18 months in NZ

[Jodie]

Hi guys,

Just thought I'd pop in and say hi to see how you're all doing - glad to see that a lot of you are much closer to the move, if not already over here - good on ya! And good luck to everyone still in the process.

I thought I'd share our first 18 months in NZ with you - might help with some experiences some of you are or will be going through - might also give you another insight into the country so here goes!!

A quick update for newbies - Daz and I came out here on a working holiday visa in July 2004 with aview to finding somewhere to live and then finding work. We fell in love with Welly (despite it being my last choice of places to live after a visit out here 4 years before!), found a rental and started job hunting. Daz went to recruitment agencies while I rang around all of the web companies in the yellow pages and tried to sell myself! eeek! Pretty daunting but got a few leads, then I got a job with a young web company and weput in our EOI. 8 months later (yes, 8 MONTHS!! I was worried it was because of my minor medical conditon but it was just NZIS being incredibly slow!) we had our residency stamps (after I changed jobs, was made redundandant from that job andthen found my thrid job which has proved to be 3rd time lucky so far!). It seems that if you're already in the country with work visas (which we changed our WHVs to ince we had jobs), they don't seem to think that you're desperate to get your residency so take their time processing your application - Thanks NZIS! But it was worth the wait.

We had a great first year renting 2 houses in the Northern Suburbs of Welly and made some great friends (including people we bought our couches from out of the free ads paper!). We've done a lot of exploring and had both sets of parents come out to visit which was great. (Took a trip down to the south island with Daz's Mum which was fab - whale watching and helicopter trip over the glacier - absolutely fantastic!). Then in August we thought we'd start looking at houses so kept an eye on the paper and went to a few open homes to see what was around, and in October we fell in love with a house and after a nail-biting tender process, it was ours on the 17th October. We moved in at the end of November and although theres loads of work to do (Daz is painting the kitchen as we speak after 3 weeks of having it all ripped out - I can't wait to get my kitchen cupboards and sink back in again!!), it's perfect for us and we're really happy. The house buying process over here is really easy, and you need to be a bit cheeky with the mortgage advisors too to get the best deal - I managed to knock BNZ down by 0.2% from their advertised rate which made quite a bit of difference - you just need to be cheeky enough to play a few of the big banks off against each other. (and I am! :icon_cool: )

Our jobs are going well - very sociable which we love! We went away for a 'paid for' weekend to Greytown with Daz's work just before Christmas, and I've been up to Waiheke Island for a team building few days with a boozy Wednesday night fancy dress party, and then a treasure hunt in combi vans around the island on the Thursday. It was so much fun! Work itself is really relaxed too - even though we're really busy, we still managed to stop work at 4pm on Friday and all sit round on the couches for a bottle of wine and a few beers. Daz often does the same at his work and he gets they get a team lunch bought for them every fortnight too. Work life over here seems to be really happy - our employers certainly seem to care about our well being much more than any in the UK ever did.

My brother arrived out here for a 6 week visit last week and he's fallen in love with the country too - he's off on a backpacker tour of NZ at the mo and texts me every day to tell me all the adventures he's been having - sailing and dolphin watching, kayaking, abseiling through the Waitomo caves, relaxing in natural pools and he's only been gone for 4 days!

I can honestly say neither Daz or I have had any regrets about the move out here. Sometimes I still can't quite believe that we're here even though it'sbeen 18 months now. I sometimes find myself sat at my desk looking out over Mount Victoria with my friends from work around me chatting and having a laugh, the sky blue, knowing I've got a perfect house to go home to and I have to pinch myself to confirm that it;'s real. Every morning when we drive down the gorge and onto the motorway and see the harbour and city open up in front of us as we drive round the coner, and when we're stuck in traffic watching dolphins playing in the water alongside the motorway, we know that we made the right decision coming out here and all the stress of the immigration process and job hassles in the beginning pale into insignificance. And although I was really close to my Mum before we came out here (we used to talk on the phone 2 - 3 times a day!), I haven't felt homesick at all and haven't felt like our contact has been less. OK I can't call her from work at 3pm if something funny happens to share it with her (she wouldn't be best pleased at 3 o clock in the morning I'm sure!), I can give her a quick call before she leaves for work in the morning and have a quick chat, or I can email her instead. So although it's taken a bit of shifting, the same contact is still there and Daz and I have both sent more photos home for them to see what we've been up to than we ever did before.

Anyway I'll stop babbling on for now. I just wanted to share some of our experiences with you guys and hope it might help in whatever stage of the process you are at the moment. Don't forget that I'm still around if you have any questions or want any advice from Welly (which I can [b:6952c401af]definately [/b:6952c401af]say is NOT the most boring city in the world!! :icon_evil: ).

Good luck guys!

Jodie

[MotherBear]

Terrific post, Jodie =D> . Thanks for taking the time to put it on here, as I?m sure many people will find both information and encouragement in there. It?s a great incentive not to give up to those who are struggling through the process and finding it?s grinding them down.

So pleased all is going well for you and long may it continue.

[Pulsarblu]

Thanks Jodie, it is really very inspiring and encouraging! I am looking forward to move to welly this year to find a job in IT so I will need lots of advise in renting houses and etc...! :icon_biggrin:

pulsarblu

[moose]

Great Post Jodie

Given us lots of encouragment that we r doing the right thing, cos sometimes when the going gets tough the negatives do creep in now and again.

House sell still waiting for that person to make us an offer!!!!!!

Cheers

Anna :006:

[Daisyspop]

Great stuff. Good to hear from someone else who simply loves the place

[Glenda]

What a fabulous post!

Nice to hear you have settled in Welly and are happy. Know what you mean about having to pinch yourself. My kids could take the bus to school but we go by car as I just love seeing the world outside of the house, and haven't tired of it after 7/8 months.

:icon_biggrin:

[Nonie]

Hey Jodie. I haven't been on here for ages so when I saw your post I was really eager to here how you've been getting on. I'm delighted you're still so happy. We've been here nearly 8 months now and are happy as the proverbial pigs in muck :icon_biggrin: Talk to you again in another 18 months :icon_biggrin:

[Jodie]

Thanks for the replies guys. It's great to hear that others are here and feeling the same way - makes it all worthwhile eh! Good luck to everyone still in the process - like I said, just shout if you have any questions or need any advice.

See you in NZ soon! :)

Jod

[johnty]

great post jodie, inspiring stuff for us newbies. :icon_biggrin: waiheke island now thats brought back wonderfull memories.they have a good jazz festival .


johnty