Sunday, June 24, 2012

Rewind. Plot.

June 11th 2012 Santorini Island, Greece

After weeks travelling Europe with my beloved sister, Rach, we're spending a day on the beach. It's her birthday and we're 'chillaxing'. I'm looking forward to getting back to England and Mr B in two days.

June 13th 2012: 5:40pm Gatwick Airport, London

I know the time exactly, because that's the time on a form I have, telling me of my detainment. My working visa had run out while we were in Europe, I was wanting to get back in on a tourist visa for the summer. After five hours being held with abuse ("I'm sick of you people, you all think you can just swan in here whenever you like"),patches of politeness, and a stack of manipulation (Mr B was phoned and the answers he gave became twisted truths on my official forms). They took my passport and gave me seven days to leave.

June 20th 2012: midday Heathrow Airport, London

My flight takes off. A week is a short time to unexpectedly pack up and say goodbye to a life built up over nearly two years. After getting over the shock we looked on the bright side and threw a Deportation Party (how many of those have you been to?) and managed a day in London for a few parting gestures.

June 24th 2012 Auckland, NZ

Glad to be back, but busy getting over jet lag (my body believes 2am is the best time to be alert at the moment), looking for a job/flat/car and trying to catch up with NCEA changes. Mr B should be out in a few weeks for a visit.

At this point, if I am honest, I am not sure how much much I will keep up the momentum of this blog, we'll see.

12 comments:

  1. An apologetic Brit living on the North Shore here. If you need help, just ask.

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  2. Thanks, it's all done now. Just looking at the silver linings now. Most British people have been horrified, in the end it could be linked to a crackdown for the Olympics (even though I live on the coast and had no intention of being a midst London coming Olympic time- London on a regular day is hectic enough).

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  3. I sympathise with your predicament because my re-entry visa has expired and I need to apply for permanent residence. At the moment, if I leave, I can't come back again... even though my wife and kids are here, I'm the only one with a British passport. Must get round to filling that form in...

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  4. Hey, welcome back.

    pleased to see that you didn't have to arrive on one of those dodgy refugee boats.

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  5. Yeah, welcome back Nicola. Keep this blog updated so we know all is progressing well.

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  6. Oh those Poms are still pissed at us for winning the World Cup. Lesson learnt though - never be slack with things due to expire. It can cost you in the long run. Still no excuse to be abusive though. SOme peole are on a power trip withtheir jobs. Give them a uniform and they think they can treat people like shit. Well all good things must come to an end my dear. Sounds like it was a great end - being in the Greek Islands. I'm sure you will land on your feet very soon. Do keep us up to date. It is always fun to hear of your adventures.

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  7. Welcome back Nicola. Dancing Bear announced at morning brief that you were back, and were going to be working in Porirua.

    Are things that bad?

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  8. TSB, dancing bear should always be written in lower case (not capitals).

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  9. If you'd wanted twisted truths you should have got TSB to give them information......on second thought, maybe not.

    1. He is twisted

    2. He is Scottish so no doubt within seconds he would rail against the sassenachs and not help your case

    3. He is a bas..., a bastion of the New Zealand professional classes and as New Zealanders are persona non grata to UK officialdom, that probably wouldn't help your case either.

    4. Lastly, given the time difference, TSB would either be in a scotch-induced coma or about to be so would probably be incomprehensible.

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  10. I'm amazed that Richard (of RBB), you know, that old conductor at the bus station hasn't deleted your blog again for low posting activity.

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  11. A new update will be coming- but possibly not until the holidays

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