Journey ends with citizenship

It's a real Kiwi love story.

Amanda Neill became a Kiwi yesterday during a Rotorua District Council citizenship ceremony, marking the end of a great journey which started in a small shared flat in Wimbledon.

Like any good love story this one includes two main characters - Amanda, the damsel in distress, and Daniel the electrician from Rotorua.

It was a day like many others for Amanda who was enjoying life in Wimbledon after growing up in the coastal settlement of Hastings in England.

However, all went wrong when she and her flatmates started having issues with their power, calling on the local electrician for help.

A young Kiwi traveller and trained electrician named Daniel was sent out to give his support.

After re-wiring a circuit and saving the day, Daniel was told he had won the heart of one of the English girls staying in the flat.

"I went to ask her out and I haven't been able to get rid of her since," he explained.

Amanda and Daniel began dating and grew close during the coming years while living and working in England.

"She was working for Air New Zealand at the time and my mates thought it was just a relationship of convenience," he said with a laugh.

However, the pair married in 2007 and moved back to Rotorua where they have settled, raising their two young boys Joshua, 3, and Harrison, 1.

"It's the best thing I ever did coming to Rotorua," Amanda said.

She said it all started that day in Wimbledon and she had not looked back since.

Amanda Neill was one of 28 people who became New Zealand citizens yesterday in Rotorua.

The most represented nationality during the ceremony was Filipino.