Coming home from the O.E., 20 years later.

Howdy folks, long time listener, 1st time caller

I left Tauranga in early '97 for a year or two. Settled in a tiny Scottish Highland hamlet for 2.5yrs, spending my days off exploring the Highlands and Islands, and helping the gamekeepers. Shot a few roe, plenty of reds, and hundreds of rabbits and mountain hares. Also days and nights out on foxes for the estates, but I never got one personally. Moved to London for the '99 World Cup, boss wouldn't give me weekend off for Scotland v AB's at Murrayfield, so I found myself back up there, working in Inverness, out with the keepers every second weekend, until I got doorwork at Gunnies(Gunsmiths) pub.

Then over to Dublin, where I have a shottie, but no more land to shoot on! So I've found myself not doing any hunting(have mates that do), but instead stuck for the last 10yrs or so doing boring stuff, pistols, smg's, etc. Really going to miss that fast stuff, expensive fuelling the weapons, but bloody good craic. Good fun walking or camping up the Dublin and Wicklow mountains with a 9 milly hanging off the belt. I have fired a fair few of my bucket list military automatic weapons, MP40 being the main one, also Tommy, PPS43, Ppsh41, Sterling, RPK, Skorpion, and a few more modern items.

Anyways, time to head home and get into the outdoors life while I can still climb a hill. Sick of watching everyone else doing it on youtube! Really looking to forward to getting into it, still have my weapons at home, and been buying trout gear here(learning to fly-fish), and Dad has a good boat. Biggest problem I guess will be trying to get some private land built up for the bunnies, possums, goats etc. Also stocking up on a shedload of outdoor kit, just so much bloody cheaper here, especially Lowas, 6prs so far.

Daithi.

Welcome to the forum. I did a bit of a stint in SW Scotland in the 80's shooting rabbits and pheasants on estates. I can see how you became hooked on the northern hemisphere :)

Welcome @Daithi. Nice intro. Where in NZ are you going to start out?

Welcome back, Sounds like a bit of a hard call to head home.

Welcome, you sound a bit like our son who went to Canada for a year and is still there married with 2 boys, 16 years on.

welcolme interesting stuff youve been doing @Carpe Diem would be worth having a chat to about nz trout fishing

Thanks guys. Yeah Scotland was the most amazing place to live in, and I was lucky to get out doing all the shooting/culling for free.
I'll be heading back to Tga, the bro is there and I have work and digs lined up.
Bit of a scary call to move home, so established here, but going through a divorce and leaving her the house, walking away from it with nothing after 11yrs paying a mortgage, but thats negative equity for ya. Just really looking forward to getting outdoors and trying to burn off a bit of a beer gut.
Been eating a lot of NZ venison the last couple of years, at one point it was the cheapest meat I could get, Aldi were doing packs of it, 8 euro for 2 portions, and would reduce it down, sometimes to about 3euro, so I'd fill the freezer. I guess it was WARO, but it was the best option here for me.
The folks are in Coromandel Town now, so that's the fishing and hopefully a bit of pork sorted.

Sad to hear but it happens been there done that best way I looked at it was its not the end of your life its the beginning of a new one

Certainly is.

I wouldn't have got to come home otherwise. Be good to bring up a bag of seafood after a dive, rather than just all the underwater sightseeing we do here. Got my Padi years ago over in Conemarra, massive scallops, but a no take policy. The kiwi boy was strip searched on exiting the water after every dive!

Welcome to the forum and welcome home (when you get here). TGA wil put you in close proximity to @Gibo who is one of the forum GC's and a great supporter and drinker of Waikato, the greatest beer known to mankind. He is a bit vertically challenged though so just make a mental note that it is possible to lose sight of him if you ever hunt with him in ankle high grass. He will be along soon to tell me to fuck off.

He sounds like a good man! Handy for pushing under the gorse or scrub, or head first into a bear hole. Quite like sampling the odd bevvy myself. Had a nice smoked brown ale tonight, from 8 Degrees Brewing, a company set-up here by a Kiwi and an Ozzie, it works! Whisky is my big thing though, been to a few distilleries, lived(literally) in one, and only a year or so ago had over 50 different ones in my drinking cabinet, plus several up the stair locked away, and a few locked away in Tga, well they better still bloody be there or someone owes me a lot of money! Getting quite fond of gin this last couple of years too. Have a container sorted for the trip home, so hoping customs turns a blind eye!!

Good luck with that

He sounds like a good man! Handy for pushing under the gorse or scrub, or head first into a bear hole. Quite like sampling the odd bevvy myself. Had a nice smoked brown ale tonight, from 8 Degrees Brewing, a company set-up here by a Kiwi and an Ozzie, it works! Whisky is my big thing though, been to a few distilleries, lived(literally) in one, and only a year or so ago had over 50 different ones in my drinking cabinet, plus several up the stair locked away, and a few locked away in Tga, well they better still bloody be there or someone owes me a lot of money! Getting quite fond of gin this last couple of years too. Have a container sorted for the trip home, so hoping customs turns a blind eye!!
I was only showing a mate a phot of me the other day standing outside a Jimmy Barnes concert in Shepherd's Bush wearing a Waikato shirt!

OOPs, double posted trying to edit but using the back button.


Yeaah, I've had words on more than one occaision coming into NZ on hols!

Yip I have been called Sonic the Hedgehog while burrowing through tight scrub before :)
Hit me up when you get back and we'll get into it.

Welcome to the forum!

What huge step you are taking,but your deffinatly going the right way geographically .
Consider investing in a few pairs of Meindles and Lowa's to sell for a proffit back home.I bought a pair for 60 Euro off Ebay before my last trip home.

Welcome