WHERE'S BEST TO LIVE IN NZ AND WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW:PART 3!!!!(HOLY SHIT!)

[AngryBeaver]

Can you believe we've finished finished off another thread? Jeez we can talk!!
Just an update..we've found a nice double glazed,4 bed house,with nice garden. So that's one stress off the last.
Hilongwhitecloud

She was bloody Fab wasn't she? to Mo. justabout - work has been bit up and down but getting there - the freedom has been amazing though. Do you have tennants for your UK properties? Are they hard to manage from over here? I say hang on as you suggested.

You're doing better than me. I had DH pulling money out the halifax account this week and stuffing it back into the ASB so that we could pay the nanny. Been tough as she's needed paying before I earnt anything. Money has been a bit stress since we've been here - drawn more than I've wanted to on our UK savings.

While you're on the subject of money, can I please come and let off steam about the $7000 I've had to spend this month to keep my UK house weathertight!!! Had to give up a trip home this year because of the cost.

Perhaps we should ask for the thread to be renamed 'broke in NZ'!!

A not waterhouse tight in the uk? I thought that sort of thing only happened to NZ houses?

That sucks SP.

Today I stood on the front doorstep debating whether I needed a coat or not. And remembered it is midwinter :-)

But I'm also looking for a holiday apartment in Edinburgh for our Oct trip and I'm shocked at how nice they are for the money. 450 GBP for a lovely two bed for a week seems so cheap compared to hotels here. (Don't want to rub it in SP- my first trip back in 3 years!)

You're not rubbing it it! I didn't mean to be so pathetic - it's just been a rough week. The house needed a whole heap of work to the roof, windows and chimney to keep the rain and rot out do it had to be done.

The littlest - that's great that you have a trip booked for October. Maybe by then the British summer will show up? I don't envy people in the uk now one bit.

Oct is likely to be a bit grim tbh. My OH is going on a two week course in Europe and I can't face another three week solo stint with DD. He is leaving tomorrow for a week and I just did three weeks in April. This time I'll be working too.

But I am really looking forward to the shopping.

thelittleskiwi I may see you at the airport I'm going back in October as well. I will be the relaxed stress free one as going on my own (actually that's not true as I'm not keen on flying since 9/11 and don't breath until we land) but that aside I will be child free for nearly 3 weeks and will be the once leisurely watching movies and reading books in flight, having a swim in Singapore on the stopover (bliss). Although nearly changed flight and went this week, sister had a baby 3 weeks ago and is struggling, Nan fell earlier this week, my parents are away and I was trying to rally my brother from here to get her to the hospital and then get info... She broke her cheekbone, 2 fingers and wrist - at 89 that's not good. Brother was great but in a bloke kind of way kept saying she was fine - I kept saying she's not right before I knew she had fallen. She didn't want to tell me as she didn't want to worry me so sat at home for 2 days before my SIL went round (I eventually rang her once Nan said she had fallen). Brother sent photo (meant well but talk about add to the guilt). DH and I had a big discussion about whether to go back - I'm seriously considering it. We've been here 10 years and it gets harder the older she gets. Sorry to go on......just in thinking mode.

Aw littleskiwi - if you want to change your flight and can afford it just do it. I hope your Nan recovers fast. At least visit again before making up your mind about moving back.

So jealous of your solo flight! I was on my own with both DDs. At least i didn't get bored, but not very relaxing at all. I ended up sticking Gladiator on as it was one of the things to watch i wouldn't need sound for as I have seen it so often. (and anyway - just lik the dirty, sweaty men. Not interested in what they are saying).

Hope you doing as well as you can AB - been thinking of you

Sorry to hear about your Nan,sibble.I know that feeling Hope she has a speedy recovery. I too am exceedingly jealous of your solo time. I wish I could fly away somewhere on my own and hide for a while.

Thanks bobbish am tring to keep going til Tue...then will be dreading the phone ringing

Sibble - don't want to pry but is your mum not about for your nan? My nan is 89 and on her own - she's just got on skype and now has fb account! So I skyped her in Sunday and she told me she had driven her car through the hedge into the neighbours garden and dropped a tray of boiling drinks on her. I was a bit worried tbh. She seemed to think she's fine. She would be like your nan and not say if something was wrong.

