garryhg

hi jacky g here
just thought i'd start this thread so people can share there good and bad moments....
i had a bad day yesterday and had no one to talk to so i thought it would be good for people to be able to share there moans...
kids weren't settling in at school,spoke to my dad on skype and just burst into tears,just having a moment.sounds really pathetic now but it felt major at time.
garry phoned at wrong time and he got it as well.but he being the nice person he is came home from work and gave me a cuddle
thanks to karen(minky for pm)made me feel i wasnt alone,also brian and denise.
anyway any moans or problems no matter how small,feel free to sound off.
a problem shared an all that

by the way feeling fine today

jill1420

Hi Jacky,
Glad your feeling better. I was just about to ask you how you were both doing on the 'first single thread'. I PM'd Gary re. a book before. We are in Lanarkshire and will be heading out in Jan 08' Know it wont be easy but things here arent looking good for kids future. I just feel Ive got to go and give it a try. Kids desperate to go so thats a bonus. Ive had bad day here thats why Im still up...................Check out my thread Teenage crime in NZ. Best Wishes to you both

Jude J

Hi Jacky,
I still feel like that at times. I am not far away, we should get together. I have a lot on at the moment with work but I'll send you a pm, and my phone number if you want so the next time you feel like that you can at least have someone to talk to.

garryhg

hi jill
yeh no what you mean about kids in britain.thats one of reasons we moved,our kids were at good schools but feel the social side of school was letting them down badly.
schools seem to be very strict here which can only be a good thing.
my 2 were happy to come but the starting school and meeting new friends i guess can be quite scary for them.........
you know what its like when your kids are hurting and missing family back home, i just wanted to take some of there pain away,but this is something only they can deal with.
hope all your plans are coming together there will be plenty tears before the laughter,but like you were doing this for the family and a better life.

have you made any decisions on where you will be staying yet

garryhg

hi jude thanks for that
would be good we can meet up half way and have a coffee.
not quite mastered the getting around yet in car,can go as far as botony downs shopping centrewill get more confident on roads,oh got sat nav,think i'll need to get one too.
i will pm you my number too,are you going to Michele and carls tomorrow.

jill1420

Jacky, My hubby was a financial advisor/estate agent for 15 years and more recently has retrained as HGV1 for move. We were intending to go up North but he apparantly wont get job due to rougher terrain and lack of experience. Weve been almost guaranteed job in Auckland. So Auckland here we come. Sounds a good city just need to work round job offer to get area/schools to suit our needs. Been reading all the positives and negatives and I know it seems to be one of the most expensive cities to live. He wont be well paid and I will only be working part time once I get kids settled so all this needs to be taken into consideration. I know alot has been said about how much do you need to live etc...............but we will just need to cut our cloth accordingly. Giving up a very good lifestyle here so know sacrifices will need to be made. Will just need to decide when we are there if its worth it. Know what you mean about kids.................Ive stressed those problems to mine and they keep saying.............we'll be fine.......................if only it was that easy..........eh? If our kids are hurtin...............we're hurtin.

Colin in the middle

I was reading this thread and as of yet I have not really got up the courage to say to much about ourselves. I can see where Jills coming from although a tad confused in the HGV1 part for her husband?

Just gone through a process of trying to better myself to get a few extra knots in my belt and tell you the truth its not working as planned, then again its just not bloody working. Some people think it is so easy to just up sticks and move on but to be honest its not that easy, sometimes you feel you made a mistake and well whats happening for us at the moment is just not fair.

Lost count of the amount of times recently we have had a pick up and moral boost only to have it snapped away hate to say it but in the last few months there came a point where I said whats the use. Few weeks ago I managed to pick myself up only to be slapped down yet again. What keeps me going? Really I dont have a clue.

P2L

Hi Jacky

Congratulations hun, you're normal!!

It's taken me almost 4 months to resist the urge to get on a plane & return to civilisation It was no one particular thing that I didn't like at the start, just most things!! And before you ask, yes we had been here before! and if you see the amount of posts I've made on here in 10 months, and the amount of books we bought & seminars & expos we went to,I think we did our homework!

But still the realisation that this was suddenly real & we really were starting over in a country where nothing was familiar, from how to buy a house to which power company to sign up for, or where to buy shoes for my 3 year old. It just all got too much for me and I ended up doing just what you did on the webcam to the folks

Gradually I came to accept the fact that New Zealand is where I live now and I have to make it work for me I don't work so I have had to push myself to find out about things to do and where to go, and although I still have the ocassional off day, I wouldn't go back to the UK for all the tea in China. The change in our kids and our life as a family here has been massive. Like most others here, a bit more dosh would be handy but we don't starve to death & although not much, we, for the first time in years, have some savings in the bank, for the rainy day that is ineviatebly round the corner.

