Joe I`m on the N Island. Tararua at the moment, but we just bought a 10 acre section in a place called Pohingina Valley, just waiting for the building permits now, got a letter from the council saying they received them and would have a reply within 20 days, and they were shocked as we had all the paperwork correct and ready for them, usualy they got to ask for something or get something else so it was Kim`s dept as she is good at all that stuff.
We looked at few places when we got here, but when we saw this, we just fell for it , the house gonna be built facing N, we will be able to sit on the deck and see Mount Ruapehu, to the north, the Ruahine Ranges to the right (about 1 km up the road) and the Pohingina valley to the left, veiws to die for,and not here a sound except birds,only about 7 houses on the road. and I can take the rifle for a walk up into the ranges any time
And theres an Irish bar a few k`s down the road, run by a hunting and fishin Paddy, who serves grt Guinness
This is what we came out here for, a lifestyle, to work to live and not live to work.
Things are slowing down here a bit as we coming into a recession, cost of living has gone up ,fuels going up, diesel has gone up by 70cents a litre in the last year, and expecting it to go up again,so it`s not all rosy rosy, we work and we pay taxes etc, but thats the way it is.
We live on 1 wage since little one was born, and we not rich but hell, we think we got a far far better life than we had in U.K when we were both working and both earning good money.
Kiwis dont have grand flash houses, but they are homes, and they got a boat ,a ute and a quad and a rifle or 2. and I think every house in N.Z has a barbi !!!
Got friend who`s outlaws live in Hamilton, they keep their sailing boat on the Coramandel, the old man has just sailed it back from Aus, believe me it`s not your average dinghy
Yep there are traffic cops around, usually by towns, not like the U.K where they just turn up anywhere, and the cops here are grt.
When we come out here I was driving a truck and trailer at nights, got stopped by the same cop, 3 times in the same week doing over 100kms/hr, we just used to ahve a chat he`d hold me up for 15 mins then I`d be away
The Kiwis, DONT HAVE A CLUE ABOUT TRAFFIC JAMS
When I started the driving job, people always said "ohhhh you dont wanna be coming along Tremaine Ave @ 8am, the traffic isjust horrendous, hmmmmmm, I sometimes hit it at 8 and maybe got slowed down buy a few mins, nothing drastic.
I did try and tell them what it was like trying to get up/down the M6 or around the M25 or through London/Paris/Milan or Moscow, and they just can`t comprehend the volumn of traffic in Europe, so I gave up in the end
Now I`m a tpt manager for a civil engineering company, I moan like hell at the traffic on Tremaine Ave
If your out here Thar or Joe and your in this area let me know and come and say hello, we hope to move in the house by about Oct so will be a spare bed and a decent area to zero etc.
And if you do, load up with Old Holborn Tobacco,and that will secure any knowledge of the area I got, and a bottle of malt will mean Kim will cook you tea.
Legal, there are 4.2 million people here, and N.Z ia quarter size bigger than all of the U.K.
Off the top of my head I think the N Island is about 650kms long, and the South Island is about 950 long, but narrow, so no where in N.Z is more than 140 kms from the sea.
Sorry to ramble on a bit, but I jsut like to say it how it is, and my Grammars crap, but hell we like it here