LesleyS
16th November 2007, 08:10 AM
It's quite literallly flown by....
We landed in Auckland on the 12th of October, had a whistle stop albeit jetlagged sightseeing tour of the city, then collected our little dog from the airport (such a relief to see her):yes and made our way down the the Bay of Plenty - about 2 hours.
The scenery (and the weather) seemed to get better and better as we got closer - we're definitely not city people, so it was lovely to see the rolling hills leading down to that beautiful sea!
Our new temporary home was a motel (clean but very basic) for the next 9 days.
After settling our daughter in at school we started looking for a suitable rental and came across a 4 bed bungalow that was just right for our needs. :nice1 The only downside was that it was unfurnished, so we had to get a couple of beds and some basic kitchen stuff to tide us over. (an expensive but neccessary evil) :wah
Socially, we have been to lunch with one of our daughter's teachers (also from the UK) which was so kind - they laid out the red carpet for us with a beautiful Sunday Lunch, and talked about their own time in NZ pros and cons!
Another friend has loaned us a computer till our container arrives, and the use of a vacuum cleaner, which was thoughtful.
Overall it has been full on non stop running around trying to establish some kind of normality/family life, but when I write it down it seems like we have acheived the following in just 4 short weeks:
Arranged a hire car
Moved into a rental
Settled daughter in a new school
Furnished the home (basically)
Opened Bank accounts
Made some friends
Navigated our local area
Shopped at Pak and Save/New World and Countdown
Sorted out phone and Internet connection and SKY
OH has job offer confirmed - sent off for work visa/permit.
Registered with a Medical Centre
Joined the Library - (not paying $36 for a paperback!)
Sourced some good restaurants, but also a couple of cool takeaways!
Found the Best Fish and Chips EVER - Tauranga Wharf.
Whew!! No wonder I'm exhausted!! :roll
On a more serious note, It's still early days for us - you may think we are still wearing the 'Rose tinted Spectacles', or in 'Holiday Mode'....We're not! We realise there are more difficult hurdles to overcome. Hopefully we are here for the long term. Surprisingly it's my OH who has experienced more homesickness
than me so far, perhaps it's because he hasn't started work yet, and has had time to reflect more?
Looking forward to posting my 6 months in.....
I'm sure there's more stuff that I need to tell you!
We landed in Auckland on the 12th of October, had a whistle stop albeit jetlagged sightseeing tour of the city, then collected our little dog from the airport (such a relief to see her):yes and made our way down the the Bay of Plenty - about 2 hours.
The scenery (and the weather) seemed to get better and better as we got closer - we're definitely not city people, so it was lovely to see the rolling hills leading down to that beautiful sea!
Our new temporary home was a motel (clean but very basic) for the next 9 days.
After settling our daughter in at school we started looking for a suitable rental and came across a 4 bed bungalow that was just right for our needs. :nice1 The only downside was that it was unfurnished, so we had to get a couple of beds and some basic kitchen stuff to tide us over. (an expensive but neccessary evil) :wah
Socially, we have been to lunch with one of our daughter's teachers (also from the UK) which was so kind - they laid out the red carpet for us with a beautiful Sunday Lunch, and talked about their own time in NZ pros and cons!
Another friend has loaned us a computer till our container arrives, and the use of a vacuum cleaner, which was thoughtful.
Overall it has been full on non stop running around trying to establish some kind of normality/family life, but when I write it down it seems like we have acheived the following in just 4 short weeks:
Arranged a hire car
Moved into a rental
Settled daughter in a new school
Furnished the home (basically)
Opened Bank accounts
Made some friends
Navigated our local area
Shopped at Pak and Save/New World and Countdown
Sorted out phone and Internet connection and SKY
OH has job offer confirmed - sent off for work visa/permit.
Registered with a Medical Centre
Joined the Library - (not paying $36 for a paperback!)
Sourced some good restaurants, but also a couple of cool takeaways!
Found the Best Fish and Chips EVER - Tauranga Wharf.
Whew!! No wonder I'm exhausted!! :roll
On a more serious note, It's still early days for us - you may think we are still wearing the 'Rose tinted Spectacles', or in 'Holiday Mode'....We're not! We realise there are more difficult hurdles to overcome. Hopefully we are here for the long term. Surprisingly it's my OH who has experienced more homesickness
than me so far, perhaps it's because he hasn't started work yet, and has had time to reflect more?
Looking forward to posting my 6 months in.....
I'm sure there's more stuff that I need to tell you!