First open home here tomorrow. Spent most of the day tidying & putting away personal stuff.

But really oddly, there have been no signs put up, nothing online with the estate agent or on trade me. It's like they aren't even bothering advertising. I'll be very unimpressed if we've been disturbed like this and nobody shows

Sibble- that all sounds pretty tough to deal with. I find it much more stressful when folk don't tell me what is going on as it means I worry all the time. I'm sure I've mentioned it before but Air NZ have a compassionate travel policy which means you pay normal fares at short notice in some circumstances.

In Oct I'll be the woman in the airport with a hyper 3 year old and a grumpy husband. In fact, given I'm doing 6 weeks of solo childcare this year it may be a good time to call in some of the time off I'm owed.

And can I just say... Brrrrr. I'm frozen today.

Sibble, so sorry to hear about your nan. It's so hard to be so far away, and I'm sure the photos didn't help. Shame on your DB for not doing more though! Is your nan recovering OK?

The littlest - I hadn't heard about the compassionate travel policy. That's really good to know for emergencies.

At the risk of depressing the thread too much, I'm also thinking of heading back later in the year. Just getting tired of the endless juggling between a demanding job and an equally demanding 3yo, with no family support. Tried to envisage how it will work next year when DS goes to school, with after-school pickups, weekend sports clubs and endless school holidays to juggle and not coming up with a lot of solutions. How does everyone else cope?

Hmm well so far I haven't had to do the juggling thing too much as I've been at home with the dcs - anything I earned at the moment would only cover the cost of childcare so I haven't really felt it's worth working at the mo. I hope to get something part time when they are older so I can still do school pick ups etc. School holidays are an issue of course - there are holiday clubs though. I know quite a lot of Kiwi mums who don't have family around and they manage though it's not easy.

I don't think it would be much different if I was in the UK though - my parents aren't alive anymore and my siblings all work full time - even if I lived close to them (and they all live in different places). I am lucky to have some good friends here, an English friend and I babysit for each other so we get to have nights out with our OHs (dh and I are off to Flight of the Conchords tonight).

We're in a similar situation in that we probably wouldn't live in the same place as the GP's so wouldn't get any day to day help in the UK. I guess they would take her for a few days, maybe a week in hols when she is older. But OH's commute here is so much shorter than would be likely in the UK that it's easier to be here. Not sure how we'll cope in hols when she goes to school though.

I'm off to FOTC tonight too! I have pals going but have to sit on my own so look out for a sad, solo person.

FOTC, now I am jealous!! Hope you both had a good night.

Yes, the family help is v enticing (especially as a lone parent)!

Oh my goodness, justabout, that all sounds crazy. Are they seriously saying they wouldn't make an exception for one child traveling from NZ?? The mind boggles. How old is your eldest?

I will be emigrating in three years to join my daughter and her family near Richmond, South Island. I will have three pensions - two from UK government service (teacher and civil service) and my retirement pension.
I have been trying to work out how much tax I will have to pay. I know my reirement pension will be frozen, but the other two are occupational pensions and will continue to be uprated.
I have looked at the various web sites, including the official NZ tax office site, but I still can't work out what my tax liabiity will be. Is there a personal allowance in NZ? What does it mean when it talks about four years examption for newly arrived residents?

Justabout - I'm speechless (but not entirely surprised given what you've said before). Any chance you can talk directly to your brother if only to talk through the various options with him, so he knows you're considering every angle, not just going with "it's impossible". (Remind me to tell you about my brother's wedding sometime)

We were having a 'missing family help' day today. DD2 developed croup last night. Mild enough, but could only sleep on me. And then the open home was this afternoon which was a nightmare getting everything ready. Could have done with having my mum around.

MIL is taking DD1 to stay with her in Cambridge on Friday. I shall need much handholding. Only place DD has stayed without me is with my Mum.