[Biddy]

Hello everybody - my 1st post on this forum - thanks to debnjohn for introducing me to it.

Anyway I'll try and give you the bare bones:
I'm Mike and my wife is Sarah and we have 3 kids (6, 5 & 3!) and we're moving to the Kapiti coast soon. I'm coming out in August for 3 weeks (job hunting) and then we'll all fly out early Sept via Disneyworld to arrive about 22nd Sept.
We're renting a furnished Bach in Waikenae beach till Dec when I hope to have found a place to buy or a longer term rental. We'll be joined by our dog in Oct.
Currently we have a village shop in Wiltshire but I'll be looking to move back into Sales - I was a Sales manager with Johnson & Johnson up till 3 years ago when we quit the rat race and bought the shop!

So those are the nuts n bolts, thought I'd drop by and say Hi. Anyone in the Welly area who fancies a beer in August then 1st round's on me!
Cheers
Biddy

[debnjohn]

Welcome Mike & Sarah! :nice1

John

[jo b]

Welcome Mike Sarah & kids,


I am a Sales Manager in BT but hopefuly will be getting out of the rat race for good in NZ. The belt will have to be very tight then!!
So who knows if I feel the pinch too much may go back to work.

enjoy the forum you will get loads of info regarding job hunting. My husband and I did that in March in NZ, hubby has a job now I have been told telecom NZ would defo take me, but I would like to catch my breath and spend some time with my kids first.

There is nothing like going in person Rimbo and RAmmer have both just gots jobs by going over there too, so good luck.

Jo

[StevieD]

Welcome guys - no doubt we will talk again soon. Nice to see some people from your neck of the woods. (Seems to be a bit of a bias to the north west lately on here ;) )

All the best

Steve - Aintree - Liverpool

[Diny]

Hello and welcome Mike & Sarah & family. I reckon you'll get all the info and support you need on this forum.

I've kind of got things all twisted around, I don't work here in the UK (well - paid work - I'm a housewife) but I plan to do paid work again once we've settled in NZ (albeit self employed).

Hope all goes well for you all and that your job hunting trip goes well.

All the best.

Diny

[Babette & Andy]

Welcome Mike & Sarah. Hope you'll find the site the way Deb&John described it to you :nice1 Best of luck with your plans. You're bound to have many a question and have now found the font of all knowledge - this forum site :clap :clap

Babette

[Jodie]

Hi guys,

Welcome! If you need any info on Welly, fire away - we've been here nearly a year now and love it! As for that beer - we're always up for one or 2, so give us a shout!!
:cheers
Jod & Daz

[Biddy]

Well thanks to all of you for a good welcome. We're quite well advanced with our plans - still need to finalise the sale of our shop though! We're all aiming for end of July but don't seem to be getting a lot of feedback from our buyer :uhoh

It seems to me that I'll need to be in Welly to secure work - hence the Aug trip - I've applied for a few positions from over here but tend to get the same responses - 'you don't meet our criteria' v frustrating as I don't know whether I'm unemployable or just that they don't really consider people unless they're phisically present!

I'll put my thinking cap on re specific Q's but would welcome feedback on the Kapiti coast if anyone knows it.
Am I mad to try to commute from Waikenae etc?
Thanks
Mike

[Jodie]

Hmmmm...... Waikanae to Welly? er, yeah, I think you'd be mad to do that for too long! It'd probably be the best part of an hour drive in rush hour, maybe more cos there's some bad traffic bottle-necks coming in from that direction that far out, but it depends what your used to I suppose. It takes us 20 - 30mins to get into the city from Johnsonville if we leave between 8am and 9am (only takes 10 mins after 9am!!), and the kiwis think thats a long commute! They don't tend to like commuting... :laugh Don't blame em!

I don't know what the train's like from there - probably the quickest way and the station is right in the city so quite handy.

What do you think?

Jod

[Biddy]

Ji Jodie - for the last 3 years I've been sedentary - running a village shop 7 days a week so have done no travelling or commuting at all! Prior to that I was doing 30,000 miles a year - often in the car for 4 or 5 hrs a day. So an hour each way doesn't frighten me too much :uhoh I guess after a little while I'll be bored of it though.
However the trade off is what I hope to be a better lifestyle for the family and more property for our dollars - hopefully!
Thanks
Mike

[Biddy]

[quote="Diny"]Hello and welcome Mike & Sarah & family. I reckon you'll get all the info and support you need on this forum.

