[Moorf]

Sorry, sorry :oops: to all those PM'g for pics I have now taken them but I need Woz to upload them as I'm not that technical!!!

And, after a bit of tearful weekend (homesickness had been brewing since the London chaos and also my fav neices 9th bday and it ALL came out this weekend :wah ) it's been quite refreshing to go back and read my posts from when we first moved here. So easy to forget why we're here.

:cheers

[Carol]

hmmmmm
Wish I'd done that!




((()))) hug for you Helen....
:(

[Moorf]

.... and here we are 1 year and 4000+ posts later.... woohoo! :raebanana

[Debbie]

Am I understanding this right, Its your 1 year in NZ anniversary!

Many congratulations to you both, I would be sending you some smilie dancing icon but you know Im not technical enough,(can't be bothered to learn how) to use them.

But well done to you both,its a major milestone and you ahould be well chuffed with what you have achieved.
Love and hugs
Debbie

[Singel]

Hello Debbie

This is how you could find your smilies............

Step 1. Click the "User CP" located on your top left corner.
Step 2. On your left, there is a list of "Control Panel", click the "Edit Options"
Step 3. On your right, scroll down all the the way to the bottom, you will see the "Miscellaneous Options". Go to the "Message Editor Interface" and select "Standard Editor - Extra formating controls". Then save changes.

All your smilies :yes :p :) will show up when you start posting.
:cheers

[Singel]

Congrats Moorf and Woz on your 1st anniversary in NZ :clap

Yipeeeeeeeeeeee.................. :raebanana :raebanana :raebanana

[nicquie]

Best wishes to both of you, you really made an interesting read. I do hope the rain stops for you soon and you can see NZ at it's best.

Good luck with all future plans keep us posted on the goings on.
Nicquie

[Dougal]

Well done both! :raebanana
Thanks for all your brilliant posts and personal help.

Dougal

[Timbo]

Dont time fly when your having fun Moorf. I`d better get my finger out, and try to be there for Xmas.
Congrats to Yourself and the quiet one (woz) on a major milestone.

[Tara Sage]

Yippee :raebanana :raebanana

Well done to you both, you have been a great support to many, including us!

Thanks for being there supporting us all (the forum) over the last year and a bit, your an insperation (spelling?) to all those who are thinking of making the move that we have.

Go and celebrate girl you deserve it.

T D J and E xx

[Tara Sage]

Oh and Timbo get your a**e over her ans join the party ;)

[Moorf]

Well, it's goodnight from me, and it's goodnight from him........

It's been a total blast guys, but it's time for us to move on, and that includes leaving ENZ. After being online at ENZ for nearly two years and in NZ for over 1 year, my memories of EOI, ITA's, medicals, police checks, and all the other glories of NZIS procedures are fading fast. Real life has taken over, we're so settled and happy here that it's hard to remember the, often stressful, often emotional, times we have been through.

To that end I am resigning my Moderator job and hope that someone who is currently going through the emigration system will step into my shoes and care as passionately as I have about helping others through the ups and downs of moving to this amazing country.

I have made so many amazing friends on this site and I thank you all for your friendship, help and support over the last two years. We'll still be in touch - those in Chch we see regularly and those who aren't ... we'll be on your doorstep just as soon as we're in your area :D and, of course, all are welcome to come and visit us if you're on the travels in the South Island. :cheers

You can keep in touch with us and our madcap ideas and life by reading our weblog (see signature link). Feel free to leave a message now and again.

It'll take some time to get ENZ out of my system, so I'll check back every now and then, but I've got so much on my plate right now that I'm more useful as an onlooker than a contributor.

I'll miss this place...... it's been a part of my daily routine (and night-time salvation) for so long.

Goodbye mateys.... I leave you with this mega-thread on the life and times of a UK couple who jumped ship from UK and found happiness, friends and a way of life we yearned for, halfway around the globe... in Godzone (or as Summer prefers to call it .. Dogzone). :nice1

Helen & Warren (and, of course, Summer the chiropractic dog ;) )
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Tara Sage]

Good Luck with everything, and keep in touch.

