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back from timaru nz

back from timaru nz

Old Jun 26th 2003, 1:30 pm
  #1  
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got back on sunday from a quick trip to new zealand when i say quick i mean very quick a week.(yes we are mad!!!)
Well where to start, had a fantastic time.
The hole purpose of going was to make sure we liked it for one (never been) meet hubbies new boss, look at houses, and a week with out the kids
Timaru is a quiet city but plenty to do if you have a family lots of parks,swimming pools,great beach and a few shops and restaurants.Enough for us anyway.
The new boss (hubbie a plumber) and his wife took us out and showed us around even took us house hunting, property selling very quick there though.The people are so welcoming and kind.
Winter on south island certinally diidn`t feel bad to us as long as you where a couple of layers we didn`t need a coat,certainly not cold enough for a scarf and gloves.Just a bit cold in the morning but by 10.00 the sun is out and that soon warms you up.
Eating out was much cheaper than the uk and the house prices were slightly cheaper than on the internet!The ones that we had seen on the net were still there because they were a bit over priced.
I would definatly recomend looking outside the typical Auckland or christchurch area to settle as other smaller places do have a lot to offer too.
Got back to the uk and the house is sold so we have a lot to get sorted now we are aiming for july/august to be back there for good.
Applied for pr with job offer 12 may 03
Received aprovel 19 may 03
Definatly worth all the tears and hassle to get there.
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Old Jun 26th 2003, 2:53 pm
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Default Re: back from timaru nz

Originally posted by hanley
got back on sunday from a quick trip to new zealand when i say quick i mean very quick a week.(yes we are mad!!!)
Well where to start, had a fantastic time.
The hole purpose of going was to make sure we liked it for one (never been) meet hubbies new boss, look at houses, and a week with out the kids
Timaru is a quiet city but plenty to do if you have a family lots of parks,swimming pools,great beach and a few shops and restaurants.Enough for us anyway.
The new boss (hubbie a plumber) and his wife took us out and showed us around even took us house hunting, property selling very quick there though.The people are so welcoming and kind.
Winter on south island certinally diidn`t feel bad to us as long as you where a couple of layers we didn`t need a coat,certainly not cold enough for a scarf and gloves.Just a bit cold in the morning but by 10.00 the sun is out and that soon warms you up.
Eating out was much cheaper than the uk and the house prices were slightly cheaper than on the internet!The ones that we had seen on the net were still there because they were a bit over priced.
I would definatly recomend looking outside the typical Auckland or christchurch area to settle as other smaller places do have a lot to offer too.
Got back to the uk and the house is sold so we have a lot to get sorted now we are aiming for july/august to be back there for good.
Applied for pr with job offer 12 may 03
Received aprovel 19 may 03
Definatly worth all the tears and hassle to get there.
Thanks for the info.

Are there any other areas you checked out apart from timaru?
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Old Jun 26th 2003, 3:43 pm
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Default Re: back from timaru nz

Glad you had a worthwhile trip, wish we could do the same!
Interested to hear about the property, I was a bit worried it may be the other way round. I've found a lot of houses listed as up for tender or auction, did you find this the case?

We'll be starting out in Oamaru with family, not far from Timaru, and kind of sounds similar!

Anyway, thanks for the info, Gra...
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Old Jun 26th 2003, 3:44 pm
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....forgot to add, do they need an aged apprentice plumber?
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Old Jun 26th 2003, 3:47 pm
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thanks Daren because we were there for such a short time we didn`t go to far unfortunutly.We had a look around the surrounding towns of Tumuka and Pleasent point but they are so quiet you wouldn`t want to live there.
We did have a drive up to Lake Tekapo which was so beautifull and only a 40 minute drive away.All the ski fields are very near as well.
What we didn`t exspect was how wide the roads were even on back streets they were nearly double ours.And of course so much less trafic to what we are used to.
Everywhere does feel really safe, even the houses had been left unlocked for the real eastate agent to show us around while the owner was out.The headline news one day in the local news paper was that a dimaond ring had been found in a shop and they were trying to find the owner.
Of course i realise its not going to be a bed of roses everyday but its a good start for us.
kerrie

