sunnyb
21st December 2008, 10:36 AM
Well, we had the best start imaginable to our life in NZ because we had booked into Moana Lodge backpackers which is based in Plimmerton, half an hour north of Wellington. It's right on the beach with views to the South Island and is the most beautiful place in Wellington (although there is a lot of competition with the bay being so gorgeous)! :clap
The bad bits about NZ have been pretty much as expected thanks to this forum. The houses are shocking quality, but we've found a gorgeous rental in Broadmeadows from early January which is north facing, has some heating and beautiful views over the bay all within budget which has been a great surprise :yes
The things that have surprised us are all the wonderful things that are better than expected:
Wellington is a gorgeous city with loads for teenagers to do.
The Te Papa museum is the most interactive we've been to anywhere; the kids have been back 3 times already.
The people are ridiculously friendly and helpful - if you take out a map anywhere in the city, you'll have someone asking you where you're looking for within 5 seconds ! Complete strangers offered us their house while they're on holiday - and other Kiwi's aren't surprised by this !!!!!
We've seen a penguin in the bay right next to us when we were walking along the water front.
The food is cheaper than I had expected - we have always bought organic food and tried to buy seasonal and local so our food bills were high in the UK. Good quality local, seasonal and organic food here seems cheaper although it's hard to find initially.
Trains and buses are easy and relatively cheap.
Cars are cheap - we bought an old volvo for less than half what it would cost in UK because people here seem wary of the less popular makes - yipeeeeee.
The driving doesn't seem bad here and people seem happy to let you out at junctions, don't try to run you over as you cross the road and don't seem to get angry with all the other drivers like at home. We've seen (or heard) quite a few kids hooning around with big exhausts, but that's no different from home either. The maps are good and the signs are good so we've not found driving a problem at all (although we do have to reverse up a very very very steep, twisty drive to get to the house we're borrowing at the moment - yikes)!
All in all, we're really excited to be here and there hasn't been anything - not even the Wellington wind and rain (no worse than home) - that makes us not want to stay.
It's hard living out of cases and it's nerve racking starting again in a foreign country where you don't know anyone or anything, but we've been made to feel so welcome by everyone we've met and even the areas we've been told to avoid because they're rough have been absolutely fine compared to home !
The only thing we miss are our friends and family.
If anyone reads this who's been here for a while with teenage kids, is there anything they can join during the summer holidays in order to make some friends since they don't start school for 6 weeks ? At home there were always sports clubs etc over the summer, but we haven't found any here yet. There are loads of things happening like carnivals, concerts etc organised by the council, but nothing where they might make some friends so any suggestions would be great - especially my 13 yr old daughter who is desperate to find girls her own age.
Thanks to everyone for all the advice and info on this forum. It's made our move so much easier and we've felt very well informed on all the issues which makes it all less scary :cheers
Thanks, B :)
The bad bits about NZ have been pretty much as expected thanks to this forum. The houses are shocking quality, but we've found a gorgeous rental in Broadmeadows from early January which is north facing, has some heating and beautiful views over the bay all within budget which has been a great surprise :yes
The things that have surprised us are all the wonderful things that are better than expected:
Wellington is a gorgeous city with loads for teenagers to do.
The Te Papa museum is the most interactive we've been to anywhere; the kids have been back 3 times already.
The people are ridiculously friendly and helpful - if you take out a map anywhere in the city, you'll have someone asking you where you're looking for within 5 seconds ! Complete strangers offered us their house while they're on holiday - and other Kiwi's aren't surprised by this !!!!!
We've seen a penguin in the bay right next to us when we were walking along the water front.
The food is cheaper than I had expected - we have always bought organic food and tried to buy seasonal and local so our food bills were high in the UK. Good quality local, seasonal and organic food here seems cheaper although it's hard to find initially.
Trains and buses are easy and relatively cheap.
Cars are cheap - we bought an old volvo for less than half what it would cost in UK because people here seem wary of the less popular makes - yipeeeeee.
The driving doesn't seem bad here and people seem happy to let you out at junctions, don't try to run you over as you cross the road and don't seem to get angry with all the other drivers like at home. We've seen (or heard) quite a few kids hooning around with big exhausts, but that's no different from home either. The maps are good and the signs are good so we've not found driving a problem at all (although we do have to reverse up a very very very steep, twisty drive to get to the house we're borrowing at the moment - yikes)!
All in all, we're really excited to be here and there hasn't been anything - not even the Wellington wind and rain (no worse than home) - that makes us not want to stay.
It's hard living out of cases and it's nerve racking starting again in a foreign country where you don't know anyone or anything, but we've been made to feel so welcome by everyone we've met and even the areas we've been told to avoid because they're rough have been absolutely fine compared to home !
The only thing we miss are our friends and family.
If anyone reads this who's been here for a while with teenage kids, is there anything they can join during the summer holidays in order to make some friends since they don't start school for 6 weeks ? At home there were always sports clubs etc over the summer, but we haven't found any here yet. There are loads of things happening like carnivals, concerts etc organised by the council, but nothing where they might make some friends so any suggestions would be great - especially my 13 yr old daughter who is desperate to find girls her own age.
Thanks to everyone for all the advice and info on this forum. It's made our move so much easier and we've felt very well informed on all the issues which makes it all less scary :cheers
Thanks, B :)