Well, it is now Tuesday evening, and the very exciting news of the moment is that we have got ourselves somewhere to live! We have gone for the place in Lower Hutt that we looked round yesterday; we weren't sure whether we would get it as the landlady was actually interviewing for candidates, but we didn't realise this until after we'd had a look round (and not taken our shoes off when we walked in – only realised that this might have been a boo-boo when we realised that she was barefooted...) - it turned out that we were her first choice, so when we called this evening to say that we'd like it, she gave it to us straight away!)
We did look round two flats today – one being right in the Karori area where we would love to live, and it was a very close tie between the two, until we got to the bus stop and realised that the local buses there stopped at 6 in the evening, and didn't run at all at the weekends, which would completely stump us for travel outside of work hours (the house was a long way up a very steep hill - I couldn't see us going up there with heavy bags of shopping, and there were no local shops at all), and the on-street parking was not great either, so we would have difficulties even if we got a car. The other place was very central, and probably about the floor size of the cabin that we are in at the moment (well, maybe a double bed-size bigger...) - just not worth being cramped for $10 less a week!
I also had a very useful chat with a recruitment agent (who is going to see if she can get me in at the Land Information NZ, the equivalent of the Ordnance Survey), and also met up with the lady who has put me forward for the civilian role in the Defence Services (as an administrator); she is also an immigrant to NZ, and it was more of a general meet up chat – she is being absolutely lovely and lending us some things until our furniture arrives from the High Seas.
So, we move in to our new place on Friday, and we just have to hunt for white goods now (they don't come as standard over here, unfortunately). It's a little frustrating to have to spend out on them this early, but as we would have to buy them when we bought our own place anyway, I think that we can live with it.
I've also got my second interview tomorrow for a sales role. I'm not so sure about this one – the more I think about it, the more I think that it is going to be on a stand in a shopping mall trying to get passers by to buy the products, and I'm not sure whether that is something I actually want to be doing. But I don't have to make a decision straight away, even if he offers me the job tomorrow. I can wait to see how the DSNZ job application goes (and whether the LINZ one goes anywhere) – we do have the money for me to wait for another week or so, and I'd rather get this right, as it could shape the next few years in NZ, if not my future career... (not being too melodramatic, am I?)
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
Settling In
Well, we have kept ourselves busy! We have already looked round two flats, with two more to come. The first, which we saw on Sunday evening, was in a gorgeous location, high up on the hills, with bush all round. Right on the edge of Karori, which would be our ideal place to live. Unfortunately, it was also one of those places which was built right into the hill, with not a particularly fantastic access – on the lower side, it was a concrete slope at an angle of about 50 degrees, and on the upper side, it was a set of brick and slab steps, a number of which were broken or breaking (not the surest footing to inspire confidence). The flat itself was small and dark (and it didn't help that the boyfriend smoked – he was technically not breaking the “no smoking” conditions as the cigarette was outside the flat...), and given that the current tenants were the ones trying to find someone else, they hadn't cleaned up at all (knowing how long it took us to clean down our flat, and that they wanted to move out straight away, it didn't inspire me with confidence that we'd be moving into somewhere clean at all). Added to that, the roadway up there didn't have a pavement for a good 15 minutes of the walk, and the only local bus (which stopped when the pavement did) didn't run on a weekend, so we decided that it wasn't for us!
However, the flat that we looked round on Monday was amazing. It's out this side of town, in the Lower Hutt area (which means a 20 minute train journey into Wellington if we get jobs there), a beautiful semi-detached bungalow, with front and rear garden (including a greenhouse), huge rooms, and a brilliant location for local shops. (10 minutes walk in one direction to the main shopping mall, and 5 in the other to a number of takeaways, a butcher and greengrocer) We do have a couple more places to look round today, so we didn't jump on it straight away (also, the landlady is going to make a decision about who she wants to take it on Thursday – I hadn't realised that we were being interviewed as well!!) But if the two places today don't come to anything, then I really hope that we are able to get in there – it was lovely.
