[olivia]

Hi everyone,

Well, after 10 days in (mostly) sunny Christchurch we are finally online, albeit a very slow connection. We are staying in Ohoka which is beautiful and we have spent ages driving around looking at where we want to live already (Rangiora a strong possibility - it is a lovely place).

Anyway, after some tearful goodbyes we flew with Singapore Airlines and the flight was OK. Unfortunately Isaac was too big for the bassinet which meant he slept on me most of the way so i was VERY tired when we got here. Apart from that Singapore were very good and i would use them again.

We arrived on the 8th Dec but i can honestly say that due to coughs and colds and jet lag i didn't even feel vaguely human until at least 5 days later. Isaac also kept waking at 6am which thankfully he has stopped.

However since then we hired a car and we have been out to rakaia, ashley and waimakiriri gorges, and even to Kaikoura for a spot of whalewatching.

So in our first week we were very busy discovering (moorf i think we drove through Waddington too on our way to Rakaia) and we've also had time to sort out bank accounts and a po box. Oh and we've also found a great launderette in Linwood which does all our weekly washing & drying for $40 for a service wash (and i'm talking towels & bedding as well as clothes) which is good as i've not quite got to grips with hanging clothes out, mine seem to end up like cardboard so any tips welcome!

Buzby our dog arrived on Saturday looking a little bit thinner than when he left us 3 weeks ago but otherwise none the worse for his long journey. We have taken him to New Brighton beach and Bottle Lake Forest but he is just as happy playing amongst the Olive trees here. He flew with Golden Arrow and for all of you using them i can only highly recommend them. (Pip, don't worry your cats will be fine).

I could ramble on for ages about what we've been doing even though we've only been here 11 days but i need to go and refill my glass of sauvignon blanc , so i hope i haven't bored you.

To all the kind people who gave me their cell numbers i will be getting a mobile later this week and will be calling you to meet up for coffee soon,

lol,

Olivia

p.s i hope it comes across that we are enjoying it immensely so far!

[Caroline and Dave]

Hi Olivia,
So great to hear you have arrived and settling in well. We are glad to hear that Busby is o.k and will probably use golden arrow for our two cats. Still not sure about the dalmatian. Everyone is advising us that with a dalmatian of 10 years old it is a big risk bringing her over and not fair on her. We will miss her so much if we leave her behind but we have got to put her first and not our feelings.
It sounds really lovely where you are.

Kindest regards

Dave and Caroline :nice1

[pinkpiggy]

Olivia, you've been very busy in your first few days in NZ and have done quite a lot. I'm glad to hear Busby survived the journey none the worse. I bet it's so good to have him with you.

Thank you for a great post - I look forward to hearing more of your adventures. :cheers

[Hannah]

Hi Olivia
You sound like you are settling in really well. I remember feeling subhuman after very little sleep on the plane - took me at least a week to adjust!
Keep enjoying yourselves - and welcome to sunny (most of the time) NZ!!!
Hannah

[Pip]

Hurray - you've arrived! Good to hear from you as I've been wondering how you were all getting on and hoping we would hear from you.

Glad to hear it all went smoothly (ish) and you're enjoying Christchurch and that Buzby arrived safely and that Isaac is settling in also.

by the way - I still feel live I'm living in your shadow (apart from both getting PR the same day, both moving to Christchurch, both flying Singapore airlines and both using Golden Arrow) - now I discover that we've both rented holiday homes in Ohaka on arriveal.. if you tell me you're renting the Olive Loft holiday home there, then I really will start to worry! (and if so make sure, you've moved out by March 1st!)

Looking forward to hearing about what you think of Ohaka and Rangiora (its one of the places we like the sound of from what we've heard. Keep in touch and let us know how you are all getting on.. :)

[Hannah]

Hey Pip, conspiracy theory for the day (i do love a good conspiracy theory, esp when avoiding housework and finding other things to do...as i am now....)
maybe you and Olivia are the SAME PERSON. A bit like La Toya Jackson and Michael Jackson. You could have alter ego's on the same forum - just to liven things up.

Ho hum, better get back to clearing my house of LDTD (Last Day of Term Debris) (school uniform, lunchboxes, cards, tat, more tat, even more tat...)

Will leave you forumites to have more intelligent discussions.....that late night last night (up till 2am making cakes for work colleagues as it was my last day at work) is taking its toll....getting all delusional now!

[Hannah]

Hey, another theory. Pip's alter ego name 'Olivia' (assuming they are the same person) was named after....Pip's CAT!!! (Olive)

Oh this is all too much, i'm off to bed now!

:-)

[olivia]

Hey, this is getting spooky now as we are staying at...............



Yes, The Olive Loft!!!!!!!!!

Pip, it's great here if a little isolated but one of the great things about Christchurch and surrounds is that it might look big on a map but it really isn't once you are here. My OH is working in Burnside near the airport and he can get there from Ohoka in half an hour. And Rangiora has just about everything you need anyway (banks, supermarkets, doctors) so you don't have to go into Christchurch. The drive is about 10 mins but it did take me about 3 attempts driving round getting lost before i found the way. Some of the roads don't have signposts, as if you're expected to know where you're going!
I drove on the motorway today during rush hour and was relaxing in my automatic toyota looking at the scenery mingled with a few cars (and doing the 100km speed limit) and thinking how different it was to driving home on the M25 every day in the UK.

We'll definitely have to catch up when you are here Pip and Hannah i think you need a nice big glass of wine this evening to chill out, it sounds manic at yours.

Olivia (not Olive the cat, although my gran was called Olive!)

[Pip]

o.k - I am now totally spooked! (I am my own person, I am my own person.....) and I thought renting the Olive loft with Olive was a coincidence!

Obviously quite a few people are moving to Christchurch and most people are using Golden Arrow for their pets, ditto John Mason and Singapore airlines, but the same house!! ah well... I guess living somewhere with a much smaller population, there's only so many holiday homes and even fewer that will take pets. so we'll have to get used to this kind of thing and in a way - its quite nice as opposed to living in a huge city here and barely knowing your own neighbours....

Good to know about the distances, we mentioned it to some Kiwi friends who live in Fendalton and they were horrified and told us "we could rural without having to be that far out"! To be honest, a 30 min drive would be perfect, (compared to our current 2 hr commute), but we've rented the Olive Loft for a month to give us a chance to explore different areas and then take a longer term rental.

We will definitely have to meet up for that glass of wine (or several) when we arrive. We've also got a bit of space in our container, so if you're craving anything after a couple of months, walkers etc - let us know and I'll lob it in and in return I'll pick your brains on adapting to life in NZ!

p.s Stu has got a second interview for a job in Christchurch tonight, so its fingers crossed, - would be a great christmas present :)

p.p.s You missed a lovely fog bound M25 in freezing temperatures last night, - bet you're gutted!

[mossum]

hi olivia !

glad to see you back on line , we moved house - to rangiora on the day you arrived . We really love it , very quiet the commute is very good - at best I can manage is 28 minutes !!! :clap & thats rangiora to Hoon Hay (suburb sw christchurch) Although getting home can range from 35-45 minutes . :roll

I adore driving up lineside rd & seeing the mountains - every day I say out loud "I live here !!" We have met wilson 182 - Debs & her hubby Paul ( lovely people )& via them a few more local expats . Tonight i bought chipshop curry sauce (secret xmas pressie foy my hubby )from the UK stall that was on High St & they gave me a bag of walkers Cheese & onion - my absolute favourite . mind you I'm getting seriously good at the nibbles platters of hummus & rice crackers etc etc .

anyway I'm rambling - off to my pit - will see you next week for a coffee

vic x