Hi, well for those who don’t know me, I’m Colin, a paramedic and father of 3 great boys who get called allsorts (you know what I mean?), and husband (only just recently) of Lisa. I’m the crazy guy who thought that it would be good to up sticks and move to the other side of the world! Things would be difficult, I knew that and some things near impossible but I also know that if you apply yourself, you can do most things.
Life is full of surprises and the thought of emigrating was only in my mind after I met Lisa …. let me justify that! I didn’t want to move away from her, far from it I wanted us to better ourselves and especially our surroundings. We went to Australia on holiday to see if it was the place for us ….. it was and we had some informal interviews that gave us an offer of employment if we could get into Australia …… we couldn’t (at the time). I looked at New Zealand and it seemed ok ….. then throwing caution to the wind I arranged some job interviews. That meant that I had to go …. so I did for almost a month. This meant not only the logistics of going but Lisa staying at home with our 2 children. That would be a job I wouldn’t envy anyone! New Zealand is not ok …… it’s Bloody Brilliant!
I had an official job offer in the place that I thought was the best ….. Cambridge which is a small town (10,000 people) just outside Hamilton. I applied for a work visa whilst I was out there ….. the answer was NO! The chief ambulance officer got involved …. the answer was NO! This is because of a great ruling that they have. The position must be granted to a Kiwi if a suitably qualified person has applied. Imagine that happening in the UK! There are always going to be suitably qualified people over there by way of the structure of the service. My quest was over.
I was pretty frustrated about the ultimate aim being quashed by re tape, good as it is (why don’t we in the UK do that?). Toni at work got in …… but she is also a nurse and went down that route after seeing the potential problems with the Paramedic route.
Word got around at work ….. ‘he’s failed’ is how it seemed but that would not be the sentiment that it was given in. Someone recommended talking to a guy at Lydd station, also called Colin (and Emma … I mean his wife is Emma not Colin at the weekends?!?) …… he was and still is my mentor and guide in all things Kiwi and a general good egg.
