We're Back, Whacked but very Happy from .... NZ
Apr 29th 2003, 8:28 am
#16
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Shirley - Glad you enjoyed NZ and I've been following the thread with interest - thanks for posting - Don
May 2nd 2003, 7:46 pm
#17
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hi just a quick update about Thursday!
went to london to lodge our application in New Zealand House and managed to do so without any hassle at all. we were taken straight upstairs to speak to a lady in the office and she went through each section of my folder and thankfully seemed happy enough with everything. she said that since i was applying with a job offer i would be assigned a case officer within a week and that assuming all was in order and no complications, that these visas were taking approximately three months to process. sorry to report that without a job offer it's apparently 5 or 6 months at the minute before a case officer is even assigned. i think that's pretty much the same as feedback others have been getting but there definately seems to be a bit of an influx trying to get in at the minute!!
Other thing i found out on Thursday is how much i like London! i'm not normally a city girl at all but there is definately something about london and all the sights and buildings that makes me feel proud to be British. oh yeah and when the Queen went right past us in a car just outside Buckinham palace as well - i really felt quite choked! OK so i was suffering badly from PMT and also still feeling a bit sentimental from putting in the PR application but i was very aware that our history and heritage will always be very special to me wherever i live. Britain is not all bad!! in saying that by mid afternoon my heart was racing as we walked up the footpath as all those lunatic protesters walked down the street objecting and complaining about just about everything and we saw terrified looking policemen frantically helping each other to put on bullet proof jackets!! so it aint all good either!!
anyway, all that aside it now looks like hopefully selling the house will be our next big hurdle. hopefully it won't take forever although has been on the market for a few months now with little interest really!! no big panic just yet i suppose and now that we have applied i plan to relax and get on with life as normally as possible and enjoy our last months here before the next stage of our big adventure begins!
went to london to lodge our application in New Zealand House and managed to do so without any hassle at all. we were taken straight upstairs to speak to a lady in the office and she went through each section of my folder and thankfully seemed happy enough with everything. she said that since i was applying with a job offer i would be assigned a case officer within a week and that assuming all was in order and no complications, that these visas were taking approximately three months to process. sorry to report that without a job offer it's apparently 5 or 6 months at the minute before a case officer is even assigned. i think that's pretty much the same as feedback others have been getting but there definately seems to be a bit of an influx trying to get in at the minute!!
Other thing i found out on Thursday is how much i like London! i'm not normally a city girl at all but there is definately something about london and all the sights and buildings that makes me feel proud to be British. oh yeah and when the Queen went right past us in a car just outside Buckinham palace as well - i really felt quite choked! OK so i was suffering badly from PMT and also still feeling a bit sentimental from putting in the PR application but i was very aware that our history and heritage will always be very special to me wherever i live. Britain is not all bad!! in saying that by mid afternoon my heart was racing as we walked up the footpath as all those lunatic protesters walked down the street objecting and complaining about just about everything and we saw terrified looking policemen frantically helping each other to put on bullet proof jackets!! so it aint all good either!!
anyway, all that aside it now looks like hopefully selling the house will be our next big hurdle. hopefully it won't take forever although has been on the market for a few months now with little interest really!! no big panic just yet i suppose and now that we have applied i plan to relax and get on with life as normally as possible and enjoy our last months here before the next stage of our big adventure begins!
May 2nd 2003, 9:04 pm
#18
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Location: Timaru south island NZ
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Hi Shirley pleased to hear you`ve got your application in now, i bet you feel like a big weight has been lifted.Did you have to make an apointment or just turn up?
We are still waiting for one last bit of paper work,(stalking the postman every morning) then we are going straight down to london to lodge ours.
I can`t beleive they are taking 3 months even with a job offer, they don`t make it easy do they.We will just have to keep our fingers crossed that our job offer will wait that long.
I`ll let you know how we get on and see if they come up with the same timescale.
best of luck
kerrie
We are still waiting for one last bit of paper work,(stalking the postman every morning) then we are going straight down to london to lodge ours.
I can`t beleive they are taking 3 months even with a job offer, they don`t make it easy do they.We will just have to keep our fingers crossed that our job offer will wait that long.
