[jocalla]

Still absolutely loving it here and still have no doubt that we have made the right decision!! :nice1

Jon is very happy at his work, although we, like most, have had to limit our spending as his wages are very low. Taking a bit of time for mainly ME to adjust with watching the spending :eek but we are finding that we make more of an effort esp with the kids to do more FREE things, and the kids are loving it :P . Makes me feel quite guilty about how slack I had been back in the UK. :oops:

We have decided to definately stick it out and stay in a rental for this first year, we really don't want to jump in too deep financially, and want to see how we manage on the dollar. It is quite difficult, after being 'homeless' for so long, you really just want to get settled, but with only the one wage the last thing that I want to do is make a mistake this early on. So we will just see how we get on. :hopeso

The kids will be back at school pretty soon :clap , they only had a week at school before they broke up for hols, they seemed to enjoy it there. Well daughter did Caitlin (7), but son Arron (11), well you know boys that age. He was quite happy when he went though as a girl there called him "hot". :clap . Bless him he was very embarassed :oops: . I am looking forward to hopefully meeting some other mums, still "billy no mates" at the moment :laugh .

Also have an appointment for my daughter at the hospital on Friday, you may remember, she had a few fits when we arrived here, well she had an eeg and the results were epilepsy (not the bad one though, they say). So I will be discussing whether she needs medication etc, but I am not too worried, she hasn't had any more so I am hoping that no meds will be necessary. Must say I have been pretty happy with heathcare here. I have had to wait a bit for this final appointment, which I would have expected, but how quick everything else has been done is brilliant. :nice1

Jon is all sorted with his nz licence too, had the theory test, which was fine, and the classes he has on his uk licence has enabled him to drive heavier vehicles than he could in the uk, he just done some extra questions in the theory test, so he was dead happy and so is his boss. I am as usual putting it off :eek . Still not driving too much, Jon has the car for work, so no car through the day.

We also handed in Jon's application form for pr, we decided for me to sponsor him. To be honest we never really looked into it too much, so hopefully we have done everything right. :hopeso But he has a 3 year work permit anyway so we will just wait and see.


Good luck to others still on the way to getting here, can't believe how addictive this site! :cheers

Joanne

[Jules]

still not driving too much


I no how you feel Joanne, my partner works all day and has the car. I prefer the open roads rather than the roads in town because I am not sure where things are at the moment. Plus if I park in town I would probably forget where I parked the car :uhoh . We have a good bus service into town, so once I get a job I can use the bus :nice1 if it isnt too expensive.

Hope your daughter is ok

Jules

[Moorf]

Hi Jo.. where are you in Chch?

We bought a 2nd car at the weekend through The Press... it's a 1977 Mini Clubman in original condition with 104K on the clock for $2,200!! It was MEANT to be for me to pootle around in but Woz decided that Summer would wreck the upholstery which is in fab condition and so he's having it for work etc and I get to keep the Rav :nice1

Today has been great - for the first time I am totally mobile during the day whilst Woz is at work ... it makes SUCH a difference (I can see Tanya saying "I told you so" :laugh )

[jan]

:clap :clap :clap :clap


Joanne what a great post! Neil has to go for his medical on thursday and then its time to rock and roll for us.

Still can`t quite believe we will be over there soon.

Is John`s job still okay? Hubby`s done John`s line of work too!!! But he`s getting a little creaky on his joints now. His original job offer was in Christchurch too. :eek

Great to hear your doing well hope my posts are of similar stature when we arrive as yours are. :nice1

Jan xx

[Tanya]

Today has been great - for the first time I am totally mobile during the day whilst Woz is at work ... it makes SUCH a difference (I can see Tanya saying "I told you so" :laugh )


TOLD YOU SO :laugh :laugh :laugh

Tanya

[Babette & Andy]

Hi Joanne,

Good to read how things are going, nice to read an upbeat note. Bet you're counting the days until the kids go back to school, you'll no doubt start to meet lots of people through them once their holidays are over.

Good to read that Caitlin has been ok. Hope the consultation goes well.

Chin up when you're feeling low and missing your family, this is only natural, and it hits you at the most unexpected times. I've been in the UK now for 15yrs and it still happens once in a while when I think of all the family type stuff I've missed with my parents, brother & sisters - and things they've missed with my 2 girls. But as Diny said in your other post - it's only another country (be it at the other side of the world). Have you thought of getting a Webcam?

Anyway, hope to meet you guys later this year when we FINALLY make it to Christchurch.
:hopeso
Babette

[eric_amanda]

Hello Joanne

Good to hear that you are now settling down well to life. I just wanted to pick up on your point about healthcare here in NZ. A couple of months ago I had a health scare, in fact it scared me so much I spent the whole day crying. The following day I visited my GP. It was the first time I had visited her and she was VERY thorough. I had had to take all three children with me as Eric had to work, whe helped entertain them, whilst questioning and examining me. She telephoned directly to the hospital for them to contact me with an urgent appointment. After half an hour with her, she sent me home to await the hospital appointment and gave me her mobile phone number in case I had any further problems or wanted to talk about it.

I subswquently saw a specialist just over two weeks later, who I spent 45mins with. He again was very thorough and talked through what he was thinking and asked my thoughts and opinions. It was so different to anything I have ever experienced in the UK.

My diagnosis luckily was either migraine or neuralgia, which to me was a relief as my symptoms had been a droopy face, so I was convinced I had had a stroke or I had a brain tumor! Migraine or Neuralgia I can live with.

This experience is mine only and I am sure NZ health service has some cracks somewhere, but after having such a terrible time in recent years at the hands of the British NHS service, this was a breath of fresh air to me.

I hope your daughters experience is as stress free (as it can be) as mine was.

As for you guys who are not keen on driving in a strange place... its a doddle, just watch out for the kiwi's who are not sure about that give way to traffic from the right rule, we know it better than they do!!!!

Best wishes

Amanda

[A & M]

Hi Joanne,

We are in Rangiora, just north of Chch with children simlar ages to yours. They will be starting school next week,as will my other half Andy - he's a teacher. So I'll be on my own, with the car, and like you not really knowing anyone. Give me a shout if you would like to meet up for a coffee or something and I can come down in the car.

We are also taking things one step at a time, in a rental, still have house in UK.

Maybe see you soon, Mandy

[Timbo]

Amanda. So sorry to hear of your scare, thats the last thing you need anytime, let alone when you are trying to settle into a new life.
Glad it proved not to be to serious.
For what it is worth, and I stress that I am NO expert, the symptoms you describe sound very much like my Dad suffered a while ago. I had to drag him to the quacks.
Any ways, it turned out to be a thing called "Bells Pausy"(sp), which cured itself within a few days.
Doc reckoned it was possibly stress related.
Take care.

[eric_amanda]

Hi Timbo

Thanks for your concern. You are indeed right that a majorly droopy face is Bels Palsy and initially this was what we thought is could be and is usually fixed in a few weeks and a course of steroids helps. However in my case it was only a slight droop, noticable to me and those who know me best and would probably have been missed by most people although I at the time thought it was the end of the world!!

It was all related to other symptoms I had had for nearly six months which was like a face ache down the same side of the face. Basically as you mentioned, whichever diagnosis you choose it to be they are all stress related, which I guess was my problem. Good news is I have chilled out a bit of late and have had no drropy face since the day in question and no face ache for about a month now.

Amanda

[Timbo]

Great news Amanda. :nice1
I think maybe we are all going to get stressed out at time to time, especially those who are either just arrived in NZ or about to embark on the big adventure.
I am so glad you are now chilled. It is surely the only way to be in that wonderfull country.