We also spent yesterday opening up our bank account – we didn't have to go all the way into Wellington itself after all, but just a short bus ride down to the Petone area. We then spent a good hour or so with the representative from Westpac, who was incredibly helpful. She explained a lot about NZ banking, including the places where it differs from the UK, and sorted out a bank account which actually won't give us any charges (unless we want to write a cheque, or get money from within a branch rather than an ATM or using our EFTPOS card (almost a debit card – it can't be used on-line, though). She's also set us up for electronic banking, which means that we can keep our interest-earning account (the migrant account that was set up for us in the UK), and just transfer money into our every day account as and when we need it. And if we can't get online, then we can actually transfer our money using the ATM – a fantastic innovation! We left there very impressed (and with our eftpos cards – they actually issue them then and there...!), and hope that our future service from the bank will be just as good.
We then had a good bimble round the Queensgate shopping mall in Lower Hutt – John needed a new pair of shoes that didn't bring his feet up in blisters, and I wanted a pair of slippers – we got those both at a very cheap department store, spending far less than we thought, so we treated ourselves to a very nice coffee / hot chocolate at a chocolate store (basically an upmarket Thorntons, which happens to do hot drinks as well – they gave away a free chocolate with every hot drink sold, and I was in heaven! I will have to do my best not to go past there every time we go to the mall, otherwise I think that the magnetism of the chocolate will drag me in...)
We are heading into Welly proper today – our diary is fully booked! I've got a meeting with a recruitment agent at 11, then we are going to look round a flat up in Karori at 12.30, then meeting up with another agent (who I met on the ENZ forums, and has already put me forward for one job) at 3, and then another flat at 6. Possibly finding some food at some point, and a bit of supermarket shopping (we have now used up all of our bread, fruit, veg and meat from our last shop, and I don't think we can exist on coffee and peanut butter for long!)
However, the flat that we looked round on Monday was amazing. It's out this side of town, in the Lower Hutt area (which means a 20 minute train journey into Wellington if we get jobs there), a beautiful semi-detached bungalow, with front and rear garden (including a greenhouse), huge rooms, and a brilliant location for local shops. (10 minutes walk in one direction to the main shopping mall, and 5 in the other to a number of takeaways, a butcher and greengrocer) We do have a couple more places to look round today, so we didn't jump on it straight away (also, the landlady is going to make a decision about who she wants to take it on Thursday – I hadn't realised that we were being interviewed as well!!) But if the two places today don't come to anything, then I really hope that we are able to get in there – it was lovely.
We also spent yesterday opening up our bank account – we didn't have to go all the way into Wellington itself after all, but just a short bus ride down to the Petone area. We then spent a good hour or so with the representative from Westpac, who was incredibly helpful. She explained a lot about NZ banking, including the places where it differs from the UK, and sorted out a bank account which actually won't give us any charges (unless we want to write a cheque, or get money from within a branch rather than an ATM or using our EFTPOS card (almost a debit card – it can't be used on-line, though). She's also set us up for electronic banking, which means that we can keep our interest-earning account (the migrant account that was set up for us in the UK), and just transfer money into our every day account as and when we need it. And if we can't get online, then we can actually transfer our money using the ATM – a fantastic innovation! We left there very impressed (and with our eftpos cards – they actually issue them then and there...!), and hope that our future service from the bank will be just as good.
We then had a good bimble round the Queensgate shopping mall in Lower Hutt – John needed a new pair of shoes that didn't bring his feet up in blisters, and I wanted a pair of slippers – we got those both at a very cheap department store, spending far less than we thought, so we treated ourselves to a very nice coffee / hot chocolate at a chocolate store (basically an upmarket Thorntons, which happens to do hot drinks as well – they gave away a free chocolate with every hot drink sold, and I was in heaven! I will have to do my best not to go past there every time we go to the mall, otherwise I think that the magnetism of the chocolate will drag me in...)
We are heading into Welly proper today – our diary is fully booked! I've got a meeting with a recruitment agent at 11, then we are going to look round a flat up in Karori at 12.30, then meeting up with another agent (who I met on the ENZ forums, and has already put me forward for one job) at 3, and then another flat at 6. Possibly finding some food at some point, and a bit of supermarket shopping (we have now used up all of our bread, fruit, veg and meat from our last shop, and I don't think we can exist on coffee and peanut butter for long!)