We are at last on the way
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Old Jun 26th 2003, 3:58 pm
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gra.b funny you should say that a lovely couple we were talking to on the plane came from Oamaru and said it was lovely, wish we could of traveled a bit more to of had a look i think it is a similar city.
A lot of houses are up for auction and sounds quite simple to do, but you do have to pay your 10 % deposit the moment you win the auction so you have to have the cash available.The real estate agents we met were very helpful and explained everything in full.Another thing they do alot of is open house which is normally on a saturday and you can just turn up an have a look around the said property at a certain time say between 1-3.Your local news paper would have all the auctions and open houses available at that time.
hope that helps
kerrie
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Old Jun 26th 2003, 4:19 pm
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Thanks, it's something I'm really looking forward to (house hunting!).
Never had a proper garden.... ......or a rumpus room.... ......& it will be nice to have one with a front, back & sides!

Cheers, Gra..
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Old Jun 27th 2003, 8:32 am
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Hi Kerrie,

delighted you had a good time and liked Timaru - i really liked it too ! It gives the impression of somewhere that would be easy to feel at home in in a short space of time!!! you have got on so well too with getting the house sold and everything! -Congratulations!!

We are still waiting for the heap!! visa and house to sell! thankfully we are not in so big a rush and still see the end of the year as oour time to go! if i don't hear something from NZIS soon though i think i will begin to worry! However there's worry and there's worry as we were reminded this week. A little girl in my son's class at school died really suddenly on sunday. previously a really healthy 9 year old! What a shock and so, so sad but it certainly helps to throw things into a bit of perspective and i find myself hugging the kids that little bit tighter this week!

Anyway sorry to go all gloomy! Really delighted things are working out well for you and you were happy with what you found!! Was there anything you didn't like or that surprised you/diappointed you in any way? would be interested as my first impression of NZ was not really what i had expected and i felt it took me a few days to get used to their style of housing and the older cars on the road etc. You would have had to have done all your adjusting fairly quickly i imagine. look forward to hearing more if you have the time!
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Old Jun 27th 2003, 10:20 am
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shirlie, so pleased to hear from you i was wondering how things were going with you.I`m sure it must be your time soon and i will hear your happy cheers all the way from here. Please post as soon as you hear something.
I know what you mean about becomming so completly wrapped up in this visa thing that you forget there are other things that are happening more important.I`m sorry to hear about the little girl how terrible.
It`s funny you should say about the style of houseing it did suprise us a bit to start with.We imagined all the housses to be on big plots of land with loads of space between them, not on tree lined avenues.And all the cars seem to be dusty and oldish looking.The material things are just not important there where as getting out with the kids to the park and going to the lakes at the weekend does.But we soon got into there way of life and found new zealand quite be-witching, it seems to draw you in.(although that could of been the jet lag)
I do think we could of easliy settled if we hadn`t of ever of visited New Zealand before we emigrate but i do think you need to take a couple of days to adjust and SLOW DOWN.
I didn`t get all the talk about nz drivers being mad we didn`t see anyone go over 25 miles an hour around timaru and you didn`t feel you wanted to although you could of done as theres nothing in front of you most the time
Even from christchurch to Timaru the other drivers were fine,i guess its different in bigger areas of nz.
nothing disapointed us while we were there but then it was only a week but it felt like we could get a good idea of day to day life going around with the boss`s family.
I hope i make sense in what i`ve wrote as i have just told it as we found it but i`m sure everybody has different exspectations and dreams.Ours is just for a simple way of life at a slower pace in somewhere which is clean and friendly and safe.Fun for the kids with out having to be constantly spending money.Which is what we think we`ve found.Only time will tell!
Got the first removal company comming today for a quote lets see how much stuff we really have.
Is it christchurch you are going to?
Hope to hear some good news from you soon shirley just think christmas in the sun
kerrie
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Old Jun 27th 2003, 5:29 pm
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Hi
Great to hear your trip went so well ,good news to about the house.
Have you not had cold feet at all, as i seem to get them at least twice a week, if not more often!Did your trip help get rid of any doubts you may of had as this may be an option for us?
Its interesting to hear you say the streets are like America as I to had imagined them to be on large plots of land,its hard to tell from the photos on the internet.
Glad to hear that not all drivers are lunatics!very reassuring.
Good luck with the removal quotes we are going with pickfords a little more expensive but seemed the most impressive.We are still waiting for a quote from anglo pasific they came in april and have been chased several times!!!

