Leaving New Zealand

We are going to leave New Zealand! At the moment we’re leaving on the 10^th January next year, giving us enough time to sell up and ship out. Even in 2 years we've acquired quite a lot of stuff. We’re planning on flying to Austin, Texas to stay with our good friends Derek & Amy for a couple of months. Then we’ll be back in the UK some time around the end of March, probably in Sheffield.

The reasons we’re leaving are pretty simple…firstly my broken leg. It’s healing up nicely and I’m now walking around without a stick, just a very slight limp. However when we saw the doctors last, around three weeks ago, they’re prognosis for recovery was a lot longer that we were expecting. Firstly they didn’t want me doing any impact for another 3 months, so no running or jumping, which are pretty essential in my job. Secondly they advised me against skydiving at all before the pin is removed…in about a year! This is due to an increased chance of breaking the bone while the pin is in...time for a change of plans!

The Second reason is that Derek & Amy invited us to go and live with them in Austin, which was an unexpected offer, but it only took us a couple of days to realize that it’s definitely the right thing to be doing. Plus, the art project Mangola that Jen is working on and involved in with Derek & Amy, is happening at the beginning of March in Austin. So all in all it's the place to be.

I’m really excited about going to Texas and having close friends around, and then being back in the UK, seeing family and friends we’ve only talked to on skype or e-mail for 2 years, it's going to be great! Having good friends around that we know well and are really comfortable with will be a really big change from most of our time here in NZ. It seems like the season for close friends is arriving and I'm really looking forward to it! I wonder what God has been teaching us while we’ve been down this end of the planet feeling a bit isolated?

I’m also looking forward to doing some work as a builder again and actually genuinely being self employed and having weekends off and stuff! With skydiving you’re technically self employed, but don’t get to enjoy any of the benefits, especially not weekends off. Fantastic job, but there’s always a down side!

I'll definitely miss the scenery though ... see you all soon!