Alex

We are flying out on April10th, and wondered if anyone could pass on any advice on last minute essentials, or anything you think would be helpful to do/purchase in our last weeks.Thanks all

planty

Travel Plugs!!!!

Hi, can't give you any advice but can wish you all the best.
Good luck and I hope New Zealand turns out be everything you want.

I'll be watching this thread as we hopefully won't be long after you.

bramptonbrian

Germoline, orange club buscuits, cheap cds, ladybird kids clothes, tapes of never mind the buzzcocks, walkers crisps, ice cream mars bars (I know, I'll shut up now)

poppets

Just wanted to wish you good luck, we fly out on 7th April. I could also use some advice for anything we've forgotten. Where are you heading?

Alex

We are going to be in or around Whangarei, hubby has a job in the oil refinery.We are stopping in LA for a fortnight...so you could still be there before us!! I am a bit concerned 'cos people keep mentioning how cold it is indoors...I don't do cold!! so I have been buying blankets and fleeces (anyone would think we were moving to the antarctic)What kind of things are you stocking up on?
Good luck to you too!!

kiwichild

When you get to NZ: Buy a Moro bar (you'll wonder why you ever put up with Mars bars!) and a can/bottle of L&P (Lemon and Paeroa). Also see if you can suss out a jar of Whitlocks Chow Chow (chill before using/keep in fridge).

As it's been a while since I was in the UK or NZ I can't suggest what you should take with you, but wish you well on your journey and future life.

poppets

I'm the same, I don't do cold either, we've got a huge pile of blankets. I saw a fleece in the sale today & convinced myself i had enough & was being silly, but i think i'll go back & get it tomorrow.Also got bed socks!!! And i'm trying to get the kids duvets in our suitcases!!Stocked up on bathroom essentals (not sure why really, got loads of buy 1 get 1 free,cosmetic stuff also stocked up on tampax , apparently expensive in NZ, at least the don't take up too much space
we have a stopover in singapore for 1 night then on to Auckland, arriving on the 10th. (even the cat arrives before us ,9th, she too is via LA!)
hope it goes well, enjoy LA

bramptonbrian

The day time is lovely and warm, but when the sun goes down the majority of homes are poorly insulated with single glazing so don't retain any heat. A wood burner and a variety of electric heaters are generally used to keep warm. Because of the poor insulation it's very easy to run up a huge fuel bill therefore a balaclava and black tanktop (or wifebeater as they are known) are the most common bedware to NZ residents. If you're old enough to remember 1960s working class Briton (if not catch Kes or anything with Ivy Tilsley in before Coro on tv) thats where you're going......only joking!

Alex

Well, I didn't know about expensive tampax......I will look like the woman in the "always towells "advert tomorrow in tesco!! ( I dread customs)
I too have bought blankets galore from TKMAX
can anyone tell me if there are head lice in N.Z ??? or shall we just bring a few on the plane with us !!!

Alex

Just realised this looks like we are infested with head lice....but it is a real problem in the schools here at the moment. Our girls are lice free though (just in case you are sat next to us on the plane)

Dave&Izzy

Hi,

just wanted to wish you all the best- we've been here (Mount Maunganui) about 6 months now and are nearly settling in!
Just quickly, if you haven't already, send your front loading washer/dryer over as they are ridiculously expensive over here! Also, if you use washing tablets, you might want to bring a small supply as you can't seem to get them over here either!
Hope your husband settles into his new job well. Please stay in touch as our firm has a great new product which should be of interest to his new company!
Stay in touch & we hope all goes well.

Isabel & David

SarahB

Gross!! LOL

One of the best things we did was taped hours and hours of CBEEBIES for our littlun. Hes loves watching it.... although watching the same episode of the Tweenies is driving me insane at the moment....argghhhh!! We also bought a portable booster seat from Tescos for him and its been excellent..... and great whilst we were waiting for the container to arrive.

One of the good ideas that was given to me on here was to have a "magic bag" for the flight for our toddler. I bought some favourite lollies and sweets... small books and crayons etc and some new small toys. It was great and worked wonders on the flight... thanks whoever it was!!

Good luck to all of you coming next month!! Hopefully we wont have a tropical cyclone like the remnants of TC Wati who we have visiting us at the moment....

sky

LOL ... Same, our youngest still watches the tapes two years on!

This thread is so good and the thought of bringing the head lice on the plane had me rolling around laughing

You all sound like you are going to do great, with your strong funny attitudes. Im off to give you all karma if it will let me

SarahB

Oh no....Ive got another 2 years of CBEEBIES to watch!!! I dont mind really but he just watches the same Tweenies program over and over again. Hes just started to talk and if I dare switch it off he now says "Tweenies" and "Beebies" until I give in and put it back on again!

poppets

OK, fortunately I've taped loads of Beebies & Milkshake on Five, got loads of DVD's free from newspapers (fireman sam, bob etc)& the laptop to watch them on, got loads of little toys & food stashed for flight & even bringing our front loader washer/dryer in the container. so i think I'm pretty much sorted.
See you soon !!!!!!