Thanks for all your help and support along the way you have been an inspiration to so many.

Take Care

Tara Dan Jamie Ebony and don't forget Jake xxx

:wah :cheers :wah

[Smiler]

Moorf Woz and Summer

I've just fallen off me chair. :laugh Whose chimney will I laugh about now?:wah

Like Tara says you have certainly been an inspiration for many and that includes me and him. Thank you for all the support you have given us in the dark days. You still have so much to do and look forward to, in the rest of your new 'real life' and we both wish you all the happiness.

Enjoy the new home and all the things you have planned for the near and far future. I'll look forward to reading your blog and keeping up with you that way.
Take care and stay happy

Deborah and Gary x x

[Questor]

Good luck guys - I may be emailing you to ask for advice about ChCh in the near future as we really like the look of the place!

[sizzlingbadger]

Sorry to see you go ... Good Luck with the move :raebanana

Let us know how you go on in the new place :D

[Voice]

I'm sorry to see you go too. In the short time I've been here I have been often reassurred by your presence and your ever helpful advice, my only regret being that I didn't find this place before our emigration! :laugh

Good luck in your new home :)

[jan]

I hate goodbyes!!! :no

Well good luck in your new home. Well done for all your advice and support. Who can step into your shoes as moderator now???:confused: Maybe smiler????????

Jan xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Moorf]

I think Smiler is the perfect choice .... :nice1

[Smiler]

:o :o :o :o

[ENZ]

Thank you for shouldering the burden of moderating the forum Helen and thank you too for all of those wonderful, funny, helpful and informative posts.

I think everyone who has been in contact with you appreciates the time and generous assistance you’ve given them – I for one was astounded when I learned how much detailed help you were also giving by PM in addition to the forum.

I wish you all the luck in the world with your move out into rural Canterbury. I know you’ve said after you’ve moved you’ll have very little time for the forum but I know I speak for hundreds of members (and thousands of non-members who drop into the forums every so often) when I say that we’ll miss you a lot.

I hope that, even though you’re moving on, you’ll find a little time to give us a (very) occasional update on how things are going.

Here’s wishing you, Woz, and Summer a fantastic time out in the lee of the Southern Alps.

Bon Voyage

Douglas :cheers

[Avalon]

Wow - was the coffee THAT bad????

But - know what you mean and I'll certainly miss you on here. You have been a fantastic moderator, as well as a really good poster, and its that sort of thing that makes this forum better than "others"

Hugs

Hxxx

[Paul]

Hey best of luck to you all in your latest chapter. Thanks for all the postings, like others have found your story to be a particularly positive experience for those of us dipping our toes so to speak
Paul :nice1

[Suzy Rimbo]

Hey!

Just wanted to wish you loads of luck with your new venture.

Shame i never got chance to meet you, john only had nice things to say about you guy's when he visited during his travels.

Hopefully one day we will visit the south island and give you a buzz for a coffee.

Take care

Suzy x

[katandbob]

http://jbrunod.free.fr/toshop/smileys/TJ13_T.gif
well as I sit here in my office (I know i should be working!) and getting over the shock, I wanted to wish you, Moz and summer good luck in your (my :nice1 ) dream home!

will definately be giving you a bell when we fly over in May 06 for a tour of the vinyard......all our love and best wishes, hope you have a brill time settling in, and as I said - I'll miss seeing 'Moorf'

Kat Rob and Boys

http://jbrunod.free.fr/toshop/smileys/TJ18_T.gif

[K&CS]

Wow, what a shock! Good luck and maybe we'll even meet you one day when we arrive in Christchurch. Thanks for all the helpful and entertaining posts and keep in touch!

Kate x

[Debbie]

Moorf, Wos & Summer,
Thanks for giving us a guiding hand on our way NZ. All the best for the furture in your new home.
Debbie

[jocalla]

Best of luck to you both (and summer) :nice1

Will pm you and get your email address, can't find it anywhere!! :wah

Joanne x

[Marie P]

Good luck to you Moorf :nice1

Enjoy your new home :cheers

Thanks for all your advice for the past year :nice1

Marie x

[Babette & Andy]

Helen here's wishing you & Warren all the best. Good on ya to be living your new lives to the full :nice1

Thanks from us too for all the advise and guidance your gave to us when we were in the midst of our EOI, ITA process as well as job hunting around Christchurch. Shame it's taking us so long to get over there, but hope we'll still get to meet - maybe on the slopes next NZ winter?? :raebanana We wish you all the best.

