[Caroline and Dave]

Well we have now been in Auckland 2 months and we sadly have to return to the UK on Friday June 1st and we really do not want to return but business calls. caroline is returning in early August then I will return when the build starts in Sept/October.
Just thought I would take this opportunity to give our opinions of the last 2 months.
I will start with some photos of the most fascinating visit to Auckland Zoo we had yesterday which included a visit to the Cheetah Enclosure.
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q109/davros1nz/2007_0529Auckland0106.jpg
http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q109/davros1nz/2007_0529Auckland0001.jpg

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q109/davros1nz/2007_0529Auckland0004.jpg

We never expected to be able to actually stroke the cheetahs but apparently they are the only big cats that will allow complete strangers to get that close to them.There are various other tours you can do behind the scenes at Auckland Zoo.
Our last 2 months have been very Hectic with the work on our house build taking up a lot of our time and also finding an area for Caroline's Daughter to settle when her 4 year college course starts in February.More of that to follow in our blog when I update it.
Dislikes: Not that many really, Weetbix is my pet hate,how people reckon it is similar to Weetabix I will never know.The drivers are really not as bad as I imagined them to be.Ok,there are some nutters about particulary in car parks where it is more like a dodgems experience but on the whole we find the drivers in Greater London far worse.
What is it with the Kiwis love of grey paint. All the apartments we looked at all had grey paint everywhere and although I love our apartment I think it will be getting a repaint when I return in October.I have called our apartment Grey Towers.
The food on the North Shore we find very good,even the food in Pak'nsave we find quite acceptable and find there are plenty of fruit and vegetable markets around.One thing you must be aware of is to allways have your driving licence on you when driving as it is an instant fine if you do not have it.I must get into the habit as the other night I by chance remembered to take it and I was on my own and had to keep stopping to look at the map for directions and the police stopped me.They were very nice and told me where to go but they did ask to see my licence.I still can't get used to the right hand rule but that will come with more time here.
We have experienced the problems with Telecom and I won't bore you with the story but we are now eventually up and running with phone and Broadband xtra. Caroline has had to go to both Doctors and Dentists over here and she finds them to be far better than in the UK,especially the Dentists. Be very careful of estate agents over here,there are good ones but I would think it is best to go by reccomendation and allways get a proper builders survey done .
We are certain we have done the right thing in moving here as long as you are aware that it is not all a bed of roses then you should be ok.Once again I thank everyone on this forum for all the great info and look forward to other peoples progress reports

Kindest regards

Dave and Caroline

[zardell]

A great post.....so glad that you are happy here.

Loved the photo's - had no idea that you could stroke the cheetahs !!

Wishing you a safe journey back to the UK. Keep us up to date on your progress won't you.

Julie

xx

[swissmissdesigner]

My observation was the same: lot of homes had gray paint.
As an interior designer I find it very strange.

[nippa&pippa]

Agree, my rental house is grey window, grey carpet, grey floor, grey kitchen, grey blind, grey doors, grey everywhere, Pip will confirm this! I hate it, I need colour to bright the house up! :laugh Lucky moving out into my new house this friday and the house is NOT grey at all :raebanana

[jewelsvani]

good post,

I think I will hvae to have a look at the zoo you went to when i arrive in jan 08. :) looks cool.

With regards to the estate agents I would watch the real estate channel and Location, location, location program filmed in NZ, some dodgy characters out there. In all accounts it is legal to bid up a property, i.e if the owner wants 100k say and the bidding has stopped at 90k the estate agent will false bid (95k) and hope someone bids higher and its allowed. Really don't like the idea of that. :confused:

[willowshouse]

good post,

I think I will hvae to have a look at the zoo you went to when i arrive in jan 08. :) looks cool.

With regards to the estate agents I would watch the real estate channel and Location, location, location program filmed in NZ, some dodgy characters out there. In all accounts it is legal to bid up a property, i.e if the owner wants 100k say and the bidding has stopped at 90k the estate agent will false bid (95k) and hope someone bids higher and its allowed. Really don't like the idea of that. :confused:

When you get here go to the library and get a book on how not to get ripped off buying a house that will stand you in good stead.

Not all agents will use 'vendor bids' and I know that some of them identify the bid as a vendor bid .. however some of them just say "the bid is with me at $400" and you are supposed to know that this is a vendor bid. Don't worry - you will get the hang of it after you've been to a few auctions. There is always the hope that you wil buy a house through negotiation rather than auction!

[willsken]

The very best to you both. Have followed your journey with interest and will continue to do so. :yes

[jewelsvani]

When you get here go to the library and get a book on how not to get ripped off buying a house that will stand you in good stead.

Not all agents will use 'vendor bids' and I know that some of them identify the bid as a vendor bid .. however some of them just say "the bid is with me at $400" and you are supposed to know that this is a vendor bid. Don't worry - you will get the hang of it after you've been to a few auctions. There is always the hope that you wil buy a house through negotiation rather than auction!

cool thanks for the reply.
Something else I don't understand is why do people buy houses unconditionally the amount of pressure it puts them under is unbeliavable especially as it could end up costing you your house, if you can't meet the payment in time, seems stupid to me. :confused:

The last episode I saw some guy owned a 3million dollar house and bought a 2 million dollar house as well but couldn't afford it, but as he went unconditional on it he was facing bankrupcy, becuase he may be sued seems idiotic to me.