I`ll let you know how we get on and see if they come up with the same timescale.
best of luck
kerrie
May 2nd 2003, 9:57 pm
#19
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Originally posted by hanley
Hi Shirley pleased to hear you`ve got your application in now, i bet you feel like a big weight has been lifted.Did you have to make an apointment or just turn up?
We are still waiting for one last bit of paper work,(stalking the postman every morning) then we are going straight down to london to lodge ours.
I can`t beleive they are taking 3 months even with a job offer, they don`t make it easy do they.We will just have to keep our fingers crossed that our job offer will wait that long.
I`ll let you know how we get on and see if they come up with the same timescale.
best of luck
kerrie
Hi Shirley pleased to hear you`ve got your application in now, i bet you feel like a big weight has been lifted.Did you have to make an apointment or just turn up?
We are still waiting for one last bit of paper work,(stalking the postman every morning) then we are going straight down to london to lodge ours.
I can`t beleive they are taking 3 months even with a job offer, they don`t make it easy do they.We will just have to keep our fingers crossed that our job offer will wait that long.
I`ll let you know how we get on and see if they come up with the same timescale.
best of luck
kerrie
HI Kerrie,
yeah i have to say it was a bit of a relief to finally hand it all over on thursday although when the time came i think i had a bit of a mixture of feelings about it. the night before we went, the enormity of what we were doing seemed to hit home and i lay awake thinking about paul giving up a good job and salary here and what if he never got work again etc.. etc..
surprisingly it doesn't seem to be necessary to make an appointment at all to lodge the application. we were imagining all sorts of complications but the whole thing seemed very straightforward and efficient. hope your paperwork comes. we had the same problem and actually still have to send on pauls police check. we had requested them from both psni and met police at the start of march and got psni ones back immediately and thought the english ones would definately be here when we got back from holidays so had booked flights to london in advance. unfortunately the police checks wern't back when we came home and paul managed to phone through on monday and we were promised that they would go in first class mail straight away. mine came the next day and paul's came on thursday morning while we were in london! typical!! anyway even that didn't seem to be any problem and the girl said to wait until we were assigned a case officer and then send it direct to him/her.
all in all we were very impressed and there is a useful little information room downstairs so make sure to bring a bag with you for all the free booklets and leaflets maps etc. all the very best - hope it all works out for you too!
May 2nd 2003, 10:34 pm
#20
can`t believe we made it!
Joined: Jan 2003
Location: Timaru south island NZ
Posts: 98
Thanks Shirley i will go armed with my bag, you can never have too much imformation.And it will pass the time while i`m waiting 3 months for the visa.
keep in touch
kerrie
keep in touch
kerrie
May 2nd 2003, 11:06 pm
#21
Christchurch Bound
Joined: Apr 2003
Location: Birmingham
Posts: 52
Hi Shirley
Glad it went ok on thursday.I like you am suffering with cold feet , after reading other posts you do begin to wonder if your partner will ever find a job although he is quite keen to be a househusband for a while we have 3 kids all small so he will have his work cut out. Then the next minute I cant wait to get there.
Just doing some last minute decorating then we will put the house up for sale.
keep me posted
Claire
Glad it went ok on thursday.I like you am suffering with cold feet , after reading other posts you do begin to wonder if your partner will ever find a job although he is quite keen to be a househusband for a while we have 3 kids all small so he will have his work cut out. Then the next minute I cant wait to get there.
Just doing some last minute decorating then we will put the house up for sale.
keep me posted
Claire
Last edited by stephen john; May 28th 2003 at 8:41 am.
May 2nd 2003, 11:16 pm
#22
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Originally posted by stephen john
Hi Shirley
Glad it went ok on thursday.I like you am suffering with cold feet , after reading other posts you do begin to wonder if your partner will ever find a job although he is quite keen to be a househusband for a while we have 3 kids all small so he will have his work cut out. Then the next minute I cant wait to get there.
Had my letter from the hospital today, terms & conditions etc, I hope they do treat you for mrsa should you have it!mind you that may be a good way of delaying start date,which by the way is to be confirmed like yours.
