firstkings
28th September 2006, 09:57 PM
OK, we've been here 3 weeks plus...time for an update about what to do/not to do/questions about about what to do next! Actually I just need to get a lot of stuff off my chest!
1 : John Mason removals worked well. Three guys took 4 days to pack our house and load it into a 40 foot container. I was skeptical as to whether we'd need a 40ft container...but it occupied just over 3/4 of it - exactly as every estimator we had round said. They were round at 9.30 - worked through lunch and finished at 3.30 ish (bit before sometimes). No complaints. Mind you the wife and family were living at a friends' house which made things much easier.
2 : We'd booked a taxi plus trailer to take the 6 of us plus luggage to Heathrow. The driver turned out to be an old friend who had recognised us on the telephone when booking, but didn't let on incase it prejudiced our choice of taxi firm! Smashing bloke - avoided the traffic jams and helped us in with the luggage. I can supply his name/company upon request (based in Herts), but I am very biased.
3 : Heathrow was a complete nightmare. Singapore opened the gates later than they should. We arrived 4.5 hours before departure (website said gates opened 240mins before flight). We queued solidly the whole time we were there. We deviated neither to the left or to the right - there was nothing that we could have done to get through more quickly. Eventually we ran for the plane, arriving about 20mins late (so queing/running for about 5 hours). Kids did sooooooooo well.
4 : Flights and children were fantastic. They'd never flown before and were enraptured. Sam (age 2) managed to watch about 10 hours of Spongebob! Food was great. Thouroughly recommend Singapore (oh yes - phoned beforehand to book seats in a block and confirm 30kg per person - no problem)
5 : Went swimming at Singapore airport. Kids loved it. Fabulous place.
6 : Arrived at ChCh. Airport. So small! Someone helped us with our luggage. Nice guy. Families jump queues - wonderful.
7 : Rental car from EZY Drive (people carrier)- cheapest we could find from the UK. Very cheerful too! Did for one week the we got an old one form a car shark. Good fun though.
8: We have a fully furnished rental house in Riccarton. We were going to have one in Burnside (memorial Avenue) - but the estate agent changed their story about letting (5 months min instead tof the 3 months we wanted) without reason/apology etc, just before we left the UK. Much emailling/phoning in the early hours! The house is great - if cold....very cold....the owners live next door and are great. They chat to the children and have helped us out quite a bit.
8a : Pak 'n' Save and K-MART are our second homes.
9 : Started school after a few days only to be released on holiday for 3 weeks - TEACHERS...only work half the year!!!! Job looks great...looking forward to homework marking soon!
10 : Have started the house search bit. We found a house in Parklands that looked great. We put in an offer....then the crunch came....How do I get my money from the UK? Lots of people had recommended HIFX on this forum, so before we left blighty I tried to join....but they wouldn't let me as I'd be in NZ before I transferred my money (house sold/completed a few days after we departed). So upon arrival I tried to join HIFX here. Managed eventually once I could located a fax machine (soooooooo many people/firms rely on them out here it seems!). But here is where I met the problem. To transfer money to here they need the money there. But how do you get money to them. I had assumed I could do it via online banking (with BArclays), but no! The limit is something small like £1000 per day. I called the call centre (sad)...how about telephone banking sir? yes ok. "It'll take 4 - 10 working days for a letter to reach you..." then another week for it to be redirected (can't update address at same time!), then you can transfer up to £20k. Errrrrrr - having sold a house I now have about £100k to transfer and I need to do it soon, if I want to buy the house we saw. Write a letter they said. I did. It arrived there a couple of days ago - track and trace says so. The funds haven't moved. If only I'd thought before we left I could have left instructions with the bank before we left. At this rate I will have to fly back to give the instruction face to face. Anyone else had a problem - or is everyone else more organized?
Rant over. I feel better. Should have put that one in the financial section. Sorry.
11 : Money frustrations aside - we are happy!
12 : Kids are in a fun school - Ilam. They do so much more sport/outside activity that in the UK - it's great.
13 : There are so many clean neat parks for the childre to play on/in - wonderful. Also so many things are free - the museum, botanic gradens(wonderful - really wonderful), riccarton bush. The gondola/tram are great (not free). We've bought a season ticket for the family. Bottle Lake Park is AWESOME - a vogue word if ever there was one.
14 : Couldn't end on 13
So there you have it in writing. We love Chch and NZ 3 weeks in. People (on the whole) are friendly and helpful, and everything is so children orientated (perhaps that is what we are concentrating on!). I'll write again when the 6 month blues have set in. IN the meantime, thank you for wadding through this missive. I feel a lot better even if no-one reads it.