Good luck with the rest of your plans keep us informed also when you get there,its good to read other peoples experiences good or bad.

Claire
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Old Jun 27th 2003, 6:12 pm
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Hi claire, i havn`t had cold feet since we`ve been back but i did before especially last thing at night.If you get the chance to go i`d take it , it does calm the nerves but there were no nasty suprises if you can`t.(not that we found).We paid £530 each for our flights £150 for our motel and we spent £130 while we were there and that was eating out 3 times a day.Spent more on pressies for the kids because we felt guilty being away!!
How are things going with you? when do you think you`ll be going?
Good luck with your adventure i`m sure you won`t regret it.
kerrie
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Old Jun 28th 2003, 8:14 am
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Default Re: back from timaru nz

[QUOTE]Originally posted by hanley
Hi congrat's to you and you'rs
Myself ,wife and two kids are also heading for NZ in Aug,hopefully.
I have a bricklaying job to go to,and we also did'nt want to go to a big city so we are trying Nelson.
we have never been to NZ but I feel totaly confident about going,Maria my wife has moments of panic still,so you,re post will I know make her feel good about the move,as you,re impression of NZ seems what our's is
And it's so good to have some posative views without the "you're all doomed and you're all dreamers" brigade trying to wind us up
I've been in contact with my soon to be boss and on occasions had to tell him I'm sorry but it looks like it will be another couple of months before we get there,and his attitude has always been,don't worrie mate you'll get here as soon as you can,and seems more concerned as to my stress levels than his.
Ok so it may not suit every one,but we know what the things in life that matter to us are and think NZ will suit us perfic
So i hope you would agree with me and urge anyone who's thinking of emmigrating to just do it if you are a good tightnit loveing family here and love spending time together it's going to be even better in a country like NZ
All our very best wishes
tezza and family
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Old Jun 30th 2003, 1:01 pm
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Tezza, we may be on the same plane by the sounds of it!We to were stressed about getting theres as quick as possible in case the new boss got fed up waiting but please don`t they need trades people so badly they are quite happy just knowing they have found somebody.
After a couple of days hubbies boss rang us up at our motel and took him around all the places where he`ll be working and meet his fellow work mates who were SO NICE.Alot of his work will be matinence on a dairy in the middle of fields surrounded by mountains which as he says beats working on a building site in the middle of kings cross!!:scared: He couldn`t believe his eyes when he saw Eagles flying on the way to the dairy instead of the M25
I`m sure you will find it the same where you are going in Nelson.My only advice is SLOW down and chill out which i`m sure you will manage.
Best of luck to you and i look forward to hearing how you find it.
All the best
kerrie
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Old Jun 30th 2003, 9:25 pm
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Originally posted by hanley
Tezza, we may be on the same plane by the sounds of it!We to were stressed about getting theres as quick as possible in case the new boss got fed up waiting but please don`t they need trades people so badly they are quite happy just knowing they have found somebody.
After a couple of days hubbies boss rang us up at our motel and took him around all the places where he`ll be working and meet his fellow work mates who were SO NICE.Alot of his work will be matinence on a dairy in the middle of fields surrounded by mountains which as he says beats working on a building site in the middle of kings cross!!:scared: He couldn`t believe his eyes when he saw Eagles flying on the way to the dairy instead of the M25
I`m sure you will find it the same where you are going in Nelson.My only advice is SLOW down and chill out which i`m sure you will manage.
Best of luck to you and i look forward to hearing how you find it.
All the best
kerrie
HI Kerrie
thanks for the reply,just been talking to my next door neighbour,who happens to be a travel agent,so he had a look around for flights to see what was available around the date we're aiming for .
Air NZ or anything else going to LA on the 18,19,20,21,22nd are all fully booked unless you want to pay 14,000 or so I don't think!
Still some options going singapore but will have to make a decision soon as some issues still not 100% settled.
you know, so close yet still so far.
Have you got yuo're flights booked yet? It was the last thing I thought we would have trouble with
Still never mind I'll keep taking the tablets till we get to NZ then I can throw them away
Tezza
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