Hi Everyone.
I have a job Yay!! The money is decent enough by NZ standards and I’ll hopefully be moving up pretty quickly once I’ve got my head round the cultural differences and procedures. I love spending lots of time with Buster but it’ll be good to use my brain again and to earn some money. I now have to apply for a work permit which should take a few weeks and then apply for a Residence permit in a couple of months time. The induction is 6 weeks although it’s done in sections and means going to Christchurch, which is about a 5 hr drive from here. It’s almost as cheap to fly so hopefully that’s what I’ll be doing. They cover a big geographical area from a farming town in the mountains about 1 ½ hrs south of Nelson to the north east coast about 2 hrs away. It’s all beautiful coast and countryside so it’ll be great to get out and about.
We’ve just had an interesting few days (for interesting read bloody frustrating and expensive!) in Christchurch. Our stuff and car have arrived so we trundled off with a borrowed trailer through the Lewis pass stopping at some thermal pools on the way. It was a lovely start to the trip bathing in pools that ranged from 28 to 36 degrees (although listening to the older, larger American ladies moaning and groaning in ecstasy whilst easing themselves in was a bit disconcerting). It was quite a cold and very rainy day, which made you appreciate the warmth all the more. It’s probably unbearable in the summer when it’s roasting. Anyway we got to Christchurch no problem but found we couldn’t get our things because customs wanted to open all our boxes and also said that we had to pay them because we only have visitors permits. Even with work permits we would still have to pay. Apparently they brought in this new law in November, which means anyone who isn’t a resident of NZ has to pay Goods and Services Tax on certain items which are made in NZ. We practically camped in the Customs office and managed to stop them opening all our boxes because that would have taken ages but we had to pay them about £1100 for the pleasure of bringing our old mattresses, bikes etc and the car into the country. To add insult to injury the weather was rubbish. It’s the first thing that has left a bad taste in our mouths and to be honest the fault was probably as much with our shipping company for not knowing or telling us. We’ve had to come back to Nelson empty handed except for a table and chairs we bought on ‘trade me’ (ebay) and will have to go back in about 10 days when everything has been checked for foot and mouth and the car has been registered. Arse is all I can say!
Negatives: Our bank account is noticeably lighter; I’m sick of playing cars; Buster is sick of us and asks 50 times a day to go to nursery; it’s hard to keep the little blighter occupied with few toys and few friends.
Positives: the sun is still shining in Nelson (although it’s chilly at night and in the morning); the flowers are still blooming; winter is coming and there’s a ski field about 1 ½ hrs away so we can learn to snowboard / ski and take Buster sledging; I have a job and am looking forward to being with other adults; we move into our new house on 06/05/08.
