[Colinr]

Hi all,

My name is Colin and I hope to be coming to NZ early next year with my new wife Sam and son Declan (getting married in Jan) via the skilled migration option.

We're currently living in Johannesburg and hope to settle in Auckland.

I've been lurking on the forum for a few weeks now, and have found so much valuable information. Thanks to all who keep posting and imparting their wisdom to newbies like me.
.


Colin

[Smiler]

Hi Colin, Sam and Declan

Congratulations on your forthcoming wedding and welcome to the forum. :cheers:cheers:cheers

[Bergita]

Hi and welcome! Seems like we're leaving in greater numbers these days. Wonder why....?

[Bruckner]

Welcome to the forum Colin, Sam and Declan. Love the name Declan!

Emily

[Nienke]

Welcome to the forum!

[Sue]

Hey, fellow South Africans

you will love it here. Word of advice, dont party too much before you have your blood tests done - shows up in your liver results, this causes huge delays in your work permit application - heaps of my buddies have had to endure the 2week permit delay because of high liver function.
hope that helps
Sue

[Colinr]

Thanks Sue,

I'll remember that.

Short update:
We've sold the house, now less than a month till the wedding.
Next step is to try and find a way to get my money out of South Africa timeously.

(We're coming on the wish and a prayer method of PR)

[Carol]

Seems like we're leaving in greater numbers these days. Wonder why....?

ummm....now let me think....;)


Welcome you guys.
I love your son's name too.

[Sue]

Colin,

have you guys made it to AKL yet?

[Colinr]

Hi Sue,

Nope, not yet. Nearly there though. Tickets booked for March :clap .
So far all is on track. Stressing a little with all the packing, planning and cancelling.

But mostly just very, very excited.

[Sue]

Great - the weather I have heard is still good in March. At the moment we have been having really great sunny days in AKL quite similiar to Cape Town. If I may ask, are you coming over with your residency already approved or are you looking to find work, then go for work permit and then do residency application? We did it that way and it was really easy (skilled migrant application as well - husband is in engineering and I am in biotech). If you need any advice just ask and we are willing to help. If Declan is in school you should choose to live in area that has good school zones. Well, my advice for now is " spend as much time with all the people you love in SA as possible, it is great to have a reserve of happy memories to help you through the first few weeks here" - have a safe journey.

[Colinr]

Thanks for the advice Sue, I've found this forum invaluable in my preparations. Seems like someone has already experienced everything we need.

We're coming over as visitors, then looking for work. This is our only option as my degree is not in IT and my experience is. I'm planning to get the "Where to live in Auckland" book when we arrive to try and work out good schooling zones.

I've been in contact with a recruitment agency in Auckland and have had a lot of positive feedback, I'm not nearly as nervous about packing up my family and travelling half way around the world to a country I've only read about as I should be :eek: .

[Tentun]

Hey there

Just wanted to shout out and say hi. We're South African too. I am from Durban and my husband is from Jo-burg however, we've been living in the UK for the past 7 years and have had enough of that so are planning to move out to NZ in the near future. We have a little boy too (only 16 months now).

Good luck with everything
Kerry

[kimandgareth]

Hello Colin and all from SA

I'm English but Gareth is South African - from Durban. We had our wedding in SA last October - Granny Mouse Country House in the Midlands (just in case anyone has heard of it!) :)

Part of the attraction of NZ is the similarities to SA - we have heard people say its like SA 10 years ago.

Best of luck to everyone coming over from SA :nice1

[Sue]

Colin
we were in the same boat - not nearly as nervous as we should have been as well. I guess when you have faith in your decision and when you have done enough research, you feel prepared enough to take on anything. I read the book 'where to live in auckland' - it was pretty accurate about the school zones but it was also quite harsh with certain areas and made it out to be worse than it actually is. coming from SA we have learned to live side by side with criminals and we are a cautious, wary bunch of people - so with us being so streetsmart, the areas that the booked called 'dangerous' were laughable. just a few kids getting in touch with their artistic side and jazzing up the walls with a bit of graffitti. so my advice is, drive out to the area and check it out for yourself. when I first arrived here I spent a few days in Devonport and then moved in with an aunt in Manukau(supposedly one of the roughest areas...... we found it quite peaceful, but I must admit we were in a more affluent part of the area) now we live in central auckland - Mt Eden. Epsom and Mt Eden are zoned for auckland grammar school - but just be careful the zones are quite tight and even one street off, and you miss out.
anyway, I must get back to our waitangi day celebrations. you give us a shout if you need anything else.

[Pieterj]

Hi Colin, Im also in JHB, Planning my move Middle April.

Im lucky enough to have a Job waiting but still need to do my medical on the 13th if Feb. Just hope the liver function tests don't slow down the Job App. If all goes well Ill be starting my new Job on the 1st of May.

Who are you guys using to do your move? I cant make up my mind at the moment all quites are about the same so im not sure how to pick the right company.

[Sue]

Hey Pieterj
I have heard from a few guys that if you top up on some glucose drinks and increase your water consumption just before the test it should help. dont know how far this is true... but it does sound reasonable.

[Colinr]

Hi Pieter, we're going with Thomson (http://www.thomson.co.za) , for no other reason than, the service thus far was very efficient. Also found that the quotes were similar. I figure with you being here in April, it will be too late to tell you if they are any good.

[Colinr]

Hi Sue,

I see what you mean about the strict zoning, we've arranged to rent a place in Torbay for a few months, and I see from www.schoolzones.co.nz (http://www.schoolzones.co.nz) that we just miss Torbay Primary School, but are zoned for another three. I still can't get over how well everything works. Torbay sounds nice, but it might be a bit of a long trek to a job in the city. As you suggested, I'm sure we'll drive around a lot before settling down permanently.

