One of the things that made moving to the other side of the planet a couple of years ago a great deal easier than it might have been was the knowledge that there was already family there. My sister Kerryn and her husband Haydn had been living in London for some time, and they provided a psychological safety net against any thoughts of isolationism that might creep in.
After all, London’s just down the road. A bit like Auckland to Hamilton. Actually, a bit further — Auckland to Otorohanga. Still — less than 12,000 miles at any rate.
This week, Kerryn and Haydn and Shay and Zac, the two children they’d manufactured in the past two years, hopped on a plane and headed back to live in New Zealand — with a stopover in Haydn’s hometown of Geraldton, which is somewhere in that big, otherwise mostly empty country to the left of NZ.
On Wednesday, we headed down to London to help them divest themselves of a last few meagre possessions (pantry goods, a couple of clothes racks, unused candles, a Renault Magane…) and then headed from their residence in Wimbledon to a friend’s place in Farnham, just past Guildford.
As it was now her car, Bobbie drove. She expressed her nervousness about driving a manual on unfamiliar southern roads, but we reminded her she had coped perfectly well in France (directions notwithstanding), which had been on the wrong side of the road as well as being unfamiliar and gear-changey.
Stocked with pizza for lunch, and crammed amongst the surplus linen we were going to be bringing back with us to Birmingham, we set off from the Sainsbury carpark.
We’d travelled less than half a mile up the road before Bobbie casually enquired “What’s that red light for?”
There was a collective cry of “STOP!!!” as her passengers realised that while she had noticed it, she was yet to register the significance of the traffic light that had been carefully placed to prevent her from driving headlong into oncoming traffic. We dug new grooves in the carpet with our heels and dug our fingernails into the upholstery, as it slowly dawned on Bobbie that the pretty light had a purpose… and she slammed on the brakes.
It was funny later on. Once we had our breath back. Apparently it ‘looked different’.
“What’s that red light for?”!!!
Of course, that became the day’s Phrase Of Ridicule, and the story was told to any and every person we came into contact with. It was very funny. Personally, I was just relieved that somebody had said something that so completely eclipsed my “hilarious” scrambled egg sneeze earlier that morning (oh, damn).
‘B is for Bobbie!’ – Shay and Zac grapple with the alphabet
We spent the afternoon in the company of kiwis — not something we tend to do. The few New Zealanders we know in Birmingham come in one-at-a-time servings. It was great to hang out with Fiona and Lukas, who we really like, and all their friends who popped in were fun company too. All teachers, and most of them from my part of town. Edgewater, St Kents, Macleans… yikes.
We’re hoping that along with the car, the linen and the kitchen goodies, perhaps we could pick up some of Kerryn and Haydn’s left-behind friends as well.
Lukas and Fiona live in a house at the private school where they teach, and their grounds back onto the school’s golf course(!). We spent a relaxing day drinking coffee, throwing paper aeroplanes, playing with Shay and Zac, looking at ducks and rabbits.
It was sad to leave, knowing we’re not going to be able to pop in and see them (or vice-versa) anymore. Not only is it about not having any other family here, I think we’ve become a lot closer in the last couple of years. Bobbie and Kerryn particularly have got to know each other better — discussing at length issues of child raising, health food and desirable handbags — and Haydn and I have bonded over gadgets and records, as you do.
But they’ve left now. Bobbie noted that the departure date happened to fall at a time when Jake was still not quite as tall as Haydn, but was rapidly catching up, and thinks that might have been a motivating factor. I know everyone in NZ will be glad to have them back, and I’m looking forward to a Skype video report in once they get there.
And, as Bobbie pointed out, now we don’t have to go to London anymore. So that’s something.
