Where to begin….

It has been a while since I posted, lots has been happening, including Luca making his own little garden area on our tiny hill. He spent ages making this, drawing all the veges ,(carrots, beets and cabbages), and putting them in the ground 🙂

It was precipitated by me planting a wee herb garden with him..

Anyway…..before our friends came down, some things had been happening that was making us reconsider if Costa Rica is indeed the long term place for us. If not, where would we go, and did we need to re-look at how much time we would spend in Costa Rica?

We had made a commitment to each other when embarking on this adventure back in June , that this year, (June 2018 – June 2019), was about finding a place for us to put down roots for the rest of Luca’s schooling. Costa Rica was high on the list, and a lot of that was to do with the school here.

Unfortunately we hit the school at a time of immense change and upheaval, none of which we knew before we came. It was obvious in the first few weeks there were big issues. We decided to stick it out, as Luca very happy, plus the potential for the CEC to be a leader in this type of education is all just sitting there, waiting to be fulfilled and we hoped to be a part of it.

Unfortunately things got worse, and although we hope things will come right, it will take a lot of time, more time than we have. In Luca’s class especially there has been a lot of chaos which made learning very difficult ,(although I have to say at no point was Luca unhappy at school he really loved it there).

We had other good options here for schooling that we seriously considered, but thought if we are going to do that, we have to be sure, that here is where we want to be long term ,and that would mean a substantial investment in Costa Rica.

After a family discussion, we have decided that as much as we love lots about Costa Rica, (it truly is a very special place), this is not the place we want to buy and settle, numerous and varied reasons, but we were all agreement.

So what to do and when?

We then discovered that the airlines will not take Pica to Canada from November first until April, as too cold. So if we wanted to head north we needed to take that into account.

Luca we had pulled from the school and waiting until April meant we were likely to interrupt another year of Luca’s schooling.

As it happens it is Rich’s Mum’s 80th birthday party on November 3rd. This is a big deal and previously we had not thought we would make it. Now we could commit to it, but wanted it to be a surprise ,(hence not posting for a while, did not want her reading this post before the surprise! 🙂 ). Rich’s siblings were in on it and sworn to secrecy 🙂 !

Where to go after? All of us agreed we wanted to move on from the America’s, and broaden our journey.

After much discussion we all agreed it was time to visit New Zealand! I was last there in 2003 and Rich in 2002. Luca has never been, and it is high on his list. Plus, neither Rich nor Luca, have met my parents in person, and we have never met my brothers youngest children. Now is a perfect time while we are so unencumbered, to check out Down Under.

So off we go!

Our friends that visited us in Costa Rica, have very generously, offered to look after Pica for us in Vancouver, as she is not allowed in NZ for 6 months for bio security reasons.

We are in Vancouver and Vancouver Island, from the 29th of October until the 4th of November, and then fly out to NZ!!!!

The last 2 weeks in Costa Rica were spent doing all the things we love, with Luca out of school he was able to enjoy it all too.

Spending time with friends, going on amazing hikes,exploring places as yet unseen, really relishing our time there….

It has been an amazing note to leave Costa Rica on, we truly love it here!

On a side note during all this Rich got TERRIBLE toothache and had to be seen by a dentist here. The tooth was beyond repair and needed out. One and a half hours and $45 later he was in much less pain! There is a reason why Americans come here for their dental care! This would have cost us hundreds of dollars in Canada too.

Rich very happy with the service and we can highly recommend the dental service here, very professional and caring.

So here I am now on Vancouver Island about ready to push post (we surprised Rich’s folks yesterday, they were so so happy 🙂 ).

Leaving Costa Rica was very hard, much more difficult emotionally than I anticipated, in fact one of the hardest places to leave ,(and I have left many!). We made such great friends and enjoyed the lifestyle very much, there were many tears shed but we know our path leads us on.

Luca and Pica’s last sleep in, in La Casita de Edwin…

We came down the mountain last Sunday and stayed in San Jose the night. Pica and Luca both vomited on the way down, it was a particularly arduous journey, the road in bad shape with all the recent rain. It was everywhere we had to go and buy a new bed for Pica on arrival to San Jose, as hers past saving. San Jose being San Jose is an adventure in itself to navigate around, and we ran into a street fight on the way. All Rich could say was “don’t touch the car we don’t have collision insurance”!!!! 🙂

It was an early start the next day (4am). This is our entire life packed up and waiting at San Jose airport for our flight. They were incredibly efficient and kind to us, getting all our things and Pica through and onto the plane very quickly. Even the pilot put an announcement over the intercom especially for us, that Pica was fine, how nice is that?!!!!!!

We had an uneventful flight until Toronto where we were unaware we had to declare Pica, (thought that had been taken care of with the booking of her onto the plane through Air Canada), and despite us having her physically with us they hauled us through customs and threatened us with a $2000 fine and court date etc etc. We managed to get away with a $33 administration fee and a promise to never do it again!!

We leave Sunday at midnight for NZ, a 15 & 1/2 hour flight to Sydney in Aussie, then a 5 hour layover and a 3 hour flight to Auckland, NZ. Fun times 🙂

I hated taking this painting down in Costa Rica, the little fellow had been there for weeks but he could not come with us, just one of many memories we will hold from our time there…

Back on our path we get, until my next post….