[Pieterj]

Sue, Thanks for the tip. Ill definitely try that. Ive already been drinking a lot of water and ill also do the glucose thing.

Colin, funny you should mention it. But so far Thomson has been the most efficient. Thanks for getting back to me on that.

Till later
Pieter

[Sue]

Hey Colin and Piet.
I can tell you that Torbay to the City takes about an hour and 20-30minutes in peak rush hour traffic. I have heard from a buddy of mine that the schools are good in the North Shore - dont have any of my own kids so I dont have much info about school zones. Torbay housing is cheaper because it is a bit away from the city. Since you are from SA you will feel pretty at home there cos' there are lots of South Africans living in the north shore and just as many English people. Will get back with more info later - have to get down to working now

[Pieterj]

Thanks Sue, Ive heard that Torbay feels almost just like home apart from the crime , alarm systems, security gates electric fencing and high walls. :laugh

Now all I need to do is find out where in Auckland my new office is

5 Days to medical and counting down

[Sue]

Pieter
where in AKL are you planning to live? I would suggest North Shore, Central AKL like Epsom and Mt Eden and even East Auckland (Howick, Dannemora, Botany), although I didnt particularly like Howick cos' the homes and parks are all relatively new and seem a bit fake to me - everything looks the same there and all the trees are perfectly pruned and all the same height! It's not very natural. Mt Eden and Epsom are really great, with super schools in the area. A bit pricy but for the convenience to the city and the lovely parks and reserves its worth every penny. Dont worry too much about the medical, my husband's liver function tests were high as well - and he repeated them here in AKL after staying off the beers for about a month and half - although they came out fine, he still had to deal with the 2 week permit delay cos' the NZIS goes by what the doctor in SA says on the summary of the meds. this wasnt too bad cos' atleast he didnt have to wait for immigration to send the application back and then refer to a doctor and then send to wellington again. saved about 2 additional weeks. word of advice, make your work permit application in HENDERSON, west auckland about 30 minutes drive from the city. The immigration in Manukau (where everyone does it) sends it off to Henderson anyway and that can take anything up to 7-10days. you rather beat the system and go straight to Henderson. Just ring immigration once you get here and they will give you the address. another thing, you arent carrying any of your certificates or any proof that you are planning to work here hey? customs is a bit tough especially with South Africans so you wanna be as much of a tourist as you can be. All the luck with the medicals. stay in touch,Sue

[Pieterj]

Hi Sue, Thanks for the advice, I have found out our office is in the city centre, So ill have to look at a place to stay where the traffic wont be too bad.

As for the work permit, I have decided to do my application here in SA, I'm still waiting for the sale on my house to go through so thought it best to just wait on this side until I have the work permit. Ive been told it takes about 8 weeks here (hope the medical doesn't slow down that as well)

Im rather worried about the liver tests because I cant really explain why its so high I dont drink any alcohol, 1 sometimes 2 cups of coffee per day, and eat healthy BMI is 27 which is within their requiremenst. My doctor doesn't seem to be worried but then she hasn't gone through this yet.

I did another test yesterday to see if there was any improvement as ive been using milk thistle for about a month now, unfortunately the numbers are up since 2 weeks ago.

GGT is notmal
ALT 74 Scale 3-46
AST 43 Scale 10-33

The only thing that I could think of blaming is the fact that I dont have a spleen (Motor bike accident), but with all the reading I have done I cant find one study supporting this theory.

Now all I can do is keep eating healthy food and hope for the best. Not sure if I should continue using the milk thistle because it doesn't really seem to make a difference

[Brad77]

left JHB in December.

All sorted in Rotorua, NZ. Best move you will ever make. Get out of SA ASAP!

[Sue]

Piet, I can understand your concerns. I did some searching on my end and found out that the only way to lower liver function is to embark on the 'liver cleansing diet' - here is the link to the website - http://www.liverdoctor.com/default.asp - get your hands on the book 'the liver cleansing diet' by DR Sandra Cabot - I tried looking for a downloadable version but couldnt find one. You should pop in to a library and get one - apparently it has worked for lots of people. On the other hand, if they come up high again and if immigration kicks up a fuss you will have to prove that you are going to fund any medical help that you may seek for the liver issue, by yourself and not from the NZ healthsystem.Basically they dont want you to come in with an existing condition and benefit from ACC. The only way to do this is to have medical insurance - it will be great if your company is going to include medical insurance in your package - I am with Southern Cross and they do fund existing conditions. now for your own health concerns, it would be best to see some sort of specialist to determine if there is anything really wrong or if it is due to anything diet related.My buddy said that liver function can also increase if you are taking any medication, apparently even Panado's etc. Just take it easy and stay positive - it doesnt help to get stressed as well.
I remember from my first year Biochem lectures that Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST) can be high if you do any strenous excercise.So you may wanna take it slow there. Anyway, feel free to message me on sueharishun@yahoo.com or sue.surjupersad@invitrogen.com. Take care and all the best - you are almost there now. About the milk thistle it is a popular liver decongestant and there havent been any side effects associated with it accept more regular bowel movements due to the bile production - so in my opinion stay on it cos' it doesnt do any harm to use it as a liver supportive agent. All the best, Sue

[Pieterj]

Thanks for the Links Sue, ill let you guys know how the medical turns out. At this point in time, I just hope it wont slow the the work visa application

[Sue]

We will be holding thumbs for you on this side. Trust me, everyone has some crazy story to share about emigrating to NZ - once you're settled here you will look back on this at laugh it off. All the best Mate.