06/09/2026
(Nederlanders - gebruik even de vertaling, die is nog steeds beter dan ons Nederlands 😂)
To our lovely, loyal followers, this is going to be a big one…please bear with ❤
~ Welcome to the soap of our lives ~
As most of you will know, we left New Zealand at the end of 2023 due to mums terminal illness.
At the time, an extremely smart business women who we have a lot of respect for rang us with the advice “not to give up everything we had built up for the shortest living member of the family”. Despite this being very sound advice, we decided that we could rebuild our lives in another hemisphere and forged ahead. After all, we are Dutch so it should not be impossible to live in our country of birth.
And what a journey we have been on, and still are on. Being in the Netherlands has been absolutely wonderful for our parents. The care and love they receive here is truly humbling. All their amazing friends who come from far and wide, the medical care mum receives here and the help available is second to none.
As wonderful as life is, and, can be in the Netherlands, unfortunately for both Paula & Myself, we have found our time in the Netherlands extremely difficult. We can make it work here and we have tried to fit into our country of birth. It shouldn’t be that hard one would think?
We are very proud of what we have achieved here. A successful shop that enabled us to secure a mortgage, which according to all rules and regulations here should have taken us two more years to secure. We’ve learned an immense and invaluable amount about business, numbers and goals, and we have experienced new places and people.
But sadly it is not enough.
We are homesick….we miss our people, we miss our business and we miss “our” country. Our passport is Dutch, but our home is New Zealand. 🇳🇿
As you all may have noticed we have been quite obviously absent from social media (with the odd silly post to keep it somewhat alive). Earlier this year we made the decision that despite mums health rapidly declining, we have given the last three years of our lives to be near our parents but we are keenly aware that life is too precious for indecisions and regrets.
We have decided to return home!
The last year we have worked very hard to set ourselves up to be able to return to New Zealand for most of the year, with small stints back in the Netherlands to spend precious time with mum and dad, and our dearly loved Ivy.
We will share more about our New Zealand plans soon so stay tuned!
