Dan's New Car

Well the time has finally arrived ... Dan passed his driving test in the UK on 20 November, so he figured he may as well actually have a car to drive! We found a Toyota Sprinter at the car dealership that Reg & Sue have bought their cars from over the past couple of years. The photos are of the new proud owner showing off his latest toy! Unfortunately, Dan has had to be very patient, because his driving licence is in the UK (having arrived a couple of weeks after we left) and he is not allowed to drive in NZ without having his driving licence available at all times whilst driving. So...when he gets back from his jaunt over the New Year visiting his girlfriend Kathleen and her family in Medmenham, we're sure he'll be helping out with the taxi service!! Until he runs out of petrol....oh well.

Capsticks' Christmas Day

Well it's finally arrived, we woke up this morning with blue skies, sunshine streaming in through the windows and parrots squawking in the bush out the back!

After the boys opened their stocking pressies we all decided to go to the beach, first time any of us has gone to the beach on Christmas Day! Josh had fun on his body board in the small waves, the tide was out so the ocean was quite shallow just by the beach. We all sat there for a while soaking up the sunshine, then Manda went back to the house to check on the Turkey and start cooking the veggies etc. We had a lovely lunch, although the house was boiling hot with having the oven on for 3 hours. Now we know why everyone else here cooks on the bbq, OUTSIDE, so that the house stays cool!!! We'll know for next year!

We all opened our presents after lunch and then a game of Monopoly was played, whilst a DVD was watched. All in all a relaxing day. Oh yeah, Daniel wiped out everybody at Monopoly, he's obviously an entrepeneur already!!

Just want to take this opportunity to say a big 'MERRY CHRISTMAS' to all our family and friends around the world. We love you all and can't wait to see anyone who fancies coming out to New Zealand to visit us.

Christmas Preparations 2006

We spent the last couple of days realising that we hadn't actually bought each other any Christmas pressies yet! So we've been rushing around the shops at our local town in Browns Bay, although there aren't that many shops there. BB's is a great coffee bar where we stop for light refreshment before the next onslaught of shopping begins! We were told by our friend Susie that the best shopping mall in Auckland is at St Luke's, so on Saturday we ventured to western Auckland and found a very large and modern shopping centre (a bit like Watford or Reading) and managed to find everything we wanted there, whew! Glad that's over for another year! We also found a fresh Christmas Tree, bought lights, tinsel and baubles so it's starting to feel a bit more like Christmas.

So then it was on to FoodTown, our local supermarket to buy all the food (and drink!) including; Turkey, stuffing, Yorkshire Puds, veggies etc, alas, no sprouts available 'cos they're only in season in August. Mental note to self, buy sprouts next winter and freeze them to use next summer for Christmas. (mmmm sounds strange!) We managed to buy a Christmas Plum Pudding, crackers ... feeling festive now ... the range of cheeses and pates is brilliant! yum!

Job Interviews - Tuesday 19th December

The first interview I went to was at a large firm of solicitors in the City. A very modern, chic building with lots of friendly people. It's located on Princes Wharf, right beside the harbour, the staff canteen (which is more like a modern coffee bar) has floor to ceiling windows all along one wall with doors out to a balcony, with glass panels so that you can see breathtaking views of the harbour and the ocean beyond. The interview went very well, I first met with the Practice Manager, called Dennis, we chatted for about half an hour, Dennis then asked the Senior Partner, Warren, to come and meet me, as I would be working directly for Warren it was good to talk the position through with him. He has had a legal secretary/PA working for him for about 12 years but she has retired, so he's looking for a replacement. The work is mainly within the Corporate sector, however he deals with Commercial Conveyancing occasionally. I was then introduced to one of the support staff, a legal exec who worked for a few years as a legal secretary before she became an exec. It would seem that work experience and a general build-up of knowledge is all that is required to become a legal executive in New Zealand, it is not compulsory that the staff pass exams or gain qualifications, although they can attend evening classes at Auckland University to gain these if they so wish.

