We continue to work on the house and try to stay warm. I just got done posting a bunch of remodel discard items on Trade Me (the NZ version of Ebay). We have been looking at bathroom tile and fixtures, have gutted the closet and replaced the light in the bedroom. Still a long ways to go!
We are headed to the South Island for the weekend on Thursday. This is partly to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary on Saturday. We will be flying into Christchurch. From there, we plan to head to Mt Hutt and Mt Cook. We hear that Mt Hutt is open for skiing so we will check out the snow conditions. There has been quite a bit of snow in the South Island. I believe this is Mt Hutts earliest opening ever.
Swine flu is still in the news. The Victoria area in Australia has over 1,000 reported cases. NZ just passed some emergency quaratine messures. Thee was an article in the local paper last week that the US says swine flue originated in NZ ?!?!?!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
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5 comments:
Someone just recommended your blog to me and have enjoyed reading it. My husband and I are going to make the move to NZ hopefully at the end of 2010. We live in Windsor Heights, Iowa and I'm originally from Christchurch, hubby is from Ankeny and he fell in love with NZ when we went. Cheers to you for making the move...do you have any advice for us? Would you do anything differently? Thanks.
That is great that someone recommended our blog. I never know if we have anyone reading the blog that isn't family or a previous friend. We are branching out!
Advice:
* Go through the process to get permanent residence. It is difficult to get work right now with only a work permit. But, if you have a NZ passport that shouldn't be an issue.
* Start watching the exchange rate and prices now so you don't go into sticker shock when you arrive. We did not do this. We had a number of months of 'it can't cost that much!' reactions. Start thinking in NZ dollars early on.
* Leave the US in the Fall so you can get two summers.
* Don't plan to find work from the end of Nov to mid January. Everyone is on holiday.
* Keep all your Iowa winter items. I am so glad I have my sweaters and turtlenecks.
Do differently:
* Ship more stuff in our container. We got rid of a lot thinking we needed to conserve space. I find that the choices here are very limited and I miss the US Super Target options.
* Buy a house with better insulation and central heating. Not sure you can do this in Auckland unless you get something custom built, but it is a nice wish for the next time around.
That is all we can think of right now. If you are interested, we can exchange our personal email in case you want to contact us directly.
Thanks so much for the advice. I'd love to exchange emails with you. I don't know if you are able to see mine with my blogger identity or not. If not I will post it for you.
No, we can't see your email. If you want to post it, we will be in contact.
Lisa
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