[Familyofmonkeys]

We got our visas in the post today. Usual story, lots of chasing and very little info then a call out of the blue yesterday saying everything was in the post. We'll be flying from LHR on 14th May, and getting to Auckland 16th May.... Sure to be great fun with a 4 year old, a 2 year old and a three month old, but in the grand scheme of things, a short term hassle.

Now, just need to clean everything, pack everything, get the shippers in, give notice on our rental property, arrange final bills, give notice at my daughters pre-school, hire a car, book a hotel, confirm flights...............

[speckythecky]

Are monkeys allowed in NZ?

Congrats on the great news and have a great journey

[Cardy]

Hi there we flew out of LHR just over a year ago to Auckland. good luck with the move hope you are as lucky as us . We were in a hotel for 3 weeks then got a rental and started work. could have done it sooner but were chillin for a bit after the flight . Where you heading to live in NZ?

Cardy:)

[Familyofmonkeys]

I have a job offer, based in Auckland but with some possibility of client based travel, so I'll find somewhere to rent in Auckland. Big question is gonna be where in Auckland? We've order the book "Where to Live in Auckland" which should arrive this week, so hopefully that will give some clues.
We've been pretty lucky so far with everything dropping into place, so we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.

[holland]

I hope they do allow monkeys into NZ because Im married to one!!

Good Luck with everything x

J and G x

[andrewandjane]

we flew out with a 2 yr old and 5 yr old they were surprisingly good! you also get to go to the front of all the q's at the airports. especially good if going via LA..

theres quite a few new arrivals here in auckland. trying to arrange meets (especially friday after work beers in auckland!!)

it wasn't especially difficult to find a rental. (were on waiheke island which takes about 35 mins to get into work by ferry its great for the kids as loads of beaches and a few parks and its quiet too!)

good luck with all the arrangements,

[Familyofmonkeys]

Just had a look at your blog and saw there is a wagamammas in/near Auckland? That's cool, as it is one of my wife's fave places to eat.

[Cat Woman]

There are three actually!
Newmarket, Sylvia Park and the City.
That I know of anyway!

[shakyle2906]

Hope all goes as well for you as it did for us!

I remember the last few weeks, especially the last one and the last day (it was horrendous!!). You have so much stuff to sort, get rid off, etc and all you want to do is get over here!! Stress was an understatement in our house especially last week, however prepared you are, it never goes to plan.

It was just the 2 of us to sort things out, my father in law had been admitted to hospital with another angina attack, mother in law didnt help a bit as she was stressed at home and didnt agree with us going still, and my family all work full time so had no one to look after our 4.5 year old, it was half term and trying to supervise him and pack, etc was murder. On top of this, hubby and little one went down for 2 days with tummy bug, and i had to have a tooth out in emergency!! Nightmare!

We got here about 11 days ago, so are still very new to NZ. We have settled in really well so far, we are in our motel still, but move to a holiday apartment until september ( a cottage they call it over here).

Our flights werent too bad, we have a 4.5 year old and i have to admit, he was very good under circumstances. We had an 11hr flight from Heathrow to LA, then a 2hr wait there (i didnt find it bad at all, i know people have had bad experiences there but was a breeze for us). We reboarded and then had a 12.5 hr flight to Auckland, which i admit i found very hard going after the previous flight. At Auckland, we had a 3hr wait, then a further 1hr flight to Napier, where we are based in Hastings.

It was all worth it though, we landed in beautiful sunshine.

The cabin crew on all flights were great, meals came out first for our little one, and he also had a little activity kit for the Air NZ flights - a little etch a sketch, colouring book and crayons, postcard, etc.

What i would say is take few bits with you to amuse them, I was told this and found it very useful. I was also told to take pjs too but i didnt put him in in the end, it was awkward to sleep at best of times even though we had slightly more legroom than normal. There are also tv screens in the seats which was great, he could watch a film or listen to music or we played a game together.

Enjoy anyway, its all part of the process!!

Sharon
xx