Just doing some last minute decorating then we will put the house up for sale.
keep me posted
Claire
Hi Shirley
Glad it went ok on thursday.I like you am suffering with cold feet , after reading other posts you do begin to wonder if your partner will ever find a job although he is quite keen to be a househusband for a while we have 3 kids all small so he will have his work cut out. Then the next minute I cant wait to get there.
Had my letter from the hospital today, terms & conditions etc, I hope they do treat you for mrsa should you have it!mind you that may be a good way of delaying start date,which by the way is to be confirmed like yours.
Just doing some last minute decorating then we will put the house up for sale.
keep me posted
Claire
Great about the letter Claire. Nice to see it in writting isn't it?!
seems there are a few of us all of a sudden at roughly the same stage, which is great. let's just hope the housing market 's anual peak in may and june happens this year!! looking forward to keeping in touch!
May 2nd 2003, 11:23 pm
#23
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sorry claire,
also meant to ask if you managed to squeeze any incentives/perks out of christchurch hosp. On another thread roger was telling me he got $3000.00 for relocation from wellington hosp and we are asking christchurch for help with accomodation initially -just wondering if you have been promised anything -would give me more to barter with!! thanks
also meant to ask if you managed to squeeze any incentives/perks out of christchurch hosp. On another thread roger was telling me he got $3000.00 for relocation from wellington hosp and we are asking christchurch for help with accomodation initially -just wondering if you have been promised anything -would give me more to barter with!! thanks
May 3rd 2003, 1:19 am
#24
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What was it you liked about Christchurch?
May 5th 2003, 2:24 am
#25
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Originally posted by N.Finn Fan
What was it you liked about Christchurch?
What was it you liked about Christchurch?
Hi,
sorry to take this long to get back to your question but we have been busy catching up with family over the weekend! it's a good question though and to be honest the answer isn't easy to put into words but i'll try to give you some idea! some of the main things were/are it's location for a start, beautiful strands of golden beach very close by and also only one and a half hours to the mountains. not to mention all the other attractions like hamner springs,kaikoura, etc within a couple of hours and also you are on the same island as queenstown and Able Tasmin national park etc. in other words i suppose the whole of the south island appealed to us more and we loved the sense of space and living under the shadow of spectacular scenery. i know i'll probably get shot down now for romanticising it all and i'm certainly not saying it was all perfect but it is just our personal preference!
secondly from all our research the christchurch climate appeals to us and although people are constantly telling us we would be better of in the north island because the south is just like the UK we know it is so much better than here from keeping an eye on the forecast on the internet and also when we were there it was autumn and it was much, much nicer weather than we usually get in our summer!
the city itself also had a lovely homely feel about it and i felt like i could imagine myself living there which i didn't necessarily feel about anywhere else. it is big enough to get almost anything you could think of needing but still managed to maintain a large town feel to it and quite easy to find your way around with no traffic jams that we saw anyway. the other thing was that overall we just though the south island was friendlier and certainly more new zealand. i don't mean to sound racist at all here but in our experience the further up the north island we went the harder it became to find a kiwi!
i hope that answers a couple of you questions but if there is anything more specific you want to know shout away!
May 5th 2003, 2:46 am
#26
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Originally posted by jajpe
Hi,
sorry to take this long to get back to your question but we have been busy catching up with family over the weekend! it's a good question though and to be honest the answer isn't easy to put into words but i'll try to give you some idea! some of the main things were/are it's location for a start, beautiful strands of golden beach very close by and also only one and a half hours to the mountains. not to mention all the other attractions like hamner springs,kaikoura, etc within a couple of hours and also you are on the same island as queenstown and Able Tasmin national park etc. in other words i suppose the whole of the south island appealed to us more and we loved the sense of space and living under the shadow of spectacular scenery. i know i'll probably get shot down now for romanticising it all and i'm certainly not saying it was all perfect but it is just our personal preference!
secondly from all our research the christchurch climate appeals to us and although people are constantly telling us we would be better of in the north island because the south is just like the UK we know it is so much better than here from keeping an eye on the forecast on the internet and also when we were there it was autumn and it was much, much nicer weather than we usually get in our summer!
the city itself also had a lovely homely feel about it and i felt like i could imagine myself living there which i didn't necessarily feel about anywhere else. it is big enough to get almost anything you could think of needing but still managed to maintain a large town feel to it and quite easy to find your way around with no traffic jams that we saw anyway. the other thing was that overall we just though the south island was friendlier and certainly more new zealand. i don't mean to sound racist at all here but in our experience the further up the north island we went the harder it became to find a kiwi!
i hope that answers a couple of you questions but if there is anything more specific you want to know shout away!
