CarolR

Reasonable accommodation available for arriving families. Newly available so vacancies for December, this will be snapped up so anyone arrving shortly should consider it. Prices in Christchurch over summer can be huge, so this represents good value.

http://www.holidayhouses.co.nz/properties/7753.asp

http://www.holidayhouses.co.nz/properties/7745.asp

CarolR

Still some weeks available

Jac&Adie

that makes six

CarolR

6 what? you interested in 6 weeks over December? sorry only have 3 available? what weeks you looking for?

If you being smart? don't think it is necessary!

Jac&Adie

Sorry to cause confusion just mucking about, ignore me - everybody normally does anyway.
Adie

CarolR

Cool, just remember me if you ever visit or live in Christchurch. I remember how hard it was when we turned up in Christchurch 3 years ago. 3 kids and a dog in tow - making a decision on a place to live was so hard, it all seems like a long distance dream now and I can't beleive how stressed I was.

If I can be of help to anyone moving to Christchurch please yell! I will try and be as objective as I can. We are really settled now but the transition was a long one, very emotional.

3 years on, this is now home but don't under estimate the journey - but I have to say now it was all worth it.

Jac&Adie

god, you make it sound scary, plaese don't i've got enough to worry about right now. thanks for the offer of support tho, anyone to bounce thoughts/feelings off of can be a great help at times.

Adie

CarolR

Not scary! just one big adventure, bloody life changing. It's like having a baby, you plan, and plan more and the big moment arrives and after the initial event is over you are overwhelmed with joy. A little time later (3 months after arriving for me) you wonder what you have done, your life has completely changed and will never be the same again. You are different, your every day is different and you may have a little of the baby blues. You then come through this and realise how lucky you are to have made this decision.

I have changed so much since emigrating and now look back and realise how small my world was before. We are planning a trip home soon, will be interested to see how little things have changed, I expect people will be doing exactly what they were 3 years ago. Some people say different bucket, same S***, at first I thought yes probally true. Now I realise, there may be s*** in the bucket but I deal with it differently. Yes life changing and definately for the better.

You should be scared because what you are doing is massive but don't stop doing it because anyone who attempts to try some thing different with their life gets my vote. Sound emotional don't I, just keen for people TO GO FOR IT. New Zealand is a fab place to live and you will definately grow from this adventure, enjoy the ride.

Jac&Adie

Thanks, now matter how positive we feel about what we are doing we all need to hear this once in a while.

Wiz'n'Ton

I am loving all of your encouragement CarolR. Myself and my wife (no kids) are arriving in Christchurch mid-Jan (tickets booked to Auckland leaving London Jan 13th) and we are still all up in the air about everything. At present we need somewhere to stay, we both need work, and a bucketload of reassurance. If you could suggest anywhere that would be good for us to look at for short-term rentals (we want to buy a house/ apartment out there asap) then that'd be great. I am a recruitment consultant for this mob www.coylepersonnelplc.co.uk and my wife, Toni, is a primary school teacher. We are also going to need a car pretty sharpish - where's a good place to look?

As you say, we're ignoring the money aspect of it and just eyes shut going for it. You can't be scared of what you can't see, eh?

All the best, and great that you feel it was a move worth making,

Wiz'n'Ton

CarolR

Hi Wiz n Ton

Congratulations on making the decision to change your life. Your heads will be all over the place at the moment, all the unknowns, but wow! How exciting for you both. Christchurch is a lovely place to live. It is a good base for the very beautiful spots around Canterbury. What do you like to do?

Good to spend one last Christmas at home before you come. It can be very emotional saying good bye and mid January gives time, for all that added Christmas emotion to settle. Where in the UK are you? Hopefully the weather will be better by then, because we are having an awful run of it at the moment.

For accommodation I can book the following for you:

http://www.holidayhouses.co.nz/properties/7753.asp

It's a good idea to have short term accommodation for about 4 weeks before you settle on an area, so you can get your bearings etc. Particulary as you have no jobs yet, it is diffcult to define where you would like to live permanantly. How long after you arrive do you expect your container to arrive?

The property above is walking distance to a shopping mall and has easy access to the CBD with a bus stop nearby. I can arrange for you to be picked up at the airport and shown properties that you may wish to buy over your first few weeks. A friend of mine is a realtor and deals with the arriving Brits all the time, I will introduce you.

