Immigration agents still claiming that INZ gives them an advantage.
A press release from Access Immigration popped up on Google News today, and in it was this wonderful little gem:
Mr Milnes adds that Access Immigration’s experience and high standards are increasingly respected by Immigration New Zealand, which accordingly provides the company and its clients with an outstanding quality of service.
Now, call me stuffy – but you aren’t actually supposed to say that, and you sure as hell shouldn’t be speaking for INZ. It is totally unethical in my view to “claim” that INZ respects your company – its up to INZ to say that if they in fact do respect your company. Because if you are getting an advantage from INZ, then that means INZ are not treating all cases fairly on their merits – and that’s corrupt – and not at all what INZ wants us – the immigrants - to believe. INZ have said time and again that they do not treat applications from agents any differently to applications from individuals. It isn’t INZ’s place to “respect” an agency either above another agency, or an individual applicant. Their job is to judge the merits of an application.
This kind of dodgy advertising should be stamped on immediately by the IAA unless there is a written statement from Immigration itself to back it up.
I mentioned a while back that the IAA was being used by its members to try and get INZ to give them an advantage – a complete abuse of the purpose of the IAA.
Some Good news from the IAA!
According to the latest newsletter, it seems the IAA are going to publish details of court cases where agents who have been refused licenses have contested that decision in court. Its a small positive – but it is indeed something they have done that I can actually agree with!
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The Gluten free and allergy show in Wellington.
We aren’t in the Wairarapa this weekend! So – trying to make the most of a weekend in the city – we went to the above show. (It’s raining). Now, as I’ve mentioned before, I don’t need to eat a gluten free diet – I eat Lo-Carb, which is a lot harder to do in New Zealand than it really should be. Gluten Free is really quite easy here, with a huge range of products available in the supermarkets, and a showcase of products you can wander round!
The good stuff.
I’m afraid I couldn’t do many taste-tests, because basically Gluten Free still contains a lot of carbs, and more importantly sugar, however – doesn’t stop me looking!
LoveCake: Boy did I want to try the cake samples. They looked so scrummy, rich an moist. The website unfortunately doesn’t actually show the ingredients list, so do make sure you check before buying.
L’affaire au Chocolate. makes and sells dairy,wheat and gluten free chocolates – and brilliant for me, even sells a 100% chocolate bar from France (Pralus brand). At $15 for 100g it works out about the same price as a bar of SchocBlack, so I look forward to trying it out.
SweetSmart: Oh Yes! Sugar Free! And some of their range is sugar free and gluten free. They sell sweets, chocolate spreads (sweetened with Fructose so no good for low carbers), and biscuits. Best thing is they sell DeBron brand sweets which is something that you can buy in the UK but not here – and they promise me that they will be ordering some Sugar Free Marshmallows, which I haven’t seen since ordering the DeBron ones when I was back in the UK. While I rarely eat sweets to be honest, to have the option is nice, and I think this new company may be the nearest we get to the UK’s LowCarb Megastore.
A lot of their products are sweetened with a product called Tagatose, which a quick search on LowCarbFriends suggests is highly laxative – so be warned.
The Protein Bakery: Oh boy – these guys are the Gods of LowCarb Cookies, and they are a Wellington company, born and bred. Unlike a lot of LowCarb (or Gluten free) biscuits or cookies – these are soft. And they really do taste as close to the real thing as i think you are gonna get without flour and sugar. They have been available for years now, and new flavours are being developed all the time. In fact at the show, they have 4 new flavors to try and vote on, including an Almond Cookie, which as far as I’m concerned was heavenly. The cookies with chocolate chips in do have a small amount of sugar, so you need to aware of that, but the flavors without are 100% sugar free, and all are gluten free.
gftreats: Ok, so here I broke the rules a little and did a taste test of something that was Gluten Free but not lowcarb. This company sells Battered Fish, Chicken Strips, Mini Hot Dogs and Donuts, all GF. I made a sacrifice and tried everything but the mini hot dogs (cos I refuse to eat horrid battered sausage with a stick up its back end and call it a hot dog!) I have to say they were really tasty, and the company thoughtfully had a sheet available to check the ingredients, and it seemed to be to fit the bill for GF food nicely.
