting out the usual necessities – bank accounts, phone sims, switching licences etc, whilst getting over the jetlag, but mainly we’ve been spending time with Connor’s family. Seeing Connor meet his nephew for the first time finally was just so heartwarming, a moment we had been waiting for for over a year now.
Of course there were a few bucket list items we had to tick off on our return to NZ – Connor had his Wakefield bakery pie (that he hadn’t stopped going on about since he left), I had my pita pit and raglan roast coffee, and Connor got his potato and gravy from KFC (its a kiwi thing..) but the big thing we had been dreaming of since we left was returning down the Marlborough Sounds, which is where we are now. (If you want to know more about where we are now, then read this post). The plan is to take the boat out and go fishing tomorrow and I can’t wait.
Once we’re home from this paradise, the next steps are to get back into work, and get some money behind us. I have a two year visa here, and the plan is to apply for permanent residency after that. The idea of not having to worry about visa’s anymore is incredibly appealing, there’s nothing more nerving than the idea of having your partner on the opposite side of the world, so it will be a relief once we get to that point. I’ve been building up my photography portfolio a lot back in England, taking every opportunity possible to get my camera out, and now I’m ready to start approaching brands over here. I have no idea what the market is like here, but if you want something bad enough, it will happen, so I’m going to give it my best shot.
I’ll keep posting monthly updates to let you all know what we’re up to, but that’s all for now, so I’ll leave you with a photograph of my current view, and don’t forget to check out the rest of my photographs on Instagram (@harrietcartertravel)
Harriet 🙂