Warren, the senior partner suggested that I might like to work for them for a few months to see if I like the work and feel comfortable with it, as it is difficult to know without actually 'having a go'. Seems like a good company to work for, however the commute would take about 1 hour each morning. The salary would be lower to start with, as I have no experience within this sector, they would review my salary after a few months. If I had to drive in I would also have to pay for parking, which would be very costly within the City, the main thing I need to consider is doing so much travelling every day.

My second interview was this morning. It was at a smaller practice in Takapuna, which is a large town on the North Shore (at the bottom of the East Coast bays), north of Auckland City and took me just under 20 minutes to drive there from Long Bay where we are renting at the moment. The practice is located in what was previously a large detached house. It was spacious and modern, with lots of free on street parking along the road. Always a plus point. I met with the Office Manager, Helen and also one of the Legal Execs, Leanne. They were both very relaxed and friendly. They told me all about the practice, 3 partners, 4 legal execs, accounts and support staff. The job would be a legal secretary supporting 2 execs and 1 partner, the main focus would be working on mortgage offers for their largest client, it would involve a lot of maths, so a completely new sector for me to consider! They told me that they have a high volume of phone calls and sometimes they have 80 settlements on one day to deal with!! They assured me they were a friendly bunch, they all stop work for morning tea, to catch up on the latest gossip! They are taken out by the partners twice a year, summer evening out and a Christmas Meal. They have family days (bbq etc) and a social club which organised other outings. The Office Manager, Helen, asked me whether this job would be of interest to me.

So lots to think about, I have also applied for a couple of other positions. So I'll keep you posted!

Lazing on the Beach

After Manda returned from Auckland City centre at 3pm on Friday afternoon we all decided to visit Long Bay Beach. Dan and Ben played with the football and Josh lay on the beach, listening to music on his i-pod and reading (yes, you read that correctly, he actually read a book - incredible but true!)

Now you might be wondering why Manda ventured into the city on her own, well I had an interview at Legal Personnel Recruitment Agency, which lasted two hours. After an initial consultation I had to sit a typing speed test, a timed Microsoft Word skills test, a spelling test and a grammar test. I then discussed my preferences and the various positions available. My assigned consultant, Judith, then assured me she had 2 positions that would definitely suit me and another couple she would put me forward for. Later on Friday afternoon, whilst sitting on the beach I had a couple of phone calls to arrange interview times. So I have a couple of job interviews, first one on Monday morning at a solicitor's firm in Central Auckland and the second interview on Tuesday morning at a solicitor's firm in Takapuna, which is on the North Shore (north of Auckland city) about 20 minutes drive from where we live. Fingers crossed eh!

Long Bay Regional Park Tropical Forest

A photo of Josh and also one of Manda, Dan & Ben just as we were setting off into the Forest. It was quite dense inside the forest, so when we walked out into the bright sunshine the other side it took a few minutes for our eyes to adjust!! We saw all sorts of vegetation and wierd flowers. The birds are quite noisy as they have a lot of parrots in the trees!

Long Bay Regional Park Walk

We went for a lovely long walk on Thursday, through Long Bay Regional Park. We followed a dusty track through a tropical forest and also a costal walk up and down steeps steps and had a wonderful view across Long Bay. We then headed toward the beach and this is a photo of Dan, Ben and Josh as we neared the beach, which is alongside the Regional Park. It was about 28 degrees, we had to keep putting sunscreen on and drinking plenty of water.

Garden Patio/BBQ area - Sunday 17 December

This is the patio/bbq area. It is covered which not only offers protective shade on a hot day but also means that the unpredictable NZ weather cannot disturb family al fresco dining!

The owners will be leaving the hot tub and also the garden table, six chairs, parasol and the garden bench, as well as a rather large gas burning BBQ (just on the right hand side of the photo).

The garden is enclosed with a fence all the way around the property and it is gated on each side of the house.

Second Living Area - Sunday 17 December

This is the other living area, it is open plan to the kitchen, so will probably be the area we sit in most often. It is quite long and has a black cast iron wood burning stove (which you can't see in this photo! but it is just to the right in the bottom corner of the room) We would have our leather 5 seater corner sofa in this room, with our dark brown wooden coffee table. In the background we would probably have a desk with the computer there and perhaps a bookcase (that area behind the sofa is about 10ft square). The patio doors lead out to a covered patio/bbq area.

