WHERE'S BEST TO LIVE IN NZ AND WHAT DO WE NEED TO KNOW: PART 5!

[AngryBeaver]

Look at us Chatty Cathy's!
Justa oh nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
(I'm not sure )

There's a few places listed here, Massey or Coatesville are prob your nearest, justabout.

www.localist.co.nz/auckland/articles/where-to-pick-strawberries-in-auckland

I think it only runs for about a month, late Dec- Jan. They recommend always phoning first to check on hours etc.

Does anyone else have children who are, hhmm, a little spirited at the moment?

DH has been back at work for two days and is also working all weekend. Sob.

Mine are pretty tired at the moment, which can make them hard work. It's a combination of Christmas excitement, the heat, the humidity, seeing people, sleepovers, sugar, everything really!

I'm pretty secure in saying mine (well DD1 mostly but DD2 is having her moments too) have long past being called spirited and a swiftly approach obnoxious! No routine, presence of adored grandparents, combined with Christmas and far too much spoiling... definitely difficult.

Waiheke was lovely. I can see how people would enjoy living there. It wouldn't be for me (too much of a worrywart re ferries, bad weather, medical stuff) but I can see that if you loved the island that would just become irrelevant.

(Am happy to witter on at length here or by email if you want to PM me your email AB - I admit to having quite a bit of fun mentally assessing the place on your behalf easily pleased me )

vvv done!
littlest dd is being tres brattish at the moment. I am giving her the benifit of the doubt and filing it under "overwhelmed".
But she is doing my head in.
And let's just say, if I were the slapping bottom type of mummy, there would be one little girl with one as shiny and red as Rudolph's shnozz!
Saying that I had such a good time with her in the pool yesterday, we both really enjoyed it and she has such an infectous laugh, it's hard not to join in!

ds1 is also a bit whingey and clingy, and runnng off to his bed if you so much as direct a stern word his way,shouting "I'm not listening to you! You don't love me!"

Again, just a lot to deal with at theis time of year.

Kids like routine so they say, well there's nothing routine about Christmas is there? It's most out of the ordinary!
Worry not they shalln't be brats as challenging in January!

just popped in to say that we have 6 weeks to go until we fly out and i STILL havent organised a shipper. or anywhere to stay on the other side. or anything at all really. what is wrong with me!! i mean, this is our 8th international move, its not like i dont know what to do. i just cant seem to work up any sense of urgency. and by now usually, i am like, in full Move Mode and am super organised and have lists of lists and stuff is being Taken Care Of. even more worrying is that DH is very laid back too and i cant tell if he is normally this laid back about a move because i always take care of everything and so he isnt panicking because he thinks its all going to be fiiiiiine like it always is, or if he is laid back because whatever i have is some weird catchy its allll riiiight mon virus or something.

am also aware that i am typing this as moving avoidance behaviour. help me!!

frick?! You loon, get your arse in gear!

I've technically just done move number 8 (if you count my Erasmus year in Germany and my post-uni year in Japan which we more "person-moves" than house moves, if you get me).

If does get a little "ah, it'll be fine" after a while, so I shall give you a few cautionary tales from our last move (Brussels to NZ with a month in Ireland)

• shippers arrived 12 hours late, while DH was attempting to do a phone interview
• we never got around to handing back car registration document (thank goodness for friends who were staying on)
• some of my favourite books, my salad bowl, and 2 essential saucepans ended up in the "storage" shipment by accident
• I found myself sitting on the floor in a totally empty house attempting to feed 4 month old DD
• I was so tired & behind schedule that I ended up having to do Christmas shopping online. Paid for DB & SIL's present twice & paid for international shipping for something that was only going around the corner.

Does that help motivate you?

Good to know it isn't just my little darling. She conked out by 7.30 so I just have to survive 48 hours solo now. My kiwi BF plus family arrive back on Sunday pm so that will keep her happy too.

frik- that is scary. But my theory is that the moving stuff will expand to fill whatever time you can give it. We may have to stay here cos I can't face organising it all ever again though!

I'm trying to organise our summer hols in Northland. I hate booking bachs. They always seem so bloody expensive and so crap.

I mean, seriously, they want $280 a night for this place:

www.holidayhouses.co.nz/properties/9449.asp?curDate=09-Feb-2013

Hmm, prime school holiday time, that's why the rate is so high. Any chance you can go in Feb when the schools are back?

That's the plan- we're aiming to go the second week in Feb so schools are back. We to Waiheke that week last year and had fab weather.

Oh I see, that place you linked to was $280 in Jan and $170 in Feb so I thought you were going Jan.

Nice beaches at Matapouri and nearby, we went a couple of years ago. Nice views from that bach, not so sure about the bedspreads

Ah, a bed in the laundry room! Now why didn't I think of that!!

Anyone watching Dallas? Far too young to remember the original,of course, but I have suggested it would appeal to my Mother...no reply as yet!

Not watching Dallas though I did watch the original

We quite often go to baches in autumn/winter/spring when they're cheaper. You are gambling on the weather a bit that way but up north especially can be pretty nice. We were in Russell one year in June and we were on the beach in 20 degree sunshine...

actual laugh out loud at justas subconcious rebelling. i think you have hit the nail right smack on the head.

i am totally rebelling!

lol. off to tell DH that my mid life crisis has officially started

Just found Dallas on plus one. SO excited. Used to watch it when I was about 8 with my mum. Eye candy and all! Result.
So our waihi Bach was $200 a night and basic - was a bit miffed tbh but know it was Xmas. My computer had totally dies to point of not turning on. Can anyone recommend an Auckland laptop dr?

I'm all for reusing and recycling. Just not with 1970's bedlinen. Sigh. You'd think for that money they'd cough up for a new duvet cover. We got really burnt last year on Waiheke with a place that was so unsafe for a toddler it's made me very nervous.

Lucky you lolly I wasn't allowed to watch it! Or Eastenders, or Neighbours,or Grange Hill!!
It's quite good in an incredibly cheesy way...

It's always a bit of a gamble when you have children isn't it,*littlest. Can no one recommend somewhere for you?

We had to take own linen to Bach. Clean place but confronted with dirty linen on bed which I stripped to find blood stained mattress protecter. . Not too impressed tbh.

Not allowed to watch Grange Hill , so you never saw Zammo's decline into heroin addiction...just say no kids!

lolly- have you tried holding the button down for 3 secs as a reset? does it have any lights on it (spot the ex technical support operator)