Soon2baKiwi
30th June 2005, 11:56 PM
Hi everyone
Well, it's been a week yesterday since we landed in Auckland and everything is groovy :clap On Wednesday night I was looking through the Herald and saw a job I thought I might like. I applied on Thursday morning, had an interview yesterday and the contract was in my email by the time I got home :nice1 So much for the Kiwis not moving quickly eh? I haven't even got my work permit yet :oops: This week so far I've had a temporary cap put on a front tooth, had my medical done, got the job and am off to Immigration tomorrow morning with all my paperwork. :yes
Auckland is lovely. No matter where you go it's green. Even if the houses are on top of each other, once you're in one it doesn't seem so bad. We're staying with my sister in law and her family and they have a house on a 600sqm section in Browns Bay. We always thought that would be small but it's perfectly adequate. They've got a huge deck with a spa and it doesn't seem that small. Driving over the Harbour bridge is an experience in itself - the water both sides with all the boats bobbing up and down - it's like being part of a postcard :laugh
Coming from Euro land I don't find the prices expensive. They're the same in dollar as they are in Euro but my salary will be more dollars than Euro so I should actually be better off. We've been to The Warehouse and Pak N'Save. :nice1 :nice1 :nice1 I LOVE the Warehouse and can't wait for us to have our own place so I can be let loose in there. We went to DressSmart in Onehunga today. It was OK. You'd want a lot of time I think to hunt out the bargains but it seemed fine for kids clothes. We had to go into Pumpkin Patch and the stuff was lovely in there. And not too expensive either.
The one thing I've found remarkable since being here is how all the research I did, over the last year particularly, sort of went out the window. I come across stuff all the time that I know from the forums (the houses ARE cold at night - it was really warm here the first couple of nights but then there was a frost on Sunday night and I woke up during the night and I swear I thought my nose was frostbitten :uhoh ). It's like doing the theory part of a driving test. You can know all the answers but until you're actually behind the wheel you don't know how to drive. I felt and still feel as if I'm somewhere I know but it's all different. It's so similar to home and London but it's different too.
I've tried the pies - meat and cheese, buttered chicken etc.etc. and they are gorgeous. I'll have to stop or I'll be back to DressSmart 'cos my clothes won't fit. Everytime I see something different to eat I try it. I've had Kumara - I'll have it again. We went for a Chinese last night. Be careful - the portions are HUGE. We paid $41 for, what we thought, would feed 5 adults but there were another 3 full meals in it. It tasted different to what we were used to. Different, but nice. We're going to try an Indian next week.
Well, I think that's probably enough for now. For all of you who're only in the planning stage - good luck. Diny - you're nearly ready for the off now aren't you? Best of everything my dear.
Well, it's been a week yesterday since we landed in Auckland and everything is groovy :clap On Wednesday night I was looking through the Herald and saw a job I thought I might like. I applied on Thursday morning, had an interview yesterday and the contract was in my email by the time I got home :nice1 So much for the Kiwis not moving quickly eh? I haven't even got my work permit yet :oops: This week so far I've had a temporary cap put on a front tooth, had my medical done, got the job and am off to Immigration tomorrow morning with all my paperwork. :yes
Auckland is lovely. No matter where you go it's green. Even if the houses are on top of each other, once you're in one it doesn't seem so bad. We're staying with my sister in law and her family and they have a house on a 600sqm section in Browns Bay. We always thought that would be small but it's perfectly adequate. They've got a huge deck with a spa and it doesn't seem that small. Driving over the Harbour bridge is an experience in itself - the water both sides with all the boats bobbing up and down - it's like being part of a postcard :laugh
Coming from Euro land I don't find the prices expensive. They're the same in dollar as they are in Euro but my salary will be more dollars than Euro so I should actually be better off. We've been to The Warehouse and Pak N'Save. :nice1 :nice1 :nice1 I LOVE the Warehouse and can't wait for us to have our own place so I can be let loose in there. We went to DressSmart in Onehunga today. It was OK. You'd want a lot of time I think to hunt out the bargains but it seemed fine for kids clothes. We had to go into Pumpkin Patch and the stuff was lovely in there. And not too expensive either.
The one thing I've found remarkable since being here is how all the research I did, over the last year particularly, sort of went out the window. I come across stuff all the time that I know from the forums (the houses ARE cold at night - it was really warm here the first couple of nights but then there was a frost on Sunday night and I woke up during the night and I swear I thought my nose was frostbitten :uhoh ). It's like doing the theory part of a driving test. You can know all the answers but until you're actually behind the wheel you don't know how to drive. I felt and still feel as if I'm somewhere I know but it's all different. It's so similar to home and London but it's different too.
I've tried the pies - meat and cheese, buttered chicken etc.etc. and they are gorgeous. I'll have to stop or I'll be back to DressSmart 'cos my clothes won't fit. Everytime I see something different to eat I try it. I've had Kumara - I'll have it again. We went for a Chinese last night. Be careful - the portions are HUGE. We paid $41 for, what we thought, would feed 5 adults but there were another 3 full meals in it. It tasted different to what we were used to. Different, but nice. We're going to try an Indian next week.
Well, I think that's probably enough for now. For all of you who're only in the planning stage - good luck. Diny - you're nearly ready for the off now aren't you? Best of everything my dear.