Christmas and Birthday come at once...
 

After a wait that seemed to go on forever (not very long in the big scheme of things), we have our SMC visa...it was granted last week and things have well and truly fallen into place as I have also (this week) been offered a post working as a subject librarian at Wintec, starting beginning of June. :thumbsup:

I have garnered lots of helpful and handy tips through this forum and particularly from those that gave advice on locations near to Hamilton... happily it will now be a reality!

Any thoughts on things you had wished you had thought about doing/ bringing before heading from the UK to NZ...more practical than philosophical please ;-)

Re: Christmas and Birthday come at once...
 

Congratulations! It's a great feeling.
Bring everything you can with you in the way of furniture, if you don't want it someone else will! Keep a UK bank account open. Simples!!

Re: Christmas and Birthday come at once...
 

Congrats, yes as said bring everything you can and do not close your UK bank account. make sure you have sufficient insurance on your containers, get a kindle if you don't already have one as books here are expensive. remember that you will be without your own stuff for a number of weeks so either fly stuff over that you will need day to day or pack in your carry on bags. we bought the wii minus the board via carry on bags.
You will have to either buy or rent a fridge and washing machine, you will have to have an amount of cash for bonds so bear that in mind when you think about the first few weeks. If you haven't already done so open a NZ bank account now and be transferring some money over as the rate if favourable atm.

Re: Christmas and Birthday come at once...
 

Thank you j19fmm...we updated our sofa recently via ebay, but good idea about other bits we may need x

Re: Christmas and Birthday come at once...
 

Excellent when a plan all comes together; trouble is with this emigration malarkey is that everything has to happen at the last minute and there's a heck of a lot to do in shutting down one life and starting another. You need to put your project manager head on and schedule in and list all the things that you have got to do before lift off.

Don't forget when packing that it will be winter here - so you'll all need layers of suitable clothes, coats etc to hand for your arrival. Usual winter wardrobe for women is multiple layered ensemble of leggings or thick tights with skirts / dresses / tunics with cardis and boots. It's a 'look' that hasn't changed much in ten years of my being here.:o

Also you'll need to have your warm nightwear / PJs / dressing gowns to hand but you could always stock up on cheap stuff from K-Mart / Warehouse to get by in the first wee while, if you are short on space in your luggage.

Re: Christmas and Birthday come at once...
 

Thank you Mrs F...I have noted in other posts that it is beneficial to use a specialist insurer...I have a violin I will be bringing out and it hasn't been valued for 25 years, so I am thinking I should put that on my list to do. Good idea about setting up and loading an NZ account in advance.

I will research it, but generally, things like Child Trust Funds - if you had that for your children Mrs F, have you kept them going in the UK, or should we transfer that type of thing too?

Is it best to rent a car (I can be picked up from the airport as likely to be coming out ahead of the others) or buy one asap, the day after arriving?

Thank you in advance x

Re: Christmas and Birthday come at once...
 

Thanks Bo-Jangles. My only vaguely slight regret is we won't get a summer this year, but we didn't get much of one in the UK last year, so....

In reference to the colder temps (and the possibly not so well heated houses etc etc) is it worth bringing electric blankets out in luggage or buying out there? I was reading that some airlines allow you to bring out more luggage when you emigrate, so will look into that, as could be handy with the jumpers, dressing gowns that we will need x

Re: Christmas and Birthday come at once...
 

when you arrive you probably will not be in any fit state to drive so if arriving in Auckland and need to get to Hamilton, please spend at least 2 nights in Auckland before journeying on.
Also if you have an ongoing eternal flight you need to consider their luggage allowance as well and generally pack to the airline with the lowest luggage allowance.

We left the kids trust fund in the UK but then we haven't added to it at all.

As for rental or buying, totally depends on your available money. We were lucky that we got a loan of a car before ours arrived.

Re: Christmas and Birthday come at once...
 

Congratulations to you. An exciting, scary, busy few weeks await you.

Firstly, start writing lists of the stuff you need to do. I had a list of the lists I needed to write!!! We bought a large notebook and wrote everything in there. Makes interesting reading a few years on :-)

Agree with j19fmm to keep a UK bank account, we still have ours 9+ years on plus I still have an M&S credit card.
Also agree with Bo-Jangles about bringing some warmer clothes and things that you can layer. You'll probably find your first winter not too bad and some days will be a T-shirt day. Being inland Hamilton temperatures do fluctuate more than in Auckland for instance. So nights do get into the minus temperatures there. After a year or so you'll acclimatise, I find anything less than 20C cold now (and I used to be tough northern bird :eek:).

Just bring everything as you can always sell it on TradeMe if you don't need it. I packed a couple of sets of new towels in our cases because towel sizes are smaller here. I like the large bath sheets and hand towels that M&S sell.

You can pick up cheap kitchen stuff etc. from The Warehouse, Kmart or the never-ending Briscoes sale to put you on until your stuff arrives.

As others have said, please don't drive after your flight. Have at least one night in a hotel/motel in Auckland.

Good luck with everything and shout out for help as you need it. All of us on this side of the planet have been through it and know how stressful it can be :nod:

Re: Christmas and Birthday come at once...
 

Crazy isn't it!? Minute it drops to 19C I reach for a jersey now :-P

Re: Christmas and Birthday come at once...
 

Yipee well done, all the best for your new life Down Under :thumbsup:

Re: Christmas and Birthday come at once...
 

Come on down..:thumbsup:
I brought a load of clothes and shoes an discovered jandals and Merino wool....the clothes and shoes I brought stayed in the cupboard....
Register on line to HMRC before you leave as they communicate with us poor sods by slow boat from Malta :thumbdown:
Make sure you ask your UK bank for verification of NZ support.
Bring some good quality sun glasses.....it really shine bright down here...:thumbup:

Why would a librarian need to bring a Kindle :huh:

Re: Christmas and Birthday come at once...
 

Only advice I could give is, don't live in Hamilton.


Have a look at the places around to outskirts of the city
Its not a particularly nice place

Re: Christmas and Birthday come at once...
 

I note the violin in one of your posts, here is a link to a very friendly bunch, meeting very local to central Hamilton too.

TWSO | Home

Re: Christmas and Birthday come at once...
 

I would say buy here, that will be about one of the only things I could think of which you would have a lot more choice here. Try to catch Briscoes on a day that they have a sale on - that'll be most days but they revolve through certain items being on sale on certain days.

Usually it transpires that the exact thing you want will not be in the sale at the precise time when you actually need it to be and therefore you end up paying through the nose. Some shops have seasonal stuff just for a short period of time - often way before the time when you decide that you might need one. e.g. BBQs and fans will be in huge supply in October but when you want one in middle of summer you might not find one. Winter bedding, flannelette sheets and heaters will be piled high in the shops right now but may not necessarily be the case come June and July.