[jan]

:yes Hi to you all.

We are a family of 4 from Wigan. son of 12, daughter of 6, husband Neil and me. Oh and little dog Ella.

Hoping to be in North Shore ( Silverdale ) by March/April 2005. My husband has got a job with a co. Fulton Hogan. Has anybody got any feedback about them??????

Had a fantastic christmas. A table of 20 friends & family it was great :cheers

Done tons of research looks just the ticket.

When asked "when are you going?" Its been easy to say "next year March time" but had a major reality shock today next year is in 4 days and boy have we got so much to do.

Been on a rollercoaster ride for the last 3 months. Putting the house on the market 04/01/05 and that feels sad. Its so making all of this real.

Decided I need loads of shoulders to cry on to help with "what the heck lies ahead of us"

Don`t normally make BIG decisions. Shall I go to Morrisons, Tescos or Asda is as big as they get, so you can imagine my mind at the moment.

Look forward to any advice

Jan xxx

[Rimbo]

Hiya Jan,
Welcome,
Several other Pie eaters :mrgreen: on this site and a couple from St Helens that will be on thier way within a few days. In-Fact there is a north west girlie meet on today. Shame you missed it.
I'm sure you'll get some good tips and advice all the way. Your already half-way there so well done! :nice1
What does your husband do?

John

[jo b]

Jan,

welcome to the mass exodus of what was great britain now more like little britain :laugh

You are not on your own with that rollercoaster ride, but this forum gives people an extra shoulder to lean on. Full of useful tips and advise.

Been with Linda today who is an ex wiganer now living in St Helen's, she flies to Auckland on Friday :eek .

Also from the North West, (Wigan) Rimbo who you been introduced too.
Diny & PB - Stafford
Babette and Andy Knutsford
Kim 39 - Widnes
Dave and Sandra - Warrington (although they are on the otherside now)
Blue - Stafford
And of course my good self.

Hope you become a regular :nice1

Regards Jo

[jan]

:nice1 Thanks for the welcome.
My husband works for Amec civil engineering in the rail industry. He has got a job in Silverdale driving a 360`digger. We are going over on a talent visa. Medical due in the new year.
Just sent him off actually to do a long cold night shift. he is to blame for all the bus services instead of the trains.

jan x

[jan]

Jo where abouts in Wigan are you from?? We are from the posh end of Hindley :laugh Ha ha ha. You might know my mother & father in laws pub The Hockery Brook??? We live near to the train station. I currently work in a dentist in Ashton.

jan x

[Diny]

Welcome Jan

What a shame you missed out on our 'ladies lunch'. We manged to grab a couple of hours away from kids, in-laws and packing to give Linda abit of a send off. As Jo has already told you, she heads off (along with husband Ali and daughter Lucy) on Friday. She looked abit knackered today with all the last minutes running around but here excitement was plain to see.

You'll find all the help you could ever want on these forum pages. Whatever question you may have (however trivial you may think it is) there's normally some bright spark who can help you out.

Good luck with the house sale ...... there's alot of us just waiting for that elusive house buyer to come along then it's tickets booked and up up and away.

There are 'sketchy' plans for another 'pub meet' sometime in February - date to be confirmed - it would be great to see you.

Happy new year.

Diny

[jan]

That sounds great. Really would like to meet you all. Iv`e been reading all your words of advice. Can`t talk to mates or family cos they don`t want us to go!!!

jan x

[Diny]

I know what you mean. My mates get kind of 'bored' if I talk about it too much. I can talk to my family to a certain extent but if they had the power to prevent us leaving I assure you they would. By talking about it to them makes me feel like I'm hurting them even more.

Had a chat with my mum tonight and I got pretty upset. She told me that obviously she doesn't want us to leave, but she totally understands our reasoning and she agrees that it's a huge adventure which we simply must NOT let pass us by. She says we will always regret it if we don't do. She also says that her and dad would never be happy knowing that we'd given up on such an opportunity just because of them.

Anytime you want to 'vent your spleen' or just have a general chat about the whole blooming process, feel free to PM me.

All the best.

Diny

[Dave & Sandra]

Hi Jan

This is the Dave and Sandra who Jo referred to. We last lived in Warrington, but we lived in Up Holland for a while too.

It's spooky about this Fulton Hogan thing :eek - can you get your husband to put a word in for me :yes I've applied for an admin/accounts type job with them here in Feilding (which is in the south of the North island). The closing date was on 21st December and I don't expect I'll hear anything until after the holidays are over. They are a big company involved in all kinds of engineering type thingies. The part of the company in Feilding does road resurfacing. Have you looked at their web-site. It looks like a good company

Have you made arrangements for your dog yet? I can recommend Golden Arrow in Staffs.

:hopeso for you and the main advice is DON"T PANIC. Ask as many questions here as you like. Somebody will usually have an answer.

