mrflibble49v1ah

Hi

My name is Mark and I am due to leave for Christchurch on Thursday evening to take up a job offer from Christchurch City Council. I would be very grateful if anyone could offer some advice on travelling / arriving / accommodation as I am trying to do this on an exceptionally tight budget.

Any information / advice hugely appreciated!

Take it Cheesy - Mark

Rosemary

Hello and a big welcome to BE.

Excellent information can be found in the BE Wiki, not forgetting the Living and Moving Abroad forum that will help you, another set of great help is the permanent threads at the TOP of each forum, they are very pertinent to that particular forum and makes sensible reading.

Moderators deal with any problems that arise such as inappropriate posts, spammers etc, you will find their names at the bottom right hand side of each forum's index in bold font.

More knowledgeable people will be along very soon to help you with your questions.

Please contact me if I can give you any further help.

Rosemary

Sue

Hi Mark,

Welcome to BE, I hope you enjoy being part of our little expat online community. I've taken the liberty of moving your post into the NZ forum for you so that you can dive right in. I'm sure some members will be along shortly to give you some pointers, but in the meantime take some time and read through a few of the other threads and I'm sure you will come across some great info and also learn a bit more about everyone.

Sue

alanmacc

Hi And welcome to sunny shaky CHCH

As you are no doubt aware we have had 1 or 2 earthquakes recently and accommodation is pretty scarce, however there are a few places particularly on Blenhiem Road with a lot of motor lodges which would also give really easy access back into the city council areas.

Try this link below, not sure how many are still open after the quakes

http://www.nzmotels.co.nz/Christchur...rchMotels.aspx

Debbie2NZ

Good luck with your move. What job will you do for Christchurch City Council ? There's a good self catering place called Rendezvous on Rattray. It's on Rattray Street, Riccarton, Christchurch. It's good value and very new. It's also in walking distance of the local shopping centre & fish & chip shop. I live in Christchurch. Book a Super Shuttle, transport from the airport instead of a taxi as the shuttle is cheaper because it's a minibus. However, if there are other people on board it will go via where they are going and your drop off might not be first. You could reference these two ideas on the internet if you wish.
Volcanic ash from a volcano in Chile is interfering with NZ Airspace presently. Quantas and JetStar have cancelled their flights to/from Aus/NZ. Air New Zealand hasn't cancelled any flights as they are flying under the ash cloud. (Quantas won't, not their policy !) JetStar is a subsidiary of Quantas. Check with your airline that they are not anticipating any delays.

mrflibble49v1ah

Thanks very much for your quick response. I shall be working as a Building Inspector for the Council and, as such, am aiming to become as familiar with Christchurch as soon as I can. My plan is to book some temporary accommodation for the first few nights so that I can choose a more permanent dwelling shortly after. I've tried arranging a few viewings online but the Agents don't seem that keen on talking with me until I arrive (which I suppose is understandable). As I was travelling on my own and my Dad is now retired he has chosen to come with me as he has never been to N.Z before. Please keep in touch as it is very reassuring to have someone to talk to on the other side of the world.
Cheers, Mark

simonsi

Hi Mark, welcome to the forum. I am in Auckland but if you have any questions just put them up and you'll likely get a good answer pretty quickly - most situations have been encountered by someone on here who can advise. Check with your employer whether they pay monthly or fortnightly, fortnightly is quite common in NZ and will help if you are on a tight budget - only 2 weeks without eating rather than a whole month!

Its a great adventure! How long are you planning to stay?

mrflibble49v1ah

Thanks Simon. Its nice to know that there are people on the other side of the world who are willing to point you in the right direction. The offer of employment is permanent, therefore I will be in New Zealand indefinitely. Judging by the way things are going here in the U.k with the economy and unemployment etc. I'd say I will be in Christchurch for quite some time. All depends on how I fit in at the Council I suppose.
Anyway, keep in touch as I appreciate somebody else to talk to.

Cheers, Mark.

Debbie2NZ

Hi Mark,
You may have left already but just to let you know that in NZ rents are quoted weekly not monthly. Don't be disheartened if you don't get much response from letting agents on the internet. I attempted to look for properties in Auckland via Trademe and got a very lukewarm response ! We did much better visiting the agent in person when we got to Christchurch. Not getting accommodation was one of the reasons why Auckland was no go. If you go to First Avenue Letting Agents on Bealey Avenue, Christchurch see what they've got. They were very fair with us. Don't worry if you see some real dives, just keep looking till you see something you could live in. We were advised by an acquaintance to dress smartly when viewing properties. Also, you may wish to take a copy of your job offer letter with you when you go to a letting agents so they know you have the means to pay the rent. Christchurch city centre is behind a cordon presently so there's more going on in the suburbs. Albeit the eastern suburbs are the worst affected by the earthquake. We live in Linwood by the way, one of those eastern suburbs !

shirl

Hi Mark

Welcome to the forum. There will be lots of disruption in Christchurch at the moment due to the latest quakes there. Accommodation may be thin on the ground or it could be take your pick not sure. We are 25 mins north of Christchurch in Rangiora, there is a motel here as well and the shakes are no where near as bad as Christchurch and it is an easy commute back in to Christchurch. I would offer you a bed but have family staying here at the moment as they have sold and are building a new house soon out here in the Waimakariri. My OH is in construction, your paths are sure to cross lol!!! Feel free to PM me for any more info you require or phone numbers etc.

alanmacc

Hi Mark

As far as eating out goes, if you like fish and chips (fuch und chups as the locals say) they are pretty cheap to survive on, not the healthiest option by any means but handy, im sure you will fit in here pretty well, as far as a building inspector goes, man you have your work cut out here .....

Debbie2NZ

Mark,
re: fish & chips, you will be asked if you want it in breadcrumbs or batter. If they don't ask, you might get it in breadcrumbs by default (as it's more expensive than batter for some reason.) Also, be quick to say you don't want any salt on your order as they will not ask you, they just shake lots of salt on, then it's kinda to late. It'll taste great anyway and overall it will be cheaper than your local U.K. chip shop. Two fish and one scoop of chips is good for 2 people, it's a very generous scoop of chips ! If, 'cod and chips' is you default order in Britain, look at the fish on offer at the chip shop before you order, there's snapper, roughy, Bluff oysters (real oysters just fished off Bluff) etc. If you just ask for cod, they might say which one, i.e. there's red cod, blue cod etc. I kid you not !

Charismatic

Good, we need a few more of them down here .
They are tossers all over, often they are lazy as well so just got to their office and tell them which houses you want a look at and they'll give you the key.