Removals win enables couple to retire in style…
26 May 2009
Peter and Sondra Ward from Watford were the lucky winners of the free move from Robinsons International, in conjunction with Outbound Publishing. The surprise win came at just the right time – Mr Ward had been planning to say goodbye to his four-wheeled pride and joy – a special edition Toyota - but is now able to transport it half way across the world to New Zealand to be a part of his new life…
“When I received the phone call to say we had won the competition, it was a total shock. It was also a huge relief and weight off our minds that the removals side of the move would be taken care of for us. It was only when I was discussing our moving needs with the team at Robinsons that I realised I would be able to take my car!” explained Peter.
“My sports car is one of my treasured possessions. It’s a special edition Toyota – there were only 2,000 of them made and I was very reluctant to part with mine. Considering the distance we were travelling I had begrudgingly come round to the idea that I would have to sell it – I’d even got my wife to take a picture of me with it! So to know that it will be taken care of and transported for me makes me very happy indeed. Without the competition win, we would never have been able to afford to take the car.
Sondra and Peter had always dreamed of moving abroad to escape the busy lifestyle they had built up for themselves here in the UK. They met at the Natural History Museum where they worked for a total of 70 years between them and alongside this they also ran a successful wildlife photography agency, which at its peak had a network of 150 photographers worldwide. Their working lives had been very hectic, even the holidays that the couple shared were spent gathering images for the business and they were always on call to customers.
It’s no surprise that a slower pace of life in New Zealand was what the Wards had always been dreaming of…
“We first visited New Zealand in 2000 and fell in love with the country immediately,” explained Sondra. “We travelled a lot during our working years, to photograph wildlife in countries across the world, so we had always enjoyed other cultures and felt there was more out there for us. Once we reached retirement we had to work hard on the business to get it into a position to sell it but after that our focus was on moving abroad.
“We considered all our options before settling on New Zealand, looking at Florida, Bahamas, France and even Kenya but none of them compared to what New Zealand has to offer. For us it has the whole package and none of the drawbacks of other countries. My father was born in New Zealand and I still have some family members out there, so I have always felt a strong bond with the country.
“The attraction for Peter and me is the slower pace of life and the nature of the people themselves – we’ve had such great experiences when we visited and people have gone out of their way to make us feel welcome. Financially, it is very attractive as well as the cheaper property prices mean we will be able to release equity in our Watford house and not have to compromise on the size of our next property.
Sondra continued: “We have our sights set on living in the North of the country, Paihia or KeriKeri perhaps. Our initial plans, however, are just to get over there and travel around to find our perfect permanent home – a prospect we find really exciting.
As is the case for many people who are planning to emigrate in the current climate, the Ward’s are involved in a housing chain and are waiting for their potential buyer to sell their house.
“We are waiting in a chain as I’m sure many others are at the moment and unfortunately it is just a part of the credit crunch. We are remaining optimistic and hopefully things will move soon. Everything else is in place for the move and we now even have Robinsons on standby to move our belongings!”
Peter concluded: “We just go to show that you can make the move abroad at any age – when there is a will there is most definitely a way! I took real inspiration from a story I read about a man who was 101 and moved to New Zealand to start a new life, so I hope we inspire others who haven’t built up the courage to move to do the same thing and fulfil their dreams of a new life abroad.”
