Today is my 2000th day Down Under! That equates to 5 years, 5 months and 23 days.

On 15 January 2009 I waved goodbye to my Mum, my Nan and my Grandad at Heathrow Airport, ready to begin a new life in the Southern Hemisphere. Within a matter of hours I had switched my summer birthday for a winter one, my paper pounds for plastic dollars, and cold Christmases by the fire for New Years spent on the beach.

Now, two thousands sleeps on, I can hardly believe I ever lived anywhere else but Wellington! When I boarded that Malaysian Airlines flight to Perth, my worldly possessions (well, the ones I brought with me) fit into a backpack; now I’d need to hire a removal truck!

So, exactly how has my life changed since moving to New Zealand?

– I’ve come out to my family and friends. (Somehow, all these years on, I still find the words ‘I’m gay’ confronting. I wonder if it will ever get any easier?)
– I’ve bought a house (well, part of a house. The bank currently owns a sizeable chunk!)
– I’ve acquired two killer cats. Only the other day I was woken at 3am to the sound of bones crunching. Suffice it to say, the mouse didn’t survive.
– I’ve learned some Te Reo Maori, some NZ sign language and a smidgen of Mandarin Chinese. If you want to know how to say your mother has a horse, I’m your man!
– I’ve finally been to Asia and have discovered that if I had to choose one cuisine to eat for the rest of my life, it’d be Chinese. #bringonthedumplings

Me and my Nan at Heathrow Airport (15 Jan 2009)

Those of you who know me will know that I love a good plan! So, for those of you who are interested, I hereby set myself the following goals for the next 1,000 days:

When the clock strikes 3,000 I aim to have published my first book, to have finished renovating the house, and to have finally visited one of the Pacific islands. And I hope to have become a NZ citizen!