just moved to NZ with DP and DS

[Kjaysmum]

Hi there, I have just moved to New Zealand with my Kiwi partner and DS 2.1 yrs. We are on the Kapiti coast and just thought I
d see if there are any other Mumsnetters out there. ?

Piffle

thats the downside of NZ being a small place. Someone usually knows the bloke.

Yes I am trying to revist the reasons why I left I think top of the lsit was anonymity - escape from the provinciality, ironic as I lived in central Wgtn...
I do really want to go back, I know the crime seems so much more abrupt and on your doorstep than in larger populated places.
Rape was teh crime of choice when I was growing up, infact on our way to school every day walking through Brooklyn central park there was a man flashed every day, it was just part of live...

anonymity for me too Piffle. Though the older I get the more I like the country over the city. If I ever live in NZ again would live rural over city. Alot of city people seem like big fish in a little pond these days and find that quite boring and unfriendly.

yes we are in a new estate within a smallish but busy market town in Lincs.
WE have seriously thought about going back to NZ, DP is English
It's ds whose dad lives over here that is the crux we are unable to sort out though...

Hello all, well the blummin residence application is finally in...all getting a bit scarey because I put in a request to extend my visitors visa to 9 months and they only gave me a month...silly me didn't realise it was over an 18 month period so I already had 3 months when DS was a baby 04/05 visit. Have requested a fast track cause processing in Wellington can take up to a year..eek. Any how if no fast track apparently I can apply for a work permit, one thing at a time though eh.

Dp doesn't know your friends in Otaki, Papillon, would be grat to meet them in the summer.
I was driving around up north a bit the other day, while DS was having his sleep in the car, is some nice coast up above Waikanae. We've been having some crazy storms and lots of rain, haven't experienced such mad weather for a long time!!

Hi KJM Have just had 4 guest from NZ stay the night and they were telling me all about the freaky rains and strange storms. Rumatakas being closed for 4 days and all that. I hope spring comes early for you in compensation.

Gotta dash for now, will post later

yeah full on storms but it was lovely today, and tonight the skys are clear and the stars incredable, mind you I just walked out of a particularly cool yoga class and looked up to the milky way, pretty cosmic stuff , much needed after a very stressy week.

Hi KJM

Great to hear you have found a yoga class. Would love to get that happening but dh is always bleedin working!

Hope your week is alot less stressful. I am having a lazy morning after a busy family time in the weekend. DS does not want to know anyone but me and when its hot and he is tired, well its no good for socialising!

hmmm you kiwis do like to travel don't you...I am experiencing exactly the opposite to you ladies, I am hoping that living in a closer community will help me in my only child raising, amsterdam was full of people but I always felt a bit homebound due to the lack of outside life and living so high up, lets hope I'm right!
Ds is going through a real pushing the barriers stage at present, maybe connected with having been a bit poorly, the unsettling affects of emigrating, two winters back to back and just plain old being 2.2 etc whatever he is averaging on 5 tantrums a day. I am striving to stay calm and be the kind of parent I like to hope I am, eek scarey stuff!

really sorry to hear you can't get a yoga class in, Papillon, I do it on Monday evenings it's the only time I really get to myself and it's very precious to me.
Was wondering what one does when a thread gets this long as it's a long way from the top to bottom, is it worth starting it again?
How are you coping with the heatwave Anniemac, do you have big little ones or little little ones, must be really hard on the really small ones all the heat. I bet London is a bit stifling.

anniemac where in wellytown?
Sorry for the expat thread crash... blame the homesickness

Ah KJM this thread is still young... some get posts into the 1000´s! I am part of a thread that keeps going and going here on MN - its on the spiritual board if you want to check it out.

DH mum is here atm so I hope to get some time out soon, with dh hopefully! He is always at work - dd says to him "are you going to work again"

I feel lucky to live in a city which is not big, and there is a real feel of community here that I am involved in. We spend quite afew afternoons at the city pool which is free. I know loads of people there and it is very social. Our apartment is near a great park for kids - so we often also go there - we are well known in our neighbourhood. dd loves to go to the bakery below our place to chat to the ladies and get a piece of bread. I have many good friends here, a better than I have had in NZ. Would like to get a place with a garden - but the world is our garden atm!

I think you are very lucky to live in Swiss, seems like a very special country to me. We met up with Phil and Family b4 we left for NZ went off up mountains, I have not felt so chilled out as I did up there it was lovely.
I still feel lucky to have tho opportunity to live in your lovely New Zealand, more so maybe as I'm not from here and was feeling a little displaced before here, my heart wasn't in A'dam at all, guess I left a little of it in Portugal with my Dad and my dog, no work for DP down there though and couldn't see him learning the language and joining all the other ex-pat builders somhow!!

No probs Piffle you're absolutely welcome...I'm interested, although I probably won't know which bit you mean Anniemac as I'm just getting to know it. Very cool city from what I know so far... We go down there to see friends with kiddies nearly every weekend at the moment

I remember now (preg brain)
I used to go swimming at Tawa pool
Yes grew up in Upper Hutt in idyllic little village.
when folks split we moved into central Welli, Brooklyn and stayed there until I left school
I am so glad we moved, had an awesome teen life! My mum mmay not have agreed... exactly

so does anyone know any good lynn of tawa jokes?

I have lived around Wellington and stayed in Brooklyn afew times. My favourite part about driving to wgtn is coming around the motorway and seeing the harbour. Beautiful

So Piffle what do new estates look like, are they towers or lots of houses?

yep it's pretty damn impessive the harbour view, but also when you fly in from Aukland and do a circle of the bay, what a city all those hills and little wooden houses it looks quite odd to a newcomer, very quant, can't wait for my mum to come and visit she's going to love it!

Lynn of tawa is legend in NZ though and less well known is fluffy slippers Cloe? for Wainuamata and a good friend of mine lives there!

The airport in Auckland looks so small when you fly in... you really have arrived to the Pacific Isles!

lynn of Tawa? Chloe of the fluffy slippers?!! this stuff sounds serious do you think I should know about it for becoming a NZ resident, better fill me in just in case.

I just went to a really good playgroup at the beach, very friendly, DS was being a charmer for a change (tee hee) no he's much better this week my firm, consistant, calm, parenting seems to be showing results, anyhow we're doing something right cause we were given a phone number and invited for coffee at someone's house, arrhhhh I love friendly people