WHERE'S BEST TO LIVE IN NZ ETC PART 7 !!

[frikonastick]

Come oooonnnnnn MNHQ, where's our medal

This one?

www.bramptins.co.nz/shop/hot-drinks/twinings-traditional-afternoon/

Wait. What the...... Whatshesaid!!!!! I can't believe you found it!!!!!!! I swear to you, I went on that site and looked for it!!!!

Well!

What a corker of a day this is turning out to be!

Got good news, my FIL has turned a bit of a corner, still in intensive care and still on ventilator and not conscious, but infection markers have halved and doctor said 'he's on his way out of the woods' which is just such a relief and that means that DH can come home and will be in time for DDs birthday so I am very very relieved.

The Brit shops do vary their stock quite often.

Great news about your fil.

Yay frick! I know it's been hard on you ((())))

Hi wimwom!
Oh come and live on Waiheke, I'm 10 weeks too (let's hold each others hair back! ;) )
Sorry, too much too soon

Reiterate everything the others say. Bring bloody everything!
It's crazy 'spensive here and quality is poor in comparison to price.

We're hoping to move to a bigger place soon and I'm dreading filling it out with new furniture.

The rumpus room will need a sofa bed, and kiddies chairs and table
We need curtains etc and I just KNOW its going to be completely depressing!

Sorry, that was all a bit negative..nz is great, honest!

Now that my tea crisis has been sorted.......

Jeeze guys, I really really need to do something about how little I am exercising.

Whhhyyyyy am I so lazzzzyyyyyyy

Thank you so much for the advice and links. On the back of it have persuaded DH to take more stuff from here and he has said I can buy baby stuff to bring with too (which feels a bit weird as only ten weeks but guess that doesn't stop me!) can't do antenatal till visa comes through as will be entitled to state care - so looks like will have hospital, but that's ok as I'd opt for that probably anyway.
Angrybeaver - very happy to share hair holding duties with you, but will prob end up muscling in on the space round the loo with you, it's gross huh! Island living is out due to my job sadly - but I love it where you live and would be there like a heart beat if we could! I assume you all make wine and live the life out there!
How long have you all been in NZ? Do you mind if I join in?

Welcome Winmwom- the more the merrier!

You might be lucky with a midwife as you'll be due in winter. I had a private obs and it was $4,000 for the package but they do discounts if you sign up later on as you need less care. It was great and you deliver at the normal hospital so still have lots of back up.

AB- We moved into our house 2.5 years ago and still have an empty room.

Frik- great news. On the tea and the returning DH, obviously!

Seven months aaaaaand4 days!

welcome wimwom. I agree just bring everything as it'll probably be cheaper, if you find you want to buy new or don't need anything sell it on trade me. You can get amazing prices for second hand sales on there (like e-bay).

I used the hospital based midwifery system (old and high risk ) and there was nothing wrong with it. TBH if you are used to the UK system it will feel no different. I had ds1 in the UK and it felt the same except you were seen for appointments on time

Talking of exercise I am off to play tennis this morning - now bearing in mind I havn't played for years I am sitting here hoping it rains again and I gets called off!

wimwom I've been here aaaaaaages (12 years). Was only meant to be here a year! I would say bring lots of stuff - if you want to compare prices of baby stuff here and Uk check out these links for NZ prices

www.babyonline.co.nz/

www.babyfactory.co.nz/

You can easily sell stuff on. A friend of mine sold some IKEA drawers on Trade Me for more than she had originally paid for them in IKEA!

On one visit to the UK I stocked up on about three years worth of kids supermarket clothes - it's harder to find cheap-but-not-horrible kids stuff here. Some of the Tesco/Asda/Sainsburys stuff I bought is still going strong 5 years later on dd2.

Also, this website is quite informative on maternity services

www.mamamaternity.co.nz

The closest I'm getting to exercise today is drinking hot chocolate while watching Team NZ on TV :)

lol whatshesaid I also know somebody who sold a childs bedroom set for more than she paid in IKEA! Crazy....

Agree about children's clothes. I only buy in the UK on my trips back. Especially school shirts - plain white shirt/trousers in NZ from the school shop approx $40 each. Blue school trousers - Asda $6, pack of 2 white shirts Debenhams - $8 from memory. Crazy again!

Oh yes, if you have an Ikea near you, definitely stock up. I miss Ikea so much.

We've pretty much decided we'll sell most of our furniture before we leave - and a lot of it is Ikea stuff we brought with us. Some of the stuff goes second hand on trade me for silly money.

So, it's 7 weeks til my course ended, DD2 has stopped sleeping properly again and it's nearly school holidays... does anyone fancy meeting up to help me keep my sanity?

Next Friday? Am willing to go anywhere, but will have the littlest crazy one with me so some kind of cage secure area/play area would make life easier for everyone.

Oh, and a few school holiday meet ups too?

We might be up for school holiday meet up.

Friday dd1's school has big assembly in the morning - not sure how long that would go on for. So we might be out for that day.

Frick I would be happy to slow boat you some tea, costs about £15 for up to 2kgs might take a fair few weeks to arrive but surely 2kgs of tea would last a loooooong time!! PayPal makes these things v easy, I've traded merino for marmite in recent times

Ah thanks kiwi dreamer! That's really kind of you, luckily I have already managed to get hold of a few boxes, kind colleague of DHs in Auckland scored some for me

I may be up for a meet (puts nosey hat on) but my dss are 9 and 13 so I probably have the opposite to everybody else - they don't run off, don't have to be contained but are prone to chanting how 'lame' everything is and how I 'love to waste their life doing lame things'. So keep me in the loop of when and where you are meeting. If I'm lucky they will be doing other things that day and I won't be at work and I can come and be nosey

Would be great if you could make it Sibble! Am open to any ideas for location too. Is there a mythical place with coffee and cake for Mums, small play area for littlest ones and big open space for older ones, all safely enclosed to keep the bolters in one place?

Can I suggest predictability on Friday morning... Windsor Park for anyone who is free? (Justa? XMinerva are you still out there? We haven't heard from you in a while. Anyone else? )

What an absolute FUCKER of a day.

That is all

Oh, no, wait. Slightly redeemed as I just remembered I have some meringues in the cupboard.

And now completely redeemed by the appearance of my husband at the front door with a big bunch of flowers