As for cars do you want to hire initially? I can help you with this no problems, arrange something reasonable for your arrival. www.qualityrental.co.nz or if you want to buy we buy all our cars from www.turners.co.nz and never had a problem. It is an auction, but all cars are mechanically checked and come with warranties so you can usually get a below list price deal.

We arrived not knowing our left from the right, and I would love to make those first few days easier for you, even if it is just a smile to greet you when you arrive.

You can e-mail for further contact/details and let me know if I can help you

[email protected]

I do try and be objective about my experiences here and give facts not my personal opinion. But I will say try not and ignore the money side of things, all too often the Brits arrive and flutter away their hard earned pounds because they don't have the local knowledge. This process is expensive enough, equally there are costs you cannot avoid. If I can provide the local knowledge I am more than happy to.

I look forward to meeting you guys

Carol

mcuddy1

Hi Carol,

We are arriving in NZ on 14 Jan 07, we do have accommodation arranged for the first few weeks when we get there at a holiday home in Charteris Bay, until our stuff arrives from UK. We will then be looking to rent for a few months but not 100% sure exactly where yet, we want to have a good look about and make sure we get a nice area, husband will be travelling to Chch City Centre each day, so within a reasonable distance from there. We have 2 children - Leon is 7yrs and Isobel 3yrs, so we need a good primary school and a playgroup. We also have a dog - Ivor, who we would like to bring over asap, he is very well behaved and spends most of his time sleeping these days, so would need somewhere that accepts dogs (we have found that on searching for pet friendly accommodation they are very far and few between, also been told that most of the ones that do accept pet are not very desirable) is this the case and how do you get a nice, clean property - can you offer a higher bond as we have heard? Ideally, we would like a 3/4 bedroom house, large garden for kids and dog, near primary school. I know it is a while off before we would need this accommodation, but any help or advice you could give us would be very much appreciated.

Regards
Donna & Martin

CarolR

Hi Donna and Martin

I understand the dog problem as we also bought our dog along with us and yes most people are opposed to dogs initially and often state no dogs. If your dog is as inactive as you describe though it should not be a problem. Most people just state that on ads to cover themselves from Rottweilers and naughty terriers as I do on my properties. I would allow a dog such as yours at my Rolleston property http://www.holidayhouses.co.nz/properties/7745.asp but as this a short term let, though in a residential I understand it is not what you are looking for.
I do have a friend who may be able to source you something. Send me your email and I will pass it on. Rolleston has good schools and facillities and she may be able to find you a rental there or near abouts, It may also be an area you would consider settling. I will also look in rental shops for you today. What area has your husband secured work in? What period of time are you considering renting for?

You must be so excited. Try not to worry these things always sort themselves out and I don't think a dog like yours will be too much of a problem, I don't think you will even have to offer an extra bond. Like I say it is just to protect themselves.

Look forward to hearing from you

Carol

Apple12

McCuddy1, If your husband is working in the cbd then Rolleston is a peculiar choice to have recommended. I can only assume that Rolleston is offered because CarolR has a property to rent there, so I am not sure that this is good advice at all.

I presume you have looked at a map to see where these things are? Charteris Bay will be a beautiful place to stop for your first rental, although it will mean a 45 min drive to town and there are few facilities close by. It is simply stunning, but it may make researching a little more tricky than if you were based a little closer.

Good luck.

mcuddy1

Hi Apple12,

Thank for the info very much appreciated, luckily my husband doesn't have to travel to town for the first month, we will be spending the time looking around and trying to find somewhere more long term a little closer. Ideally, we would have preferred to be based a little closer for researching but there wasn't much choice for holiday rentals for what we wanted, where we live it takes 15 mins to travel 500 yards at most times of the day from our doorstep thats without the journey time on top of that, so anything better than that is a bonus. Glad to hear Charteris Bay is a good choice to stay.

My husband cycles to work everyday at the moment does 15 miles there and another 15 miles back, takes him about 45-50 minutes each way. So he is planning to cycle to town when we get there, so we are thinking along the lines off around 10 miles out of town, what areas would you recommend, we've heard Cashmere is nice (hubby thinking nice hills to cycle up and down).

Cheers Donna