It’s been a hot second

How do you start a blog entry that was meant to be a monthly update but you haven’t posted anything in ages?

The challenge of re-starting these, of finding that catchy first sentence that re-engross the reader while apologising for the silence, is exactly what has put the brakes on far too many attempts.

So maybe now, by writing this rant, I can get out of that bind and dive right into it?

It has been an eventful past few months and I would like to share some of the stories with you.

Returning to city life in Auckland after the freedom of being on the road, was hard. It was not the comfort of a bed nor home cooked meals that wielded the challenge. It was being in a city, once again removed from the natural environment which gives us solace. And then there was the need to recommit to a job that sustains a mediocre city life where you work a minimum of 40hrs a week, see colleagues more than your own partner, only to use the money to pay the bills and treat yourselves on the weekend as you make yourself believe that’s the least you deserve after a long week. And after that, perhaps if you are lucky, you have some dollar bills left to pop into the piggy bank. The thing with the piggy bank is that it’s fragile, and so you have to pray that you won’t have to chip away at it if your car doesn’t pass the next WOF, or that you have to get new tennis shoes because the courts have been redone… It’s a strange system we have built ourselves isn’t it? Almost seems like a board game where winning only feels good to some – the rest win or lose but feel empty either way.

So yes, I paint a dire picture – but the truth is life has been far from grim.

We also both got jobs – well I got two in the past nine months. 

The first one was as processing officer at the Electoral Commission as previously mentioned. The placement was a great opportunity, I learned a lot, was part of a very supportive team, made a friend, and was replenishing the dehydrated bank account. However, the role itself was dreadfully mundane and it did not take me long to miss the feeling of challenge. Three months in I got offered a job as a Youth Development Coordinator at Raise Up – the Y’s Youth Development Programme. With some hesitation, I took the job, but not before taking a long weekend in between the two jobs to celebrate my 25th birthday.

Being a summer baby, I am used to celebrating my birthday sunkissed and on holiday. This year would be different. For the first time in my life, my birthday fell right in the middle of winter. And yet somehow, Mahiran being the wonderful human he is, made it perfect. He treated me to a peaceful, cozy, and invigorating weekend in the Coromandel. Staying at Mahiran’s grandmother’s wooden home while she was away, we had views that overlooked a deserted crystal bay coocooned by waterfalls, rocks, and pine forests. We spent our time going for icy ocean dips, taking long walks on the shores, treating ourselves to an evening in a hot water spa, baking a delicious vegan cake, and enjoyed many cups of tea while playing board games by the fireplace that Mahiran dedicatedly tended to. It was serene. I could not have asked for a better way to celebrate this spin around the sun. Halfway to 50 they said 😉

The following Monday morning, I started my new job. That same day  Mahiran was meant to start his electrical apprenticeship. Unfortunately, the company pulled out and Mahiran was left with a choice: wait till ATT found him another company or put these efforts on pause and find a job to pay the bills until our future in New Zealand becomes more clear. Soon, Mahiran got himself a job as a landscaper for ‘Humphrey’s’ – turns out they are Auckland’s most fancy landscaping company. Work was physically and mentally draining – he was outside rain or shine, but he was learning a lot and made a friend – someone a lot like him.

A few months into the job, Mahiran got the opportunity to have the work truck for a couple of weeks and gosh did he enjoy that.

On our time off, we continued our routine of weekend trips either to the beach for a surf, forests for walks, rivers for icy dips, hikes up mountains, sleeping in our car, family visits, or on more calm days exploring Auckland and the cute markets and cafes it has to offer. We also went to the cinema and watched some powerful films. Most notably, Sound of Silence, a movie about child trafficking, really touched us. Highly recommend it.

Our garden continued to receive our love. Excitedly we watch cabbage, brussel sprouts, herbs, rhubarb, potatoes, and a bed of flowers shoot up in spring. We also signed up to a weekly delivery of vegetables from Wonky Box – a sustainable food distribution of “wonky” vegetables rejected from supermarkets, or in seasonal surplus. It arrived in a cardboard box on our doorstep every Thursday with no packaging. And with it came the exploration of cooking with new ingredients which we thoroughly enjoyed.

When the Fifa Women’s World Cup came to New Zealand, we took the opportunity to go and watch two matches which were walking distance from our house. To us and the rest of the country’s pleasure, we watched the White Fern’s win their opening game! It was so cool seeing women dominate, be so skilled, and have such a crowd of support.

Mahiran spent a lot of his evenings and Sundays playing tennis. Usually, I would do my own thing – drive to my favourite beaches, go for a run and dip – but when it was competition season I was in the audience supporting him. The community at the club are a lovely and supportive group, Mahiran couldn’t have found himself a nicer tennis club to be a part of.

We also visited Mahiran’s classmate friends from his time at Ragland. These sporadic social visits were always very wholesome and inspiring. Always offered perspective and reflection on our life and reinforced our desire for a life in New Zealand outside of Auckland.

December was around the corner and my visa would be expiring on the 1st of February and 8 months in, we still had no clarity on the status of my visa application (Residence Class Visa through partnership). It was time to make some decisions. 

With a lot of thought, we decided to close this chapter of New Zealand for now and head home to India for a little while. We hope that while we would be there, we would get a positive answer on the visa application and could return to New Zealand with the intention of moving here. While it was not the perfect time to leave New Zealand, as finally summer was making its long awaited arrival, it also felt good to be taking steps towards heading back home as it would have been a year and a half that we hadn’t been back nor seen either of our families nor friends. So we booked a flight for the 25th of January, we handed in our resignations for work, and we gave notice on our apartment. 

The plan was to work this last month of 2023, take 10 days off over Christmas to travel New Zealand, return to work in early January for a week, and then pack out our house and head to Mahira’s dads for the last 10 days.

Big changes await, lots of moving parts, and an ever changing ocean of life. In this journey, we are constantly grateful and are each other’s pillars.