JOHN BISSET/Stuff
The O’Connor family, formerly of the UK, are from left, Keira, 17, Tyler 15, Jasmyne, 10, Edward and Tanya and Devon, 11.
It’s been 11 years in the making but a UK family has no regrets about moving halfway across the world, to start a new life in New Zealand.
The O’Connor family, Tanya, 38, her 33-year-old husband Edward O’Connor, a nurse, and four children – Keira, 17, Tyler, 15, Devon, 11, and Jasmyne, 10, arrived in Timaru last month, and say the community support in South Canterbury has been “overwhelming”..
The family made the decision to leave the UK 11 years ago, with Covid-19 the final straw, Tanya, a trained primary school teacher, said.
“We wanted the children to grow up in a place that was closer to the mountains, the lakes and the sea,” Tanya said.
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“And after Covid last year in the UK, we thought we’ll just go for it [shift to New Zealand] and see what happens.
“The support from the community has been overwhelming and everyone has been so kind to us.”
One example of this, was the fact, following a social media post Tanya made about her daughter’s upcoming 17th birthday, Keira was sent a gift from business Goldstone Creative Co.
While they had no regrets about moving to Timaru, Tanya said there had been a few culture shocks for the family.
One of those was understanding what is expensive and what is cheap when spending New Zealand dollars.
Another shock was the fact some school playgrounds were always open to the public unlike in the UK, she said.
She said the people of Timaru are “lovely, happy and friendly” unlike the UK where they don’t tend to get openness from some people.
She has already met a few people in the community who have been “lovely” and her children wills start school in Timaru soon.
JOHN BISSET/Stuff
Tanya O’Connor, right, said Timaru people are “lovely, happy and friendly” unlike the UK where they don’t tend to get openness from some people.
“They [the children] seem to be doing alright and seem to be enjoying Timaru,” Tanya said.
“My 11-year-old [Devon] will find it [schooling life] a bit different because he was going up to secondary school in the UK and here he will still be in primary school for another year.”
Following social media posts on Timaru community pages introducing themselves, Tanya said a lot of parents, who have kids of similar ages to hers, have reached out to her to meet or to get a coffee.
“We’ve also been invited out to a lot of places like Caroline Bay,” she said.
Tanya said the family would be looking forward to building up relations within the community, the children to have a bit more freedom compared to their time in the UK, and to be part of the community spirit.
She said the family initially looked into three countries to move to – Canada, New Zealand and Australia – and they felt New Zealand would be the best choice.
