Well it’s been quiet around here again.
So, so quiet.

That’s always a sign that big stuff is happening in the Flutter household, because I’m useless at keeping (my own) secrets and can’t just come on and talk about the small stuff without wanting to tell the big stuff, so during those times for me silence is usually a better plan so I don’t tell anything I shouldn’t yet be telling…
But I can finally spill, because….
we have made a decision and 
           it.is.final!!!

Mr Flutter and I are moving our little family back to New Zealand.

We will be moving back to my home town of Wellington; where I grew up and where my parents, best friends and much of my extended family live.
Going back for a visit last week helped confirm a decision that has been churning over in our hearts for a while, but just hadn’t caught up with our minds yet… I want to be closer to my family!

It will be our first time living back in Wellington for nearly a decade, so it will be a big change!
But we have such a big support network there already that in the end it was an obvious and easy decision to make, that if we were going to move back to New Zealand then we would be best off living there near family.

I just love being near my family!…

This decision has been a long time coming, because we came to Perth with a 5 year plan, and we’re in year 5 of that. – So we’ve been in the decision phase of what to do next for the last year or so…

It has been really hard and at times very stressful for us to choose “the right” path (of many paths) to go down!!

To be honest we didn’t think we were quite ready to go back to New Zealand just yet, so most people will know that we’d been looking at staying here for another 5-10 years. In fact if you had told me even 6 weeks ago that our decision would be to go back to New Zealand I would have looked at you like you were a bit crazy…
But
that is our decision. And it’s definitely final.

Australian permanent residency for Neil just didn’t look able to happen for quite some years, and without that we would have been quite limited in achieving what we wanted to.
We could have stayed regardless of that, but even though we love it here, to us Perth has never been home to us in our heart of hearts.
It has always felt temporary; The in between place.
So deep down we knew that the longer we stayed here the harder it would be to go back.
– Especially for our girls as we moved here when Hannah was 4 months old and it’s the only life they have both ever known. Every year we are here I suspect it will only get harder to pull them away from their friends and life they are growing here.

It’s time to rip off the band aid, experience a bit of the short term pain of moving countries to experience the long term gain we will get by being close to family and friends in New Zealand.
And the long term gain of finally being able to settle down, buy a house and feel like we can put down some deeper roots!!

*** 
Hannah & I outside our first house in Perth… on our way to feed the ducks…

We made no secret this whole time that we initially came to Australia for the money;
The income is good here, and it was all so that we could afford for me to be a stay at home Mum…
But it has not been money that has made us rich here;
We have far more to be grateful for than just that opportunity and we walk away with
the biggest bank of priceless memories in the vault!!!

Yes, we sure have absolutely loved our time here!

Don’t get me wrong – it’s been hard at times.
Sometimes oh.so.hard. 
But that was never Perth… that was just the reality of raising a young family so far from home, with a husband who works away.
Perth itself we have loved, and has loved us. We sure have a lot to be grateful for about our time here!!…

Here I have had the absolute privilege of staying home to Mother my children full time,
We have been able to have a second child to complete our little family,
We have been able to experience life living in a different country, in a slightly different culture,
We have grown much closer together as husband and wife and solidified our little family unit.
We have grown in our faith.
We have been able to travel to see a bit more of the world.
I had the time to learn to sew, and spend time making all kinds of wonderful things.
We have learnt the art of saving; Of working towards achieving our goals and seeing them through to completion.
and finally we have met and established friendships with many wonderful people that we are all going to miss dearly!!

I am also sure going to miss this being on my doorstep!!

It makes me tearful to write that list of gratefuls… because it is more proof than we need that we really are leaving a lot behind!!!
But never the less it is just time.
It will only get harder as time goes on!

So when is it all happening?!
Well, that I can’t quite yet confirm. But it will definitely be before the year is out.
We have two different options for dates in mind, but we just have to get some things sorted over the next few weeks with Mr Flutter’s work and then we can make a decision for sure.

So there you have it. It’s going to be a busy busy year with a lot of change for us.
Oh the to do list frightens me!!!
But the peace of having a decision made and a plan to work to is wonderful.

More details to follow.

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  1. I am sat here trying to work out the time difference so I know when we will be awake at the same time once you are back in Wellington. And, by the way, I love Wellington. Gorgeous city!

  2. Wow! Very exciting news! No wonder you’ve struggled to keep that under your hat. I will celebrate for you in my own crazy way – I am dancing around my office. Not that you can see or appreciate it, but a mind picture is almost as good 🙂
    After all you are going home to family and friends and OMG NZ is so beautiful. I’m so glad you’re at peace with your decision. Good luck to all the Flutters.
    E xx

  3. Yay! Welly’s not that far away from Christchurch 🙂 If you ever make it down to the shaky city you’ll have to look me up!
    I can totally relate to your feelings that Perth was not home. I lived in Holland for 11 years and it was never me home. New Zealand on the other hand has totally won my heart!
    Good luck with the move.

  4. Gosh Kat, even though I have never met you in person and in NZ you may almost be closer to me on the East Coast I feel sad to hear your going. I am happy for your family that you are going home and that you will be close to family and friends. I hope you decide to keep Blogging from the East (Australian) Islands, which we jokingly refer to NZ as.
    I am looking forward to sending you some pictures of the dolls for orphans made with the fabric you sent. They are in progress and are due to go to Thailand in April. So exciting.
    Sending best wishes for the coming months and all of the challenges that come with moving your family home to NZ that you will remain confident that you have made the right choice for your family and that you will be greatly blessed on the journey home.

  5. I so know your feelings and it made me cry! Your words are so wonderful and full of excitement. It will be hard to move and leaving friends behind but I am so sure you will make it!

  6. At last you can do some constructive planning, peace of mind should come now. I understand how much you will miss Perth, I have only been there 3 times but I love it, I plan to go back next year for a longer stay. To be near family is a big plus, your girls will love the time spend with your parents and will surely bloom. I hope that this all proceeds with minimal fuss and wish you all the very best for the future. I hope you are going to carry on with the blog.

  7. Just wanted to say Congrats! Moving back home near family is so worth it and now you’ll always have a 2nd home to go back to as well. Happy planning 🙂

  8. Good luck with that list – oh I wish moving closer to my family were on the table!!! 18 hours by car is a long long way away sometimes… the internet helps close the distance, but not enough. (jealous)…<3

  9. I know how you feel.. We will be leaving our home and moving within the year, also. Nothing is black and white. I am happy and excited to move and start out next adventure…the next stage in out lives (retirement), but oh how I love my home here. Funny how you can be excited for change and heartbroken about change at the same time.

  10. Congratulations on making the decision. I still think about moving back to NZ with longing but am trying to stay for 5 more years – until retirement. Hope the move goes smoothly.

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