I've kind of got things all twisted around, I don't work here in the UK (well - paid work - I'm a housewife) but I plan to do paid work again once we've settled in NZ (albeit self employed).

Hi Diny - what sort of self employed work do you hope to do? Sarah definetely has that planned once we've got our littlest one locked up in childcare!
We'd like to have our own business togther again but probably not for a few years once we're well and truly Kiwified!
Mike

[Kenny]

Hi Mike,

Not sure if you have arrived yet?

Waikanae to Welly?
Most people that do that, travel to Paraparam by car and then catch the train.
For most of the trains, Paraparam is the end of the line.
Only a small number of trains (1 or 2) during rush hour go further north, other than the National train to Auckland (which may not stop there).

[sarahw]

Well Hello guys,

Firstly welcome & make sure you go to Marty's when you get to Waikanae - great beachfront 50's diner type place (with kiddies play area out the front) - great for Sunday brunch!

We love Waikanae - visit it most warm sunny weekends, gorgeous beach & lovely quiet feel to it, but there's absolutely no way we'd travel in from there - we moved from the UK so we could spend more time together - think carefully & try a dummy run into the city & back one day in rush hour - you might change your mind or you might decide you can put up with it.

What Kenny's saying is right (is that Carol's Kenny? if so hiya!)- train from Paraparaumu would be best and probably a lot faster.

We live in Whitby - takes 30-45 mins to get into Welly or back in rush hour & Whitby's not even on Kapati! If you go over the Paramata roundabout you're probably looking at adding an extra 10-20 mins to get over the roundabout & then sit in traffic through Paramata/Mana and then its about another 30-40 mins from there to get to Waikanae. Sorry but its a bit more than an hour in rush-hour.

We were going to move to Mana/Camborne (just over Paramata bridge) but after a week in a motel our plans were shelved since it took us 10 mins just to pull out of our motel! and we got stuck at the Paramata roundabout a few times - this was during school holidays too!)

You also really want to avoid the road between Paraparaumu & Paramata if you can so the train suggestion is a good one - its a pretty dangerous stretch of road - lots of accidents and deaths - our motorways aren't like what you're used to in the UK either from Paramata onwards!!! - single lane in the main (passing lane if you're lucky) get stuck behind the sheep truck & you're stuffed!

One of my friends commutes by car but he's self-employed as an air-con fitter and can pick his hours & leaves Waikanae at 5am to get to work early & then leaves the city at 3pm to come home to beat the traffic - he's been doing it for a year & has decided to give up & move back to the city because its killing him!

At the end of the day, of course some people are quite happy to have long commutes but I just wanted to give you a bit of warning on what you might be letting yourself in for - of course you have to weigh up what's most important - spending more time with your family or bigger house - we plumped for the split down the middle - we could have lived in Welly with a smaller house or we could have lived further out with a larger house...

Good luck with the trip & hope you enjoy Waikanae! :nice1

[sarahw]

Oops forgot to say my commute time of 30-45 mins is at 7.15am in the morning from Whitby & 5pm on the way back - although its never 30 mins at that time!

[Carol]

What Kenny's saying is right (is that Carol's Kenny? if so hiya!)

Yes it is Sarah......well spotted!!!

Got him hooked :nice1 ;)

[Biddy]

Sarah - great post & thanks for taking the time.
I'll be over job hunting in August so will try the routa at rush hour. Must confess I'm not looking forward to the commute and we may well have to change our plans and head a bit further South! Who knows!
At the end of the day I'll be looking for work in Sales so the need to go into Welly everyday will probably be minimised.
Thanks again
Mike

[Jennie & Rob]

Hi Mike, Sarah and Family.

We (Jennie, Rob, Katie 7 and Finn 1.75) have been in Wellington for 3 weeks (interestingly also from Wiltshire), and thanks to Kenny and Carol (see earlier replies) we are settling down fine.

I can't add much to what has already been said, just wanted to stick my head above the parapet and say hello. I work in Wellington and as from tomorrow will be commuting from Plimmerton (30 mins south from Waikanae.

The coast along here is breath taking and everyone is friendly, it is indeed a different pace of life, yes you can stop a smell the roses all year round it seems!

