Things to do on Arrival

[noodles3]

Hi all,

I wondered if it would be an idea to start a list of 'Things to do on arrival', where to get these things, the costs, ID required, recommendations etc.

Here is our list so far...

1 Get IRD - Post Office - £135.00 - Passport and Driving Licence (+ copy of each);
2 Get NZ Driving Licence - AA Centres; VTNZ; VINZ - $51.00 - current driving licence;
3 Car Insurance - various such as AMI; AA; Banks;
4 Mobile SIM - not sure from where or who yet so any suggestions?;
5 Rent a house - any agent recommendations?;
6 Rental Insurance - again not sure from where and how much so recommendations welcome;
7 Buy car - any dealer recommendations?;

[rogercruse]

4 Mobile SIM - not sure from where or who yet so any suggestions?

Ordered a New Zealand Vodafone pay-as-you-go SIM from www.0044.co.uk while still in the UK and upgraded to a rolling 30 day contract when I arrived.

I did have to get my Blackberry unlocked at a cost of $60 even though O2 (in the UK) said it was already unlocked when I purchased it from them and explained that I was moving to NZ.

Added the Blackberry Internet Services and was fully connected within 24 hours.

[Duncan74]

Hi all,

I wondered if it would be an idea to start a list of 'Things to do on arrival', where to get these things, the costs, ID required, recommendations etc.

Here is our list so far...

1 Get IRD - Post Office - £135.00 - Passport and Driving Licence (+ copy of each);
2 Get NZ Driving Licence - AA Centres; VTNZ; VINZ - $51.00 - current driving licence;
3 Car Insurance - various such as AMI; AA; Banks;
4 Mobile SIM - not sure from where or who yet so any suggestions?;
5 Rent a house - any agent recommendations?;
6 Rental Insurance - again not sure from where and how much so recommendations welcome;
7 Buy car - any dealer recommendations?;

Regarding the above -

1) Not sure why you have £135 there - it's free.
2) You need proof of address. However, if you take out contents insurtane with the AA then you can use that as the proof in advance of anything coming through the post. No massive rush for this though as you can drive on a foreign license for 12 months
3) State quoted a lot, AMI were good for me. Bring a copy of your renewal or proof of no claims and fax that through.
4) 2degrees are cheap but may not work for SMS to your friends back home, check the website. Other options are XT and Vodaphone. I've found vodaphone good for me. Depends where you are coming from as some phones (US) may work better with XT and others (EU) better with Vodaphone.
6) See #2, but I went with AA. Will get quotes from AA and AMI for both contents and car at some point, but for ease then AA quoted a sensible price and didn't need valuations which National Bank did and I had enough to do rather than run round getting valuations.

5&7 will obviously need local knowledge

[Duncan74]

I'd add 'register with GP'. They work on a wierd 3 month schedule, and of course I waited a week to register, left it 3 months from arrival before going for my asthma meds and found I'd missed the quarter date by 2 months and so my appointment was an extra $30. No biggie in the overall scheme, but worth doing sooner rather than later.

Also Library, visit I-site for free maps. Tour of local coffee shops. Obviously 'Bank' is missing off your list.

I think that then matches my list.

[April]

Register with a doctor?
Arrange MAF inspection?
Pick up any pets arriving?
Register pets with local council?
Update wills?

[noodles3]

Great, thanks all. Is there a way to edit the first post with updated info?

[hosebergine]

We send texts to the UK using 2degrees pay-as-you-go. No problems at all and we're spending a lot less now than when we were on Vodaphone. They are just starting a data service as well if you have a fancy phone.

[Duncan74]

We send texts to the UK using 2degrees pay-as-you-go. No problems at all and we're spending a lot less now than when we were on Vodaphone. They are just starting a data service as well if you have a fancy phone.

It's just annoying that my wife is on Vodaphone back in the Uk, as are a few other people I know.

http://www.2degreesmobile.co.nz/text...eople-overseas

As such it won't work.

Having said that, then I email from my phone rather than text most of the time anyway, but for that odd occasion........ And the previous lack of 3G and data bundles on 2Degrees would of course made that tiresome/expensive.

But here we go again. IRD etc, then there's no debate. As soon as you ask for 'best' then that will depend on your own circumstances. In that case then we can point out some info, but you'll need to do some legwork yourself.

[noodles3]

In terms of Mobiles, I've got an unlocked iPhone 3G and the OH has a Nokia 5800. I tend to use email more than text and the OH visa-versa, except Facebook usage.

Can I amend my first post with updated info, otherwise this thread could become a tangle of info?

[Duncan74]

you're in trouble. Your iphone will work best on xt as it's 850mhz but the nokia will be better on vodaphone or 2degrees as they run 900 which is the uk standard. As you are the main days user then xt would seem the most senible . Consider a new 850 phone for her as the 5800 isn't that expensive.