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Arrival
Well, we have made it! 27 hours of travelling and a lot of timezones after we left London, we are now in Wellington. The journey was nowhere near as bad as I had feared. It was a little more bumpy coming out of Hong Kong as we passed over the Pacific Islands, but I had picked myself up a “Wrist Angel”, which is an aromatherapy strap which contains a “scent tablet”. I was very sceptical about whether it would work, but every time the turbulence started, I took a sniff, and instantly the queasiness disappeared. It might have only been a placebo, but it helped, so I am not complaining! Our arrival in Auckland was far more straight forward than I thought it was going to be; the boarding card asked us to declare whether we had any goods worth more than $700; as I was carrying my oboe, I said “yes”. This caused the first customs officer to pause, and he referred us to a colleague downstairs (meaning we went down the “something to declare” aisle). He then explained that as we were coming in on a residency visa, we didn't need to worry about that (this time; all future visits, we would be restricted to the limit), and then took us through to the quarantine area (checking for food / seeds / mud). We got bumped to the front of the queue, and the quarantine inspector was not at all interested in the fact that we were carrying a stick of Brighton Rock (“That's a building material, isn't it?”), nor my seed necklace (well, it is varnished, and I have had it since I was about 8 years old), nor even my running shoes, once I explained that I had cleaned them with disinfectant (Alice, they are nearly white again in some parts!). So we cleared customs very quickly, and were in good time to check our baggage on to the domestic flight to Wellington (once more, slightly over (I didn't point out to the chap weighing the bags that the scales were showing -0.3 kg before we put the bags on), but he wasn't worried), and walk to the domestic terminal (it's about 15 mins walk from the international – not too bad except that 7kg on my back suddenly got very heavy!) to find a good coffee. And it was a good coffee – far better than the evil stuff served on the plane (I had a suspicion that the grounds might have already been used once on the flight, it was that weak), and even came in an offer with a cake, which helped sustain us after the airline food! (Actually, the airline food wasn't too evil, though I could cheerfully have strangled the person that thought that scrambled eggs or stir fry chilli noodles were a good choice for breakfast – I went for the noodles in the end, but my stomach wasn't too impressed!)
The trip down to Wellington was incredibly straightforward – about 45 minutes in the air. Most of it was over the sea, but we did pass over Mount Taranaki, who's snowcapped peaks rose up out of the clouds, and was an incredibly jaw dropping moment. We definitely need to go there on holiday when we get a chance! Even the landing was straighforward, unlike all of the YouTube videos we have seen of landing at Welly, we came down with a very smooth touch, no bouncing or wobbling at all! (most disappointing...) Once we landed and were reunited with our luggage again (no need for customs this time, just grabbing our bags and out), we got a shuttle-taxi to the holiday park. It might have been more expensive than getting two buses (it was $55 instead of approx $32), but it was direct, we didn't have to haul our heavy cases on and off buses, and we didn't have to wander around the centre of Wellington looking for our connection!
We are currently staying in the Top 10 Wellington campervan park, in a 2 room cabin. It's actually better laid out than I thought it would be – it has one room with a bed, and a kitchen/living area with a sink, 2 hob stove, microwave, fridge, a table and two chairs. What it doesn't have is any storage space, so things are going to be a bit cramped for a short while at least. But as this is only temporary, it really doesn't matter.
The park is in the middle of an industrial estate, so it isn't the most scenic (though it does have some lovely bush covered hills rising up in the background). It does, however, have the duck mafia (huzzah!) who came to welcome us and see if we had any bread. The whole park is alive with bird song; I woke up to the dawn chorus this morning, and it was stunning. The usual chirrups of sparrows, skylarks and starlings, mixed in with the tui, the silvereyes, and a whole host that I can't identify yet.
