3 weeks till PR?

[Welshgirl]

You have nowhere to go?! You have nowhere to go?!?!

Even if you're not settling in Hamilton, if you're touring you can always head on up to us when you land - I know it'll be early but by the time you drive up from Aucks to Ham, I'm sure we could manage to be awake for you (well, I will but I can't guarantee Taff ). We have a campervan-sized driveway and a kettle - what more could you want?

[zummerzet_lou]

We have a few areas in mind, and loads that we want to check out. Maybe a 2nd look at hamilton, and if Taffy has finished washing his hair, might catch up with him, WG and Dawn. Wellington as that's where most of the jobs are, and we must check out rotorua and Taupo etc!

As for the camper van, we can't hire one as they all seem to say "no dogs" so we're going to try and buy one, with the notion that we'll sell it on once we're done with it.

Have you heard back about Neils interviews yet?

[zummerzet_lou]

Thanks WG

Will certainly bear that in mind ... we are hoping to buy a campervan, so will have to sort out the logistics of that first. Are you really sure you're ready for Jon and the kids though?

I'm too excited to work

[ebianca]

Still nothing concrete about Job yet but is sounding pretty promising- don't wnat to hijack your thread so will update on mine when I need to- hoping to have some good news next week though.

[Welshgirl]

Originally Posted by zummerzet_lou

Are you really sure you're ready for Jon and the kids though?

Well, NOW I'm not

Should I be worried?

[zummerzet_lou]

Don't think so ... think you'll like Jon, and I know he's going to love you and Taf.

James and Lauren will love you both too - esp the bunny and the cats as they are both animal mad!

I'm just worried that Jon and Dawn are either going to get on really well .... or not at all. Hmmmmm ....

Ho hum ... I should be concentrating at work but am struggling. I'm also bursting to tell my collegues, but am waiting for our letter from immigration before I hand in my notice and make it official.

[Taffy]

I'm actually going to post something sensible and constructive

May be worth considering what time of year you're coming over Lou! August is probably the coldest time of year, and being in a campervan with kiddies when it's freezing cold and damp is not fun - ask Dawn! Campervans (decent ones anyway) are also pretty expensive, and may take you a long time to sell on.

This isn't a sales pitch, but if you're not sure where to settle and want to move to the North Island, then you can't beat Hamilton as a base of operations - by car it's 1.5 hours to Auckland, Tauranga and Rotorua, 2 hours to Taupo and New Plymouth, and only 6 hours to Wellington. This leaves you with the ability to get to interviews anywhere, without the need to panic about getting there! It's also one of the cheapest cities in the NI to rent a house. I'm suprised more people don't use it as a fact finding tour base.

Where ever you end up, keep Jon away from Dawn. She's far too loose with insults, and he could still be harbouring some resentment over the 'turd' incident.

[Banjo.Jon]

Originally Posted by Taffy

keep Jon away from Dawn. She's far too loose

Sounds like my kinda girl!!

I think the only thing Lu has to worry about me and Dawn is us running off to join the hillbilly circus with me playing the banjo and Dawn singing!

More seriously though (and while I have use of a PC and not trying to type things out on my phone), I agree with you about the camper thing Taffy. However, I/We would like a day camper i.e. Mazda Bongo (with pop top) or similar so we can go out weekends and I can use it for kayaking trips. Any suggestions on alternatives or is the Bongo as good as it gets?

[Maggiemoo]

I too would agree about the "campervan in winter" thoughts - as you know we initially considered hiring a campervan for our first few weeks, but I am so glad we didn't - I think the kids would have gone stir crazy stuck in the same space for a few weeks. We rented a serviced apartment in Auckland for a week when we first arrived, then stayed in motels on our trip down to Wellington (stayed in Tauranga, Taupo, Napier) and then rented another apartment for a week in Wellington - the kids had space to run around (fortunately, as it rained all the time we were in Welly!!), we had full kitchen and bathroom facilities, and loads of space to store all the cr*p we had brought over with us We just hired a big car to get us around (Ford Territory - booked before we left, can't remember how much it was, but don't think it was that expensive when we were paying in UK pounds) - and when we got to Welly, we bought a big estate car, which Ken then drove back up to Tauranga (I wimped out of another long road trip with the kids, and flew up with them!!)

We must catch up soon - can't believe you are going so soon. Sorry not to have been in touch for ages - Alex was poorly for quite a few weeks, so we were "confined to barracks", but she's on the mend now (fingers crossed!!) If there is anything we can do to help in the next few months, please let us know. Have a great weekend - doing anything special for his lordship's birthday?

Maggie xx

[Banjo.Jon]

Thanks Maggie,

Will have to try and catch up soon. As for "his Lordships Birthday", if all goes to plan I shall spend the day on the golf course and the evening in the pub, however, Lucy will have other plans I am sure, so it will probably be the usual weekend activity of me and the kids being dragged around the shops!