Living a better life

Our determination to live better dates back to around the time my mother died.  During the reflective time after her death, a friend asked whether I had unresolved dreams for things to do with my mother which we hadn’t been able to achieve. Although the answer to that question was no, Ross and I identified that we had many unrealised aspirations to do things together.  We set about changing that, particularly in relation to travel - to see family and to explore places – in conjunction with work trips and just for pleasure.

By 2011 our aspirations had evolved further: we wanted to be able to respond to the interesting opportunities that were being presented to us, we wanted more love, laughter and adventures in our days – to spend more time with family and friends, more time in the sunshine being active and we wanted to do good work.  We wanted to be open to adventures, either at home in NZ’s great outdoors or overseas if opportunities presented themselves.  The plan was not to have a plan.

It took some months to divest ourselves of the financial responsibilities of the old life that tied us to corporate jobs and salaries and to achieve a financial position that allowed us to take up work that was worthwhile, interesting, and challenging, but not necessarily well-paid.   We down-sized from our large family home appropriate for raising a family, to a mobile home suitable both for adventures and also as a base in shaky Christchurch where we worked on documenting the impact of the earthquakes in photographs.   

Opportunities to work overseas opened up for me, providing consultancy services to improve research and information services in developing parliaments.  The short-term assignments in Myanmar developed into a longer contract so that Ross joined me there in 2013 where we fell in love with the gentle people and the beauty of the landscapes and temples.   It was an extraordinary opportunity to work in the Myanmar Parliament just at the time when democracy was being established and the people could choose their leadership for the first time in 50 years.

When my contract in Myanmar ended in 2016, the next adventure beckoned us to live in Yorkshire for 6 months helping to run a B&B on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.  We loved both the work and the opportunity to walk or cycle almost every day exploring the glorious landscapes of the Dales.  

By the end of 2016 it was time to head home to New Zealand.  While I was sorting out what came next for work we began our South Island Odyssey  through the south of the South Island, cycling every NZ Cycle Trail and walking the Rakiura Track in Stewart Island. 

What came next for work, was a role in Auckland, which allowed us to explore a region that we didn’t know well.  We particularly loved the coast and the estuaries, as well as the volcanoes and the forests, so we spent our weekends and holidays exploring.  

Now that the time has come for us to leave Auckland, we are undertaking a North Island Odyssey, with the intention of cycling most of the NZ Cycle Trails in the North Island and walking another of the Great Walks - Lake Waikaremoana.

Goodbye 2017

2017 was a year of re-establishing a NZ based life, of consolidation rather than exploration. Our 2016/17 summer of the outdoors reconnected us with the power of love and the beauty of our homeland.  We settled in Auckland, drawn there by work, to a life full of opportunities for exploration of new landscapes and different geology.

Our priorities remain the same: family, health, worthwhile work and travel.  Since we defined those priorities more clearly for ourselves back in 2011, we have got better at matching our practice with our intention.

Our choice to return to a NZ base was confirmed by the great pleasure we have had from time spent with family and friends.  It is so much easier to see them from an Auckland base, and to be more easily in touch by skype or phone when we are in the same time zone.  Moira was able to catch up with her UK, Swiss and Californian relatives in brief visits this year.  We were delighted to spend longer with Rebecca who joined us for our cycle touring expedition in the Alsace/Lorraine region of France.  

Healthwise, we continued our active lifestyle with lots of walking and cycling in Auckland and further afield.  Mt Eden became “our mountain” through our evening peregrinations around or over it’s volcanic cone from our little apartment on its flank.  Auckland has excellent cycle paths which we have enjoyed exploring, although it can be challenging getting to them as Auckland drivers are notoriously impatient.  After our years of living overseas, Ross took advantage of NZ’s health system to have a hernia dealt to.

Moira undertook one parliamentary consulting role in the Parliament of Moldova, her first in Europe and an eye-opening experience to work in a former Soviet country.  Her main work this year has been as Library Director at Unitec, the largest of NZ’s polytechnics.  The student demographic is very different from a university, with almost half the students speaking English as their second language, while a third of the students are first in family to study at a tertiary institution. Education has the potential to make a real difference to their lives, enabling them to find more satisfying work or to advance in their chosen careers.

Although 2017 was a year with less travel than previous years, we holidayed in the UK, France and Switzerland in July/August when we went to Europe to see family and attend Ollie and Fern’s wedding in lovely Cornwall.  It was such a pleasure to meet up with parliamentary friends, last seen in Myanmar.   We really enjoy exploring Auckland’s 50 volcanoes and multitude of islands. Nothing we like better than to take our bikes on a ferry to explore somewhere new.  

Goodbye 2017, we liked you!