Good Luck - Sandra

[Gran]

Fulton Hogan are one of the biggest, if not the biggest of the road repair and maintenance companys here, you see their trucks everywhere, they only have to shift snow on the desert road sometimes, never in Silverdale, which is a pleasant village type of a place with a lovely farmers type market in the centre on saturdays. However I guess you wont live in Silverdale which has mostly houses with a few acres, there are nice places nearby like Red Beach, Orewa, and Stanmore Bay. All the best.
Gran

[Diny]

Quote:

Fulton Hogan are one of the biggest, if not the biggest of the road repair and maintenance companys here.

Oooh - I bet Mr Higgins has something to say about that :P :P :P

Diny

[jan]

Dave&Sandra, We met 2 of the directors down in London in October. Two great guys they where. I managed to muscle myself into the interview for the last 10 mins. Wanted to hear all they had to say about somwhere we had never even been to let alone had deciced to emigrate to! Been on the website and it looks to be a great get up so believe we have made a good choice. They are liasoning quite often with us to help us along. We will have accomodation for 4 weeks when we get there, which will hopefully give me the time to organise a nice little place of our own. :hopeso

Has anybody seen the M & M (men & motors) channel about the motrway :booby patrol. Loads of car accidents. Its not on all the time so I flick to catch it. Chanel 250 on sky is about house auctions & house renovations too in NZ. Can`t tell how old the renovation progs are??

Diny, Mr Higgins??????????????????

Gran, Orewa has been mentioned to us. Will check out Stanmore Bay. :nice1

Jan xxx

[Diny]

Jan

Mr Higgins.

Well, everywhere you go in (the lower half of the north island) you will a Higgns truck. They are a massive company who build roads, repair roads, clear snow ..... and do all that kind of jazz.

I always thought they were widespread across NZ but I am happy to stand corrected.

Good luck.

Diny

[jocalla]

Hi Jan
My husband works for Fulton Hogan :nice1
He is very happy with the company and the guys he works with. We too met the guys at the stand at the expo back in Oct :clap .
Just pm me if you have any questions and I will ask my husband
Joanne

[jocko]

A big mistake , soz but don't do it. We lived there in the 80's early 90's and then came back . We have just been back over , both have job offers[have dual nationality so no problem there] but it all came back to us why we returned to the UK in the first place . Third world wages and standard of living , yes empty roads and scenery but souless ,even Kiwi friends were advising us to think long and hard. Everythig NZ has to offer can be found in the UK , and once that initial buzz of moving and everyone telling you how lucky you are ,you will be left with the feeling that your life is passing you by and you are missing out. Why do you think so many people livivg in NZ continue to use this forum despite there action and fun packed life ?. Don't mean to be a killjoy , but the grass is not always greener. :(

[jo b]

Jan,

I live in Ashton :eek it's not Rimmer dentists is it you work.

Although I don't go there anymore used to though.

I know your Mum and Dad's pub, my little boy goes to Karate in hindley.

It's a small old world. My husband used to go to Mornington Road School in Hindley.

Good to hear about the company your hubby is going to work for they sound very good.

Best wishes with the house sale

Jo

[jan]

Jocko,
Don`t live in a downbeat place yet but can forsee it. My 12 yr old son is finding his feet since starting his new high school. Society is now offering this naieve 12 yr old alcohol & drugs!!! Don`t fancy staying around to see if we can guide him thru this terrible culture. Getting away from it. If we go & it aint right then we can always hold up our hands & say we tried. Got a mich bigger battle on my hands if we stay here. Not in any doubt what goes on here might not be happening over there but if we don`t try we will never know.

Jan xx

[jo b]

Jan

absolutly agree with you there you have to try or you'll never know.

Jo

[jocko]

Jan,
You are right the only way to find out is to go , but at least go with your eyes open, the same drink and drug culture is there in NZ along with the social problems that go with them ,kids will be kids and if your lucky and steer them in the right direction there is a far better future for them here in the UK.

[Kim39]

Welcome Jan to your dreams and the NW crew and not least to the forum. First let me say Jo has got her geography all wrong. Popping me into Widnes!!! :no :laugh Am from across the bridge in Runcorn. :nice1 Now with that sorted i will say feel free to question any of the crew, some of us are on the way soon, yet some are still waiting for certain things to happen. :hopeso Either way we are all here to help in one form or another.
Fulton Hogan: am registered with them myself as a HGV driver, but haven't had any luck with them. I am going across on work visa for my employ so having visa issued before xmas we are just waiting for the house to sell. So :hopeso for entry into NZ early 2005.
Sorry i can't rabbit like Jo :laugh as i don't have any connections to Wigan apart from i use to deliver to Morrisons at Wigan Galleries and Ince.