Well it was some time ago now that we got sprung on Seven Sharp back in September and I realised that we hadn’t shared it onto our website yet, so here it is for your viewing pleasure!
ASB Good As Gold - 23rd September 2020
GrandFriends - Jo Hayes & Susan Doak
It was 17 years ago yesterday that I landed on this Kiwi soil, 3rd September 2003.
There I was with a backpack lumped on my back, sunburnt from the heatwave in LA where we had stopped midway on the start of our year long adventure. Arriving to horizontal rain like I had never experienced before in my life.
You would have thought living in the UK for 30 years would have accustomed me to some serious rain, but no...nothing like what was beating up my nostrils as we were waiting at the airport at 5am in the morning, to catch a bus that would take us to our Hostel just off Queen Street in Auckland.
I wondered what on earth I had done. Now don’t get me wrong I was excited to be starting my adventures on the other side of the world with the man of the moment. However, leaving my family back in the UK, and knowing that I wouldn’t see them again for a whole year was already tugging at my heartstrings. I was a MESS at Heathrow airport, like WTH, I was 30 years old. Get a grip girl! Totes embarrassing.
Anyway back to the horizontal rain…
This was certainly not the last time I experienced this phenomenon, trudging up and down both Queen Street, Ponsonby Road and many others looking for that illustrious temp working holiday job and handing out the massive amount of soggy printed out copies of my cv to various cafe’s and retail outlets along the way. When you are holding your umbrella out IN FRONT OF YOU and it protects you better from the rain more so than having it above your head - you’ve gotta wonder what is going on?
Nevertheless it seemed that even in my soggy state, the outlets of Ponsonby Road were desperate for staff and I was offered two jobs, one in a cafe and the other in what are now the mostly defunct video rental stores. Neither of which really enamoured me to hang around for too long, but earning some money I was and after all, that was the first part of the Kiwi adventure nailed.
Finding somewhere to live, affording the most basic of furniture and surviving the pressures of a relationship in a new country were the next challenges I had to face. The first two came reasonably easily - the third - not so much!
Alas, just two months into my Kiwi travelling adventure with the man of the moment and we ended up going our separate ways. He had settled into Kiwi life much better than I had, it had always been his dream to come here, and the whole “Lord of the Rings” movie trilogy was the incentive that I needed to join him in visiting this stunning place of beauty that I was so in awe of.
I was badly missing home and my family and this had become somewhat of a sticking point that I couldn’t quite shake off. To be honest that hasn’t really changed over the last 17 years, but I’ve just learned to adapt.
The news back home to my family that we had gone our separate ways, was returned with, “It’s ok, you can come home, there’s no shame in that, we’ll sort it all out”, but I’m a stubborn lass, (perhaps that’s the eighth Scottish in me?!) and no way was I going to let this upset spoil my OE and Kiwi adventure. I was here now, and I was too far away to turn back home with my tail between my legs. So I put on my big girl panties, laid the challenge out, got myself a better job and carried on.
And the adventures to come, I could never have predicted.
Libraries across the world are addressing social isolation in a new way.
You can borrow a person instead of (or as well as!) a book….
Here are some links you might enjoy following:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/video/2010/mar/09/human-library-borrow-person
Surrogate Grandparents New Zealand Charitable Trust are delighted to announce that we will be launching New Zealand’s Inaugural Grandparents Day to honour and acknowledge all our Grandparents and Seniors in New Zealand.
The day, in line with Australia’s celebration, is set for Sunday 4th October 2020. Further details, a new website and information on how YOU can get involved and #DoSomethingGrandNZ will be coming soon….
Last Friday Susan and I were lucky enough to get the opportunity to be interviewed on TVNZ's Breakfast show!
Have a watch below:
