vixxann
8th January 2009, 09:08 AM
we left the UK on 5th Oct - a very grey miserable day (what's new?!) I remember walking around Oxford on a quick sightseeing visit on way to Heathrow - it drizzled and was grey ALL day. I couldn't wait to get on that plane - everything seemed so depressing. Checking in at airport was like a big weight of my shoulders (well getting rid of 10 suitcases, guitar and car seat was a physical relief too!) after all the stress & trauma of "those" last few weeks -26hrs on a plane is actually quite a relief - nothing to do but eat, drink, relax etc
Since our arrival on 7th October, we have (in summary):
- Hired a car for the first week whilst we looked for, and found, one to buy
- Looked for jobs for OH, he got 3 offers and accepted one in Cambridge
- moved out of holiday rental (booked for first 3weeks in Tauranga) and into a VERY small furnished house in cambridge
- applied for, and were granted, a 2yr work permit for OH
- on basis of this (and without having to get student permits) we got all 3 kids into local schools (hurrah!!)
- put in our EOI and were selected next day
- Whilst looking for larger and more permanent rentals, managed to find a house to buy !
- put in an offer and moved in 2 weeks later !!!
- kids & I had our medicals etc and we submitted our ITA
- had our first summer christmas in NZ (bizarre but very relaxing!)
- just heard that our container is due to be delivered next Monday :clap
We all love NZ. The kids are happy. They only had a month at school before breaking up for summer hols but it was nice for them to get into the way of things and meet some local kids etc. They all also got the opportunity to go on school trips too! I feel like they will settle even more once they get back to school in Feb and begin to join in other activities and clubs etc. But I'm really proud of them for taking the big move so well. I was expecting some tears or regrets but.. nil. Perhaps as they see their parents so happy and (hopefully!) positive about everything here, it has helped them? We have always been fully open about the whole process from way back in UK to everything that's still going on now - and I hope upbeat about it too.
OH enjoys his work - which is great news! He took a week or two to settle but is now well and truly one of the "bro's"!! They have a monthly staff BBQ/drinks and I think in general it's their laid back attitude in general that took him a little while to get accustomed too. We were both invited on the xmas do - a comedy dinner show which was a first for me and a great evening out (but not at all christmassy!)
I am, at the moment, a stay at home mum - and this is the only thing I would desperately like to change. But as I am officially still a visitor (with a 6mth stamp in my passport) I cannot get a job yet. I'm hoping the PR comes through soon then I can look for work. It's handy at the moment though with the kids being off school for hols. If I've no PR when they go back I will look for some kind of volunteer work just to get me out of house. I want to meet more kiwis!!
We have had excellent help/backup/socialising (!!) with forum members and other ex-pats. It's great having people that you can get in touch with to meet for a drink or just ear-bash etc! Even just bumping into people that you know in the supermarket!
Our local town is all that we could want it to be, and with Hamilton just 25 mins drive - we have all that we need access to. There seems to always be something going on - or we just timed our arrival well! We had a fantastic Armistice weekend here in Cambridge (biggest celebration in NZ I believe?) Also a Hot Rods & Custom Cars show, where the boys got to drool over 100's of shiny cars! And a superb (and free) Christmas by the Lake concert that absolutely blew me away. We've had days out at the beach (Raglan on the west coast or Bay of Plenty up to the north-east). Trips to the zoo & cinema. Trip over to Rotorua and down to Taupo. And I know there is SO much more to do and see - it's so exciting!
For us - buying our own house was definately the right thing to do and we all feel so much more "At home" now - even though we've been living with camp chairs etc (How I miss my sofas!!) We've a bit of work to do here.. a new garage is due to go up next month and then we plan a small extension. Our container is coming next week and to be honest we've not got room for everything so we'll be hiring a self-store unit until our garage is built :o We've managed to buy quite a few bits and pieces whilst waiting for our stuff and now our house seems not SO empty! Having said that we've not really spent much money: what with LIONS sales, Trash n'Treasure, Opp shops, Garage sales and of course Trade Me!! I've also got some real bargains and good deals at the shops for new things we had to buy. I'm looking forward to some things arriving but also know now that I don't want half of the rest and I'll be thinking why on earth did we send that?! It's amazing what you can learn to live without and I've actually found it quite liberating to be without all that "stuff". Time will tell and I suppose I'll soon find myself attached to it all again!
