Info-sharing & A couple of Questions...

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Jul 7th 2006, 1:37 pm

#16

brackley

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Re: Info-sharing & A couple of Questions...

hi everyone, we are also going to wellington in september!!!! want to settle in karori. hopfully the house sale will go through this time. should be a quick sale as the people are in rented who want to buy from us. wellington is a lovely city. have any of you looked at schools yet for the children, i beleive there is a gov website which gives guidelines as to the best schools. good luck everyone. wendy

Jul 7th 2006, 1:56 pm

#17

Shell2006

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Re: Info-sharing & A couple of Questions...

Hi

We're also aiming for Welly area - Kapiti Coast (Raumati/Paraparaumu) to be precise. Lived there when I was a teenager and we just had a visit in April. Early stages of the immigration process - hope it doesn't take too long

Stayed with a friend who lives near the beach and she had some sort of can thingmy to repell bugs - I have emailed her for info and will post it when she replies over the weekend. I had heard of Weta's but the White Tails are new to me - yuk :scared:

Good luck to all.

Michele

Jul 7th 2006, 2:41 pm

#18

Sophie_Wellington

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Re: Info-sharing & A couple of Questions...

Hey lots of people going to Welly in September, shall we all have a get-together?

Can you add people to your friends list on here like MSN?

Jul 7th 2006, 3:08 pm

#19

Spacecake799

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Re: Info-sharing & A couple of Questions...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sophie_Wellington

Hey lots of people going to Welly in September, shall we all have a get-together?

Can you add people to your friends list on here like MSN?

Hi sophie,
Meeting up somewhere sounds like a good plan. I can't guarantee when we'll be there but would feel a whole lot better meeting some people in the same situation. carole

Jul 7th 2006, 5:31 pm

#20

brackley

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Re: Info-sharing & A couple of Questions...

a get together in welly would be good. sophie, is that your black lab in the photo, we have one too.wendy

Jul 7th 2006, 6:21 pm

#21

pleccy2000

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Re: Info-sharing & A couple of Questions...

I'll meet up with you all when the time comes!

Jul 7th 2006, 10:58 pm

#22

Sophie_Wellington

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Re: Info-sharing & A couple of Questions...

Quote:

Originally Posted by brackley

a get together in welly would be good. sophie, is that your black lab in the photo, we have one too.wendy

Hey Everyone,

I've figured out how to add people - you click their name and 'add to buddy list', so I'll add people in Welly to my list

Wendy, that's my pup in the piccie but she's not quite a lab lol, she's a 3 year old patterdale terrier. Lots of mischief in her but we've got her well trained enough now thankfully he he.

I'm sure she'd like some new friends too. What's ur lab called? Her name is Sophie, like my username lol. I'm moving there with my OH and yes it would be great to meet other people in the same situation

Jul 8th 2006, 3:11 am

#23

brackley

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Re: Info-sharing & A couple of Questions...

our dog is meg, she is 2 1/2 and we are hoping to breed from her in jan, as long as we have our own house by then. have also got 2 kids, emma who will be 9 and going to karori normal school and katie who is 16 and will be attending wellington girls collage. cottageinthesky informs me lyall beach bay is nice to take the dogs to, also a nice beach cafe where they have the best coffee in wellington + a surf school for the kids. sounds like a good place to me.

Jul 10th 2006, 2:51 pm

#24

Sophie_Wellington

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Re: Info-sharing & A couple of Questions...

Quote:

Originally Posted by brackley

Hi Brackley,

Yes Lyall type area sounds great, although it can get a bit busy with surfers and has plenty of sand flies he he. I'm dying to taste the coffee over there, heard it beats Starbucks hands down :-)

Also, here are some links I've found valuable for everyone to see, which I've found both as a result of other British Expats, and from searching online:-

www.seek.co.nz – seems to be the best website for job-hunting.
www.piperpat.co.nz – handy ‘link’ directory to almost everything in NZ
www.worldtimezone.com – world clock
www.xtra.co.nz (news and politics site, also a broadband provider and has links to other NZ sites.
www.open2view.com (housing)
www.realenz.co.nz (real estate)
www.trade-me.co.nz - the NZ version of Ebay
http://pages.ebay.com/nz/ - Ebay does also have its own site over there, but I think it’s less popular than TradeMe
www.holidayhomes.co.nz. – holiday rentals for your first weeks, the odd one takes pets – it’s all dependant on how many you have / their size etc – enquire with each owner.
http://www.stats.govt.nz/default.htm - statistics on everything Kiwi
http://www.mrrentals.co.nz - If you're waiting for your container to arrive you can get short term rentals of most household appliances from Mr Rentals until your stuff arrives.
http://www.metservice.co.nz/default/index.php - check out the weather on the Met site
www.thewarehouse.co.nz – a national superstore in NZ where you can get just about anything
www.top50.co.nz – keep up with the NZ music chart
www.vodaphone.co.nz – Vodafone – if you’re taking your old mobile you have no choice but to opt for Vodafone, as their only competitor in NZ, Telecom, do not use Simcards. You can pick up a PAYG SIM at the airport on your way in!
www.yellowpages.co.nz – NZ’s version of Yell.com
http://www.wises.co.nz/ - online maps to NZ
www.ird.govt.nz - When you start work in NZ you need to register with your local IRD office, who will issue you with an IRD or tax file number. You must have one of these to work. To apply for your IRD number from the UK, complete an IRD form (which can be printed off from the website) and post off with a copy of your passport. IRD numbers are usually issued within 5 working days within NZ, and within a few weeks if applying from the UK.
www.emigratenz.org/ - a forum for emigrating to NZ
www.britishexpats.com – a forum for British Expats with a great NZ thread
www.dineout.co.nz – Restaurant Guide
www.roadcodetest.co.nz - You need to sit the theory driving test within 12 months of arriving in New Zealand try this site with all the test papers on you dont need buy the road code book
http://www.consumerbuild.org.nz/publish/leaky.php - explains the situation in relation to ‘leaky building syndrome’ in NZ
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~mbutler/flyclub.htm - Flygility clubs - make new friends and have fun with your best friend!
http://www.wellington.govt.nz/printv.../training.html - list of Council-approved dog trainers. Going on a course will enable you to get a ‘responsible dog owner’ discount on your registration fees in the following year
www.cyberpets.co.nz – pet supplies straight to your door
http://www.petsit.co.nz/ - pet-sitting company in Wellington
http://www.coolbritannia.co.nz/ - missing UK food and drink? Get all your favourites here, they even have a walk-in store in Wellington CBD, and they sell Vimto yippee!!
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/personal.html - set up your personal world clock, and check different country zones when you want to call your friends all around the world.
www.co-opshuttles.co.nz - pre-book an airport transfer service from Wellington Airport to your destination – bookings can be made based on ‘approximate’ timings, then you call after you’ve landed. They also offer a ‘fixed price’ quote so you know what you’re paying up front. We ordered a van which fits all four large suitcases, two hand luggage cases and a cat and dog box
http://www.carrentalswellington.co.nz/ - Pegasus car rentals in Wellington – pre-order your hire car.