Hi,
sorry to take this long to get back to your question but we have been busy catching up with family over the weekend! it's a good question though and to be honest the answer isn't easy to put into words but i'll try to give you some idea! some of the main things were/are it's location for a start, beautiful strands of golden beach very close by and also only one and a half hours to the mountains. not to mention all the other attractions like hamner springs,kaikoura, etc within a couple of hours and also you are on the same island as queenstown and Able Tasmin national park etc. in other words i suppose the whole of the south island appealed to us more and we loved the sense of space and living under the shadow of spectacular scenery. i know i'll probably get shot down now for romanticising it all and i'm certainly not saying it was all perfect but it is just our personal preference!
secondly from all our research the christchurch climate appeals to us and although people are constantly telling us we would be better of in the north island because the south is just like the UK we know it is so much better than here from keeping an eye on the forecast on the internet and also when we were there it was autumn and it was much, much nicer weather than we usually get in our summer!
the city itself also had a lovely homely feel about it and i felt like i could imagine myself living there which i didn't necessarily feel about anywhere else. it is big enough to get almost anything you could think of needing but still managed to maintain a large town feel to it and quite easy to find your way around with no traffic jams that we saw anyway. the other thing was that overall we just though the south island was friendlier and certainly more new zealand. i don't mean to sound racist at all here but in our experience the further up the north island we went the harder it became to find a kiwi!
i hope that answers a couple of you questions but if there is anything more specific you want to know shout away!
Hi
What do you mean "the harder it became to find a kiwi"? Surely there are kiwis all over New Zealand?
Slippers
May 5th 2003, 3:20 am
#27
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hi Slippers,
it just seemed to us that in Christchurch there were a higher percentage of shop owners, business people etc. that were Kiwis than say Auckland where most seemd to be immigrants and an especially high proportion of japanese. not that i have anything against immigrants since i hope to be one but just from our point of view the south felt more like what we expected New Zealand to feel like where Auckland could have been any major city in the world! hope that helps explain what i mean!
it just seemed to us that in Christchurch there were a higher percentage of shop owners, business people etc. that were Kiwis than say Auckland where most seemd to be immigrants and an especially high proportion of japanese. not that i have anything against immigrants since i hope to be one but just from our point of view the south felt more like what we expected New Zealand to feel like where Auckland could have been any major city in the world! hope that helps explain what i mean!
May 5th 2003, 3:37 am
#28
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Slippers,
just read your question again and realised you were probably being sarccastic and referring to the fruit!! sorry if i missed the joke first time around. A bit thick me!!!
just read your question again and realised you were probably being sarccastic and referring to the fruit!! sorry if i missed the joke first time around. A bit thick me!!!
May 5th 2003, 5:40 am
#29
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Originally posted by jajpe
Slippers,
just read your question again and realised you were probably being sarccastic and referring to the fruit!! sorry if i missed the joke first time around. A bit thick me!!!
Slippers,
just read your question again and realised you were probably being sarccastic and referring to the fruit!! sorry if i missed the joke first time around. A bit thick me!!!
I know what you meant
In Auckland, there are alot of asians and pacific islanders. Our daughter has been in Hamilton (2 hours south of Auckland) since 1997 and really loves it.Do you like to ski? Sara and the kids all have season ski-passes and are addicted. Her hubby Mike has taken up sailing and has recently brought a small yacht which the kids love as well.
Regards
Megsie
May 5th 2003, 11:09 pm
#30
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Originally posted by jajpe
Slippers,
just read your question again and realised you were probably being sarccastic and referring to the fruit!! sorry if i missed the joke first time around. A bit thick me!!!
Slippers,
just read your question again and realised you were probably being sarccastic and referring to the fruit!! sorry if i missed the joke first time around. A bit thick me!!!
