Britains Got Talent Winners 2009

These guys are simply awesome. I have rarely seen such dancing. What these guys represent in the UK in 2009 the young guys of this country are not all hoody wearing, knife carrying wasters the papers and media would have you believe. Deserved the win in Britians Got Talent 2009, fantastic.

The Star Fish Story

I took this from a great blog about ordinary people who change the world click here to read it. I love the story, it is one of my top 10 most inspirational things.

A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.

She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”

The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied,

“Well, I made a difference to that one!”

The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved. - adapted from the Star Thrower by Loren C. Eiseley

Flights

I wish I understood why it costs £547 to but a return to Auckland Flying Air New Zealand in London that is =$1386 New Zealand dollars. Yet in New Zealand it would cost$1785 or £704 GBP. So why does it cost more to fly in New Zealand than in from the UK. I guess it must be something to do with the dollar in the US or the cost of the fuel. None of which makes sense because both fares are with Air New Zealand, it is a round trip so the cost should be identical? If anything I'd have expected it to cost more to fly from the UK? If you take my rants about the currency which no one seems to understand. A person who earns 50k in the UK would probably get 50k in New Zealand but in dollars. That means in wage terms one GBP = one NZD so a flight from New Zealand to the UK actually costs a kiwi £1785 more than 3 times the cost for a UK person! So remember once you are there you may not come home for visits as much as you think.

My advice is rent out your house in the UK for a profit if you can and sent the cash to NZ, don't sell up in the UK, you should get a nice income for your UK home!

Bank Holiday

One simply forgets the joy of English May bank holidays! The weather was meant to be a washout but here in Cambridge it has been lovely. I spent the say doing some domestics with the kids helping out, Lucy gets star of the day. We all planted some tomato plants in grow bags, how very English. Last night Becca and I went to see Star Trek and to my surprise she loved it. a master stroke putting a birth in at the top of the movie, it almost turned it into a chick flick. I do have a rant though if you want to read it go to my new blog Fifty and Beyond me, it often is!
We walked through Cambridge in the setting sun, it is a truly beautiful place, the gates to the colleges are simply mesmerising in beauty and age. It is the 800th anniversary of Cambridge as a place of learning, that is a lot of history. I do feel at home here sure the economy is shot almost as much as the morals of our parliament but it is the place where I belong.

Missing New Zealand

We do miss New Zealand but the fact is we could probably never have lived there. I was 50 this May 7th, I was 45 when we went and 49 when we came home. I am English and make no apology for that. I want my girls to learn English things, about kings and queens. I want them to know the Tower of London as their own. The stone circles, knights templar, roman roads, these are all such rich cultural rocks upon which Rebecca and I have built our own lives and heretage.
It is great to live in another country but you have to embrace it totally to feel at home. I would have felt like a visitor to New Zealand no matter how long we stayed. These are things you have to consider when planning a move. Write lists of things you will miss and things you wont. We don't regret going at all it was an experience. The thing about experiences is that they last for a finite time period, if they last forever at some point the experience ceases and is simply the norm, then it becomes life. I say this not as a depressing deterrent but as advice, things to consider. I suspect if you do consider and then move you will embrace the life and culture of you chosen country and never look back.

Its been a while

Funny how when the weather turns and its lovely and sunny in the UK and a bit chilly in NZ we don't miss the place so much. We love England and it was right for us to move back home. Our parents are getting on and they want to see their grandchildren and I love the relationship the kids have with them. I do love Millie's School and that they learn about things I understand. I love showing them the Tower of London and they love the bluebells and daffodils, they also loved the plants and wonders of New Zealand. Watching the stick insects in the garden was a simply magical thing. But we are home and we did the right thing as our kids do seem to be English! They love the life the woodland the green fields. Hey and I am fifty now, my word! I have even decided to start a new blog, Fifty and Beyond -me because quite frankly it often is, totally beyond me! Enjoy