Leaving Christchurch

There’s a lesson that our time in the bus keeps teaching me, over and over. It’s that things can change, incredibly quickly. Opportunities can just appear from no where when you keep your feelers out and are willing to consider everything that comes your way. Then it’s up to you do you decide that the change is to much or to fast. Or do you jump in and take whatever has been offered. Perhaps the second half of that lesson is that Wayne and I are, most of the time, absolutely the type to jump on board and take the opportunity. It probably explains how we could make such drastic changes to the way we lived in the first place.

When we arrived back in Christchurch after our xmas break we had a plan. The job Wayne had been doing had finished up but he would find something else and we would stay in Christchurch until the end of April. Then we’d head off and be back in the North Island by Olivers birthday in May. Since then Wayne’s had plenty of work through a couple of places but none of it would be our ideal, so he has kept his eyes and ears out in case something better came along. Well last week it did. Only it wasn’t in Christchurch, it wasn’t even in the South Island. The job was in Wellington and starting as soon as possible. I was more than ready to be back in the North Island so it was a fairly easy and enthusiastic yes from me. Wayne didn’t need much more of a reason than that to make it a yes from him as well. Five days later we had booked a ferry crossing, said our goodbyes to Christchurch and were on our way to Picton.

It feels like I haven’t shared a lot about our time in Christchurch. That’s not to say we haven’t enjoyed it. I’ve got some very fond memories from our time here. We’ve made the most of having some gorgeous beaches on our doorstep this summer. I’ve also enjoyed having a closer look at how this city is choosing to rebuild after the earthquakes. I look forward to coming back in the future and seeing it all finished. And our trips to Banks Peninsula left us wishing we had more time to spend out there. We are all leaving this city with a few favorite places that we will miss not having on our doorstep anymore. But by now we all know that Wellington is bound to have some special places for us to discover and a whole lot of fun to be had while we discover them.