[bobbyj]

Its like when you go on holiday and get the feeling you have left something behind.

I started the application process back in the summer and recently had the pleasure of picking up my beautiful blue sticker for permanent residency. I've sold my house yesterday (just in time). All our stuff was packed up in boxes a couple of weeks ago and is currently chugging its way to Chch. I've cancelled all my bills and direct debits. I've organised the post to be redirected. Stocked up on suncream and other bits we will need for our trip...so why do I feel like I'm missing something?

When I read other posts about people running around like headless chickens trying to organise everything in a mad rush in the last week before they leave, it worries me a bit because all I have to stress about now is saying goodbye to friends and family (we have even organised 3 leaving parties to cover everybody so we don't need to organise that). There's that niggling feeling that I'll be on the plane in a couple of weeks and suddenly remember a major part of the jigsaw is missing a-la Home Alone :confused:

I'm not saying the process has been easy and stress-free...far from it. But its good to not have to run around too much in the last week before we leave so we can concentrate on saying goodbye to friends and family :cheers .

[benandclare]

Yes know what you mean , had no real panics in the last weeks except Clare had vision of leaving the passports in the scanner which was now in the container, had to be scanned to get the 40 kg baggage allowance,so having travelled 40 mins to work she turned around and headed back to her Mum's where we staying to find the passports safely in the" black folder" which had all our important bits in :roll :roll

We really enjoyed our last few weeks and they flew buy , before we knew it the Southern Alps were below us :raebanana

Have a great last few weks and see you down here.

[bobbyj]

Nice one...cheers!

Actually...that reminds me. I called Emirates to see if we could get the extra baggage and they said because we were going to Dubai, Thailand and Sydney on the way to Auckland, they wouldn't let us have it. I said you can clearly see we are going one way and I can show my visa evidence but they weren't having it. They told me I would have to go direct to Dubai and then direct to Auckland if I wanted the extra weight. Not many people do that as they tend to break the trip up and see some places on the way. I think I had a particularly unhelpful call centre agent. She did tell me that although the limit is 20kgs, they will turn a blind eye up to 25kgs which is handy because I don't see how you can survive for 12 weeks with 15kgs of stuff (my case weighs 5kgs when its empty!!).

[Lara Croft]

Hi.
I had asked Emirates if there was any extra allowance, and they said no.
Unlike you, packing was absolute last minute for me, and i didn't even have time to weigh my bags... I knew I was going to be well over the limit, and would end up paying an arm & a leg in excess baggage - but I couldn't leave it behind.

So there I am at the airport, alone, apart from my best friend who'd come to see me off, and I am in floods of tears. It had been a bad day all round, and I was exhausted, physically & emotionally. My friend explained that I was emigrating, as I was beyond rational speech at that point.

The lovely guy on the Emirates desk took ages to check in my luggage (2 massive cases, one small one, 3 giant holdalls), partly as I'd forgotten to put locks on everything, and when it was all checked in, I dug out my credit card and asked how much there was to pay. He looked at me, at the tears still cascading down my face, and my friend hugging me, and waved me on. No charge.... I could have kissed him, and very nearly did! One of my big cases weighed 26kg on its own (it had a special HEAVY tag - I kept it).

I think I was very VERY lucky! :)

And our packing was such a rush because of several factors:
- we had about 6 weeks from the job offer to actually get to NZ, we had to sell the house and sort out everything else in that time
- Christmas = delays, and difficulty scheduling movers / packers etc
- we were completely unprepared for the upheaval; in hindsight, we should have started decluttering 12 months earlier...

I managed to leave several things behind, including my lovely saucepans...

Jane

[lockstock]

Ben and Clare could you please check your balck folder for two birth certificates, a marriage certificate and a driving licence (paper copy only) which disappeared sometime between packing the container and leaving the UK. They're not in our black folder. Just a shot in the dark

Bobbyj - you've brought this on yourself by being far too organised for my liking. Many of us here are still suffering from HCS (Headless Chicken Syndrome). Some of us organised ourselves to oblivion (well, up to a point) and still had to get ourselves out of some last minute holes. Hopefully you won't have any, but if you do there's always someone on here to help you dig. :yes . Good luck, relax and enjoy!