[StevieD]

Hi all, very quickly, just waiting for out flight to Auckland in Singapore. Had a lovely stop over, a bit longer would have been better but next time..... hotel was fantastic, but falling asleep on the lounger next to the pool was not a clever thing to do!! We getting some strange looks from everyone as we walk past a strange scarlet colour :laugh

Can't wait to get there now. See you all soon.

Steve, Jan, Kieran and Louisaxxxx

[wiki]

Great news - so glad you guys ar on the final stretch. Enjoy your arrival - I hear you're getting quite a welcoming committee!

[Andy-Dee]

YEEEEEEAAAH !
Delighted to hear from you - o scarlet one! :clap
Best of luck to both of you and the kids.
Nearly there.
Dee

[Belmont Babes]

Lovely to hear...please keep us updated to keep our chins up as we plod through this mad process. Hubby said last night the ITA should read "Brace yourselves you will be stressed and haemorrhaging alot of cash through this process"...instead of "Congratulations".:yes

[zardell]

See you all very, very, soon.

Can't wait............:clap


Me and Him.

xx

[K&CS]

Yeah, it's pretty hot in Singapore, isn't it?? Have a great last leg of the flight. I remember how excited I was waiting for our flight from Singapore! Let's hope the sun keeps shining here!

Kate x

[jess]

Glad to hear you are on your way!!! :raebanana

[leachio]

Wishing you well on the final leg, Keep postin Stevie & Jan!!!

Amanda & co x

2wks tmrw, ooohhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Marie P]

They are here safe ,sound if not a little sun burned .

It was fantastic to see them finally come through those doors .

They are driving back to Kim and Elaines ,so hopefully they will post later and Kim will post some photo's.

It was lovely to see the flag again too :nice1

Kia Ora To the Dolans :clap

Marie x

[zardell]

Kia Ora To the Dolans :clap

Marie x



Couldn't have said it better meself..........:nice1

Julie n Steve

xx

[marcia]

A very big welcome the Dolans - bet it feels surreal after all this time spent planning to actually be here at last! :clap

Have a good sleep, and don't let Kim tire you out too much in the first few days sightseeing!!:D

See you guys soon!

[jubjub]

Haere mai ki te whenua o Aotearoa

and sorry the weather has turned to custard... I did try and keep the sun for you (mind you, sounds like sun is the last thing you need :laugh --+)

[katandbob]

Hi there, glad your all here safe - if not a little rosier;)

Enjoy the sights around kims neighbourhood - Kim you'll have to take them to that little place we met - Jan would love the christmas shoppe.... Rob wouldnt let me buy anything..... :confused: but luckily we have one here:laug h ....can you hear Rob groaning...at the thought of me buying xmas things all year round!!!!

Any way Glad your here safe and sound and hope its not that long till we see you down our way!:nice1

PS WHERES THE PICTURES?????????;)

[oldtimbo]

WELCOME to not so sunny NZ Steve and family. So kind of you to bring all this lovely British weather with you :laugh

[Kim39]

Our north west meet flag is back on NZ soil, to be handed to it's rightful owner. As we finally made it (about time) after a pretty lousy, late flight, we stood in line itching to get out of the airport. After a lovely stop over in Singapore, which helped a lot by the way, we wondered what would await us.

What can we say but "Thanks guys!"

What a pick up the welcoming committee provided. Great to meet up with our mates again, as we struggled through the gate with our luggage (57kgs over!! oops) flag draped over the cases, we scanned and saw a big gang of familiar faces waving to us. Absolutely brilliant, thank you all, especially as we were well late getting there.

Well after a view of what NZ has to offer on the way down to the Waikato - what a strange experience it is, feels so surreal - we had a well earned cuppa, and chance to rest our weary bones.

One thing about this whole process - you get to stand up a lot! You find yourself without any furniture, so you stand up, when packing, you stand up, then you queue for hours in the airport, more standing, then you stand in a queue at Auckland airport for ages. But when the customs guy says "welcome home" it certainly makes you realise just what you have done.