So keep in touch there is beer and wine in the fridge ready for your arrival :cheers

Cheers,

Rob.

[Biddy]

Now that's what I call a Welly Welcome!
I'll be in contact for my trip in August - sounds like I'll need to stop off for a coffee (or beer!) to break up the hour long commute! :laugh

Really glad you've said the coastline is super - I had a feeling it was but having never been there and only seeing piccies on the interweb (to quote J Clarkson) you always have doubts

Cheers - glad you're enjoying it & not missing Wiltshire too much :mrgreen:


Mike

[Kenny]

We have a photo of the Waikanae area that Carol took from the top of Kapati Island whilst on a school trip. If I can figure out how to put photo's on the forum I'll add it. It may be easier to wait until Carol gets in from school. She's the expert on the forum. I only work in IT. (ha) :roll: :roll:

We are also in the Wellington region (Tawa). When you leave Jenny and Rob's after having a beer, make sure you also call in for another at our place. We are 15mins from Wellington so it will break up the commute even more.
:cheers :laugh :laugh

[Biddy]

I feel a pub crawl coming on!
http://www.umu.man.ac.uk/biosoc/Images/Pub-crawl-off.jpg
Thanks Kenny & Carol - I'll take you up on that!

[Carol]

I feel a pub crawl coming on!
http://www.umu.man.ac.uk/biosoc/Images/Pub-crawl-off.jpg
Thanks Kenny & Carol - I'll take you up on that!


We DO have a pub in Tawa...........in fact we have TWO!!!

(Not very long ago you couldnt buy alcohol of ANY description here......but they knew we were coming... ;) )

[Biddy]

Nice!

[Kenny]

http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL938/3743968/7723813/101636195.jpg


Waikanae taken from the top of Kapiti Island

[Kenny]

Panaramic view looking north of the Kapiti Coast taken from a lookout point on Paekakariki Hill (30k north of Wellington)
You will need to scroll right
http://pic18.picturetrail.com/VOL938/3743968/7723813/101637506.jpg

[sarahw]

Kenny - great pics!

Jennie & Rob - you're literally a stone's throw from us - we live in Whitby & are moving 2 mins up the road to Paramata at the end of July! We can often be seen walking on Plimmerton beach on a Sunday afternoon - its our favourite local place since living by the sea is still a novel concept for us both! I don't think its ever going to wear off though!

[Biddy]

I can't believe how lucky I am to be moving here- great pics!!!

Sod the hour commute - who cares!?

[clg]

We just got our tickets booked. Add us to the soon to arrive in Welly group. We arrive on August 20th. :clap :clap :clap


Chris

[Biddy]

Where are you headed Wellywise - City or Coast or Inland?

[clg]

Not really sure yet. We are CBD the first 3 weeks but we need to find a rental after that. We had planned to stay around Kelburn, Island Bay, or Brooklyn but we want to check out lower hutt a bit more and around kapati. I'm tired of commuting though so close sounds good to me right now...

Chris

[pleccy2000]

I feel a pub crawl coming on!
http://www.umu.man.ac.uk/biosoc/Images/Pub-crawl-off.jpg
Thanks Kenny & Carol - I'll take you up on that!


We DO have a pub in Tawa...........in fact we have TWO!!!

(Not very long ago you couldnt buy alcohol of ANY description here......but they knew we were coming... ;) )

There are 3 pubs!

[Carol]

What???
Did I miss one????

Where Adam???

[Biddy]

Not really sure yet. We are CBD the first 3 weeks but we need to find a rental after that. We had planned to stay around Kelburn, Island Bay, or Brooklyn but we want to check out lower hutt a bit more and around kapati. I'm tired of commuting though so close sounds good to me right now...

Chris

Fair point re commuting!
I have no probs with an hour or so drive - haven't really driven for the last 3 years so would make a refreshing change!

[Biddy]

I feel a pub crawl coming on!
http://www.umu.man.ac.uk/biosoc/Images/Pub-crawl-off.jpg
Thanks Kenny & Carol - I'll take you up on that!


We DO have a pub in Tawa...........in fact we have TWO!!!

(Not very long ago you couldnt buy alcohol of ANY description here......but they knew we were coming... ;) )

There are 3 pubs!

Even better!