One of the Living Areas - Sunday 17 December

This is a photo of one of the living rooms, we will have our three seater sofa in here and the footstool as well as our television. The owners have agreed to leave the coffee table, so all we need to so is find another sofa (they have a 3 seater and a 2 seater in here). We've noticed that a lot of the NZ homes have these wooden blinds at the window, they are made out of cedar and look lovely. It's difficult to tell, but the walls are a pale creamy colour.

New House Photos - Sunday 17 December

This is a photo of the kitchen in the house we hope to buy, it is quite modern, has a dishwasher and the window looks out onto the patio/bbq area. The living area of the house is open plan and feels quite spacious, the gap is an opening through to the Dining area.

We are bringing our stainless steel fridge/freezer and our mircrowave over from the UK, and hope they will slot into the gaps, we can always remove the cupboards above to give more height if we need to. They will be leaving the 3 breakfast bar stools, which will be useful for Dan,Ben and Josh.

Manda's Car Sunday 17 December

This is a photo of Manda's car, a Honda CRV 4 wheel drive, which is useful seeing as some of the roads are quite steep and a few have unsealed surfaces or are gravel tracks etc.

Saturday 16 December 2006

Hello Everyone,

Latest update on our house buying adventure ...

The house we want to buy is lovely ... I've taken photos and will load them on BLOG site as soon as I find an internet place that allows me to upload photos from my camera or CD!!

We arranged for a Council Approved Master Builder to carry out a Buildings Inspection on Tuesday, we received the Report on Wednesday and it said that it is a very well built single storey brick and tile property, built by a reputable building company G.J.Gardner. There are no problems so everything looks good. We also went into Orewa Council and paid for a LIM, which is a local council search, and also the property file, they were both ready on Friday and came back clear. There is the Certificated Code of Compliance (which is like Building Regs and Planning Permission all in one), we've instructed a local solicitor (one that Reg & Sue used and recommended) and they've checked everything and it all seems to be fine. Our bank have sent us through a Mortgage Offer, we've signed the acceptance so we can go 'Unconditional', which is the equivalent of exchanging contracts, with a deposit of $20,000 (which will be deducted from the price). Once contracts are unconditional it is legal and binding and the owners can't pull out, without it costing them a lot of money. So fingers crossed! We hope to be confirming it has all been sorted out by next week. We will also hope to have a Settlement Date for Friday 19 January 2007, which is just before our last weekend at the Rental house, which will tie-in nicely.

We've been exploring our neighbourhood and discovered a beautiful Regional Park at Long Bay with a beach that has golden sand lapped gently by turquoise coloured waves. The photos will speak for themselves.

Running out of time, I only manage to have 30 minute sessions at the local library, which is closest internet place, so will add more in the next couple of days.

Lots of love to you all,

Manda at al
xxx

Monday 11th December

Dave has received his passport back from Immigration, with a 2 year Work Permit stamped in it, this means he has been able to start work at Norcross in Auckland's Central Business District today. Which is great news, as I think he was starting to get a bit bored after a few months of not working!

We also heard today that we have been selected from the 'pool' and our details have been verified, so we have been invited to apply for Residency. We have sent off all our applications for Work and Student Permits, which normally take a couple of weeks to be processed, but as Christmas is rapidly approaching we probably won't get our passports back with our Permits stamped in them until early in the New Year.

Daniel has arranged to fly back to the UK (on his own!) on Boxing Day, so that he arrives on 27th December. Kat and her family will be collecting him from Heathrow at some ungodly hour of the morning, he will be staying at Anne's (his Nanna's house), but I expect he would like to catch up with anyone there who would like to see him. He's not leaving the UK until Tuesday evening, 9th January so that will give him plenty of time to see you all. So Daniel won't be applying for his Student Permit until January, once his has the Permit he can enter the Induction for the Police Cadet Training Programme in Auckland.

We've found a lovely four bedroom house in Orewa, which we've made an offer on and they've accepted. We have taken some photos, which are still on the camera, once these have been downloaded onto a CD we will post them for you to see.

Hope you're all well.

Lots of love and bye for now.

Manda

We've taken photos and hope to post them soon.