I also think that Deborah (Smiler) would be the ideal person to become a moderator on this forum!! Go on Douglas - send her an 'application form' for the job :yes

Babette, Andy, Lianne & Amy
xxxxxxxxx

[gil]

Thank you for everything you've done on this forum Moorf, you've welcomed, informed, cheered, entertained, moderated extremely well and given so much of your time and energy, just want to say how much Steve and I (and everyone else) have appreciated you.
Wishing you all the very very best,
Gil
xx

[nessie]

I can only repeat Gil's sentiments - thanks for all your help guys and best of luck with your move. :cheers

[kiwidebs]

Hi Moorf and Woz

I can only echo what the others have said. From the sea cucumber discussions when I first discovered ENZ through to rural Chch you have been a wealth of support and information. Wishing you both long and happy lives making wine in your little vineyard.

Debs and family

[Hannah-NL]

Been absent again, due to house sale and getting ready to move into temporary house this weekend, but I have to repeat what all the others have said before me: Moorf (Helen) you're a great person and I really appreciate the help you have given us and others. I wish you three all the best in your wonderful new home and that you may harvest many bottles of delicious wine. I'll miss your postings!! But who knows, maybe one day we might ring at your door to buy a bottle of 'Bordeaux MoWoz Superieur' eh? :nice1 Take care!

(Where's the big bunch of flowers icon when you need it?)
Ah I found it: "BIG bunch of flowers" !!! :laugh

[Moorf]

Well, we've hit the 18 month mark too!! :raebanana

Can't quite believe it's been that long since we arrived, and that I've been on this forum for twice that long!

Our life here is great, and I don't mean that in a superficial "nice scenery, open spaces" type of great. The work/life balance is so much better than what we had in the UK, despite having run our own business there. Ultimately it's what you make it and there are good and bad companies to work for here, just as anywhere else in the world.

Have we changed? Nah! Does anyone? I still love my designer gear, Woz still loves his gadgets, we just don't have as much access to them anymore! Did we ditch the telly for the good life? Nah! We bought a bigger one but we have a better balance! Are we fitter and leaner from all the outside life? Nah, the cafes en route are too good and as for the local pies... well, the answer to "who ate them all" is sitting around my waistline :o :laugh

It's taken 18 months to find our place in the Chch area. I think a few people have done, or are doing, the same. Moving around, keeping their eyes open for opportunities in more favourable areas. Where you begin your life in NZ isn't necessarily where you'll end up. During our first few months I really didn't like the "hicksville" places we passed through in the countryside. We now live in one, and love it.

We haven't seen the rest of NZ yet, perhaps one day we'll yearn for the sub-tropical warmth of the north island, who knows. I know for sure that we aren't heading for Oz!! But for now our home is here.

In a way I'm glad that I wasn't as aware of all the negatives before we arrived - the forum wasn't as active back then and most posts were pretty upbeat. I'm not saying that negatives aren't good, they are, they prepare you... but I don't think we'd have been so gun-ho about the whole thing. I'm glad I didn't form any opinions on the place before actually getting here.

Woz starts work from home soon, back to being paid from the UK, and I'm also now working from home. It's all coming together. 18 months on and I can absolutely say we're here for the long haul. Watch out citizenship, here we come :nice1

[MB]

Moorf - what a wonderful update. Maybe you'll leave your comments at that for a while... but if not I really look forward to reading folks' reaction to your post and your own replies to them.
Glad you have found a home in a place you might have passed by earlier. I'll be posting later with our current take on this, as there might be things going on with us soon re. where to live.

