Hi Nicky and Sharon….
Life here is definitely different and it takes quite a bit of adjusting . I do miss my daily excessive shopping spree in Lonehill and Sandton, finding great food from Woolies and the SUN… but have adapted to not spending so much, home cooking – which is not my forte and wearing warm clothes for longer periods of the year… As for the public transport – its amazing even though we have 2 cars to get around.. Lucky Raz has parking allocated for him at work ( Yes, its a Perk here… can you believe it, Nicky) Most jobs come with No parking allocation..
I do enjoy the fact that school only starts at 9am and the school is a 3 min walk from home and that Zia is enjoying school – I save on Private school fees which I used to pay and arm and a leg for back in Jhb. The education system here is really good and when I see Zia’s school.. I can actually compare it to some good private schools back in Jhb. Dedicated teachers and great atmosphere which makes diligent kids.. I have to admit that the first school I sent her to, I was not very happy about so I did my homework and studies on a few other schools and finally picked one just perfect. Its small, with small classes and has advanced technology ( the teachers have Apple Mac laptops – impressive)
I am still in the process of making friends – mostly Zia’s classmates’ moms… but am enjoying alone time… I do admit that my pet hate is “following the sun” – yes… I look for the Sun and move my clothing horse to the direction of the SUN….. Its funny but true… Rain is definitely in abundance here so we took a weeks’ break last week when we went to Fiji… Wow.. what a wonderful place with blazing SUN……We have been to other Island holidays before like to Mauritius and Seychells but Fiji is so untouched and really tranquil… Loved it…We are already planning our next holiday to Hawaii – hopefully in 2013..
We decided to live in the North Shore and specifically Greenhithe has it reminds me of houses that we are used to.. still getting used to cleaning 5 bedrooms though… but at most times, I lock the other rooms so I have less vacuming to do.. ( I miss my live in helper…..!!!!!!) :-(
What I love most is that I do not have burglar bars, barb wires and electric fences.. Yipeeeeee… Nicky, you must move here… Its different but good in the long run… I read about SA online and its sad that such a great country is being ruined more and more by the day… Jobs are becoming scarce and safety is a daily gamble.
You guys are doing such a good job and i am thankful that Raz insisted that i went along on the conference that you held last year…
Do feel free to give our names and numbers to any newcomers to Auckland. I know how lonely and stressful it was for us initially and would be kind to give morale support to anyone new…
Keep well and thank you once again….
Suji