Moving Soon

[monagirl13]

Hi All!

I am a young professional who has a job offer in Christchurch and will hopefully be arriving in New Zealand pretty soon. I have a few questions that you all will probably have the answers to.

1) Is there a company that you would recommend to meet and greet me at the airport? I would like a city orientation and a ride to my lodgings. Speaking of lodgings...

2) Is the Christchurch YMCA pretty safe? I've been living on my last paycheck from 2 months ago and doubt I can afford a deposit and first months rent on a new apartment until I get a paycheck from my new job and may have to stay there for 2-3 weeks.

3) What are some things I should pack extra of? I've read the "sanitary napkin" posts (sorry guys) but are there other things that I should bring in bulk?

I'd appreciate any info I can get!

[JandM]

Hello and welcome.

NZ will be waking up shortly, and I'm sure you'll get some answers then.

[themilkybarkid]

Hi Monagirl
welcome and well done getting the job.
I'm still in the UK and erm.. I'm a bloke so I'm not able to advise on either, but I'm sure some Christchurch folk will answer you

Best of luck

[monagirl13]

Thanks! I just received my Visa today and hope to be there next week. Decided to go ahead and book the YMCA but still looking for a good service to show me around town!

[Mav]

Thanks! I just received my Visa today and hope to be there next week. Decided to go ahead and book the YMCA but still looking for a good service to show me around town!

HI Mona,

There was a person advertising a room available for rent in Christchurch in the real estate forum, you should be able to find it in one of the latest few threads in that forum. I just had a quick look and the member is listed below:
http://www.enz.org/forum/showpost.ph...91&postcount=3

[Shones]

From what I remember of our month in Christchurch it's so compact that you'll find your way around very easily without any "meet and greet" service. The bus exchange is so helpful.
Taxis from the airport don't take long and seemed very safe to me. Good Luck

[Duncan74]

There's a good bus from the airport right into the centre of town and I'm 99% sure it went past the YMCA (or at least one) on the way in. Taxis are relatively expensive over here, so the bus may be better. You can get free maps as you walk off the plane so that should help with your bearings, and the bus drivers are very helpful, so let them know as you get on and they'll make sure they stop at the right stop if you ask nicely. Head into the i-site early on and they'll point out on a map the essentials, so then you can explore yourself. We found our way around very easily with no help on our visit, and then again when I was working down there it was pretty easy to find my way around with only occasional glances back to the map. Although a bid city by NZ standards, it's a small place for most of the world, so isn't that daunting.

Oh, the bus to town goes from the International end of the terminal too, so that will help, and there was plenty of space for cases. It's the first/ last stop too, so lots of time to get on and off, and wasn't that busy when I used them.

[Aquarian]

Good advice Duncan, i sites really are brilliant for finding out local info and more importantly free maps.
All the best

[monagirl13]

Thank you all for the great info! Mav- Thanks for the link! I have no idea when I'll be getting paid next so cheap lodging until I can find a place of my own is key.