Holiday turned into new life as Kiwis

Cesar Alarcon, his daughter Consuelo Alarcon, 18, and his wife Maria Godoy have officially become Kiwis. Photo / Stephen Parker

A three-week holiday in New Zealand had such an impact on one Chilean family they returned to live here.

And yesterday Cesar Alarcon, his wife Maria Godoy and 18-year-old daughter Consuelo Alarcon officially became Kiwis.

They were joined by migrants from Chile, Philippines, France, Korea, Fiji, Zimbabwe, Britain, Ireland, India, Thailand and South Africa at a citizenship ceremony at Rotorua Lakes Council.

Forestry researcher, Mr Alarcon, was so taken with New Zealand after a month working in Rotorua in 1999 he asked his wife to join him for a holiday. The pair travelled around the South Island in a campervan before returning to visit friends in Rotorua.

Mrs Godoy said she thought Rotorua was "just lovely".

"Although it was July it wasn't cold and we had a thermal pool outside, which was wonderful because I'd never had one - it was such a beautiful place."

After returning home she never stopped talking about how good it would be to live here in this "beautiful country".

It wasn't until four years later Mrs Godoy got her wish when her husband surprised her with tickets to move to New Zealand.

"It's been hard. I didn't speak English or have the qualification to nurse here - without the generosity of the people in New Zealand we wouldn't have made it," she said.

Mr Alarcon got a job within four months, but it took his wife longer. With English to conquer it was four years before Mrs Godoy could return to the nursing profession she loved. She now works as as a clinical nurse at Cantabria Hospital along with her daughter, John Paul College student Consuelo, who works part-time as a caregiver.

Each new New Zealand citizen or family was given a papauma kapuka griselinia seedling by deputy mayor Dave Donaldson.