LozTom Blog

Well, been accepted for a role in Telecom New Zealand and we've managed to get here, find a car and will move into rented accomodation at the start of March. I's been a great couple of weeks and we both love New Zealand. Wellington for a capital city does not feel like a big city at all. The people are friendly and we have met many new friends on BritishExpats

Start the new Job tomorrow and am looking forwards to getting into some routine. Have applied for Permenant residency via the New Zealand Web site (blimey, want to know how often you blow your nose!!). This should take a few months to get sorted but when this is complete we'll start looking for a house to buy. Hopefully will be close to a beach and facilities etc and not a long commute ...tall order but hey, land of opportunity.

Strange thing, listening to the radio, if you were to take away the accent the topics they cover seem to be exactly the same as the UK. There seems to be a concern over the number of people leaving for Australia, the number of people not being able to afford their own house and the rate of tax and the economy !!

Still there is a real difference in the perceivable culture. Whilst the queen still appears on the currency, and there are the manditory McDonalds, the traditional culture is palpable. The people are all really friendly and there seems to be a far more trusting and positive feel to the people.

One of the buig things to get used to is the geography and the buildings. I liken it to when I went to live in Leeds (UK). Initially I thought it was grim (it was the middle of winter when i arrived). but when you get used to the architecture and the landscape, you start to overcome you pre-conceived ideas and begin to appreciate the place. We've only been here a couple of weeks but I'm confident that we have made the right decision and that we'll stay here.

The kids are having a great time. There is loads to do here and unlike the UK, the playgrounds do not get burnt down a couple of months after they've been built. they are also a far better quality than those found in the UK.

Well, I'll keep on updating the gallery with photos as and when I can and will report on how the work is (cannot be worse than the UK!!). There is a real skills shortage over here so I suppose if I hate the job I can always find another role quickly. There seems to be very few locals in the IT industry...they're probably in the UK or OZ earning the money !

We're all really enjoying ourselves here in New Zealand. Stasia is making loads of friends as are the boys. Roan has started toddler Gym and is putting all the other kids to shame. Jared is in Kindy and is really enjoying it there which is a releif because he hated school in the UK. My work with Telecom is going well (if a bit slow), and I have made many new friends.

We have rented a place in Whitby which is just north of Porirua. We're thinking of buying now but have to go through the pain of submitting the Emmigration forms for permenant residency here; something we should have done in the first place to save us a fortune.

I have managed to update the olde Thomas Family Tree as a result of all the fact finding I had to do for the first application and you can see it here (any updates from family please eMail me).

As you can see from the photo below, Jared and Roan are getting on better than ever. Here in Aotea Lagoon they went on a not so minature train and just love playing here as it also has a brill playground and ducks and gardens ..well it's got all a kid could need !!).

Well, winter is approaching fast here and whilst not as bad as the UK, we've had a few of those grimy days which are cold. Still had a wonderful weekend (ANZAC), where we went wine tasting and had a party in the evening out on the veranda. Was a great day but both Stasia and myself paid dealy with a hangover on the following days.

Jared and Roan are doing well, although Jared is now running scared of Roan as he has now learned the power of the tool...to be more precise he's picking up stuff and hitting jared with it because he knows it hurts more ! Seems the more we tell the boys not to fight the more fighting they do !

Work trundles on and as we settle in we learn more of the dramas which effect our friends lives. I am just glad that we're happy and not effected by any of this. The main drama in our life at the moment is the ...well, there isn't one...we're quite happy !