HUB2DEE have you decided yet?

[RTKangaMummy]

Have you decided on your new car yet?

If so which one?

...

We were in NZ for 6 weeks in motorhome in 2002 during our round the world trip

totally brill

DS has been on so many planes

He is soooooo blase about them

BUT He won't eat any food on them though even kids meals

But as we travelled in Premium both ways to LA he has decided that is the only way to fly now

you're probably not talking about cars anymore ... but wanted to let Hub2dee know that we have a Ford Couger with a toddler and soon-to-be baby!!

oh, DH also loved the handsfree kit but decided that he didn't want a PDA but new pair of walking boots instead!!!

Kanga: you can't imagine the impact that trip had on a young person. (Well, I'm sure you can, but indulge me for a moment)

I have a stunning photo album and strong memories.

Such warm and friendly people battling such dire circumstances. Pot-bellied, beautiful kids, swollen from malnutrition in clothes that resembled rags. The same was seen in virtually all of the continent outside of a few big cities. Roads turned to flooded, rutted, muddy rivers during the rainy period, and village after village after village of the simplest homes you can imagine. Each time, though, villages filled with welcoming, smiling, kind families whenever our truck stopped or parked up for the night. (All but a few nights of the trip were spent free-camping !)

It's odd. I feel I need to do something to sort it out. What a massive, impossible challenge.

*

South Island NZ, made for a FANTASTIC driving holiday. Loved it. Walked the Milford Track like all good tourists too !

You'll have expensive hols if this kids insist on PE each time

blossom2: Walking boots sounds more useful ! Get some dubbin so he can do the man-on-his-own caring for his shoes connecting with nature thing.

Can I ask if putting babies into carseats in the back of the Cougar was tough on your backs / logisitcally v. hard ?

We've had no back problems putting the car seats in, although it has been fun trying to find car seats that actually fitted. Ford were very useful in saying that they did not recommend that you have car seats in the Cougar!!!!

But the Cougar does have a really big boot - fitted our 3-wheeler, travel cot & overnight bags.

good luck in your search for a car - have you decided on the changing bag yet??? btw i got the kipling baby bag, and it just looks like one of DH's work bags (apart from that its not leather).

Hiya blossom2, I would have thought it v. v. difficult to carry / strap a baby in the back seat of a two door. Is it really not too bad ?

After all the nappy bag chat I'm probably going to start with an existing 'daypack' (backpack) and dw will use one of her large shoulder bag thingies I think (plus there's space under the buggy). If after a little while it looks like we need diffierent bags we might get the Skip Hop but not sure...

We will buy one of the OiOi changing mats though - v. pretty !

Hi Hub2Dee

We're moving back for good. My family are in Christchurch, and this would be my first choice, but DH wants to go back to Auckland - I figure that since I won the 'which country?' argument, it would be churlish to be picky about the city. We were living in Auckland before we came back to the UK, and we have a good network of friends up there. I'm also working on the basis that sometimes you have to lose a few battles to win the war - we were both completely over Auckland life when we left 18 months ago, and I think DH has his rose coloured specs on at the moment, so wouldn't be surprised if he changed his mind once we're back and reality sets in .
In terms of work, Auckland is probably the best place for both of us to get jobs (both in IT at the moment) - Wellington would be fine too, but neither of us are keen on there.

If I could live anywhere, would probably go for Nelson, Napier or Christchurch (Taupo is nice too, but maybe a bit small...).

Wow. Big step, Kiwifruit. Hope it works out for both of you and that you return to Christchurch in good time.

I didn't seem to remember a lot going on in Nelson though !

We enjoyed Christchurch but also tired of Auckland rather quickly after having been spoilt by fantastic SI.

if you suspect NZ of being a potential cultural desert for your dw, take a look at me and Ghosty and others, we Kiwis are at the forefront of all the happening stuff know
And how far wrong can you go with the worlds best Sav Blanc on your doorstep (in NZ$)
We were going to head back last year, but due to elderly family members decided to stay but we may head back depends in ds at secondary school.
I love extolling the virtues of NZ, over and over.
Wellington is very culturally as it happens, got a great vibe, but is very windy and you could fairly call the weather a little inclement.
Taupo has become a little touristy but the skiing wintertime is tempting
I'd go for Napier I think. I spent a year in Chch and loved it too...
ahhhhhhhhhhhh

Yes, piffle, the Cultural Ambasadoresses to the New Zealand State are most humbly received in this olde Forume.

I don't drink (don't like the taste) and whilst dw tries (she's allergic, she claims), she routinely joins me in supping only the finest London tap water. Sadly the grape holds little draw.

A fantastic place to holiday, or possibly to retire but not sure if I can persuade dw to live there, IYKWIM.... Maybe it can start with an extended 'Christmas Holiday' ?

I can also confirm that the water in NZ is a damn sight tastier (except in Foxton Beach where it resembles bleach)
Vist enough times and eventually you'll see there is no reason to further darken the shores at Blighty
I wish we had the balls to make the move tbh

Maybe I'll get there through pyschological warfare: a trip every now and then... a growing network of friends... schedule some fantastic experiences, and then summon up all my powers of Neuro Linguistic Programming to break her patterns and make her fall in love with the place ?

Let me know if there is a fit with your dh. I do not honestly know where I am at with my project or if it will progress further, but you never know.

Hi there Hub
It won't take anything as sophisticated to make someone fall in love with NZ, but that said, how on earth did I end up over here as well as my mother and two younger brothers huh?
Yes my mind boggles from time to time...
I emailed my better half (I mean that without a sarcastic Antipodean twang) and basically relayed what I had seen you post about your "requirments
He replied (tis all gobildegook to me)

It appears he is looking for an embedded software engineer, which I have
had very little experience.
The last time I "blew" an EPROM was at Uni in 1990 (ish!) having written
the program directly in Assembler - ah those were the days!

The experience that I currently have is predominantly in writing desktop,
client-server, n-tier, and web-based applications. The languages that I
have programmed in are Java, C++, and Delphi, along with some script based
languages such as Tcl/Tk and Python. I also have a very good knowledge of
SQL (mainly with MS SQL Server), XML, HTML, XHTML, CGI, ISAPI.

Many of the applications I have written have been server based being
deployed on Windows based operating systems, although some of the desktop
& client-side applications have been multiplatform, so have been written
for both Windows & Linux/Unix - mainly in Java.

When working for a previous company I wrote SCADA applications for factory
automation where control of a factory from the software perspective, is
split into two areas. The Supervisory Control is usually written as a PC
based application which interfaces to Programmable Logic Controllers
(PLCs) which run the logic for controlling the factory as well as being
physically hard-wired to the switches/motors/pumps/etc.

If this suits
let me know!

Hello piffle,

The mind does boggle. It becomes not so much how to 'up sticks and move' as much as how can we transplant the family infrastructure such that some part of it can continue to surround us in our New Place, IYSWIM... We are lucky in that both sets of parents are alive, still married, and in good health - both expecting their first grandchild ! So, whilst I might desire to move to California / NZ / Sydney etc. and possibly 'some' of them might come with, it would probably be in the best interests of dd to be to remain in the UK close to the grandparents...

But then the cycle continues and the generations of hub2dee to come will remain forever mysteriously attached to this rainly isle which gave harbour to their great / great-great grandparents...

Thanks for info about dh. He sounds clever ! As he mentions right at the start, I am probably after an embedded software person, but will nonetheless note his skills should my project take a different turn etc.