So keep smiling and look for the best in all of it and keep reminding yourself of the reasons why you made the choice to come here in the first place

Oh yeah, if all else fails, chocolate & wine is the answer to it all

P2L

Colin hun.

I'm sorry you're having it tough again mate, but I've come to the conclusion that there are those in life who have an uphill struggle no matter what and there are those that fall in the sh*t and come out smelling of roses every time

I'll let you make up you're mind as to which one I come under but I really do hope that just for once, dear God, it all comes right for you

minky

I hear where you are coming from Colin it took hubby 6 months to find his present job probably does not help with an unpronouncable surname as well.Then settled into his job he cant get used to the slower work pace still but enjoys the short drive.We have been here a year and it does take some adjusting.Settling into the new house is fun in the beginning and visiting places etc.We had a few duff days to but you do the british thing pick yourself and dust yourself down and off you go again.We have our first major kiwi social event tom fancy dress quiz night with the childrens football club so we are slowly getting there!
At the end of the day you have to remember why you came and what changes you wanted to make in your life which brought you here.I am used to ups and downs in life but at the moment feel happy here and so are the family.Plus I only cook one evening meal and we all sit together.

Karen

Colin in the middle

Basically we have been here 4 years 4 months 10 days funny enough my parents followed us exactly two years later and to be honest with out their help probably would be feeling a whole lot worse than we do now.

I had been out here before and spent a year out here in 1996 which was when I made the decison got to move here that plus my brother who has been here since 1986, although had little contact with him up in Auckland, in fact think I spoke to him more back in the UK between 1196 and 2003 spent a few months at a time here just doing floating around doing unpaid work looking for a way in. Which all came into place funny enough whilst working in France.

What has struck both my wife and I is that neither of us had applied for a job before and been turned down until we lived in New Zealand Nothing worse though than the being offered a job line verbally then being told a few days later oh we cant take you on now :curse: sucks more now we just blew the little bit of saved money on getting me a Passenger endorsement and taking advantage of a conversion to a truck licence here. When I was going for these got told of 4 employers offering me work, now suddenly nothing.
Seems my overseas experiance and careful driving standard is not good enough experiance for them, the same experiance that kept me in work back in the UK.

What I find ironic is that the only jobs we seem to get straight away come from other ex pats, not sure if ever going to understand the psychology of a Kiwi.

Up until recently the thought of going back to the UK lasted all of 5 seconds but now we are in the situation that a UK return is next to impossible, infact I would say never and little point.

garryhg

hi colin jacky g here
sorry to hear your problems,god i feel a bit of a heal complaining now.....

all i can say is the only way is up.......i hope

where abouts are you?

i tell you if i have have the fight in me that you have then i'll be able to stick it out..........hats off to you mate

jill1420

Sorry Colin................should have explained better......................hubby was in very stressful job for years with ass of a boss.........he also had nightmare of a homelife on his parents side (long messy story)........so lots of pressure............he was bloody good at his job ...........and yeh ..........he did leave and try other companies..............but one day.................after both his parents have died of heart attacks aged 56 & 61 (I know shit happens..................but they were both outwardly healthy)...........he just said there must be more to life than chasing the next deal/bonus/golden egg. I know there will be other jobs out there that dont require experience but he fancied driving big trucks (boys dream)................we also found out it would/could be help getting into NZ.
Me.................I preferred him in financial industry................as I liked him in 3 piece suit......................joke!............. .......no I actually felt it suited homelife better...................work appointments around life so he had freedom to go to kids school concerts etc.........
Maybe we have something in our advantage..................we both used to be big money earners. Would love to give you a laugh and tell you how much we live on now but somethings should remain private. Happier?..............you bet. Will we make enough money to live in Auckland?..................who knows. We are going with the idea of a years/ 2 years life experience change. Leasing out house here etc. Im giving up my law degree here and may end up being a cleaner/waitress............who knows..............will I be happy?............................dont know.................honestly cant imagine being happy in that sort of job..................but if a job worth doing its worth doing right and I aint too proud. I used to own my own cafe and its bloody hard work so I know that industry inside out and would be a great employee (ok.......Im caught......just trying to get job offer before I get out) If we have enough money to live, enough family time (as someone said.................sitting down to dinner together) kids settle and are happy....................we should be ok. But as you say........................there will be lots of bumps along the way. Just watch this space.................Im a very honest person and I will be the first to say we were wrong!
Colin.............................good luck to you........................hope your luck changes soon. Will be watching your posts in anticipation.
I also appreciate you are trying to get more qualifications/ experience to make your C.V. better................been there done that...........and its not easy getting knocks.
Hoping to go for work to live ethos? Does it exist? Will soon find out........................Also got a back up plan though. Best Wishes!