[liamnrach]

Caroline and Dave

Fantastic post with some great pictures. I had no idea that Auckland Zoo was that good!! We are visiting in Feb 08 and are only doing the North Island. So we plan to stay in Auckland for 3 days.....Rach will love the fact that she can touch the Cheetahs, I cant wait to tell her!!:D

Good luck to you guys and have a safe trip back to the UK (I must warn you, there has been far too many grey days here lately!!:laugh )

All the Best

Liam n Rach

[Caroline and Dave]

Caroline and Dave

Fantastic post with some great pictures. I had no idea that Auckland Zoo was that good!! We are visiting in Feb 08 and are only doing the North Island. So we plan to stay in Auckland for 3 days.....Rach will love the fact that she can touch the Cheetahs, I cant wait to tell her!!:D

Good luck to you guys and have a safe trip back to the UK (I must warn you, there has been far too many grey days here lately!!:laugh )

All the Best

Liam n Rach

Hi Liam n Rach

I just thought I had better let you know that you have to book the Cheetah experience.You can't just turn up as they have very limited numbers and book up weeks in advance www.aucklandzoo.co.nz

Kind regards

dave and Caroline

[sizzlingbadger]

Great to read such a positive post :)

It'll be interesting to hear your thoughts on living back in the UK when you've had the past two months in NZ.

Good Luck and I hope it all works out for you guys :nice1

[Angelonthemove]

Great post wish I had know about the cheeta too when were up in auckland.

weetbix, my daughter in the UK now makes me post her a box for birthday and xmas as a treat she loves them more than weetabix, cost me $40 last time to post one large box :D all about taste I suppose.

good luck and see you back here soon

[Tia Maria]

Great post - enjoy your trip to the UK, you'll have almost a full year of summer - very well organised!

I find if I let the Weetbix sit it milk a while and add a little sugar its not so bad, I still can't stop myself calling it Weetabix though. :o

Cheers

Tia

[Caroline and Dave]

Well we have now arrived back in the UK and this was the first time that we have done the whole journey apart from a 2 hr stop in LA and we really didn't find it that bad at all.As usual, chaos at LA and the funny thing was people were still queing at the us immigration desk to get in the transit lounge while we were getting back on the plane,madness. We are now back to the madness that is the area of the Uk that we live. While we were away,there was an attempted break in at our house,fortunately one of the neighbours noticed and called the police resulting surprisingly in the arrest of someone.
The first thing we noticed on our return to the Uk was the rubbish. Everywhere you look there is rubbish,in the streets,the parks, virtualy everywhere.This is one thing that impressed us about The North Shore,how clean it was. Well now the car has a flat battery and we have charged it but it still won't work as the alarm has to be re programmed and only the garage can do this.Well I hope everyone in NZ enjoys their day off for the Queens Birthday. It allways strikes me funny that the UK do not get a day off for the Queens Birthday but NZ do. What we get off is Labour day gifted by the labour party,what a strange world we live in.
Well thats all for now

Kind regards

Dave and Caroline

[able]

Welcome back Caroline and Dave. The litter here gets me down too. Too many people don't seem to care any more that they're turning our towns into middens. I'm glad it looks like New Zealand is going to work out for you. Have you had much chance yet to put all of the info from your housing threads to use?

[incredible hulse]

Well I hope everyone in NZ enjoys their day off for the Queens Birthday. It allways strikes me funny that the UK do not get a day off for the Queens Birthday but NZ do. What cracks me up is that it isn't even on either of her birthdays :laugh

[benandclare]

Great post guys :clap

Re the litter issue, we went to the cinema yesterday with Nathan the Kiwi who is working on our farm and to my shame noticed that on leaving(busting for the loo after 2.5 hrs of Pirates) he took his used coke carton and sweetcorn wrapper and placed it in the bin whilst we and the rest of the audience left ours for the cleaners, head hung low in shame :(

Now Weetbix is far better than Weetabix, sorry guys.

Ben

[liamnrach]

We are now back to the madness that is the area of the Uk that we live. While we were away,there was an attempted break in at our house,fortunately one of the neighbours noticed and called the police resulting surprisingly in the arrest of someone.
The first thing we noticed on our return to the Uk was the rubbish. Everywhere you look there is rubbish,in the streets,the parks, virtualy everywhere

Glad you are back safe and sound. It will be interesting to see your views on how many other 'things' you notice between the UK and NZ during your stay here....

Sorry to hear that someone tried to break in to your house:no Thank god for observant neighbours eh? At least the police caught the culprits; lets hope justice is served....

I echo able's comments and am pleased that NZ is going to work for you guys....good luck for the future:p

Liam n Rach:cheers