It's been a month.....

It's been one month since I arrived back home from my amazing time spent in New Zealand. My few weeks of travelling and meeting up with friends and family went way too fast, but they are memories I shall treasure for a very long time.

Boarding the plane to leave New Zealand was very emotional and part of me definitely wasn't ready to leave. However I decided to treat myself to a little present that would remind me of everything I had done and achieved whilst working there, almost as if I was treating myself to a farewell gift. I bought myself two new charms from the New Zealand equivalent of the pandora collection. One charm is of a tractor, to remind me of my first experience of mowing, and the second charm is of a dairy cow, for obvious reasons of all the cows I had milked and calves I had reared. A very personal gift for a very personal experience.

After arriving back home in the early hours of February 20th, to the cold weather conditions that I had left behind a very long time ago, I soon started meeting back up with friends and family who were wanting to hear all about my travels and experiences. However it didn't take long before I started to get itchy feet and wanted to be somewhere else other than home. As I have mentioned it was a very emotional experience boarding the plane to come back home, and part of me questioned whether I was actually ready to come back? Don't get me wrong, I was happy to see friends and family that I hadn't seen in a long time, but something just didn't feel right somehow. Something was missing.

Whilst travelling around New Zealnd and Sydney, Australia, I began to actually miss being in the shed in the early hours of the morning, milking the cows. On times it could be a very lonely job standing in the shed cupping hundreds of cows all by myself, but it was also a great feeling to be working with the animals and the amazing feeling it gave me to be working in this agricultural industry. I don't think I truely realised how amazing it was to work with these creatures until the work had stopped. 

The time I spent in New Zealand definitely made me aware that it was working in agriculture that got me out of bed in the morning, made me feel happy and relaxed, and arriving back in the UK and not having that work to go to made me realise that I needed to find work of a similar sort to get me back into the mindset I was in whilst working in New Zealand.

I have been lucky enough to have had a two week lambing job in Pembroke, west Wales, which was absolutely amazing. It felt so good to be back in a farming environment bringing new life into the world and giving them that all important care they need in the early stages of their life. I came to realise whilst in New Zealand that it is young stock that I particularly enjoy working with, so to be back in the season of new life on the farms was great.

As I have mentioned however, I have still got itchy feet and am still not quite ready to settle down at home and concentrate on a certain career here. My next stop for a few weeks is lambing in Scotland, which I am thoroughly looking forward to doing. It's going to be a challenge I know, as I have never worked with such a large amount of livestock before, however I am ready to accept the challenge and I simply cannot wait. I have definately come home with a new attitude to simply give anything a go, and I am enjoying every new experience I try.

The question I was constantly being asked while I was away, as to what was I going to do when I got home, unfortunately I am still unable to answer. Someone described the place I am in at present as my 'magical mystery adventure' and I am simply enjoying the continuos journey that I am on. I am learning new things, experiencing different aspects of an industry I love and meeting new friends along the way. I'm sure when the time is right, I will know exactly what it is I plan on doing for the future, howevr at the moment I'm simply going to enjoy the ride.

H x