As soon as I get this camera sorted I'll post some pictures from our little adventure. I get the feeling that sleep is going to rear it's ugly head soon, although I know I have to catch up with my brother and mum on msn later on. Guess I'll just soldier on through.

We will post our catch ups over the next few days. Thanks again everyone.

Steve, Jan, Kieran and Louisa

[StevieD]

BTW, in case you are wondering, that last post was indeed meant to be by Stevie D - but he is a bit tired and got confused :laugh

[Marie P]

Here are my piccies Kat ,hopefully Kim will post his too.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c379/wilson1964/IMG_0239-2.jpg

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c379/wilson1964/IMG_0241.jpg

[Singel]

Welcome to the Land of the Long White Cloud, Steve and family :raebanana :raebanana

Chill out and celebrate the new chapter in your life ................ have more :cheers :cheers

[Pip]

Congrats! You made it... welcome to New Zealand..:clap

looking forward to reading your posts as you settle in (she says with all of her worldly ten days of NZ experience :laugh)

[sizzlingbadger]

Welcome to NZ :clap

I suppose you'll be looking forward to a few of these :cheers :cheers to get over the jet lag :D

[Cardiff Irons]

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c379/wilson1964/IMG_0239-2.jpg

Steve and Jan. Is there a third child you didn't tell us about (bottom right hand corner)? :eek:

So glad you're here at last. When you're settled, I strongly suggest a trip to Eastern Beach to share a beer or eight with the Irons family.

Heard there was a bit of a delay at the airport Steve. Rumour has it that they always take a little bit longer when the Scousers are on board, as the planes are normally short of a hubcap or two by the time they land. ;)

Take care all and enjoy.


Steve :nice1

[Sam B]

Welcome to the Waikato, Stevie D and family! Do you plan to stay around here?

[jubjub]

Rumour has it that they always take a little bit longer when the Scousers are on board, as the planes are normally short of a hubcap or two by the time they land. ;)


:laugh :laugh (in the style of Dick Emery) "You are awful, but I do like you"

[spudulike]

Welcome to NZ Stevie D & Co.

Hope your new life exceeds expectations :cheers

S

[dipaul07]

hey guys,

Been thinking of you all weekend, glad you arrived safely, all the best for your new life together, it sounds like you have some great friends over there already :D hopefully we will be there one day, keep us all posted.

Di, Paul, Beth and Nath xx

[vixxann]

Ooooooh that photo in the airport made me quite emotional - must try and pull myself together :o

Last time we saw Steve & co with the flag was when they were signing it in the Muscrat!! Nice to see they've all arrived safely in New Zealand - the place that all this posting boils down to - the object of all our desires - oh I'm definately feeling soppy today .

I'm sure you'll all have a fab time - cannot wait to see and hear more :clap :clap for the Dolans

[Moorf]

Welcome to New Zealand guys! This feels like a bit of a forum milestone - you're finally here! :clap:clap

[Kim39]

Here are few pic's from their arrival. Much of a muchness really, but hey who cares cos our old NW buddies are here.

Me, Babette, and Elaine waiting patiently..........

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/Brierley1964/IMG_1163.jpg

Jan and Louisa

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/Brierley1964/IMG_1165.jpg

and here they are all happy that they made it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v721/Brierley1964/IMG_1166.jpg


They have been chilling away the night. Have spent a bit of time on MSN chatting with family after they had been treated to an NZ chippy tea. Steve seems to think he may need more offerings from the NZ chippys, loves them.:laugh

Kim

[Moorf]

Wow, so is that all the NW crew over now?? :confused:

[Kim39]

Sure is Moorf, or the last of the original North West crew, but there is now the new generation taking over, long may the North West meets continue..:clap

Kim

[Moorf]

Wow!! :nice1 That's sooooo cool!

[pinkpiggy]

Great to see your happy smiling (if a little pink) faces Steve and Jan. :clap

Hopefully we'll be the first of the 'next generation' to sign the flag. We're hoping to fly out on or around 10 May and the next NW meet is 28 April. The day after we move out of our house.

[vixxann]

Am I imagining things or is Jan wearing a lovely pair of pink wings on those photos?!

