Cardiff Irons
28th November 2006, 09:08 AM
Hi all,
Just wanted to update you on our early experiences here. I’m sure I’ve missed out lots, but here’s a brief snapshot of our whirlwind first week:
Leaving:
After having a party in Essex, a party in Cardiff, a leaving do with my reading group and hordes of tearful goodbyes with family and friends, my final memory of leaving Cardiff is of a crowd of our friends and neighbours in the street waving us off. My main emotion was relief to finally be out of our house and en route.
The journey was OK considering the torrential rain! Novotel at Heathrow was a good place to stay, with a shuttle bus to the airport every 15 minutes, £4 per adult (over 15) and children free. We struggled a bit with the amount of luggage we had (14 cases and 6 hand luggage), but once we could use the trolleys, we were fine. We got a good deal with Novotel on the internet, 2 rooms, one at £67 and one at £73, both including breakfast.
Flight:
All on time, in fact we arrived 30 mins early in Auckland! Check in at Heathrow was great; we didn’t get charged any excess even though wee had 2 extra pieces of luggage. Transit through Los Angeles was OK, although the queues were very long. We were there for 4 hours, and 3 and three quarters were spent in queues! Air New Zealand were very good, plenty of food and drink and the in-flight entertainment was brilliant. Both legs of our flight were full, so no stretching out for us : ( Still, we managed to doze adequately enough.
Arrival:
Arrived at 06.00, and got through customs very quickly. We declared everything even Franca’s half-finished cookie from LAX and were waved through with expressions of admiration from all the officials for traveling with so many kids and bags. We were met by Eastern Shuttle, $100 for six of us and all the afore-mentioned luggage to the Howick Motor Lodge. (PM me if you want details.)
Wonderful Babette arrived mid-morning with a bag of provisions to start us off, which was a total godsend (thanks again Babette!) and we walked to Highland Park to get some more food and drink in the afternoon, when I got sunburnt! (Learnt me lesson there!)
Mandy and David the owners of the lodge are really helpful and friendly and I would recommend this as a first port of call. Again, pls ask if you want contact details.
We stayed awake all day, managed to cook a spag bol and then we all slept from about half six in the evening until 7 the next morning. Except Franca….she slept from 2 in the afternoon till 7 the next morning! Amazingly, we all seem to have avoided jet lag almost completely.
We have spent the first week sorting out house cars and schools.
Schools first: Will and Franca started on Friday at Pigeon Mountain Primary, although Will goes up to Bucklands Beach Intermediate in February. They both had good first days, kind and friendly classmates and lots of fun. Will thinks it’s better than his school in Cardiff! He’s got two trips coming up the week after next, first climbing Rangitoto and then a trip to the Rainbo’s End theme park. Uniform is cute or hilarious, depending on your point of view. Old-fashioned to British eyes, they all look charming in it, especially the bucket hats (No hat, No play!)
Imogen is enrolling at Macleans College on Monday, but all her peers are on study leave currently so she’s not able to get on and meet people yet.
The house rental was very dependent on being in the right zones for the above schools, and after seeing one tired, tatty one (although in a very sought after location) and finding that another 2 we liked the look of had gone by the time they were listed, we signed up for one without seeing it: screams of horror all round. We got very quizzical looks from everyone we told, but we went to see it on Friday and it is fantastic!! Four beds, 100 metres from Eastern Beach, big living spaces and very modern and cared for. It seemed warm when we visited, so fingers crossed. It’s been rented by a lovely Israeli family who are retuning to Tel Aviv with hubbie’s work (academic) and if they weren’t going home, they would be staying in it for the third year. It’s about 5-10 mins walk to the 3 schools, and seems ideal. Unfortunately, we can’t get into it until Dec 21, so we are having to cope with the confines of the Lodge until then. From Monday, we will have 2 units here, so the teenagers can take their music, straighteners, curlers, clothes and attitude into a separate space….hurrah!!!
We rented a car for the first 5 days from Wendy who was recommended by Mandy and Dave. We’ve now bought a car (Hyundai Terracan) and have a loan car from the dealer until we can transfer the funds. Got a very good deal on it from Malcolm the English owner of the dealership.
We have had a wonderful first week, weather’s been brilliant compared to Cardiff, even though all the locals keep apologizing for it!
Forumites have been really fantastic, Babette, Ginni and Marie P in particular, so thanks guys xxx
Main downside is we won’t have broadband until we move into the house on Dec 21, so posts will be sporadic until then.
Keep at it everyone who’s wondering if it’s worth it, to date it SO is!
Lots of love,
Gil
X
PS Imogen is now enrolled at Macleans, and what a fantastic school it is! The facilities are of a very high calibre and the site itself is amazing, huge playing fields and glorious views of the sea.