By the way we have 17 boxes that MAF are coming to check - this at first made me think OMG etc but upon checking our shippers inventory I can see we have over 250 boxes (includes boxed furniture) so I think 17 is maybe not so bad?!;)
There have been many moments, some very stupid ones too! that I've had tears in my eyes at how wonderful our new life is and the fantastic opportunities our children now have. It's quite embarassing to cry at the school assembly when they sing the national anthem! we sat out at the weekend, after an amazing sunset, and watched shooting stars and I tried but couldn't vocalise my thoughts very well - but it was something like - what a huge universe we live in and what a very small place NZ is but that it just happens to be the very right place for us in the whole universe.
waffle over except to say - we have just acquired our first NZ pets - Two 10 week old kittens "Sheila" and "Bruce" :nice1
Since our arrival on 7th October, we have (in summary):
- Hired a car for the first week whilst we looked for, and found, one to buy
- Looked for jobs for OH, he got 3 offers and accepted one in Cambridge
- moved out of holiday rental (booked for first 3weeks in Tauranga) and into a VERY small furnished house in cambridge
- applied for, and were granted, a 2yr work permit for OH
- on basis of this (and without having to get student permits) we got all 3 kids into local schools (hurrah!!)
- put in our EOI and were selected next day
- Whilst looking for larger and more permanent rentals, managed to find a house to buy !
- put in an offer and moved in 2 weeks later !!!
- kids & I had our medicals etc and we submitted our ITA
- had our first summer christmas in NZ (bizarre but very relaxing!)
- just heard that our container is due to be delivered next Monday :clap
We all love NZ. The kids are happy. They only had a month at school before breaking up for summer hols but it was nice for them to get into the way of things and meet some local kids etc. They all also got the opportunity to go on school trips too! I feel like they will settle even more once they get back to school in Feb and begin to join in other activities and clubs etc. But I'm really proud of them for taking the big move so well. I was expecting some tears or regrets but.. nil. Perhaps as they see their parents so happy and (hopefully!) positive about everything here, it has helped them? We have always been fully open about the whole process from way back in UK to everything that's still going on now - and I hope upbeat about it too.
OH enjoys his work - which is great news! He took a week or two to settle but is now well and truly one of the "bro's"!! They have a monthly staff BBQ/drinks and I think in general it's their laid back attitude in general that took him a little while to get accustomed too. We were both invited on the xmas do - a comedy dinner show which was a first for me and a great evening out (but not at all christmassy!)
I am, at the moment, a stay at home mum - and this is the only thing I would desperately like to change. But as I am officially still a visitor (with a 6mth stamp in my passport) I cannot get a job yet. I'm hoping the PR comes through soon then I can look for work. It's handy at the moment though with the kids being off school for hols. If I've no PR when they go back I will look for some kind of volunteer work just to get me out of house. I want to meet more kiwis!!
We have had excellent help/backup/socialising (!!) with forum members and other ex-pats. It's great having people that you can get in touch with to meet for a drink or just ear-bash etc! Even just bumping into people that you know in the supermarket!
Our local town is all that we could want it to be, and with Hamilton just 25 mins drive - we have all that we need access to. There seems to always be something going on - or we just timed our arrival well! We had a fantastic Armistice weekend here in Cambridge (biggest celebration in NZ I believe?) Also a Hot Rods & Custom Cars show, where the boys got to drool over 100's of shiny cars! And a superb (and free) Christmas by the Lake concert that absolutely blew me away. We've had days out at the beach (Raglan on the west coast or Bay of Plenty up to the north-east). Trips to the zoo & cinema. Trip over to Rotorua and down to Taupo. And I know there is SO much more to do and see - it's so exciting!
For us - buying our own house was definately the right thing to do and we all feel so much more "At home" now - even though we've been living with camp chairs etc (How I miss my sofas!!) We've a bit of work to do here.. a new garage is due to go up next month and then we plan a small extension. Our container is coming next week and to be honest we've not got room for everything so we'll be hiring a self-store unit until our garage is built :o We've managed to buy quite a few bits and pieces whilst waiting for our stuff and now our house seems not SO empty! Having said that we've not really spent much money: what with LIONS sales, Trash n'Treasure, Opp shops, Garage sales and of course Trade Me!! I've also got some real bargains and good deals at the shops for new things we had to buy. I'm looking forward to some things arriving but also know now that I don't want half of the rest and I'll be thinking why on earth did we send that?! It's amazing what you can learn to live without and I've actually found it quite liberating to be without all that "stuff". Time will tell and I suppose I'll soon find myself attached to it all again!
By the way we have 17 boxes that MAF are coming to check - this at first made me think OMG etc but upon checking our shippers inventory I can see we have over 250 boxes (includes boxed furniture) so I think 17 is maybe not so bad?!;)
There have been many moments, some very stupid ones too! that I've had tears in my eyes at how wonderful our new life is and the fantastic opportunities our children now have. It's quite embarassing to cry at the school assembly when they sing the national anthem! we sat out at the weekend, after an amazing sunset, and watched shooting stars and I tried but couldn't vocalise my thoughts very well - but it was something like - what a huge universe we live in and what a very small place NZ is but that it just happens to be the very right place for us in the whole universe.
waffle over except to say - we have just acquired our first NZ pets - Two 10 week old kittens "Sheila" and "Bruce" :nice1