stacey19

We came from a small town next to Blackpool, Lancashire and We are now living in sumner Christchurch.

My thoughts so far.......(excuse my grammer and spelling...cat wont shift off my laptop)

Christchurch is alot busier than I thought it would be.

The amount of boy racers over here is shocking.

The TV is crap crap crap, can't wait to get sky!!

The houses are cold..I was expecting it but it has shocked me a little.

The roads are actually pretty busy in Sumner through to the city center...wheres this place where there are no cars on the roads?? LOL!!!

The supermarkets sell a wide variety (to me anyway) and they are very busy all the time.

Kiwi's like 4x4's...ALOT!!!

New Zealanders ARE a friendly bunch!

Getting things like bank accounts opened is much easier over here.

When the sun comes out it burns you, wear a hat!

Surfing is a big thing.

People wear no shoes to go shopping.

That is all for now.........still loving it!

thebears

Your very preceptive

Kiwi

Nerine

Stacey - this is summer and you're cold !! I guess you're in a rental? try to find a warmer one before the winter or you're going to freeze. Many rented properties are little better than sheds. If you're in your own place can you get some insulation in now before the colder weather starts?

I think the usage of 4x4s goes up in direct proportion to the number of boy racers on the road.....people feel safer from them in armoured vehicles

The amount of people here has always surprised me. This is a country bigger than Britain with only 4 million souls but most of them choose to congregate in the major cities. Safety in numbers or just where the work is?

Stick with it, it does improve

stacey19

Oh yes I will be sticking it out some things just surprised me thats all.
And the house is a warm house but I'm the kind that is always cold anyway so I can't win....

jasonandrea

Hi

I'm Andrea. My family (hubby and 2 kids) are flying out on the 3rd March and are looking to set up home in the Canterbury district (South Island). Just read your mail on what you have noticed in your first two weeks.....

The cold is worrying me?? especially when it's now summer in NZ.

anything you can think of which is really expensive in NZ compared with the UK would be good to know and your help much appreciated... as our stuff is being shipped on 28th Feb and I will have time to grab anything useful...

Do you have kids? Have you got a job in NZ? Where did you stay when you first landed???:

Really nervous now but excited at the same time...

look forward to hearing from you..

Boopy

Fitted valance sheets, I can only find the fitted base ones, not the actual sheets. Anti histamines are expensive here and hayfever is a biggie.
In Wellington you can get just about everything you'll need, I can't speak for Canterbury.

kiwi_child

Christchurch is the second most populated city in NZ, so getting things shouldn't be a problem. If Wellington has it I'd lay odds you can get it in Christchurch.

Andrew Cross

I haven't found that I am unable to find things I need here....things I miss from the uk yes but basic stuff you use no.
Shame Tesco isn't here but heyho, there is a couple of British shops that stock a whole load of bits that you might fancy ie galaxy chocolate which i miss !!! This summer so far has been rubbish, but thats not just in chch, its country wide. Last summer was lovely, but im hoping its going to pick up abit soon (fingers crossed)

Jason and Andrea, I know of a couple of friends who are so looking forward to your arrival and dont worry there will be another bbq and a few beers to celebrate when you finally get here. !!!!

Nerine

Is it really that cold down south at the moment? We've been sleeping with fans switched on for the last couple of weeks.

Wiz'n'Ton

Hey there Stacey19. Pleased to hear you're settling in OK. I have to say, 4 weeks in and we've noticed very similar things. Overall, traffic going 'anywhere' is pretty busy. Off the main roads though is v. quiet. They've closed a lane of Blenheim Road - main road in from the East - today, and traffic going into the city is crazy right now. Can see it all backed up out of the office window!

Surfing here is MASSIVE isn't it? I was fishing off Sumner lifeboat quay yesterday evening and there were some great swells coming in - must have been 60+ surfers out there too!

Yup - with the cloud cover of the last 2 days we've had temps of 12 to 15 degrees. As soon as the sun comes out though the temp shoots up though. We've just moved into an old style flat with high ceilings. Lovely and cool right now, but it's gonna be an ice palace in winter. No double glazing, no heating whatsoever. We're already enquiring about installing a log-burner (no open fires allowed in the City Centre) so that my nipples don't fall off this winter. The PLUS side of all this is that a skiing season pass costs around $500, so every cloud has a silver (probably frost-rimmed ) lining.

this winter we'll just have to do lots more <ahem> excercise to keep warm whilst indoors

Wiz'n'Ton

Oh - just remembered. Toni and I used to have a big stash of 500mg Ibuprofen (used to get it over the counter at tesco's - called Cuprofen). tried to get same here, and the chemist staff nearly had a collective heart attack!! They only do 200mg over the counter, and it ain't cheap (packeged Nurofen or similar). We were told that you need a doctors prescription for anything bigger

And I used to take 1000mg to cure those hangovers from hell - on the reccommendation of a UK doctor friend!!

that's the 1st thing on the list of 'stuff to get shipped from the UK' - oh, that and 'proper' UK Marmite. The stuff here just isn't runny, and DOES (no matter what the locals say) taste better than kiwi stuff

Wiz

Apple12

Hi Wiz,
I am not sure that shipping pharmaceuticals into the country is such a wise thing to do, although there is no death penalty here =)
And just so as you know, you can buy UK marmite in most supermarkets in NZ, under the label "My Mate", just look for the familiar bottle with a slightly different label. It is not cheap, but if you don't want to go without it is slightly easier to buy it here than ship it in.
Also, in ChCh there are a number of UK food outlets, eg there is one on Riccarton Rd, on the road outside of the mall. There are also usually stalls at the Riccarton Market (Racecourse Sundays, 9-2).
Eventually you will adapt... or at least enough to get by.


Glad to hear things are going well for you!

Andrew Cross

Haha, I grabbed some bits at the market yesterday. Kids had some hoola hoops and i had a packet of walkers cheese & onion crisps and a packet of wine gums....mmm lovely!!!

cypherpunk

Cuprofen Maximum Strength is 400mg in the UK, and you're only supposed to take one tablet at a time, so it's the same as 200mg Ibuprofen in NZ where you take 2 tablets. On the other hand you can get Panadeine Plus in NZ which has a higher dose of codeine than the UK maximum (15mg vs 12mg).

BEVS

Gotta agree. It has been a bit parky here the last couple of days.
We are top end of the South Island too.

When you get the chance Stacey, take a holiday Nelson and Bays way. You will see some lovely quiet New Zealand. Last time we went to ChCh we did find it very busy by what we are now used to.

Hi Jason and Andrea. All I can say re. your post is to bring EVERYTHING with you.
Last time we visted the UK , I brought back Eygptian cotton sheets and bath towels from the likes of Tesco , Sainsbury etc. It worked out cheaper than even Briscoes on a sale day.
Books ! Bring the latest. Books are expensive here.
If you use stationary & craft items , stock up on a good assortment. I have found that to also be expensive and the choice very limited.



I switched onto Vegemite a while back. It's not quite the same but it's OK . The Marmite here is slippery on the tongue. Yuk !