Lynn | Kumeu
“You probably don’t want to hear this, I probably would not have moved to New Zealand from the UK. So, that would probably be my first response.
Very hard here, in my profession, to actually get work. Yeah just find New Zealand great in many ways; good to raise kids and that kind of thing, but say career-wise not probably the best choice because I was trained to do a horse career, so teaching people to ride and training horses – that kind of thing. In the UK you’re, you actually have to be qualified to do that, whereas here basically anybody can do it. I spent seven years training to do it in a horse university, I guess you could call, whereas here, anybody can do, do that same career. So, it makes it hard for people who actually have worked for seven years and, and tried to, yeah do that.
I would consider going back, but basically my four kids are now here. So, they probably wouldn’t come, go back, because my oldest one was five or six when we moved here, so they’ve spent their childhood and that kind of thing here. So, and don’t get me wrong; it’s a great country. Just career-wise for me I’ve found that it, it’s not the easiest country to, to be in, but as countries go it’s not a bad country in any way. My main thing would just be career-wise, because I could go out and get work tomorrow, whereas it’s quite difficult for me here. So, but yeah, luckily we’ve got a farm, and I spend a lot of time, you know, working on that. So, it’s not too bad, but yeah there are things I would change if I could go back.
If I could do something differently, it would be probably spending a lot more time with family. I think, I’ve recently just lost both my parents, and it’s really hit me that memories are really important, and I think everybody’s so busy in their lives that we don’t have a chance to connect with people anymore. You go out somewhere, you watch people, and most of them are sitting on their phones. There’s no human interaction as such, anymore. So, if I could change that by spending more time with my family, and don’t get me wrong, I spend a good time with my family, but losing my parents made me realise how precious those memories are, and how everything else really fades into insignificance. Just really wish I’d spent more time, doing things with my family.
As I say, probably the main one is just people just are totally disconnected, and I’m sure it’s the same in the UK as it is here, as it is all over the world, but yeah, it scares me a little bit sometimes what it’s going to be for my kids’ future, how things are going to become. We just don’t look after one another enough, and where in the UK there was definitely quite a community. People took care of one another.
Things like this (art class), you know? More, more groups to get together. There are groups, but maybe in your local community groups, as opposed to being in Auckland and sort of going to the meeting at the pub somewhere, which isn’t really me. Just, just something where people get together. There’s groups for older people, I believe, but there’s not so much for people, you know, I’m 55; there’s not so much for people my age and perhaps younger people, who want to just do things together and hang out.
Family’s really important, probably the most important. I love animals, so animal welfare and that kind of thing as well. Grew up in the UK, moved here in 1996. Grew up in Sussex, which is just south of London.”
