It’s hard not to feel philosophical and poetic about the most recent twist to this adventure in New Zealand. I neve imagined that when we first talked about moving somewhere else for a year of experience and adventure, that it would end up in the situation we are now in. This week we officially resigned from our positions at Monarto and Adelaide Zoos back in Australia. The opportunity of securing permanent and long term employment here at Hamilton Zoo was too great to pass up, and unfortunately this meant we had to resign from our Aussie jobs. It was a decision that slowly crept up on us, but was the right decision to make. I felt stuck between two zoos so to speak, unable to embrace the new until I had said goodbye to the old. So the goodbye was said and it is time to keep on moving. There are many opportunities for us here to grow and develop, with the support and encouragement of fellow keepers and management. We have been given responsibilities and challenges which we yearned for to stay focused and committed. The entire journey from the initial suggestion of an adventure to this very point in time has been great so far, and as I said in the beginning, it is difficult not to feel philosophical and wonder what guided us to this fantastic and extraordinary point because it indeed was not planned.
It’s not all about work either. You have seen the photos of what we are doing, where we are living and these all add up to the momentous feeling of being that I experience each day. I won’t describe the setting to you again, but it is idyllic and peaceful. We have our 2 dogs here now, plus 4 chooks, 3 peacocks and 4 Galloway cows.
What is missing though, are out families and friends. Slowly we become more familiar with the new people around us, but there is not yet that complete connection that you have with people that you share a history with. There are no spontaneous calls for dinner catch-ups, and chats over coffee are sorely missed. These may come and until then, I have more time to be poetic and philosophical.