hippychic23

had an email off my wonderful case worker today - we have been accepted for permanent residency (yeyy.....) so what did we do? get right on to the airlines and book our tickets to come to Auckland in 2 WEEKS.... (ok, it was because the flights were way way cheaper that day...) - she has promised to get the passports back to us in time.
have I handed in my notice at work ? (am just typing it out now...) have we sold the house?? (ouch, sore subject - no), have we even got anywhere to live ? (nope - but am still looking hard...)
so we have got just 2 weeks to arrange for shipping our things, telling work and the schools the children are at goodbye, and generally cramming about 3 months worth of work into a very short space of time....my house needs a massive declutter... ebay here i come.
the reality has just hit me that we are leaving our (steady, but boring) comfortable life behind, and I am in shock tonight- have looked forward to this new life with my hubby and family for almost a year now, but to have it suddenly creep up on me like this has left me reeling.
Know i know this all sounds negative - but I am so excited - and have to admit that I really do thrive well on stress, but can you imagine my poor family? I want to tell everyone that we are really going - but my sister, and my best friend are not happy that we go over to the other side of the world and will not be here for a coffee and chat, and my son is worried about breaking the news to his girlfriend.... I think he thought this day would never actually arrive (best stock up on tissues for a sobbing hysterical girl...)
am I mad??? has anyone else done it like this? or are you all sensible and booked the flights months in advance to prepare slowly... I am up on the ceiling right now, and hope this all comes together (or i will be sat in a corner somewhere feeling VERY sorry for myself)

Wooly_Cow

Well Done....Just remember ' In life, you only regret the things you didn't do!'

Done something similar and equally crazy myself but it took us a little longer (14 years to be exact).

Anyway best of luck for the next two weeks....and just shout if you need any advice.

I'm in Wellington btw but I will provide what support I can if you are not ending up here, anyway (won't hold it against you if you end up in Auckland...just don't forget New Zealand doesn't stop at the Bombay Hills)

Jan

hippychic23

oh Jan that is really sweet - thankyou.
I know what you mean about regretting the things you DON'T do - my friend wanted to go to AUS 5 years ago - she didn't and now her kids are settled with their own children - she wont leave them, and is very bitter about her lost chances - my only bitterness is that i am sat here at work now ( and it is 2am... oh the joys of nursing eh??) when i want to be at home packing - ha ha.
will keep all up to date on my stress levels as the 2nd Dec looms closer.....
Karen
xxx

nukiwi

Congratulations that brilliant news

OMG 2 weeks, you are going to be busy. We were a little more prepared insofar as we had quotes for shipping our belongings, pets etc a few months beforehand and just had them on standby so as soon as we had the green light we could call them back and get a suitable date.

I came out with OH in July as he had a couple of interviews lined up. He was offered a job within 2 days of us arriving and we had to wait 10 days then before our flight back. I immediately typed my notice for work and emailed it to them (they were expecting it though) and we had our medicals here in NZ to save time. OH's new employer wanted him to start asap so as soon as we got back to the UK we booked our flights and arranged for shippers to come in. So from the time we got back till we left to come out one-way was about 4 weeks. We had 2 cars to sell, which luckily we did and we handed our house over to an agent to manage so they could rent it out.

The hardest part was saying goodbye to family and friends and I did not want anyone to see us off at the airport (I couldn't have coped with that). We arrived on 25 August and we live on the North Shore in a rental home. We will continue to rent until the UK market picks back up and we can sell.

The only regret we have is that we didn't do it years ago.

Good luck with the next 2 weeks, it will be worth all the stress.

hippychic23

I keep telling myself the stress will be worth it...although it is getting more manic as the hours tick on....
any tips on renting in North shore? have read so many bad things on this site about agents loosely applying the truth with the property descriptions.....
mind you - am intending to do the same to them with my 'well behaved' children.. ha ha.
oh, back to work ....... roll on 8am and i can go home and see what state my hubby has got himself into (he had a strange twitch in his eye when i left last night for work.......)
Karen

nukiwi

There is certainly lots of choice in rentals on the North Shore but it depends on your budget. One of the things we have become accustomed to in the UK is how restricted estate agents now are in their choice of language describing properties. We've read some extremely flowery descriptions out here that almost make us cringe. Sometimes the photography can be a bit creative too. We have seen photos of places that suggest they have lots of space around them but when you get there they are jammed in tight next to each other.

What we did was rent a holiday home for a couple of weeks so we had time to look around and find something suitable. The advantage of doing that is its easy to do from the UK and for a couple of weeks you don't mind what its like.

