the turner family

Hello everybody.

First off if anyone has any questions about what we have done and learned please don't hesitate to get in touch and if we can help we will........

We have been here about 5 weeks and we have accomplished quite a bit! The most important thing to learn about New Zealand is that the people here really are as friendly as they are rumoured to be.

We flew in on a Saturday and my new boss met us at the Airport along with Carol who has posted on this forum. We swapped e-mails and she has been amazingly helpful - Thanks Carol

My boss Brian took us to the Hotel and then for a quick spin round Auckland, we saw One Tree Hill and a bit of Downtown.

The hotel we were in was paid by for Brian for a month and he said I had as long as I needed to get sorted before starting work. We were really surprised at how affected by the jet lag we were. Don't underestimate it, it was a full week before we felt ok.

The hotel was in Papatoetoe a not very nice suburb of Auckland but we could have changed hotels if we needed to. To be honest the place was pretty rough but the staff made up for it. The owners baby-sat for us, cooked different food for our kids, let me check my e-mails on her PC and indeed all the staff were really nice.

We sorted a rental car out after a couple of days, there are some cheap rent-a-wreck companies here and our Nissan was $20 a day. We had been recommended Howick as a good suburb so we started looking around at possible places to be based. We wanted good schooling, easy commute for work and sensible house prices. At this stage we were looking at rental houses. After a bit of looking we decided on Howick and Charlotte found a school. Luckily her school is not zoned which gave us more flexibility choosing house location. Many of the smaller schools have very tight zones and will not accept out of zone kids.

We looked at several rental properties in our preferred area and what we could afford - about $400 p/w didn't really get us anywhere nice. We also are having a baby in January so we wanted a house that we could stay in for a while. We met an excellent financial adviser (I usually loathe them but he is a good guy) and he managed to get us a mortgage without me even starting work! This has a lot to do with me having a job offer and a signed contract, us having a good deposit for the house and most importantly having the permanent residency stickers.

So we looked at house purchase too and managed to find a property that matched all our criteria. We saw two days before it officially came on the market and had an offer accepted a few days later.

We also opened a bank account, got mobile phones, made some friends and visited them and looked around the area too.

We did all this in the first week after getting here!

I started work on the Monday a week after getting here and that was Charlottes first day at school too. We were still in the hotel so Andrea had a 30min drive to drop her off. The next day Christopher started Kindy too. This is a bit of a step down for him actually as in Spain (where we were for the last two years) kids go to school from 3 and here he just has Kindy 3 half days until he is 4 then he gets 5 mornings. The emphasis is on the parent staying around too, not just a drop-off and run! We did look at childcare, there is loads available and it all seems good - they have the same education guidelines as the state Kindys. They do work out quite costly tho'

The house buying process is quite different here but we were guided well and as the house was empty we were able to negotiate a quick settlement and move in as soon as possible. The hotel was only paid for a month and if we had stayed there longer it would have taken all my wages just for the rooms.

We had a few wobbles with some report findings on the house and with the mortgage but it was all sorted out and we got the keys to the house with 1 paid day left at the hotel.

So now we had a house but as our container doesn't arrive until the 14th Sept we have NOTHING to put in it. The Kiwi generosity came to the rescue and we have been lent loads of stuff. From my workmates we have a TV and VCR and a load of toys for my kids to play with, a fridge and loads of help and advice. From the hotel where we stayed we have bedding, towels, cooking equipment, a toaster, a kettle, bean bags, a settee etc.. From friends Andrea met at the school gate we have beds, a table and chairs and more.... Everyone has been so helpful we just hope we can repay them all one day.

We bought a car too, a Subaru and just a few days ago we got the phone and broadband connected.

So that is what we have been up to.....

Here is what we feel about being in New Zealand....

Number one.....Nowhere is perfect, Auckland has its share of problems as does all of New Zealand. There are some daft ways of doing things but there are some truly excellent ways too.

Don't believe that things are not available here, the supermarkets have just as wide a range as England and you can get OXO cubes, HP sauce, Branston pickle etc

The weather has been fine, we haven't encountered any racism, we haven't been ripped off by tradesmen, the driving is poor but not THAT bad, shopping can be expensive but bargains can be had and you can negotiate even in big stores.

The house quality is variable, some places we looked at were dumps and some of the newer places are very quickly and cheaply built. Our place is a 1950's wood frame on a brick base with a tile roof. We have an open fire in the lounge and thats it for heating. It is not cold or draughty but an electric blanket would be nice.

We haven't seen any gang warfare but we haven't looked at some of the rougher suburbs. What's the point?

The health care system has been excellent so far. Andrea has a maternity record and when Charlotte had an ear infection she was seen quickly and treated well. We had to pay $6 for her prescription to be filled and we have to pay $25 on Monday for Andreas scan. Everything else has been free. Maternity is free and kids under 6 are free. Don't underestimate the power of the blue perm res sticker, it opens doors.

Overall we love it here. The clincher is the people, they are so helpful and friendly. We do miss our families and you will too if you make the move. We totally understand those who can't cope with the distance and separation. Andrea has had some days where she really misses her Mum and as my Dad is seriously ill back in England, phoning him is not easy to bear.

I hope you have got a bit of useful info from my ramble, if you have any specific questions please ask away.........

Bye for now.

The Turner Family

uk+kiwi

Yay - thanks for a great post! Glad to hear you're settling in well. How old is Charlotte - 5? (I assumed under 6 since free doctor's appt but over 5 since she's at school?) Hope both your children are settling in well at school/kindy.

Look forward to hearing more about your adventures as and when. And not looking forward to the jet lag with the 2 kiddies in December!
Love to all - Carmen.

Sparkle2nite

Hi Matt and Andrea

Glad all is going well and you seem to have a lot sorted! I've been wondering how you were getting on and so pleased to hear your news. I look forward to reading your postings and wish you all every success!

Debbie

bookemjano

Fantastic post! I love to hear from the ones who've made it there. Keep the news coming, but take care of yourselves, you must be pretty knacked from it all.

urbanproject

Fantastic post

I'll be heading to Auckland soon, not too far from Howick actually (Half Moon Bay) and reading a post like this makes me realize I haven't made a mistake in choosing the area lol

Best of luck to your family and can't wait to read more,

Urb