We're leaving on a jet plane...

Hi Helen & Mike,

Great to hear you got there in one piece and are already getting things sorted.

Looking forward to hearing more about your travels. Bet you cant believe that you are there now [smiley=icon_biggrin.gif]

Keep us posted..

PS what do you think of the weather across there?

awww I loooove those cars. is it the`squarer shaped single turbo version. in white? BLISSSSSS!!!!

glad ur here safe and bet u did get bored`stiff with rugby. it's so arse eh?

glad ur here safe and bet u did get bored`stiff with rugby. it's so arse eh?

Rugby is a mans game Stevey!

if men are stupid moron savages then I guess your right!!!!!
I'm so unmanly!!!!

Deep breath, skim if you don't wanna read it all.

We have been here for just over a week but with the car troubles don?t really have much to report. We went into Auckland CBD to get NZ pay as you go SIM cards, we found we needed to have our phones unlocked. This we did at a little Dairy called Foodland just in a little mall on Queen Street. Cost varies depending on phone, my Motorola cost $40 Mike?s Samsung cost $50. Sims cost $35 each, they come with $5 free airtime and when you register online you get another $10 free. We bought a KiwiCall Card for calling back home. From Aucks this is 2.9c a min but from a mobile the mobile co charge you to use. In 6 cities tis free from landline/pay phone, from another 40 places a small surcharge per min and there is also a NZ wide number with a higher surcharge, If you buy $30 credit you get another $3 free and with $50 $5 free. All explained on the card. There are lots to choose from. This seemed like the best to us and has a flat rate all day. Others have random off peak times.

Bought some Sensodyne toothpaste from a chemist, this was very expensive at $15, maybe coz a chenist and not a supermarket but maybe coz of the brand. Bakeries seem quite cheap. Veg World and Fruit World seem really cheap and the produce all looks so much fresher, bigger, healthier and normal than in the UK, no uniform shaped carrots. Got couple of bits from Countdown and this seems like a nice shop. One of our hosts so far says that Pak ? Save is dark and uninviting and not much cheaper. They seem to be big on buying only specials here.

We have been stayed with two different couples who we contacted before leaving home. The first we contacted through the Salvation Army, the second worked with Mike?s ma about 25 years ago when they were in the UK for a few years.

In both places we have been made to feel very welcome and part of the family. The Haimes? (couple no 1) have emailed us to offer their family as ours while we are so far from home. The first two days, sat and sun last week, they drove us round heaps of car yards looking for cars and then to an importer friends of theirs.

We bought a car from him and basically it broke down twice in to days, the second of which being the head gasket! We called him and said we didn?t want it any more and he sent a tow truck for us in rush hour and the next day brought another car from the other side of the city to where we were staying to see if we liked it. Back at the yard we had the choice of cars and chose a VW Golf. This was put on D plates and loaned to us for the weekend to try out, imagine that in the UK. Back at the yard on Monday a full service was done and it was also thoroughly cleaned. It was a bit cheaper so money off and also another $500 for the inconvenience of it all!

Both couples have taken us on sight seeing trips and we have seen far more than we would have done staying in a hotel and trying to do it on our own. We have also been out to the Waitakere?s, Shakespeare Regional Park and up Sky Tower. We don?t ?do? cities but love Auckland and have enjoyed being shown round the suburbs to see how the other half live.

On Wednesday we head up to Kerikeri for our first stint as ?helpers?. We found the Help Exchange Network on the net where hosts advertise placement type opportunities. You stay with them and in return for a bit of work you get free room and board, sometimes pocket money. You also upload your profile and hosts can contact you if they like the sound of you and offer work. This can be anything from gardening to painting to cooking, to working in B&B or hostel to fruit picking or a farm stay. We are obviously doing things different from a lot of you guys and will be traveling for a good few months before making the decision to settle permanently or otherwise.


Tips and Impressions so far:

If you apply to the bank in the UK before you come out everything will be ready for you to collect when you arrive. We would recommend dealing with the Migrant Banking section, they were very helpful and understood the need of migrants. They also can invite you to apply for Credit cards, which you would otherwise not qualify for without a job otherwise. No credit checks were needed and everything was done for you while you were there.

Auckland obviously has run down areas but even these seem quite open and green. Roads are wide and lots of trees everywhere and open spaces appear regularly.

One benefit we realised of single story homes is that even in the crowded suburbs you don?t feel hemmed in and garden are not over looked as the windows are below the level of the garden fence.

The weather has been variable, sun, cold wind, rain, overcast but warmer than the winters in the UK.

People have been very helpful and interested in us and all seem welcoming of the fact that we are here to travel for a year but may look to emigrate later. No negative responses thus far. No antagonism towards us coming into the county. The migrants we have spoken too all love it here and wouldn?t go back. They also cite Kiwi helpfulness, saying that we will always be helped in the beginning but Kiwi?s will back off if they later decide they don?t like you.

We are doing this a bit different by travelling for so long before making the decsion but hopefully the insights wll be of use to some. Sorry for the length.

PS you can read a verbatim diary at http://mikeandhelen.bloggers.co.nz
this might be a bit long winded and boring in places but bits might interest. Is really so we remember it all and family can check in but if u wanna browse feel free. I warn you it can be long tho. Don't feel obliged!
:006:

Great blog Helen,

Good to hear what's been going on since you arrived.

You'll need to upload some photos soon [smiley=icon_biggrin.gif]

Brilliant Helen. Plenty of useful info there.

You'll certainly be well travelled by the time you've decided to settle and will have seen a lot more than a lot of us will manage.

Cool post. Loving the newly arrival posts so far.

We are still here and not dropped off the planet. Lappy broke tho so posting has been an issue. We have more stuff to say so will endeavour to do so very shortly. Have just done Northland and back to Aucks before heading for Thames today. Northland great and spectacular, think tooo hot for us in the summer tho, also maybe a little too remote.

More thoughts to come and please feel free to ask questions!!

Just as a footnote I would like to say just how astounded we are by the kindness and generosity of strangers!!!

Bye for now helen.