One Way Ticket My Life

It's the 27th May and the biggest day of my life.

I'm at the airport with my family, but we're not just going on holiday.

We've packed our whole lives into bags and boxes and we're flying to

the other side of the world to start a brand-new life in New Zealand.

But about half the Brits who move to another country

change their minds and come back.

What if it doesn't work out for us?

Strap yourself in and find out, cos we've got a one-way ticket!

We've been preparing for the last four weeks,

so our story really starts back in April.

This is me.

My name is Daniel and I'm ten years old.

Everyone calls me Dan.

My little brother Jake is seven.

This is our house in Devon.

And this is our mum and dad.

New Zealand it nearly 12,000 miles away,

and is split into two islands - the North and the South.

The people who live there call themselves Kiwis,

after the local kiwi bird.

This all started because Dad has found an amazing new job

in New Zealand so as a family we've decided to move there.

We know from our own experience a lot of people have made

the big move to New Zealand and then when they've got there,

decided it's the wrong choice and they've come back.

So once we've been out there for a while, we'll have a big decision

to make - should we stay, or should we return to the UK?

If it doesn't work out and we have to come back, I may not

have any friends left - they might have forgotten about me by then.

It's two weeks until the move.

Flying to New Zealand takes 36 hours

and the tickets are really expensive so we have to say a big goodbye

to all the people we love here in the UK, including our grandparents.

BELL RINGS

Hello. All right?

My grandad is a very kind and very spoiling grandad.

Come on, you two. In we go.

When they told me that they were going to New Zealand,

it was a mixture of emotions.

One was sad because I wouldn't like them to go

but the other one was joy for them as a family.

Aww! Thanks, Grandad!

Over the last couple of months I've been trying to get my grandad

up-to-date with everything like Face Talk and stuff like that

so when we're in New Zealand we can see each other on the computer.

-Press enter.

-I thought we did that.

I keep up but it's hard, it really is hard work because I don't really

understand the terminology that they come out with, but I'm learning.

-Hello.

-All right? Give us a big wave.

-Can you see me, Grandad?

-Yeah, I can see you.

Considering his age I thought he would never achieve it, but he is.

-Grandad, what was your week like?

-My week?

I've been out in the garden for the first time for ages...

With this video link, I can talk to Daniel and Jake

whenever they want to and I can see them

and we can have a good time together as if we were in the next room.

Ah!

It's going to be really tough to say goodbye to this special someone.

Bailey is basically my cat.

I like him because, sort of boy stuff,

he farts a lot of the time.

He's the world's best cat farter!

Bailey gets terrible sunburn, so we've decided not to take him

to New Zealand.

Bailey means the world to me.

I can't imagine him without me or the other way round, me without him.

Luckily, some family friends have said they'll give Bailey a new home.

I'll probably never see Bailey again.

-Hiya.

-Bailey's come to see you.

Let's bring him in. Put him down there.

I sort of just went upstairs and stayed there for a minute.

It's time for our last cuddle.

It was quite hard, but with 300 tissues, it helps you.

Just five days until the move.

Today is my last day at school, and I feel nervous saying goodbye

to all my friends and everything, but I hope it just goes well.

It says, "Ben, you are awesome. I will miss you."

Much improved, Daniel!

-Have you seen what you look like?

-No, you've got squiggles.

I never thought I'd say this

but I think I might miss school quite a bit.

Packing day!

We're flying to New Zealand with just one suitcase each but

everything else in our house needs to be packed into lots of boxes.

which will take a whole two months to travel to

New Zealand on a huge ship.

Bye, house!

The big day!

We've spent the last few nights with our grandparents to stock up

on as many hugs as possible but now it's time for our final goodbye.

See ya. Take care.

Bye!

Bye! See you in a couple of years!

It's really hard not knowing when I'll see my grandparents again.

But I'm still excited about starting our new life.

Gentlemen, start your engines!

Our New Zealand adventure is under way!

I can see New Zealand.

Wow! You have to see this!

We've arrived.

It's our first morning in our new home.

We're jet-lagged but we want to get to know Wellington.

We've heard we can get the best view of our new city

from the top of Mount Victoria.

Look at that view. To think this is where we live!

New Zealand became part of the British Empire in 1840, before

gaining independence in 1947, but it still has our Queen on its money.

The first ever people to live in New Zealand were called the Maori

and today we're visiting one of their traditional villages.

When the Maori meet people they rub noses, which is called a hongi.

Kiora.

That means "hello" in Maori.

Jake and I are excited about tonight

because we get to sleep in a traditional Maori hut.

We've been invited to train as warriors.

So the tattoos or the mojos would tell somebody who you are,

they talk about your ancestors.

When I looked in the mirror at first it looked quite strange

but at the same time really cool.

Next up, we're going to learn the haka.

Bend at the knees. Straight back. Chest out and let out a big, "Hey!"

ALL: Hey!

-Hey!

-ALL: Hey!

Hogana. Yeah!

The haka is a dance to greet people

and for the men to scare the opposition in battle.

THEY PERFORM THE HAKA

Understanding Maori culture makes me feel

a lot more like a Kiwi.

Six months later!

-We moved into our new house.

-Good morning.

-Dad started his new job.

We started at the local school.

# Happy birthday, dear Dan and Jake... #

We both had our birthdays.

It may not look like it, but right now it's November.

The UK's winter is New Zealand's summer.

But first things first - it's time for school!

See you.

I get to school and I do my goal of what I want to achieve in the day.

Next we do a karakia...

THEY RECITE A KARAKIA

..which is a Maori blessing of the day

saying I hope we have a good day, I hope we survive.

THEY RECITE A KARAKIA

At break time I hang out with my friends Luke and Brooke.

When Dan started coming here, he sounded different to all of us

because he's just come from England.

It was kind of strange but I got used to it and we're friends now.

The friends over here are awesome

and they like playing games that I like to play.

So that's all good, but the biggest difference we've

found between living in New Zealand and living in the UK is...

earthquakes!

So far we've been here in New Zealand for half a year

and there's been two big earthquakes.

It's so serious that we have to practise earthquake drills at school.

What do we do when we hear or feel an earthquake?

Let's do it all together.

ALL: Drop, cover, hold.

Earthquake!

Apart from dealing with earthquakes,

coming to New Zealand has meant making sacrifices.

The hardest thing about moving to New Zealand is

leaving your friends and family behind.

-Hello, boys. How are you?

-Hi.

-How is school going?

-Really good.

-Very well.

The bad thing about video calling is you can talk to them, you can

say hi but you can't actually touch them and they're not actually there.

Well, I must admit, the pair of you, I miss you a hell of a lot.

I miss you loads and loads.

It makes me feel quite sad, because I used to just

walk in through the door of their house and hug them but over here,

when we video call them, all we can do is just start speaking.

-Goodbye.

-Bye.

So it's decision time - should we stay or should we go?

Even though I miss everyone from home, I think New Zealand's

worth it for all the outdoor sports and stuff.

Mum and Dad have decided they want to stay in New Zealand

and that makes me and Jake very happy.

Moving here, I think, was definitely a good decision,

because we have all of this and this is really good.

I definitely feel that our family's future is in New Zealand.

It'll be the measure of how long that future is.

We'll let you know in 10, 15, 20 or 56 years' time.

I think I'm going to turn more into a Kiwi as I grow older

but I'm always going to have that little bit of British inside me.

I'm so glad we only got a one-way ticket.

I feel about the future that it's going to work well

and it's going to be amazing.