MAny thanks to all those who have answered queries along the way...there are still more questions to come. In the meantime - how do you get money out of Barclays?
Cheers
David
1 : John Mason removals worked well. Three guys took 4 days to pack our house and load it into a 40 foot container. I was skeptical as to whether we'd need a 40ft container...but it occupied just over 3/4 of it - exactly as every estimator we had round said. They were round at 9.30 - worked through lunch and finished at 3.30 ish (bit before sometimes). No complaints. Mind you the wife and family were living at a friends' house which made things much easier.
2 : We'd booked a taxi plus trailer to take the 6 of us plus luggage to Heathrow. The driver turned out to be an old friend who had recognised us on the telephone when booking, but didn't let on incase it prejudiced our choice of taxi firm! Smashing bloke - avoided the traffic jams and helped us in with the luggage. I can supply his name/company upon request (based in Herts), but I am very biased.
3 : Heathrow was a complete nightmare. Singapore opened the gates later than they should. We arrived 4.5 hours before departure (website said gates opened 240mins before flight). We queued solidly the whole time we were there. We deviated neither to the left or to the right - there was nothing that we could have done to get through more quickly. Eventually we ran for the plane, arriving about 20mins late (so queing/running for about 5 hours). Kids did sooooooooo well.
4 : Flights and children were fantastic. They'd never flown before and were enraptured. Sam (age 2) managed to watch about 10 hours of Spongebob! Food was great. Thouroughly recommend Singapore (oh yes - phoned beforehand to book seats in a block and confirm 30kg per person - no problem)
5 : Went swimming at Singapore airport. Kids loved it. Fabulous place.
6 : Arrived at ChCh. Airport. So small! Someone helped us with our luggage. Nice guy. Families jump queues - wonderful.
7 : Rental car from EZY Drive (people carrier)- cheapest we could find from the UK. Very cheerful too! Did for one week the we got an old one form a car shark. Good fun though.
8: We have a fully furnished rental house in Riccarton. We were going to have one in Burnside (memorial Avenue) - but the estate agent changed their story about letting (5 months min instead tof the 3 months we wanted) without reason/apology etc, just before we left the UK. Much emailling/phoning in the early hours! The house is great - if cold....very cold....the owners live next door and are great. They chat to the children and have helped us out quite a bit.
8a : Pak 'n' Save and K-MART are our second homes.
9 : Started school after a few days only to be released on holiday for 3 weeks - TEACHERS...only work half the year!!!! Job looks great...looking forward to homework marking soon!
10 : Have started the house search bit. We found a house in Parklands that looked great. We put in an offer....then the crunch came....How do I get my money from the UK? Lots of people had recommended HIFX on this forum, so before we left blighty I tried to join....but they wouldn't let me as I'd be in NZ before I transferred my money (house sold/completed a few days after we departed). So upon arrival I tried to join HIFX here. Managed eventually once I could located a fax machine (soooooooo many people/firms rely on them out here it seems!). But here is where I met the problem. To transfer money to here they need the money there. But how do you get money to them. I had assumed I could do it via online banking (with BArclays), but no! The limit is something small like £1000 per day. I called the call centre (sad)...how about telephone banking sir? yes ok. "It'll take 4 - 10 working days for a letter to reach you..." then another week for it to be redirected (can't update address at same time!), then you can transfer up to £20k. Errrrrrr - having sold a house I now have about £100k to transfer and I need to do it soon, if I want to buy the house we saw. Write a letter they said. I did. It arrived there a couple of days ago - track and trace says so. The funds haven't moved. If only I'd thought before we left I could have left instructions with the bank before we left. At this rate I will have to fly back to give the instruction face to face. Anyone else had a problem - or is everyone else more organized?
Rant over. I feel better. Should have put that one in the financial section. Sorry.
11 : Money frustrations aside - we are happy!
12 : Kids are in a fun school - Ilam. They do so much more sport/outside activity that in the UK - it's great.
13 : There are so many clean neat parks for the childre to play on/in - wonderful. Also so many things are free - the museum, botanic gradens(wonderful - really wonderful), riccarton bush. The gondola/tram are great (not free). We've bought a season ticket for the family. Bottle Lake Park is AWESOME - a vogue word if ever there was one.
14 : Couldn't end on 13
So there you have it in writing. We love Chch and NZ 3 weeks in. People (on the whole) are friendly and helpful, and everything is so children orientated (perhaps that is what we are concentrating on!). I'll write again when the 6 month blues have set in. IN the meantime, thank you for wadding through this missive. I feel a lot better even if no-one reads it.
MAny thanks to all those who have answered queries along the way...there are still more questions to come. In the meantime - how do you get money out of Barclays?
Cheers
David