We will see you again one day New Zealand...

Kia ora koutou katoa,  
Today I am writing a post in this blog in another language(s) other than Portuguese for the first time in more than a decade. 

This is the last day we will sleep in the house where we lived most of our time in New Zealand. More than 5 years of the almost 10 years we have lived in Aotearoa. 

Moving out of the house will be the first of several steps we will be taking during this month of May, before saying goodbye (at least for now) to New Zealand and getting ready for our next big adventure in Canada. 

This last decade in New Zealand has definitely been the best decade of my life: I saw the birth of our two daughters (that changed our life for a lot better - except for sleep), it allowed us to have the kind of lifestyle we always wanted, we grew professionally and, in a way, we found ourselves. Most of the things we have achieved, we could have not done without living here. 

It didn't come without a price: distance was definitely the biggest one. The decade was not perfect. I lost one of the persons I loved the most in the world, my father, and could not be there - in particular because the world became a different place 2 years ago. I also missed the wedding of some of our closest friends and funerals of some others. It was also hard to get a lot of visits (even if we did get a few) and sometimes we felt lonely for not being closer to some of those you grew up with.

While in New Zealand we also had our set of challenges. They always exist everywhere:
We felt more earthquakes than I would have ever expect to feel in my whole life, including a few really strong ones. At some time I could guess the magnitude of an earthquake just by feeling it. We lived a major terrorist attack literally next door to one of our previous homes and a few hundred meters away from our daughter's schools while she was there. We have been to a few funerals of friends while in here, one really close that was one of the first persons to help us when we moved. But we also got taught one important thing: Kia Kaha. We would have not be taught this without these experiences.

I will forever remember all these events, but my strongest memories will be all the happiness this country brought to our lives. I know I will never be fully Kiwi (too much latin blood), but I will never be fully Portuguese ever again as well. We are a mix, not only because we have both citizenships but because we love both countries and feel them both as ours. 

Even if we loved this last decade, our jobs, the friends we have made, the people we have met and our lives, we believe there is always something we can do to improve life. Continuous improvement. Our biggest challenge at the moment was getting closer to our whānau, in particular after the last 2 years. A minimum of 32 hours to be able to visit them (in reality it was closer to 40 hours and always with several stops and incredible jet lag that would to take several weeks of break) made a job offer from Montreal (with direct flights to Portugal and "only" 7 hours) quite attractive.
It will also give an opportunity of being closer to a different culture and being able to get more visits while, hopefully, keeping a good lifestyle and working in a field I originally wanted to focus my career. 

This will be the end of this chapter. Christchurch and New Zealand will always be our home, and if we ever need, we will never have a problem in returning here. If for nothing else, to visit and show our daughters where they were born and where we were happy.
Next we will open a new chapter in Montréal. If it is as good as this one, and at the same time allows us to be closer to our whānau, it will be a great move.  

I wrote this in English mostly to thank all the aroha we got from the many people we met here over the years. Even from those we have not talked as often or lately. It has been great knowing you all.

And for those that are not in New Zealand, I recommend a visit. You will love it. 
(Shortly you can also visit us in Montréal, Canada... I heard great things about that place...)

Ngā mihi nui ki a koe... Thank you for everything...