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Thread: Long-winded, overdue update - 3.5 weeks in :)

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Poole, UK to Chch, NZ
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    2,064

    Default Long-winded, overdue update - 3.5 weeks in :)

    (this was designed to be an email to all our friends and family back home, so apologies if it reads a little strangely for a forum post!)


    Dear Everyone,

    Many apologies for our radio silence - we have been very slack about letting you all know how we're doing, but it is partly because things have been moving so swiftly that just when I think everything's settled down something else happens that would out-date an up-date.. if that makes any sense??

    I'll give it a try though - apologies for long-windedness..

    Our trip over was pretty good to be honest. Long, tiring, and I never want to watch Toy Story 3 again, but for all the Katelyn didn't sleep much she was not the stereotypical nightmare child who screams for 8+ hours The stopover in Sydney was really good too, a nice and peaceful break in one of our favourite places, and K enjoyed going to the beach and playground every morning - though we had to be in by 10.30am because it was soooooooo hot and sunny. Rob also helped put out a small grass-fire on a street corner!! Another bonus was catching up with some lovely friends - not everyone, but we'll pop over there again I'm sure - and seeing how they're all doing.

    Then we flew on to NZ, and were surprised and happy to see Lyn (Rob's mum) in Auckland airport! So we had a lovely picnic together before the short flight to Christchurch, meeting up with the rest of the family not long after. Now we're all settled in with Lyn and Roger - thank you thank you! - crowding up all the spaces, but we promise we'll be out as soon as we can!

    Lots of things are very easy to sort out here Turning Rob's bank account into a joint account took one whole day - rather than the 6 weeks it took in the UK - I got a debit card straight away. I didn't need to have an interview just so I could get an IRD number (=NI number) either! Drivers licence and the all-important library card LOL were also very simple operations. Might have to wait a while for a new credit card though, since Dumbo here thought she'd lost her purse yesterday and cancelled everything...

    Jobwise, Rob had his first interview the morning after we arrived (which was actually the 2nd interview, because they did one by Skype before we left the UK too). After a 3rd interview and chasing references - thank you, Trevor & Pete! - they finally offered him a job this week! But in the meantime, Rob had been busy finding and starting work elsewhere, so we're now working out the pros and cons of each and will probably let the slow coaches down gently in case the poor over-offered one needs them one day..

    I've been hunting around too and have been to 5 interviews so far, with 3 more next week. Hopefully one will come out right!! Many apologies to Thabang, Amanda and Graham if you're being hassled and many MANY thanks if you've responded... I have asked them not to chase references unless they think they actually want me though, because I have been applying for just about anything I'm remotely qualified for.

    Socially speaking, not much news there but we have been meeting some of Rob's wider family and random internet people from the ENZ forum, who are all lovely. We also saw Stefan (uni friend) and his family when they came to Chch briefly, very nice indeed. We've been checking out houses and will hopefully have something sorted in the next couple of months (maybe just in time for the container's arrival, if we're lucky!) so globe-trotting visitors will be very welcome!

    K has also started going to a local preschool, 2 days per week, because while I don't have a job yet we wanted her to get used to it rather than having a massive panic. Unsurprisingly I am made to feel like a horrible mummy when I drop her off.. but she seems to be having a fab time when she forgets about me, and Moo is there to join in the fun too. Kiwi preschools are pretty funky too - e.g. they have WORKSHOP tables for the kids to play with, by which I mean REAL saws, hammers, vices etc. Apparently it is ok for a child to learn by getting hurt now and then We found a lovely lady to look after her on other days too, in the hope that one or the other will turn out to be a winning formula. She's new to childminding and not in Becky & Dave's league by a long shot, but after looking at some of the other preschools and childminders she seemed to be the one who would do best by Katelyn. Fingers crossed!

    In more terrifying news, Katelyn managed to fall 3-4m off the top of a slide last week... not very nice, and she was so terrified herself that the paramedics had no choice but to take us to the hospital in their big white taxi. Thankfully she did calm down in the end and turned out to be perfectly fine, so big thanks and apologies to the St Johns and hospital staff for being very patient with us...

    Other than that, um, not much going on apart from a late start to the Christmas shopping. Somehow it doesn't quite feel like December, but I'll get back into the swing of things soon enough. The weather has been gorgeous and sunny for the most part - cloudy now! - however all that snow would have been fun to see!! I hope you're all not too cold, and that slush isn't ruling the roads...

    We miss you all - family, friends, all the little kidlets who are growing up slowly but surely... Really do. I even miss work, a little bit, and very definitely the lovely people there! We don't regret coming here, but being so far away from you all is definitely cause for sadness..

    big hugs and best wishes to you all,

    Sophie, Rob & Katelyn xxx


    P.S. There was an 3.8 aftershock about 1km from Rob's new office the other day. I was in an interview 15km away, and the walls and windows rattled. Eeek? But most of the time we don't notice them. Honest. Seeing the broken buildings is scarier.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    UK->Whangarei->Auckland
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    1,016

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    I was just wondering how you were getting on. Hope Little K is feeling better after her fall - that really is quiet scary.
    sounds like you've achieved a lot in such a short time!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    37,824

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    (((()))) for all of it, good and "oh, thank goodness".

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Beachlands NZ
    Posts
    111

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    Sounds like you are doing amazingly well - good luck with the house hunting, and the update was lovely.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Celaya, Mexico
    Posts
    368

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    Great to hear your update (Luckily children are made bouncy)
    All the best on the house hunting front!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Poole, UK to Chch, NZ
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    Thanks all

    We were reflecting about a few other things yesterday too, like how expensive food is (not just because the numbers are bigger!!) and how I'm going to have to minimise DD's white grape habit in favour of a cheaper variety of soft fruit...

    Also, there is more SKY here. One factor is definitely all the single-storey homes and wider streets, but also hubby reckons the cloud level is higher. Either way the result is a much greater sense of openess everywhere, and the ability to see mountains in the distance. Gorgeous

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Rotorua, Bay of Plenty
    Posts
    591

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    We love the fact that even in the centre of town, in whichever direction you look, we can see the hills and mountains!

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