We booked our holiday cottage on www.holidayhouses.co.nz

What we also found was that agents were not very helpful until we arrived here.

We found the links below useful.

www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-me-property/index.htm
http://www.allrealestate.co.nz/cgi-b...=bhp&t=ren&cu=

We have only been here 3 months so still deciding where we want to settle but if I can be of any further help, please shout

Moomoo

Good luck with sorting everything out! Two weeks - wow, you will be busy!

Enjoy those long flights and being looked after ... and think about the summer which is on its way here.

We have been in east Auckland for 4 and a bit weeks now and are really enjoying ourselves. We are moving into a long term rental on Monday (that's when our container will be delivered).

Best wishes
Moomoo

teebrown

Wow, you must be spinning and the emotions must be running high, if it helps I have attached my 'things to do' list for you, some of it wont mean anything to you, but it may jog your memory for others.

Good luck

All the vest best, enjoy the icy weather while you can in UK!

Tee

cally49

Hey congratulations!!!! my suggestion is to make yourself a list with the most important things to do and then make a not so important list if ya get my drift lol So make a really have to do today list etc.
Easy for me to sit here and say but it will make it seem much more achieveable and you will feel heaps better when you get to tick the stuff off.It stops it all rushing round and round in your head...

Another thing i thought of is maybe you could somehow include your sister and your friend (even you sons girlfriend) in the final plans tell them you dont have much time and really could do with some help that way they might feel not so quite pushed out of the equasion. Instead of saying well we are going in 2 weeks jut say hey things have happened so fast this week and this is it we really are going and we wondered if you would help us make it possible (if they say no well then you have your answer but if they say yes it will actually make it easier on you and them you can make it into a fun time.

And make little remarks to them like "when you come and stay with us we will all laugh about this madness" kind of make it light hearted and i am sure they will come round.the same with your sons girlfriend if he hears you saying to her you will be able to come for a holiday if you get saving soon..This way it wont seem so final to him and to her (even slip her a few quid to start off a savings account) My bet is though that after a while they will both maybe find other interests and become to busy to keep in contact....but this way its kind of softening the blow for everyone...........
Hey good luck with it all
Cally

hippychic23

aww bless - that is really positive.... and takes some stress off me as well. have now booked flights, dog, removal, taxi to airport, rental car in auckland - just need somewhere to live !!!! it is true about the rental people not being too helpful - have now got the feeling that they don't want to rent to us (and what on earth is wrong with 4 boys and a dog????? ha ha) will keep trying - have looked at the short holiday lets - ouch!! so instead of working hard here at the hospital - am online looking on trade me (desperatly) - well, have handed my notice in now - so what can they do to me??? .

Moomoo

Hi

We are bringing three dogs over next weekend 29th - and we managed to find a few rentals that would allow dogs. We have chosen a rural rental though, as more than two dogs require a different permit I think, but if you live rural, it's doesn't appear to be a problem. Dogs have to be registered and microchipped in accordance with the local Council's rules. Ours are already microchipped and I am not sure if they will need doing again or if the existing microchip numbers can be used?

It is not impossible, but your options may be more limited. Although sometimes the adverts say 'no pets/dogs' but if you are interested you may be able to negotiate. There are plenty of rentals, it seems, so I am sure you will be fine.

Moomoo

Moomoo

Also - has your dog had all the tests and MAF requirements for bringing into the country? Ours have been having tests for the last few weeks and have had samples taken, etc. They are off to the kennels at Golden Arrow on Monday in readiness for their flight at the end of next week.

Luckily a very good friend has been sorting all this out for us and we have only be paying the bills!!! Therefore, I am not sure what tests they have been having to be honest as hubby and our friend have been going through all the paperwork and the vet in the UK has been really good.

hippychic23

our (mad) dog is going with golden arrow - they are lovely.. when i rang them yesterday and told them we were leaving on the 2nd - i heard him take a sharp intake of breath (ha ha),he said he thought there would be nothing until after xmas, but he got right on to NZ airlines - and came back with the 19th - so she goes into their kennels from the 1st - oh, am getting all emotional just thinking of having to leave her..... not sure how the kids will take it when i tell them ( i knew there was something i needed to mention to them today....) she was microchipped when we first had her - so that is one less thing, but she is going to be so upset when she stays in kennels and realises that there is no bed - and no child in it to sleep with !
right, back to house hunting.......

cally49

Pass the bedpan please nurse

hippychic23

would laugh at that if I wasn't wearing quite a lot of bedpan contents at the moment...........
ewwwww - money just isn't worth it (ha ha)