Cheers to you! :nice1

[Smiler]

Good to hear things are coming together as you want. :nice1

I'm starting to appreciate the work life balance too and I hope I can be as sorted in 18 months as you are. :clap

If I stopped reading peoples blogs, I'd have time to write one. :laugh

D x

[zardell]

Marvellous post Moorf - thank you.

I only hope that Steve and I can post the same positive vibes when we have been in NZ for 18 months.

If we can't ( and I know there are some forum members that fall into that category) well, that's fine too. At least we will have given it a go.

We are reading all the varying opinions on this forum and welcome their various inputs.

Everyone who is fortunate enough to get to NZ has to make their own choices and form their own opinions, but its so uplifting to know that people like yourselves are around and enjoying your new lives to the full. And long may it last.



Thanks for sharing,

Julie

xx

[Moorf]

Well, it's that time!!

Who'd have thought that, when we arrived here on 22 Sept 2004, I'd find myself still on this bloomin' forum three years later celebrating our three-year anniversary and our next adventure ... CITIZENSHIP!!! :clap :cheers :clap

Really not much I can say as I've said it all before, except that this is definitely our home and, unless anything untoward happens, will remain so for the rest of our lives. I can't explain how I feel here and when I do it comes out all rose-tinted and goo-ey, but hey, that's how I, and Warren, feel.

Our lives are full of activity, friends, beauty and community. We've made heaps of friends, both Kiwi's and immigrants from all over the world. We've met such interesting people who've popped by on their travels here and have shared their worries and wow's with us.

We haven't quite realised our dream of being mortgage and job free. In fact, I am busier (work-wise) here than I was in the UK and my writing career has taken off big-time. Warren's employer has just expanded and he loves his work and workmates. So we're staying in employment for the next five years, after which we'll relook at where we are. Ideally we'd like to move somewhere more rural (although we're pretty rural here!) and both be able to work from home again, as we did in Scotland.

So.. no regrets, no looking back and... NO WORRIES!!

Citizenship... BRING IT ON!!

Helen & Warren (& Summer, Amber and the chooks!)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xx

[Marie P]

:raebanana :raebanana :raebanana

Congrats on 3 years .......

Great post ,let us all know how the citizenship goes .

Can't wait till next weekend when we finally meet :cheers

Best wishes Marie ,Dave and co xxxxxx

[xanctus]

Nice story Helen,
Congrats and hope the citizenship come faster :D

[peebles16]

Great post Helen and brilliant to hear how well it's all going. Can't wait to get out there
:cheers
Karen

[holland]

:cheers Have a drink for your 3 years in NZ

Glad your enjoying life!!

J and G xx

[LesleyS]

That's really good news....and you get to share it with your new four legged friend too (Amber) :yes

Keep on posting! :raebanana :raebanana :raebanana

[wiki]

I love reading this thread (about the third time I've browsed it) to see how it was for you in the early days. I'm glad you're both so happy and ready for the big C!

[sizzlingbadger]

Wow that has come around really fast :D

Great to hear you're both very settled, have a few of these to celebrate the on coming citizenship :cheers :cheers

[thezorbster]

Congrats Moorf & Woz on your 3 years. You always seem so upbeat and positive about your life. You have well and truly settled and I hope your family are still progressing their emigration too so you will be 100% happy!:) If you're ever in the Nelson area again please let us know, we'd love to meet you.

ps
who's Amber? - new dog? must have missed some posts somewhere.

[Moorf]

Thanks all :)

Zorbster - we shall be back at Pohara in Jan or Feb so perhaps we can meet in Nelson? We didn't have time to visit Nelson last time and it's definitely high up the list when we're next there! :nice1

Oh, and Amber is our new dog (bitch actually!) - check my blog for piccy!

[thezorbster]

Ooh, we could sample the vineyards - we are surrounded!

But who's Amber?

[Moorf]

As long as I don't have to prune the vines - I've spent 2 weekends doing ours and still have a row left! :laugh

Amber mystery solved in previous post ;)

[thezorbster]

Whoops, missed it (been on the old Neudorf vino :cheers )

[Familyofmonkeys]

Interesting reading....I hope we still feel as positive as we do now in 3 years time too.