HELLO From New Zealand

chevalier

elantan wrote: »

i think you might have found a new job chev

It's a thought but I think that I really want to use my hard won qualification in pollution control! But maybe a evening job.......
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Herewegoagain

will catch up on ur thread hope all is well, lucky ol you. Still saving to visit, hopefully doing a tour so I can see all the places my SIL told me about, especially Rotarua:j

RAS

Great to hear from you chev. Keep us posted.

chevalier

I was worrying this week about how I was going to get my clothes dry this week as we have no dryer, and the weather has been very showery (five minute shower here is drenched clothes), and then I saw Wellers plea for someone to chat with her because Andy was ill, and then saw that he had passed away. To say it put my wet clothes into perspective just doesn't cut it. I can only imagine how terrible it must be to think your OH is 'safe' in the bath and then not be able to wake him.

I have offered my condolences and am sure that the DFW will pull together to help weller and the children through this dreadful time.

On a different topic, we are hoping that OH has got a job now, they are just checking out the references so fingers crossed.

We STILL haven't found the right house yet but have resolved to continue looking for now, in the hope that some thing comes up

ttfn
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Seaxwyn

Fingers crossed to OH... is it a job he will like and is the pay good?

Good luck with the house. It's not something you can rush, the right house is out there waiting to be found so don't stress about it if you can help it.

hypno06

Fingers crossed for OH job!

chevalier

Hi all
Well we have survived the storm! NZ was hit with a tropical storm yesterday and last night. The worst that they had had in 10 years. As we are near the coast where we are staying, we were really quite worried. Thankfully we have survived intact with no damage, so phew! Still it was something that we hadn't thought about happening when we decided to come here.....hmm.

OH has now been offered a job, only it is not really enough money. Don't get me wrong it is ALOT for NZ and the commute to work can be done by bus and would take about half an hour. BUT we still haven't rented out our house in England yet (anyone want a 4 bed detached house in north bucks only £1500 a month!:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: ). So we will be having to send money back to the UK to pay the mortgage soon. On the other hand it would mean we could move forward with me getting my residency sorted sooner, that if we waited for a better paid job.

I think that in the end we will go for this one, bird in the hand and all that. The big problem is that we still haven't really got a handle on the cost of living here so budgetting is difficult. That will only happen when we have our own permanent place.

On the house front we have finally decided to go with one that is 'good enough' rather than the best, because we REALLY REALLY want our stuff out of storage, and we don't want to wait anymore to get it all. It is nice enough and is very central with a big lawn for the boys to play footy on etc. But it is pretty old (for NZ), so is a bit draughty etc.

That is one of the really weird things about houses here. Virtually all houses except the very new one, have neither double glazing, nor insulation :eek: :eek: . So this means that they tend to be very damp. And chilly. We are in a two bed appartment at the moment with kitchen and dining room, and we have one little oil heater to heat all that space! To say it has been chilly is an understatement. And this is viewed as pretty normal. I even read some statistics on another forum that were saying that about 50% of the houses here aren't waterproof or suffered with damp:eek: . Not something that you imagine about here.

Anyway can't think of anything else to write right now, so catch up with you all later
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chevalier

amazing how some parents don't lock their computers before they go to bed isn't it dmg24.
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ZoeGirl_3

Me thinks you are making NZ sound terrible!!! :eek: LOL

I agree that some things here are not the greatest, but I think you would get that everywhere?? I am a bit south of you...Worst thing I can think of off the top of my head is we don't really have much of a freecycle, so I am always jealous reading about peoples awesome finds lol.

Anyway, will pop back tonight and see if I can think of some good budget tips for NZ lol. Off for a walk with my son in a minute.

You will have worked out things like Pak 'n' Save and Countdown being cheapest supermarkets? Bin Inn can be a good place to stock up in bulk if there is one nearby, make sure to use your fuel vouchers although savings on these are a bit measly lately. Got a charge free bank account sorted?
If you have any questions, feel free to PM me anyway :j

NZGirl_2

There is no way I would go back to the UK. The cost of living here is not cheap but the quality of life is heaps better. I do miss central heating though and I am in the so called winterless north. Feel free to PM me if I can help you at all;)