[Gerardv]

Hi!
My first post here. We are a Dutch/Irish couple and we got PR December last year (pffff, that was a nervous time). We are now coming over to NZ in November for a month's holiday to have a good look around (and do some serious relaxing). Just booked the tickets last weekend :nice1.

I was in NZ once before and I loved the Bay of Plenty area. That's where + Auckland + Wellington we plan to spend some time looking at houses, etc.

Can't wait to get on that plane!

Maybe someone can help with this: When you arrive with PR (we have the blue stickers for the RV and the two year RRV), how do you activate the visa or do they simply stamp the RV sticker and that's it?

:cheers
Ger

[Croft]

Welcome to the forum Ger, and congratulations on getting PR.

Just go into the NZ residents queue. Immigration will check you have arrived inside the date stipulated by your Residence Visa and stamp a Residence Permit on the facing page. That's it!

[Gerardv]

Croft, thanks for the welcome and the super fast reply :)! That's another question of my list.

I think I will spend way too much time on this forum...

[Gerardv]

nice blog Croft. Nice pictures!

[speckythecky]

Welcome to the forum. You seem well organised, having already got your RV and RRV.

[Caroline and Dave]

Welcome to the forum Ger,
We plan to spend a week in Bay Of Plenty in early Dec before it gets too crowded. We might even bump into you.
Hope everything goes well in what you are doing. As has been said you seem well organised

Kindest regards

Dave & Caroline

[Gerardv]

thanks specky :)

Yep, I think we were lucky getting the RV/RRV without too much hassle (did take a while though, app. 8 months in all) and some of it is nerve wrecking, e.g. the medicals, you think you are healthy but as I was waiting for the results I suddenly started to imagine all kind of things :D. At first we thought we would just pack and go but "common sense" (debatable) prevailed and we decided to visit NZ first before packing in our jobs, especially since my better half had never been to NZ before (she just had to listen to my overenthusiastic stories for years).

[Gerardv]

woow, what a lively forum.

Thanks Dave & Caroline :). it would have been great to meet up with some people who have made the jump, but we fly out on the 3rd of November and back on the 2nd of December. Although having said that, my OH might stay on (unlikely though) if she really likes it and will start organizing things. I definitely need to go back (work) :wah.

[Caroline and Dave]

Hi Again Ger,

If your anywhere near North Shore Auckland in November maybe we can meet up as we are around all that month then off to the Bay of Plenty first week in December.
Just an idea.

Dave and Caroline

[Gerardv]

Hi Dave and Caroline,

That's very nice of you and sounds like a fine idea!

Take care!
Ger

[StevieD]

Welcome to the forum Gerard. Top o' the morning to ya! :laugh

Wonder where you are in Baile atha Cliath??? :) All my mob live by Phoenix Park just off the Navan Rd. and the other lot are bogtrotters in Offaly :laugh

Steve O'Dubhlain ;)

[Gerardv]

:) We are in Dun Laoghaire (yes, I know the south side :D). BH hails from Newbridge, Kildare, I am from Rockanje (which makes me a culchie), the Netherlands with the last 16 years in extremely rainy (this year especially) Dublin.

Where in NZ are you?

[holland]

Hello and welcome to the forum, good Luck with the trip, we arrive in NZ on 18th November..to stay!!! Very Nerve Wracking

[Gerardv]

Best of luck Holland! I share your excitement :). It's quite an adventure isn't it? I assuming you are Dutch?

[holland]

erm...no...thats just our username, were English! Its like a roller coater ride at the moment, and the majority of it isn't making me happy at present. I always said when we get to this point I would just try to enjoy it...but its hard when there are so many things to juggle.

We are extremely lucky to be in this position though!

[Gerardv]

:) fair enough.

Hope things work out well for you. Just imagine yourself on a beach somewhere in NZ in November with a whole summer to look forward to (that's what I do anyways). For me, I always wanted to learn how to surf. The only time I tried it was at the breach at Mount Maunganui and am quite keen to go back and give it another go. Now when I am facing some nasty bug/issue (I am in IT) I just dream of myself lying on that beach again :).

[holland]

Ha ha...I suppose I have been trying to keep a really realistic view of the move, don't get me wrong, I am really looking forward to it....but reading post after post on forum, I just don't want to go over there with really high expectations, and be disappointed....Im hoping I will love it and be over the moon...I need to start thinking of the fab parts like the beaches , weather etc, Im getting too bogged down with the big practicalities I think!! Your right, I should imagine being sprawled on a beach in the not to distant future...sorry, I bet I sound like a right grump!!

j x

[Gerardv]

Nah, I know what you mean. I have been lurking and reading posts and some of them make me wonder whether I am sane to want to go ahead with it :). It is good to be realistic and down to earth about it all. It is no decision to take lightly and for my 0.02$ it is better to be a bit "grumpy" (comes naturally to me ;)). Still, I want to go and give it a go. To me it is simply worth the risk.

[Nick88]

Good luck, guys. Just don't be in too much of a hurry to buy a house and settle down. Stay flexible for a year or so and rent, that way you can up sticks and look for a better job/ surf if you need to.

[Gerardv]

Thanks Nick, that sounds like good advise.

Tempting though to xchange money now with the exchange rate looking a lot better now than it has for a while. Impossible to predict what it will be doing next. (well: it is easy to predict, hard to get right :))