[northernfive]

Hi there.......first thread (but have been reading everyone else's for months!)

We have just had confirmation that our residency has been approved and our flights are booked with Air NZ - flying 5th September. Durham (UK) to Wellington......33 hours. Myself, husband, 4 year old, 2 year old and 6 week old baby (not even born yet !!!)

Lots of questions as time ticks by so quickly, would appreciate any advise, have tried to find the answers but nothing coming up specific to my questions .....

1. We have had shipping quotes and have decided to go with Pickfords - they say they need an NZ address before they can ship the container - as we don't want any delay in getting all our worldly goods can I be cheeky and give the address on the Bach we've booked for the first month (then ring them with a new address once we've got a rental) ??

2. Can we sort a PO Box from the UK ? Our other option is to re-direct to my parents then chnage it once we are in NZ, but the problem with that is we are trying not to give family too many 'jobs' to do for us as it has been a very difficult few months in terms of family emotions and upset about us emigrating (that's another long story - but seems to be the same sort of stuff that everyone on the forum goes through - has been the hardest part of our journey so far)

3. When we arrive in Wellington, how easy is it to sort out a nursery place for my 4 year old ? Do they have long waiting lists like in the UK ? Are most nurseries attached to the school ? Ideally, I'd like her to start nursery within a couple of months as she is very shy and it took a long time to settle her in her current nursery so I'm worried about her getting too used to being with me all the time. Plus as we'll also have a 2 year old and 6 week old baby I need some routine !! (especially with hubby starting work within a few weeks of us landing)

4. How easy is it to make friends ???? Difficult question I know! Are there lots of Mother and toddler groups ? How easy is it to get involved with them? Are people generally welcoming ?........some Mother and Toddlers groups I've been to have been so incredibly 'clicky' it's been awful...others have been fantastic and good friends have been made through them.

Sorry it's so much in one thread.....only just seems to becoming 'real' that in less than 3 months we are moving to the other side of the world from the steady northern town we have lived in for 30 years! When I got off the phone to Air NZ having booked the tickets me and hubby just looked at each other as if we were mad !! Such scary (but exciting) times !

Thanks for any advise
Northern Five

[sizzlingbadger]

Congratulations on getting PR :raebanana

Wow, I hope the baby arrives on time and safely, that's a bit of risk taking booking the flights so soon after.

With regards to the shippers, give them your bach address, you can change it later with them when you get a rental, shouldn't be any problem.

Not sure on the PO Box, I'm sure some one else here can answer. We just redirected everything to my in laws and they passed on anything important for. Turned out there wasn't anything anyway :)

Some places in Wellington have quite long lists for kindergarten, not all work by age either with some going by when the child was placed on the list. Kindy is 5 mornings a week, if you want you can go for private nurseries, Mini Meez places but they're more expensive. The government are implementing a 20 free hours policy but at the moment know one is sure how it's going to work, with some places upping fees. There's also Playcentre ( www.playcentre.org.nz/ ) which you will be able to take the kids along to. I've found this and kindy invaluable and have gained a lot of friends from these. You'll also want to think about getting your eldest's name down for a school as soon as you've settled somewhere, she'll start school on her 5th birthday but will have school visits a few weeks before that.

Get hold of the Plunket when you first arrive, they're the same as a health visitor in the UK. They should be able to give you a list of mother and baby groups in the area. When we first arrived my eldest was going to a kindy and it seemed everyone was very clicky and didn't at all make me feel welcome. I ended up on my own most days with the other two as I didn't know about playcentre or Plunket.

[wanderingoregonian]

Good luck with all your planning. I don't know about the PO box, but if your family isn't the right choice for a forwarding address do you have any friends who'd do this for you. We left a stack of large envelopes with a temporary address already written on it, so that as the mail came they could just toss in what looked important and drop it in the envelope.

I have found meeting people okay, and I suspect if i had kids I'd be meeting more people. I've meet a couple people just from playing at playgrounds (I personally think that 'big kids' should be able to play too!). The more we find time to pursue our hobbies, the bigger our circle of friends becomes.