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. ?

Wainui hill I had one friend over that hill and it was like a warp going over there. Had our car broken into SOOO many times.

Lynn of Tawa
PMSL

suppose those girls (lynn and chloe) are loosely the comic equivalent of a british chav, what kiwis call Bogan... or the pc version... a stereotypical lower-middle-class woman invented by comedienne Ginette McDonald. Chloe of the Wainuiomata was not round for long.... but she has followers here - can´t find a pic of lynn. One of my favourite kiwi movies is "Savage Honeymoon" - should be at the video shop

More world famous persons of Aotearoa are fred dagg, billy T james, Selwyn Toogood (its in the bag)

dh lived as a child in Wainuiomata and his neighbour was ... wait for it... Alison Holst!

kjm - do you still have your truck in Portugal?

oh and very glad to hear about friendly people, coffee mornings and that ds performed model son tactics!

In school my best friend slept with Selwyn Toogoods grandson/nephew
She is now a lesbian.
Not sure if there is a connection though..
what about McPhail and Gadsby too?

pmsl piffle thats classic!

dh aunt lives in wainui her dh likes hot rods - held NZ record for fastest hot rod once I recall

I recall the annual Deadwood Safari in Landrovers in Whitemans Valley above Pinehaven in Upper Hutt
Was always a rocking great day out as a kid!

we just sold our landrover here - a new model that does not break down

gotta go make quiche for picnic tea at the swim baths

kjm there is a nice drive that crosses the hill to lower hutt - piffle or others would know it better than me probably. think it is just south of you round that little town you have to go through I can´t remember the name of, but Sam Hunt used to live round that way on the flats.

through pauahatanui and whitby?

or the Paekakiriki Hill road...
eeeks

whitby yea

don´t know eeeks! not in this weather by your reckoning!

Paekak Hill road was a famous goat track type road comes out near the bottom of the Rimutaka Hill road... Near Totara Park in the Hutt I think...

It must be the one through Paramata and Pauahatanui down past Haywards Hill into the Hutt?
I used to keep my horses in Pauahatanui I know the whole area and the drive well!
It used to flood a lot too!

blimey folks, what a remenisce.
We have done the drive over Paekak hill, very winding. Also the uperhutt to waikanae road also very winding with nice bush as I remember it. Dp tells me I've done them all, trouble is I still find the Maori names difficult to pronounce let alone remember so I am a little confused as to where I've been.

My old Bedford is in Portugal still Papillon, I ended up giving to my best friend whose land it was parked on, up in the mountains, she also has my dog! My caravan I sold to my brother who has bought a house near my Dad's house which is on the way to Lisbon. I have first refusal on both for places to stay when I go to visit, reckon I'll opt for my Dad's guest house by the pool though, I'm spoiled these days

How are you uk dwellers coping with the heat and is it hot in Switzerland?

this time difference thing is a shame I'm very rarely able to be online at the same time as you folks, which is ok but sometimes in the afternoons it would be really nice to chat with someone, don't suppose there's a southern hemesphere version of MN or the like is there?

hmmmmm v.quiet busy?

hey good timing Anniemac, great you get to come home, if you fancy a cup of coffee up in Kapiti you'd be most welcome.
When we flew over with DS in May we had a seat for him and brought his car seat as he sleeps so well in the car but didn't work on the plane he just wanted to lie on me, hmmm typical! I bought some Valarian-Hops complex by A.Vogal, as DS can really go for it when he wants, but it's not recommended for under twos. We also went to a homeopath and gave him a course of Chamomilla whilst in transit, seemed to help. Lastly we broke the trip up with a week in Malaysia which helped lots but obviously you're trip is too short for that, so perhaps a day hotel in Singapore would help break the flights up a bit. Those are my tips hope it helps

hey we're on two threads

oh yes also, on the second leg of the journey the plane was almost empty so we laid DS out on a few seats and put a child safety belt around his waist attached to the seat one, he had a really good sleep. Guess we were lucky but there's always a chance there will be a spare empty seat and the crew are usually pretty helpful when it comes to re shuffling for little ones

kjaysmum there is something in Australia called bubhub.com.au
its similar to mumsnet ... not sure for nz though.
xx