Paula - getting exciting for you now - will you be able to make the 28th April? It will be great to witness another flag signing!

[pinkpiggy]

Paula - getting exciting for you now - will you be able to make the 28th April? It will be great to witness another flag signing!

We're hoping to. Not sure in what order we'll be doing things but we'll be visiting Leeds/Cheshire/Epsom between 27 April - 10 May.

[Trigirl]

congrats steve and family. welcome to new zealand.

[Kim39]

Am I imagining things or is Jan wearing a lovely pair of pink wings on those photos?!




No you are not:eek: Think its something to do with her scrapbooking forum mates, maybe a dare. Jan did say but i've forgot.


Kim

[Andy-Dee]

Hi Steve, Jan and Family

Glad to see you all arrived safely :nice1 - cant wait to hear more of your adventures.

D & A - The New Generation (28th April) :cheers

[Bruckner]

Hi SteveD, Jan and the kids! Glad you all made it safely. Did my wish for first class upgrades come through? Get some rest and post back soon!

Emily

[marcia]

Great to see you guys here at last, and looking really well, not tired at all!!:)

Can't wait to catch up with you, speak soon.

Loads of love and hugs

The smith clan!

[StevieD]

First class upgrades??!!! Nearly ended up in jail LOL. Didn't I forget about which case was which, put my fishing knife and good aftershaves in a hand luggage case forgetting which was which in all the hassle - ended up having it confiscated LOL.... so now you know the references to knives hmmmm....

As for the wings -they are part of a joke with Jan's scrapbooking team back in the UK - they had a farewell party for her last week and they were all dressed in fairy wings and boots. So she had to submit to a dare to wear them in the airport. No problemo! Even got piccies of her in Singapore with them on too :laugh

Thanks to everyone for following our little story. The last few weeks have been incredibly stressful. Every bit of it is guaranteed to cause stress. I have no regrets now that I am here, but there are still lots of things to be sorted out, but that can be done in good time.

The farewells were as you can imagine, stressful. I think our having to get our eldest dog put to sleep was also a horrible end to our preparations. It would have had to happen had we stayed, he was just failing. But we had to re-home our other dog and rabbit, but luckily enough we found good homes for them. But it is still upsetting that we couldn't bring them with us. But, it came as no surprise to us that our dog, Pebbles, has taken the leaders role in her new home, the other dog has been well and truly put in it's place!

The morning of the flights was stressful. I woke at 5 am Thursday, still awake Friday morning when my brother and friends came to collect us. Only in the car on the way to the airport did I nod off, was I shattered. But it gave me a chance to have a sleep on the plane, which I did. The flight with Singapore was brilliant, can't say any more, they are a fantastic airline.

Singapore was fantastic. Loved the place - our hotel was lovely, and as I was so tired, I fell asleep next to the pool on the Saturday morning -hence the red tinge to my complexion! There was no sun, it was warm, but being so tired I didn't think I was in much danger of getting burnt as I did. How wrong I was :o I am very, very burnt. It is very painful.
So you can imagine how I felt trying to carry a rucksack which weighed a lot on my shoulders, rubbing them raw. We fully intend to go back there for a longer stay in the future.

The flight from Singapore to NZ was uneventful, bar the buffeting we got from the weather. It was really bumpy, but arriving at the cloudy isles was welcome! :laugh After being delayed in Singapore for 3/4 hour, we arrived late in Auckland. The baggage collection took ages and immigration saw huge queues. But when we eventually got our luggage (all 177 kilos of it - 57 kilos over our allowance - gulp! which Manchester let go, but Singapore weren't so keen but we beat them up to let us through) it was great to see the old smiling faces waiting for us - thank you all!

So we had a coffee in McDonalds, said our goodbyes and then headed down with Kim and Elaine to TA. Had our first fish supper - very nice fish, tasty, and a couple of beers. But my eyelids were in danger of sticking together, but I had to stay awake for a "sked" with my brother and mum on MSN. It was worth it though, seeing them on cam.

Still finding our feet today, having a look around, did a bit of shopping for some bits we needed, and just having a relax, catching up on sleep.