Jul 11th 2006, 8:17 am

#25

Steve Horrell

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Re: Info-sharing & A couple of Questions...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sophie_Wellington

Hi Everyone,

I have only posted on here once and couldn't remember my password doh. So I've reset and intend to come on here a lot more regularly now.

Just to introduce myself, me and my partner are moving to Welly in September with our pet dog and two cats. Neither of us have a job *gulps* but have been told by agents we shouldn't have a hard time finding work in our professions.

What I wanted to offer was, we have the 'blueprint' on how to move from the northwest of the UK should be made to Welly now with pets - loads and loads of useful information it's taken us days and days to pull together. If anyone is interested I could pull together the info in a word document and let you have it - we've shopped around for the best prices, the best companies to use, the logistics of it all - everything! So if anyone wants it, please let me know - can I post documents on here? Unlike some other cheeky expats we will NOT be charging, this info is free so we can save other people the stress of the move.

For dog owners, I've also got details of a pet-friendly beachhouse in Waikanae (believe me it took months to find!). It might take some time to get together so lets have a show of interest before I go pulling it together (!) I also have maps & lists from every Wellington council of their offleash exercise and prhibited areas (some are in word, others in PDF format). If you want them send me your mail and I'll mail them direct.

Questions
Now just a couple of questions of my own I wondered if people could help me with. Will my UK dog's microchip be recognised over there?

Also, can someone recommend a good bug-spraying company In W'gton that deals with the nasties (roaches, white tails / any spider whatsoever infact / ants)?

The reason I ask is I did something silly the other night, and watched a programme called 'Australia's Deadliest Destinations' - they covered white tail spiders in it

Anyway there were these women from Oz who had been bitten by them and they had to have skin grafts it was gross. I was thinking maybe this is just another case of TV melo-dramatising things so looked it up on the net, and low and behold an official 'medical' study said these cases (the term used was necrotism I think euk) were NOT proven to be whitetail cases. It said most bites just hurt like hell and go red for a couple of days. What it also said tho, was most people are bitten in bed or putting their clothes on (eeeeugh!) Can anyone clarify this for me - I mean I know that stupid documentary put the frighteners on me, but even if they're not that dangerous I don't want the buggers biting me in the nuddy :scared: lol.

Also, can you tell me where these critters like to hang out (i.e. I've heard they live in bushy areas, but how about if I live near the beach, are they everywhere?). A realistic outlook would be nice, I think I've put enough frighteners on myself watching that silly TV show ho ho ho.

One final thing - is there anything else that's actually 'dangerous' there? I've heard of WETAs and praying mantis, but they're not that bothersome if left alone are they? Can you live a 'relaxed' life in NZ when you're scared of bugs?

Anyway, thanks in advance to all of you who respond, and I look forward to getting to know a few peeps on here.

Dawn

Hi Dawn

Your blueprint sounds great and it is exactly the sort of thing that we could not find in any book during our emigration experience. We arrived in NZ in Oct 2003 and I realised there was a gap in the market on information available to both plan the move over and working out the first weeks and months in NZ. On that basis, I spent nearly 12 months writing a book called "Emigrating to New Zealand: An Independent Guide" that has just been released in the UK at the end of last month. You can see a review of it at www.amazon.co.uk - just type Steve Horrell into the search engine part of the site. The publisher is HowToBooks, who specialise in travel books to all parts of the world. We brought our two Westies over about two months after we first arrived in the country. The process to achieve that is very detailed and the cost is quite staggering - more than we ever expected!! Having said that, we would not have left without them and they are very well settled now. Ours were microchipped before we left and by providing evidence of spading, the annual dog registration fees are reduced. I understand the new law just passed here is that all newly registered dogs will have to be chipped but this does not include farm dogs. We live in Upper Hutt - about 30 mins drive north of Wellington - so if there is anything I can help with then you only need to ask. Can't promise the earth but it may be of use. Good luck with the move. Steve