Nearly two years ago we left New Zealand for a two year contract The Atlas had accepted in Adelaide, Australia. We left a beautiful set of people we loved, family members and friends. We left a great home for an unknown adventure. We didn't know a single person in Adelaide. The Atlas had been there once four years before for a conference the rest of us had never been there.
As our time in Adelaide draws to a close we have made the decision to move back to Christchurch. There are still questions for us about what the future holds (aren't there always?) but this is the move that we've decided to make.
Our time in Adelaide has been great. We have had to lean into each other because initially we didn't know anyone else.
For me the first part of our time here was really hard. My heart ached for the lack of relationships that were more than 'acquaintances that may turn into friendships'.
The first couple of weeks after we arrived Adelaide recorded the most days over 40 degrees and the highest temperature on record since 1986. It didn't go well with this heat hater, there were tears - on a number of occasions, and it wasn't just about the heat.
With two boys at a new school I was alone a lot which is tricky for someone as extroverted as me. I had to get my head around a new school system and a school community where we didn't have friends to play with or people we knew well. We also didn't have a church community to belong to in the first few months. For me, a church community is my happy place and not having one really affected me too.
As the first year unfolded we found a church and made friends. We were welcomed into social circles and the temperature slowly, slowly!! dropped. I got busier being involved in things, did some volunteering, started doing some writing, bought a sewing machine, started doing some consultancy work... you know stuff.
This year we moved to another part of Adelaide and our dear, sweet boys were new kids again at a new school. But 2015 has been a much easier year for us. We have carried over some friendships from last year and met a whole new set of beautiful people to share our lives with. Our new place has ducted air conditioning which has made me a happier person to be around.
Our boys have made new friends and they have really fitted in so well - it's been great to see them happy to go to school each day and involved in 'football/soccer' teams.
This year I have done a lot more work, a lot more writing, a lot more socialising. It's been good for me - busy, hard at times, but mentally stimulating and creatively exciting.
The Atlas has had some real wins in his work environment and I am really proud of the good stuff he's done here.
We're excited about going 'home' to New Zealand but I will be really sad to say goodbye to Adelaide. We are going to miss the school we are at, the friends we have made, living across the road from school, the socialising, the togetherness experiencing new things... it is going to be sad. I'm going to miss Adelaide. I am definitely not going to miss the heat. I am definitely going to miss the central markets.
Most of all I'm going to miss people. People are always it for us - the rich relationships. We are incredibly blessed to be sad because we have some good, good people here in Adelaide who have loved and included us and made and effort - even though we weren't necessarily a permanent feature.
It's going to be strange going back to people and places that have two years of things we haven't been involved in. We are going to have to find our place again. We're going to be new and old at the same time. Wee Bounce will effectively be starting his third new school in three years (he only had six weeks at school in NZ before we left).
We've been through lots of changes of a family over the past few years. A new chapter unfolds.... We're together and that's the most important thing for me.
love you more than a shopping spree in the central markets xxx