Will post more in the coming days. But to our old NW mates still back there, keep the meets going, it is a great help. When your time comes, it does help you meeting up with others on the same path as you. I am sure we will see you in the future. I can say that driving out of Auckland, seeing some of the buildings and houses does shatter the rose tinted specs view of NZ. BUT - it is a very pretty country. We haven't seen much of it yet, but what we do know is that it is so much quieter, laid back and relaxed. Driving is stress free compared to the UK rat race (rush hour traffic consisted of about 20 cars!), no matter how bad kiwi driving is. But we have only been here a day, so we aren't really qualified to comment yet.

Gotta go, the eyes are stinging. See you soon.

The Dolans

[willsken]

Hey Steve Jan and family! Welcome to NZ. The dream has finally come true! Can't wait to meet up soon! :D

[StevieD]

Thanks Nic!! Will catch up soon as we have caught our breath....

[katandbob]

Hi Guys, :raebanana nice to see your smiling faces - loved the wings Jan!:nice1

Can't say that I get to do much scrapping nowadays but I have a box thats getting full:laugh of bits to use

Hope that the weather gets a bit better for you soon

All the best - from the NW most southern contingent

Kat Rob & Jason:cheers

[StevieD]

Are you the Essex girl of the team?? :laugh

[StevieD]

Just a few pics of our journey down south....

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/bluekiwi100/DSCF8423.jpg

Friend saying goodbye at the airport

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/bluekiwi100/DSCF8439.jpg

Dad and Louisa enjoying the hotel pool in Singapore

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/bluekiwi100/DSCF8459.jpg

Kieran being a cool dude by the sign at the hotel beach sports hut

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/bluekiwi100/DSCF8489.jpg

The girls having cocktails by the pool......

[StevieD]

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/bluekiwi100/DSCF8504.jpg

While the boys kayak out into the lagoon....

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e397/bluekiwi100/DSCF8518.jpg

Finally, we are in NZ!! After a long, tiresome journey, it is good to finally reach our destination.

Catching our breath over the next few days is our priority. Only thing is, we have brought the rain with us, huge thunderstorm tonight, kids loved it though. Got a lot of rain forecast for the next few days, but apparently it is needed coz it has been so dry over the summer. Still warm though, it was 24 degrees today, but had to wear a sweatshirt coz the sunburn was causing me to feel chilly...

Steve

[vixxann]

Great to see and hear from you all and even better to know that you are now more than an hours drive down the M6 away (if you know what I mean:D )
Fab photos :nice1
Hope you are finding your NZ feet and enjoying every minute:cheers

[pinkpiggy]

You all look totally relaxed during your stopover. :nice1 It looks like it has done you the world of good.

Keep us posted of your progress but for the meantime just take it easy and savour every moment.:cheers

[thezorbster]

So lovely to see you all there at last and looking so, hmm, tanned? So glad we got to meet you before you left and don't worry old NW'ers, the NW meets will continue! I didn't buy a bargain flag for nothing!

[Andy-Dee]

bargain flag PAH! ... gotta last the distance though Zorbster !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :roll

[leachio]

Glad u all arrived safely and may I say u all looked so thrilled to be there !! Our house was packed & sent today and we fly in under 2wks so get those rain showers out the way for some milder weather, please:) Incidentally we are going to hamilton near Kim so perhaps we may bump into u all.

Amanda & co

[StevieD]

Amanda, guess we will! The weather may be wet but it is mild, it is just into autumn and we had 24 degrees yesterday, the sun is very very strong, and even though it is raining, it is just good to be here. We knew we weren't coming to a desert island after all - LOL

Good luck with your move - try your best to enjoy it coz our stopover in Singapore was very very enjoyable. See you soon guys.

Steve, Jan, Kieran and Louisa

[Carol]

Welcome!

Glad you are all here in one piece
See you when you get to Welly I hope...

:raebanana

[The Hodges]

Wey hey and welcome to NZ.

Congrats and by the looks of the photos it looks like that you are well and truely settling already... :nice1

Now about that weather you brought with you...