We had a very relaxed afternoon and evening after arriving at the park. A little bit of internetting (to let people know that we had arrived safely), and then we wandered down to the seafront. It wasn't quite as blue and as sunny as when we had arrived, but it was a lovely walk (once we got off the main road and the industrial bits!), and fantastic to gaze across at Wellington proper. Then we took a hike to Jackson Street. This is the main road in the Petone area and has a whole host of exciting shops and restaurants (John was pleased to see that there were a number of Indian restaurants – one of which had the range of strengths of the heat: mild, medium, hot, NZ hot, Indian hot, English hot! Does our reputation as a nation of stomach-bonfire builders precede us, I wonder?) It was then that we ran into a little problem of how to work out whether something was expensive or not when we didn't have any sort of measure to gauge it by! Our first thoughts were that $18 for a main course was expensive, but that actually seemed to be the standard, and we ended up at a pub/restaurant (the local Speights bar) where we had an incredibly enjoyable meal (mine was an interesting combination of chicken breast, stuffed with a cream cheese, wrapped in bacon, then covered in a wild cherry sauce, served on a bed of mashed potato with kumara (sweet potato) slivers on the top.
After our meal, we went to the local supermarket and picked up a few bits and pieces (trying not to overshop at the moment, because we don't want to have to transport too much to a rented flat), and caught the bus back to the campsite.
Then a very early night (we were asleep before 9) and a lie-in this morning (after getting up a couple of times, we didn't wake up properly till gone 9.30), and I think we have completely avoided jet lag – very pleasing!
We've had a leisurely morning, with a stroll to the local Dairy (newsagent), where we had a very long chat with the Fijian owner (well, chat – he talked and we nodded and murmured at the right points!), who was very keen to tell us how brilliant New Zealand was – just what we wanted to hear!
Tomorrow is going to be a bit more manic – we have to get into Wellington central (fortunately the bus runs directly from outside the campsite into the centre) to open up our bank accounts and to start hunting for places to live!
The trip down to Wellington was incredibly straightforward – about 45 minutes in the air. Most of it was over the sea, but we did pass over Mount Taranaki, who's snowcapped peaks rose up out of the clouds, and was an incredibly jaw dropping moment. We definitely need to go there on holiday when we get a chance! Even the landing was straighforward, unlike all of the YouTube videos we have seen of landing at Welly, we came down with a very smooth touch, no bouncing or wobbling at all! (most disappointing...) Once we landed and were reunited with our luggage again (no need for customs this time, just grabbing our bags and out), we got a shuttle-taxi to the holiday park. It might have been more expensive than getting two buses (it was $55 instead of approx $32), but it was direct, we didn't have to haul our heavy cases on and off buses, and we didn't have to wander around the centre of Wellington looking for our connection!
We are currently staying in the Top 10 Wellington campervan park, in a 2 room cabin. It's actually better laid out than I thought it would be – it has one room with a bed, and a kitchen/living area with a sink, 2 hob stove, microwave, fridge, a table and two chairs. What it doesn't have is any storage space, so things are going to be a bit cramped for a short while at least. But as this is only temporary, it really doesn't matter.
The park is in the middle of an industrial estate, so it isn't the most scenic (though it does have some lovely bush covered hills rising up in the background). It does, however, have the duck mafia (huzzah!) who came to welcome us and see if we had any bread. The whole park is alive with bird song; I woke up to the dawn chorus this morning, and it was stunning. The usual chirrups of sparrows, skylarks and starlings, mixed in with the tui, the silvereyes, and a whole host that I can't identify yet.
We had a very relaxed afternoon and evening after arriving at the park. A little bit of internetting (to let people know that we had arrived safely), and then we wandered down to the seafront. It wasn't quite as blue and as sunny as when we had arrived, but it was a lovely walk (once we got off the main road and the industrial bits!), and fantastic to gaze across at Wellington proper. Then we took a hike to Jackson Street. This is the main road in the Petone area and has a whole host of exciting shops and restaurants (John was pleased to see that there were a number of Indian restaurants – one of which had the range of strengths of the heat: mild, medium, hot, NZ hot, Indian hot, English hot! Does our reputation as a nation of stomach-bonfire builders precede us, I wonder?) It was then that we ran into a little problem of how to work out whether something was expensive or not when we didn't have any sort of measure to gauge it by! Our first thoughts were that $18 for a main course was expensive, but that actually seemed to be the standard, and we ended up at a pub/restaurant (the local Speights bar) where we had an incredibly enjoyable meal (mine was an interesting combination of chicken breast, stuffed with a cream cheese, wrapped in bacon, then covered in a wild cherry sauce, served on a bed of mashed potato with kumara (sweet potato) slivers on the top.
