[Fiona Papworth]

Hi folks, I have just got my internet sorted out so I can catch up with the gossip. We have been here 6 weeks now and at the moment love most of whats going on. The last 2 months have had one or two low points but mostly things have been good. A brief!! rundown on the last few weeks, hope its not too boring.
16th October GB Liners packed everything and I mean everything including some cr.p we didn't want, we moved into a friends house then did a tour of the UK to visit family and friends. We didn't have a big party or anything, I don't think I could have coped, but said goodbye to everyone individually and it worked for us.
26th Oct - completed on house sale- took our dog who had been ill for 2 weeks (brilliant timing) to Golden Arrow - they were excellent.
29th October - left UK, had 2 nights in Singapore
1st Nov- arrived in Auckland and travelled to Rotorua next day
Found a rental house, OH started work, got our dog back- no worse for the flight, and made lots of new friends, all in the 1st two weeks.
I have found a job but don't start until 16th Jan. We found a house to buy and move into there 10th Jan. we weren't going to buy for 6 months but we like it here and found a perfect house so went for it. we went for a relatively new house, living in this rental changed our views on what we wanted, its cold and damp, I can only imagine what it will be like in winter.
Looking at houses, we were horrified at the lack of heating, a calor gas heater in the whole house and I'm thinking where's the combi boiler!! I need to be warm, hence we bought a heated, insulated house.
Thats about it for now, we can settle and relax for Christmas, then go back to a real life in January, both working, mortgage, rates, bills etc, etc.
It's good to catch up on what everyone else has been up to the last 2 months, I've spent most of the day reading posts on here.

Fiona

[Smiler]

Hi Fiona

Congratulations on settling in so well and it's good to see how well you are doing.

Have a relaxing christmas before you start work and all the best in your new job.

Would love to see some piccies of your house when you can.
Deborah

[Hannah]

Well done Fiona!!, you make my last 6 weeks here look a bit dull. Time to relax and wait till you start work!!!! and then it all starts again!

[Jules]

Hi Fiona

Are you living in Rotorua? We will have to meet up for coffee sometime :nice1 . Glad everything has worked out for you.

Jules

[jo b]

Fiona

it's lovely to hear news like that.

I hopw that NZ keeps amazing you with the new experiences it has to offer.

thanks

Jo

[Cardy]

Hello glad you got there and settled o.k . We are using GB liners for our big move Janiary how did you find them . Was there any problems . Did they come up with any unexpected costs. My head is ready to explode with all the questions i have about everything at the moment. :uhoh

[Fiona Papworth]

We found GB liners very good. It cost us £3562 including insurance. That was for a 20ft container, they packed and was door to door. We were originally quoted about £3300 but then we sent some extra stuff. They were very efficient, it took 1 day for two guys to pack and then about 3 hours to load the container the next day. Probably would have taken half the time but we were in Yorkshire and they needed endless amounts of tea.

The ETA they gave us was spot on and we received our stuff the day after it cleared customs.

They use New Zealand Vanlines which I had heard some pretty grim things about but they were were good. The three guys they sent were friendly, unpacked what I wanted and put the rest in the spare bedroom, and only one tea round! They were from Tauranga, so may be different from elsewhere.

So far nothing damaged, but only half unpacked as we are moving soon, but MAF kept our lawn mower (we thought it was spotless) and we will get that back today.

Fiona

[Cardy]

Thanks Fiona we are moving from yorkshire too so i.ll get the kettle on. We are hoping to be gone for 16th jan . Did you have to pay a fee to maff because of the lawnmower we were thinking of taking ours? and weve heard there funny about bikes to. :roll

[Fiona Papworth]

We had to pay $135 to get it cleaned, we thought we had cleaned it enough!!
We brought our strimmer and bikes and they were OK, the grass box of the lawn mower was packed with something else and slipped cos that had bits of seeds on it. I think it just depends who is doing the inspection and how they feel on the day.
Also the only boxes (about 3) that were opened were the ones we packed ourselves, so anything dodgy get the packers to do it for you.
You may get the same crew as we had being from Yorkshire, they were really good.
If you like your Yorkshire tea, bring lots of teabags cos we've not found it over here yet!!

Fiona

[mechidna]

You're here in Rotorua? We're starting to form a group here. Like Jules said, we'll have to meet up and have coffee or something. Sorry Jules, I really will ring.

Michele

[Fiona Papworth]

Hi Michelle, the 3 of us will have to get together after Christmas, will be in touch.

Fiona