Amber and Chris

Definitely a roller coaster ride - been here four weeks.

First week so stressed and focused (and panicked) I didn't eat - didn't feel hungry or tired, just autopilot of finding somewhere to live, finding our way around, coping with the rain! Jet lag and cold woke me at four every morning.

Second week started job and moved in to house - reality sank in of my salary being not enough to support us. Not a surprise - we knew it would be tight - just not this tight.

Work a little frustrating - not sure where it is going, and feel a sense of not being paid what I'm worth. Hubs came out here to study and I really want to be able to provide so he can do that without too much financial stress, and just concentrate on the course. Seems I can't do that, though with my quals and experience I ought to be able to.

Now relaxing a little, though money will be a major worry unless I can figure out a better situation. Nice to have a home, and a comfy chair and some cups of tea do wonders for the soul. The ups and downs begin - how wonderful to cycle out in the morning to the views and atmosphere; how depressing when the bills come in. How nice to get a roaring fire going; how a phone conversation makes me miss _everyone_. Contrary to first week I now can't stop eating - mosly biccies, chocolate, potatoes, bread!! And endless cups of tea.

I have done this before, emigrating to Canada, so should be prepared for the ups and downs. Gotta remember - we CHOSE to do this!!! Livin the dream, dudes.

Nice to vent - thanks - and maybe our experiences will help those who are about to do it be ready to ride the roller coaster.

Colin in the middle

jacky g, Were just south of Taumaranui but not quite as far as National Park township. Whats got us the most is that My wife worked for 3 winter seasons < edited ... for a company at Ruapehu...> two of them at Turoa the last at Whakapapa, we moved from Raetihi to our current location because we would have better summer work prospects at Ruapehu infact my wife was given a verbal indication she would be working this summer just gone. The other advantage was my parents could look after our Daughter and I could get a position also.

Well last winter we had our house for sale and was renting the house we are now in, about the time we got our buyer for our other house the Food and Beveradge Manager my wife was working for changed. The guy was a complete arsehole towards her and the other staff in his department he was supposed to have only been staying for 8 weeks, so she roughed it out. In that time we secured our latest house doubling our mortgage and tripling repayment period but still cheaper than rent.
Just after that the worst news was that Manager was staying :curse:
My wife sunk in a complaint about him because he cut her hours and shortened her contract without corresct notice period.
Well thats probably where things went wrong because he also said he would not be keeping staff on for the summer prefering new staff, you can imagine how my wife took that.

Well in December I had phone call offering me work which 3 days later was pulled and I understood the reasons, not that we were worried we had planned on the break in employment to a point. Well February I spoke to my manger about getting a Bus Licence because they were always short of drivers.
He said once got it done he could see about a bit of financial assistance getting it paid. Late April I rung him and he told me to speak to HR they said I was not being offered a position on Road services, so I asked the Rentals Manager strangly enough despite his enthuisiasm (he also lives in my village) and a drive all the way to Ohakune for a "Interview". I still did not get a job, My wife was given the run around by her Manger and was only told two weeks before we were due to start in June she di not have a contract. They basically lied to her, seems that her complaint probably earned her a refusal for a 4th year.
She was lucky to score the only part time job left in National Park which to be honest is not ideal for us, irony for us is the Bus Driver supervisor at Ruapehu wants me working up there but I have heard they wont let him hire me. Its very odd? The Owner of another Bus firm the only other in the area says I dont have the experiance they are looking for but did offer me some summer work. As you can imagine I am sceptical of it appearing

Here we are I joined our local Volunteer Fire Brigade last September, sitting on a Bus/Truck Licence with no job my wife a qualified chef working part time all beacuse the largest seasonal winter employer in the area, has lied and cheated and mislead us and is doing a pretty good job of misleading the rest of the New Zealand with its lies via its marketing department. Employing cheap labour in the form of teenagers from overseas and crapping on the locals who we in our case gave up a lot to work for them. What we found out is we are one of many locally who they have dumped on.

Amber and Chris, The first few weeks are probably hard for a lot of people to be honest we did not really have that problem because we had a return ticket if things fell through and I also had been here several times before and enjoyed showing my wife the wonders of New Zealand. Think the point of upheavel started when my wife realised she was pregnant and we did not get much time to sort ourselves out properly. Basically the two year plan went out the window after 3 months I did at that point say well thats it back to the UK then but my Mother talked us out of that and came over or 3 months a week before our daughter was born.

Finding the job for your qualifications well thats a mission ask my wife, she has managed to scare off a few employers because of her Chef Qualifications which I add equal that of the guy who booted her out of a job. Pretty sure they are scared of her skills?
Even my experiance of Driving has been scoffed at as being not enough experiance, heck what does that mean? New Zealands a funny place I think it helps though having others around in the same situation who understand.