After our meal, we went to the local supermarket and picked up a few bits and pieces (trying not to overshop at the moment, because we don't want to have to transport too much to a rented flat), and caught the bus back to the campsite.
Then a very early night (we were asleep before 9) and a lie-in this morning (after getting up a couple of times, we didn't wake up properly till gone 9.30), and I think we have completely avoided jet lag – very pleasing!
We've had a leisurely morning, with a stroll to the local Dairy (newsagent), where we had a very long chat with the Fijian owner (well, chat – he talked and we nodded and murmured at the right points!), who was very keen to tell us how brilliant New Zealand was – just what we wanted to hear!
Tomorrow is going to be a bit more manic – we have to get into Wellington central (fortunately the bus runs directly from outside the campsite into the centre) to open up our bank accounts and to start hunting for places to live!
Friday, 6 November 2009
In Transit...
Well, the first half of our journey out to NZ has gone ok - we are currently in transit at HK airport waiting for our flight to be called. I managed to sleep through a good chunk of the flight (thank you HitchHikers' Guide to the Galaxy - I trained myself as a kid to fall asleep to it (listening late at night to the tapes over and over), and now all I need to do is hear the opening banjo chords and I start to feel my eyes closing...).
We had a reasonably straightforward trip to the airport - we got caught in the tail end of an accident queue, but as we had allowed an hour extra, there was no stress, and we were at the airport, after dropping off the car, with about 45 mins before check-in was due to open. However, we were allowed to check in straight away, and the lovely man even let through our slightly overweight bags without quibbling (John was only just over, I was a kg over) - now we just have to see if Auckland will be as nice for our transfer flight!
The transfer inside HK airport was interesting - I managed to get all of my stuff through without a problem, but John got stopped because of the external harddrive and his penny whistle - he was able to explain that it was a musical instrument (though fortunately he didn't have to play a medley of Madonna's 80's hits in order to prove it...)
Not long till we get to NZ now :-)
We had a reasonably straightforward trip to the airport - we got caught in the tail end of an accident queue, but as we had allowed an hour extra, there was no stress, and we were at the airport, after dropping off the car, with about 45 mins before check-in was due to open. However, we were allowed to check in straight away, and the lovely man even let through our slightly overweight bags without quibbling (John was only just over, I was a kg over) - now we just have to see if Auckland will be as nice for our transfer flight!
The transfer inside HK airport was interesting - I managed to get all of my stuff through without a problem, but John got stopped because of the external harddrive and his penny whistle - he was able to explain that it was a musical instrument (though fortunately he didn't have to play a medley of Madonna's 80's hits in order to prove it...)
Not long till we get to NZ now :-)
Thursday, 5 November 2009
This is it...
Well, the flat keys have been given back, the car has been sold, after a lot of pain - I foolishly put my mobile number on the online advert, and had people calling up from Birmingham wanting to buy it - one who wanted me to give him my bank details so that he could pay me for it without even looking at it, and the other who was going to travel down at 10pm in order to take it that evening. Both scared me a lot! And the next day, I was proven to be right not to trust them - my brother said that his colleague (who works near Birmingham) had sold his car to someone who wanted to take it without properly looking at it - the next day the police came round to tell him it had been involved in an incident! Fortunately for us, Jell wanted to buy it for his niece, so we were able to sell it on to someone we knew and trusted, and someone who trusted us. John and I are now officially unemployed after a week on holiday. (I could get used to this not getting up for work lark... ;-) )
The interviews went really well - one was more of a chat with a recruitment agent (who I already knew from one of the emigration forums), and the other was with the director of a very small company. Even though our Skype really wasn't working properly (the video dropped the call instantly), we had a really good voice chat, and I have a second interview lined up with him next Wednesday. It's a company that I really think that I could work for, but we have not yet discussed wages, so it might end up not being viable after all.
