malcoltom

Well, we arrived yesterday afternoon for our 12 day recce and visit. God, it was cold when we got off the plane. We had just missed the storm.
Got the super shuttle bus to the Sky City Hotel in Aukland and encountered our first Kiwi person in the form of our mini bus driver and very very friendly she was as well. She invited our 7 year old into the front to be her navaigator, but he was just toooo knackered to take her up on it.
The hotel is very nice and the staff are great. Went to the restaurant at the top of the tower last night for a meal as we were too tired to go wandering. Thomas asked for fish and chips and then promptly fell asleep in his seat. The first $20 down the drain of more to come.
Colette and Thomas went to bed i went for a walk and a ciggy. Had a look around the casino but thought better of getting involved and went to bed myself.
Woke up early hours because of too much sleep but managed to nod again until Thomas woke up at 7. Just been down for breakfast and the second $10 went down the drain as we have to pay in advance for breakfast and Thomas got a plate of food but never ate it.
Just spent an hour on my phone and laptop arranging my diary for interviews and have my first one at 2.30 this afternoon.
Also need to replenish our toiletries that we had taken off us at Manchester airport. They said we could buy new stuff once through security that we could take on the plane so we did, TO HAVE THAT TAKEN OFF US AT BANGKOK AIRPORT. Cost an arm and a leg before we even got here.
Anyway, got to go, the OH is getting impatient.

TeamEmbo

So great you made it. LMAO about the waste of money. Deep breath now - that goes on for some time!! Hope you have a fantastic time and wishing you all the best for your interviews

iwannagonow

Good luck in your interviews!!

NZBee

Good luck!! I hope it goes well!!!!!!

By the way, where on the Wirral are you from?? I am originally from there now living in Auckland!

malcoltom

Another day over and another waste of time and money. We went for a walk round some shops when i logged off this morning then went and picked the hire car up.
Came back to the hotel to press my suit for my meeting and OH and son went off to find the hotel pool. They were back in a flash cos the pool was OUTDOOR ON THE ROOF!!!!!!!!
Whilst they were out i got a call cancelling my meeting saying he will TRY and reschedule for tomorrow.:curse:
I checked my e-mails and found a message from a friend of Lardyl's (subscriber to this site) giving me the number of a company in Hamilton who are in our line of business so i made a call and have talked myself into an interview on Thursday.
So we decided to go for a drive and as we always do on holiday, we just followed the first road out of the city and went for it. Ended up at Hatfields Beach and then took the coast road back via Whangaparaoa.
We stopped in Orewa in a little cul de sac that ends on the beach. I saw a fella stood on the end of his drive and went to quiz him on house prices in the area. Ended up with tea, pop and biscuits, sitting on his wall looking out over the Hauraki Gulf getting the low down on house prices all over the North Island. Friendly people these Kiwi's aint they.
Coming back Thomas wanted to eat so we treated him to a Wendy's which he promptly left and fell asleep again. Another $10.
We are now back in the hotel, Thomas is fast asleep and the OH decided she might as well get in bed as well. They are now both snoring and it is only 7.45so i am off downstairs to the casino. and another couple
Tomorrow we have to go to Albany as i have a meeting at noon, and then hopefully meeting Lardyl (he's a star)for a coffee and then back to Auckland for my rescheduled meeting

It's bloody freezing.

malcoltom

Sorry, forgot. We live in Bebington. OH from New Ferry originally but me from the Lake District. Been here for the last 26 years.

JasonSouthYorks

Mal
You made it over at last!!
I hope all goes well for you, I'm sure you will love it. We have now moved into rented in anticipation of moving over in Dec/Jan. All supposing the medicals are OK.
Good luck and lets hope you come back with a job offer!
Jason

Justcol

you think this is cold??
you should have been here at the end of june when we got here
we were staying with friends for the 1st few days and thier house
was so cold we were sleeping with jumpers on.

luvwelly

It is often said on this forum that a typical NZ house is colder inside than the weather is outside...unless you put in adequate heating of course.
Wellington felt very cold today considering there was no wind to speak of and it was sunny with a blue sky. Of course I still wasn't wearing a big overcoat and it is still Winter here (or so am told - still get confused - August means height of summer to me still!)

NZBee

Small world....my sister lives in Bebington. I grew up in West Kirby!

I am convinced spring is on its way....don't worry it warms up soon!! All you hear then is the pommies complaining how hot it is!!

Black Sheep

Yes but 'adequate heating' alone is not enough. The problem is NZers never until only VERY recently properly *insulated* their homes if they insulated at all, so putting in a good heating system in a poorly insulated home can't do the trick alone.

The only way anyone will really feel warm enough here in a typical NZ house is to retro-fit insulation (ceiling, walls if possible, polythene down on ground and/or underfloor insul), retro-fit double-glazing, draught-proof house (weatherstripping doors, windows, etc), install better ventilation (i.e. good quality EXTERIOR-vented exhaust fans in kitchen, bathrooms, laundry room - to remove damp. Damp air is more difficult to heat). Only then will a good heating system really make a lot of difference- at a pretty big cost though, if you wanna get it right. Otherwise it's just money out the (single-glazed) window...

malcoltom

Well day 3 is coming to a close and mixed feelings.
Drove up to Albany for my first interview and got there an hour early. Talk about being over keen! Ended up walking round the new Westfield shopping centre for an hour with Colette and Thomas. Very impressed.
Left them there and went back up the hill to the interview. Told Colette i would be an hour.
Waited half an hour for the fella to return to his office and then spent the next 2 hours convincing him i was the best thing since sliced bread. The meeting started out with him saying there was no salaried positions in the company. Left with the promise of a phone call by the end of next week before we fly to OZ after he has spoken to his partners and convinced then that $55k a year is worth it for my experience.
Went and found the family and luckily they had found a discovery centre in the complex and had something to do for the last 3 hours!!. Met Lardyl for a coffee and got some more contacts from him.
3 o'clock and back at the Sky Tower i had my re arranged meeting from yesterday and he left with the promise of him putting in a good word with someone else!
Anyway, got rid of the suit and went for a walk down to the viaduct area and found a decent restaurant to have our tea. Guess what? Yes, Thomas ordered fish and chips and then promptly fell asleep at the table. Another $20. From now on we order 2 adult meals and he can pick at ours. Poor little soul is still jet lagged.
At least the weather was pleasant and we didn't need fleeces through the day today.
Tomorrow we check out and drive to Hamilton for my last interview and to visit our OZ friends parents. Then over to Papamoa by tea time and start partying
Apparantly they have arranged a BBQ for Saturday where we can meet some of the friends they have met since moving down here. If any of you are going to a BBQ at Marie and Pauls on Saturday, its us thats coming!!!

Margaret Parkinson

I see you are going to Papamoa don't forget to call and say hello to Gail & Doug in their butchers shop. Doug Jarvis Family Butcher 60 Parton Road Papamoa. They do a good line in sausages.

I think he is going to put me on commission.

June.

maryapril

welcome friends

AndyRuth

good luck for the rest of the reccie

Even smaller world , we originally from Bromborough / Rock Ferry but now in Nantwich.

One thing that really impressed us too was the frendliness we encountered last year on our reccie.

Very quickly not long after picking up the Camper we were totally lost somewhere in Auckland , think Hillsborough. We stopped and asked a tradesman the way to the bridge !! and he very kindly led us in his pick-up through a maze of back streets to our destination. It transpired he was going totally out of his way ( took about 1/2 hour ) and after wishing us a happy holiday we parted.

NZ was sold to us there and then !