TheFiveOfUs

Did your OH find accommodation while still in England or did he have help from work colleagues when in NZ? So did you send your furniture over already? Bet the kids are going crazy? Sorry....might just have started 20 questions

Kentishgirl

No problem. We have been helped by sites like this and I'm only too happy to share our experience to date. My husbands company found him accommodation (small but perfectly adequate furnished 2 beds) initially for 1 month, but he can stay longer. Before we knew they were doing this we were going to rent a Bach (holiday home) for a few weeks so that we could see any place we were going to rent. We have actually now changed our mind and have bought a house to live in short term as (a) our houses here has not sold and (b) it seems as if house prices are going up in chch and we didn't want to be out of the Market, paying rent for 6 months. Our furniture left on 14 March (we used PSS) and is now on it's way (heading towards South Korea, we track it every day or so). Due to arrive chch 27 April, with a provisional delivery date of 5 May (husband moving in to new house 2 May). We decided to send our furniture before we went as it would be easier to borrow stuff here and less stressful than camping out in a new country. My son (13) is not happy about leaving his friends and I really want to try and make the transition as easy as possible on him, so now his bedroom and things will all be ready for him when he arrives. I'm guessing your middle son will be in his last year before high school in NZ as they start in year 9 (our year 8). We had hoped to be in NZ so son could start high school with everyone else (he is currently y8 here) but it didn't work out like that. Are your older boys ok about moving.

I think if we post enough on this site we can then message each other outside the forum and I will happily share more details that may be a bit mundane for here!!

hjmilligan

Be prepared for the commute from Rangiora pretty bad at the moment and no end in site. Hubby works in the City takes 70 minutes plus some days

Kentishgirl

That's what my husband has found since he has been in Chch. We have now bought in Rolleston as a short-term solution.

vetnurse1

Kia Ora! We came from East Leake in 2005, now live in Rangiora. Lots of poms here, not sure if that's good or bad Rangiora High School is large (1750 students), there is also a Christian high school called New Life which is much smaller. There are at least four primary schools here too. Shops are fine, will be much better when they finally repair the big Farmers. Two large supermarkets, plenty to do for kids - bmx, motocross, judo, karate, football, rugby, cricket, aquatic centre, etc etc. Its nice and close to the Ashley river which we like for dog walks. But yes, traffic to city is a bit of a headache during the week (I work from home so not an issue for me).
Also agree Lincoln is a nice suburb to live, another large modern high school and a lovely new leisure centre there too. Probably less poms too!

Disagree about the Indian takeaway though - Saj and his team at Spice n Life Kaiapoi can't be beaten!

Tom1983

Spice n Life has been noted and will be tested once i'm in my new home

I shall report back once it's eaten, any dishes that you recommend. Preferably one that has a kick but not Phall standard heatness. I had one of those and suffered 2 days of sheer pain from it

BEVS

Nothing too mundane for here. Believe me. We all have to know the mundane stuff and it's good for others looking in but not quite ready to post their stuff