Just wanted to update you on our early experiences here. I’m sure I’ve missed out lots, but here’s a brief snapshot of our whirlwind first week:
Leaving:
After having a party in Essex, a party in Cardiff, a leaving do with my reading group and hordes of tearful goodbyes with family and friends, my final memory of leaving Cardiff is of a crowd of our friends and neighbours in the street waving us off. My main emotion was relief to finally be out of our house and en route.
The journey was OK considering the torrential rain! Novotel at Heathrow was a good place to stay, with a shuttle bus to the airport every 15 minutes, £4 per adult (over 15) and children free. We struggled a bit with the amount of luggage we had (14 cases and 6 hand luggage), but once we could use the trolleys, we were fine. We got a good deal with Novotel on the internet, 2 rooms, one at £67 and one at £73, both including breakfast.
Flight:
All on time, in fact we arrived 30 mins early in Auckland! Check in at Heathrow was great; we didn’t get charged any excess even though wee had 2 extra pieces of luggage. Transit through Los Angeles was OK, although the queues were very long. We were there for 4 hours, and 3 and three quarters were spent in queues! Air New Zealand were very good, plenty of food and drink and the in-flight entertainment was brilliant. Both legs of our flight were full, so no stretching out for us : ( Still, we managed to doze adequately enough.
Arrival:
Arrived at 06.00, and got through customs very quickly. We declared everything even Franca’s half-finished cookie from LAX and were waved through with expressions of admiration from all the officials for traveling with so many kids and bags. We were met by Eastern Shuttle, $100 for six of us and all the afore-mentioned luggage to the Howick Motor Lodge. (PM me if you want details.)
Wonderful Babette arrived mid-morning with a bag of provisions to start us off, which was a total godsend (thanks again Babette!) and we walked to Highland Park to get some more food and drink in the afternoon, when I got sunburnt! (Learnt me lesson there!)
Mandy and David the owners of the lodge are really helpful and friendly and I would recommend this as a first port of call. Again, pls ask if you want contact details.
We stayed awake all day, managed to cook a spag bol and then we all slept from about half six in the evening until 7 the next morning. Except Franca….she slept from 2 in the afternoon till 7 the next morning! Amazingly, we all seem to have avoided jet lag almost completely.
We have spent the first week sorting out house cars and schools.
Schools first: Will and Franca started on Friday at Pigeon Mountain Primary, although Will goes up to Bucklands Beach Intermediate in February. They both had good first days, kind and friendly classmates and lots of fun. Will thinks it’s better than his school in Cardiff! He’s got two trips coming up the week after next, first climbing Rangitoto and then a trip to the Rainbo’s End theme park. Uniform is cute or hilarious, depending on your point of view. Old-fashioned to British eyes, they all look charming in it, especially the bucket hats (No hat, No play!)
Imogen is enrolling at Macleans College on Monday, but all her peers are on study leave currently so she’s not able to get on and meet people yet.
The house rental was very dependent on being in the right zones for the above schools, and after seeing one tired, tatty one (although in a very sought after location) and finding that another 2 we liked the look of had gone by the time they were listed, we signed up for one without seeing it: screams of horror all round. We got very quizzical looks from everyone we told, but we went to see it on Friday and it is fantastic!! Four beds, 100 metres from Eastern Beach, big living spaces and very modern and cared for. It seemed warm when we visited, so fingers crossed. It’s been rented by a lovely Israeli family who are retuning to Tel Aviv with hubbie’s work (academic) and if they weren’t going home, they would be staying in it for the third year. It’s about 5-10 mins walk to the 3 schools, and seems ideal. Unfortunately, we can’t get into it until Dec 21, so we are having to cope with the confines of the Lodge until then. From Monday, we will have 2 units here, so the teenagers can take their music, straighteners, curlers, clothes and attitude into a separate space….hurrah!!!
We rented a car for the first 5 days from Wendy who was recommended by Mandy and Dave. We’ve now bought a car (Hyundai Terracan) and have a loan car from the dealer until we can transfer the funds. Got a very good deal on it from Malcolm the English owner of the dealership.
We have had a wonderful first week, weather’s been brilliant compared to Cardiff, even though all the locals keep apologizing for it!
Forumites have been really fantastic, Babette, Ginni and Marie P in particular, so thanks guys xxx
Main downside is we won’t have broadband until we move into the house on Dec 21, so posts will be sporadic until then.
Keep at it everyone who’s wondering if it’s worth it, to date it SO is!
Lots of love,
Gil
X
PS Imogen is now enrolled at Macleans, and what a fantastic school it is! The facilities are of a very high calibre and the site itself is amazing, huge playing fields and glorious views of the sea.