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15th October 2007, 08:41 PM
Well we made it to the sunny south, and so far all is good.
The flights were great with Cathay Pacific, but we didn't sleep much. And then we had four hours out in HK city for our stopover and it convinced us of two things: a) it's a city we must go back to as it was clean and fascinating and b) we either take a short stopover or stay the night next time as the eight hours between flights really made the jetlag worse. And this wasn't helped by the added flights from Auckland to Invercargill!
Our luggage was 9kg over from London, but we bluffed our way on without paying excess baggage, and when Air NZ weighed it for the internal flights it was only 6kg over! but they let us away with that too -- I know someone on here complained about AirNZ internal flight service being inflexible, but they were great to us.
The Chch-IVC leg was delayed by nearly an hour but luckily dad hadn't given up on us at the airport and we were soon tucked up in a cosy, electric-blanket warmed bed.
Friday we just wandered around Gore and sorted the bank account, and then had fun at the supermarket and the warehouse and bought reasonably-priced ugg boots (totally overpriced in the UK) so toes are well toasty now. We didn't have the energy for anything else, except to go up to the cemetery and visit my Mum's grave.
Luckily, my car trader bro-in-law had got us a car before we arrived, so on Saturday we headed to Invercargill (where I'll be working) to find a rental. We started off with ringing ads in the paper rather than going with an agent, and we totally fell in love with the second place we saw. It's a newly renovated wooden villa that's walkable to the CBD and only two blocks from the rugby stadium and swimming pool. There's a decent garden, a heatpump and infinity water heating system. Plus the delay in moving in will give us the chance to order new beds and get a few sticks of furniture together.
Saturday we had a bbq at my brother's house with all his mates - but lasted about an hour before jetlag crashed in. Sunday we relaxed around the house and got our energy back.
Then today, we went back to Invercargill where I popped into my new office to prove I'd made it into the country (I've not signed the contract yet) and then we got broadband (wireless woosh so we can move it from Gore to In'gill - it's a bit slower than we'd like, but it will do for now) and sim cards for our mobiles, joined the library and AA and did some more shopping.
Overall, my impressions are that things are cheaper than in the UK - certainly fuel, insurance, rent and phones are... I'm used to buying "on special" so we think our food bills should be reasonable when we're feeding ourselves and not relying on my Dad's chest freezer. Sian's been amazed at how easy it is to set everything up - phones, internet, library have taken minutes rather than days. The weather's been good, with just one day of rain, but that's pretty typical for this time of year.
The real test will come with work - Sian's not looking for a job until we get to Invercargill but already has a few things of interest to follow up. I'm just hoping I haven't bitten off more than I can chew with the new job, but only time will tell.
And that's about it - except I should say that Southland is beautiful. I haven't made it to Oreti beach yet, but it's wonderful to be on such quiet, clean and wide streets. The blossom trees are in full bloom and the air just smells so incredibly fresh.
It's good to be home.
The flights were great with Cathay Pacific, but we didn't sleep much. And then we had four hours out in HK city for our stopover and it convinced us of two things: a) it's a city we must go back to as it was clean and fascinating and b) we either take a short stopover or stay the night next time as the eight hours between flights really made the jetlag worse. And this wasn't helped by the added flights from Auckland to Invercargill!
Our luggage was 9kg over from London, but we bluffed our way on without paying excess baggage, and when Air NZ weighed it for the internal flights it was only 6kg over! but they let us away with that too -- I know someone on here complained about AirNZ internal flight service being inflexible, but they were great to us.
The Chch-IVC leg was delayed by nearly an hour but luckily dad hadn't given up on us at the airport and we were soon tucked up in a cosy, electric-blanket warmed bed.
Friday we just wandered around Gore and sorted the bank account, and then had fun at the supermarket and the warehouse and bought reasonably-priced ugg boots (totally overpriced in the UK) so toes are well toasty now. We didn't have the energy for anything else, except to go up to the cemetery and visit my Mum's grave.
Luckily, my car trader bro-in-law had got us a car before we arrived, so on Saturday we headed to Invercargill (where I'll be working) to find a rental. We started off with ringing ads in the paper rather than going with an agent, and we totally fell in love with the second place we saw. It's a newly renovated wooden villa that's walkable to the CBD and only two blocks from the rugby stadium and swimming pool. There's a decent garden, a heatpump and infinity water heating system. Plus the delay in moving in will give us the chance to order new beds and get a few sticks of furniture together.
Saturday we had a bbq at my brother's house with all his mates - but lasted about an hour before jetlag crashed in. Sunday we relaxed around the house and got our energy back.
Then today, we went back to Invercargill where I popped into my new office to prove I'd made it into the country (I've not signed the contract yet) and then we got broadband (wireless woosh so we can move it from Gore to In'gill - it's a bit slower than we'd like, but it will do for now) and sim cards for our mobiles, joined the library and AA and did some more shopping.
Overall, my impressions are that things are cheaper than in the UK - certainly fuel, insurance, rent and phones are... I'm used to buying "on special" so we think our food bills should be reasonable when we're feeding ourselves and not relying on my Dad's chest freezer. Sian's been amazed at how easy it is to set everything up - phones, internet, library have taken minutes rather than days. The weather's been good, with just one day of rain, but that's pretty typical for this time of year.
The real test will come with work - Sian's not looking for a job until we get to Invercargill but already has a few things of interest to follow up. I'm just hoping I haven't bitten off more than I can chew with the new job, but only time will tell.
And that's about it - except I should say that Southland is beautiful. I haven't made it to Oreti beach yet, but it's wonderful to be on such quiet, clean and wide streets. The blossom trees are in full bloom and the air just smells so incredibly fresh.
It's good to be home.