Searching for myself

Well, 32 is hardly "Mid-life" but I was getting to that crisis point none the less.

I'd been in the Police since 1988 and had policed my home town, of Tokoroa, for 8 years (with one year traveling Europe in the middle).  I'd done a couple of jobs in the Department there before deciding the town was too small for me now.

I'd also been the President of the Tokoroa Amateur Operatic Society since I'd returned from overseas. 
  That saw me throwing my all into the running side of the theater and the productions, rather than prancing about on stage with all the chorus girls.
 
I'd got to the point I was failing under the effort!  The town had lost many of those we needed with the shrinking job market.


Hamilton it was then!

I did another 3 months travel to the other side of the world (1996 blog in the pipeline) when I finished up with the Tokoroa Police.
  Upon my return, I started with the Traffic Branch of New Zealand's largest, inland city (70 000) in September 1996.

The first three and a half years of it were great, but I was starting to get those itchy feet again.  That need to get out of my perceived "rut".



I'd bought my second house a couple of years after my arrival in Hamilton.  I was enjoying the freedom of living alone again -flatmates cramp my style! 
  My "on again"-"off again" relationship was "off again". 

Nic and I had been together since shortly after I'd arrived. 
  We had a lot in common  My only reservations were about her wanting things that I didn't; children and the like...  Then she decided to join the Police too.
  I'm of the opinion that work life and home life should be held apart.



All this serious thinking was getting me down. 

I also had to decide whether I was going do anything with my little cottage.  I really loved the size of the place, it was perfect for me, but somewhere in the back of my mind there was a nagging thought that I should do bigger and better things with it. 
  Potential gnaws away at you until you tame it! 
 
I had sold my rental in Tokoroa and I was able to do something with the cash.   Renovation should never be rushed into though, and I wasn't even sure I was up for it.  My old man was a builder so I knew what it was all about!
 

I decided to run away for three months to get my head around it all.

I was tired of mowing the lawn at my place anyway.  It would be nice to be able to turn my back on that.  The house was so small that there was a lot of grass that needed mowing.


Australia.  That's the place! 

    I pack my thinking cap and I'm off.......