He's now a househusband, but will be looking for a part-time job of any kind, even labouring.
Ethan finished his last year of secondary school before moving south. He starts at Victoria University this year. When Auckland friends came for his birthday party in December he said some of them didn't want to leave again.
Eva-Maree was in her last year of intermediate in Auckland, and didn't want to leave her friends. But Whanganui Intermediate School principal Charles Oliver found her a friend from her area and she starts at Whanganui High School soon.
Mr Thompson's mother, Patricia, has a motor neurone disease. In their Auckland house she was confined to a downstairs room "watching the drug deals" in the rental next door. She prefers her Whanganui view of farmland and a pond.
The family are all born and bred Aucklanders, but Mr and Mrs Thompson say they have outgrown it. The tipping point came when house prices went up.
"If I had continued working in Auckland I would never have paid the mortgage off," he said.
He is likely to get Huntington's disease, like his mother, which could cut his working life short.
The family love Whanganui's slower and more peaceful lifestyle. They say people are more polite and friendly, drivers are more patient, the streets are cleaner and the properties better looked after.
The hanging flower baskets and attractive old buildings of the central business district give Mrs Thompson "warm fuzzies".
They are easing into a more country lifestyle. They have even bought two lambs, named Willow and Daisy, who have become great friends with their dog.