We've done the farewell tour of the country, spending a fantastic time with my family, and now we are staying with the in-laws for our last few hours in the country.
Yes, hours... In twelve hours time, we will have taken off (unless we are delayed, obviously!) The next time I post will be in New Zealand :-D It is finally feeling real, and I'm getting really excited!
The interviews went really well - one was more of a chat with a recruitment agent (who I already knew from one of the emigration forums), and the other was with the director of a very small company. Even though our Skype really wasn't working properly (the video dropped the call instantly), we had a really good voice chat, and I have a second interview lined up with him next Wednesday. It's a company that I really think that I could work for, but we have not yet discussed wages, so it might end up not being viable after all.
We've done the farewell tour of the country, spending a fantastic time with my family, and now we are staying with the in-laws for our last few hours in the country.
Yes, hours... In twelve hours time, we will have taken off (unless we are delayed, obviously!) The next time I post will be in New Zealand :-D It is finally feeling real, and I'm getting really excited!
Thursday, 29 October 2009
Beautiful Piece
RJ of SparrowChat posted in his blog about a piece written by Twilight - both are UK emigrants to the US of 7 and 5 years standing respectively, with interesting perspectives on what it is like to be a Brit in another land.
Twilight also posted a piece of prose by Vicki Silvers. I thought that it was amazing and says in words that I could never express my feelings before we disappear from the UK;
"There comes a time in your life when you realise that if you stand still, you will remain at this point forever. You realize that if you fall and stay down, life will pass you by. Life's circumstances are not always what you might wish them to be. The pattern of life does not necessarily go as you plan...
Beyond any understanding, you may at times be led in different directions that you never imagined, dreamed, or designed. Yet if you had never put any effort into choosing a path or trying to carry out your dream, then perhaps you would have no direction at all.
Rather than wondering about or questioning the direction your life has taken, accept the fact that there is a path before you now. Shake off the "why's" and "what if's", and rid yourself of confusion. Whatever was - is in the past. Whatever is - is what's important. The past is a brief reflection. The future is yet to be realized. Today is here.
Walk your path one step at a time - with courage, faith and determination. Keep your head up and cast your dreams to the stars. Soon your steps will become firm and your footing will be solid again. A path that you never imagined will become the most comfortable direction you could ever have hoped to follow.
Keep your belief in yourself and walk into your new journey. You will find it magnificent, spectacular, and beyond your wildest imaginings."
Twilight also posted a piece of prose by Vicki Silvers. I thought that it was amazing and says in words that I could never express my feelings before we disappear from the UK;
"There comes a time in your life when you realise that if you stand still, you will remain at this point forever. You realize that if you fall and stay down, life will pass you by. Life's circumstances are not always what you might wish them to be. The pattern of life does not necessarily go as you plan...
Beyond any understanding, you may at times be led in different directions that you never imagined, dreamed, or designed. Yet if you had never put any effort into choosing a path or trying to carry out your dream, then perhaps you would have no direction at all.
Rather than wondering about or questioning the direction your life has taken, accept the fact that there is a path before you now. Shake off the "why's" and "what if's", and rid yourself of confusion. Whatever was - is in the past. Whatever is - is what's important. The past is a brief reflection. The future is yet to be realized. Today is here.
Walk your path one step at a time - with courage, faith and determination. Keep your head up and cast your dreams to the stars. Soon your steps will become firm and your footing will be solid again. A path that you never imagined will become the most comfortable direction you could ever have hoped to follow.
Keep your belief in yourself and walk into your new journey. You will find it magnificent, spectacular, and beyond your wildest imaginings."
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Wordle for Oct
Here's the Wordle for this month - not a huge amount of different to last, but then I've only posted twice in Oct (sorry!) France still dominates, but I think that New Zealand will start creeping into the word listings as of next month ;-)
(As always - image attributed to http://www.wordle.net/. Images of Wordles are licensed Creative Commons License. )
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