Now the not-so-good.
To be honest – I skipped most of the main Gluten Free stands, because basically if its bakery stuff, I know it’s no good for me, and those were the stands that were obviously most crowded. And I really dont have a huge amount of patience at shows like this where you have to fight to get to the stand itself.
So in reality, there were only 3 stands that I had a problem with:
AriaFarm sell a brand called “Make A Meal Of It” which is basically “formed” meat, frozen into strips that you can just pour out of a bag and cook. I just kinda have a problem with a show that is basically about healthy eating showcaseing a product that takes perfectly good (gluten, sugar,dairy,wheat,soy,legume,you-name-it free) natural food, processing it and selling it as something healthy cos they managed to do it without adding gluten to it! Now the Meat strips are indeed 96% meat – but – um – call me crazy – why buy “Formed” 96% meat when most supermarkets sell 100% fresh meat in ready cut strips that you can bung in the freezer.
There was also a company there selling, amongst other things, Pork Scratchings and pork Rinds. Now I forgot to make a note of the name, but a process of eliminations means it looks like it was SweetsDirect. The website is unavailable I’m afraid. So what was wrong? Well basically Pork Rinds are about as LowCarb and gluten free as you can get. They are pretty much just fat and protein naturally. And the company had signs up saying they were Gluten Free and LowCarb. Except when I read the Ingredients list, they contains Wheat Flour and Sugar, so were neither Gluten free nor LowCarb. And yet on sale at a Gluten Free show. If nothing else this says that you really must read the labels and not take the companies word!
Kitchen Queens were selling non-stick cooking products, like Magic Baking Sheets – but at stupidly high prices. They were selling a 150cm roll for $50, and 100cm for $35. Lakeland sell 100cm for £9, so if you are in the UK – grab one, or if you are in NZ shop around. Even Kirkaldie & Staines sell it cheaper. It’s brilliant stuff, and I use it all the time, but I’m not going to pay that much when I can get it cheaper.
All in all it was a very good show, and even we managed to buy some goodies, so well worth the $10 fee to get in. It’s open again tomorrow, at the TSB Arena. Only problem – no coffee stand!
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No matter where you go – there you are.
It’s a small world. Never more do yo get that than when you shift yourself half round the world and keep bumping into people from next door.
2 years ago, I became friends with someone it turns out had lived right near Hereford (where I grew up) till they were 8 years old, when their family shifted from the UK to NZ. Which means for about 3 years of my life, we actually lived about 6 miles away from each other. Its one of lifes mysteries to me that we know know each other becuase we live in New Zealand.
Then while hiding away from the world during my “Evony Addiction”, one of my Alliance who lived up in Auckland had done his OE at the PGL Outdoor center Just outside Ross-on-Wye and about 5 minutes drive from where I was living just before we moved here.
Then just last week, the Physio at the gym asked me where I cam from. (It’s the accent – gives me away ever time!)
Now this is not an infrequent query, but fraught with the high possibility that I then have to explain where in the blazes Hereford actually is. I tend to go for “Near Wales”, because even here, with such large links back to the OK, most people are hazy on where anything is other than London.
So I said Herefordshire – and lo and behold he knew where I meant. Turns out he comes from Moreton-on-Lugg, a place I know pretty well, becuase thats where my first Boyfriend lived. Embarrassingly he looks to be about the same age as us, so he may even have known said boyfriend – but I didn’t dare ask!
I’ve yet to bump into anyone from the village I grew up in (Preston-on-Wye) – I’m pretty sure thats a really good thing though.
And it’s not just us ourselves – 2 lots of friends we made, quite independent of each other, turn out to have lived in the same village as each other back in the UK but at different times.
It’s a funny world.
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Exodus Gym – it’s a bit big.
Filed under: Cost of living, General Budgeting, Life in New Zealand, Things to do
One of the big problems I faced when we first arrived in Wellington as new ex-pats was trying to find a gym I felt comfortable in. We had both been members of a lovely health club at Fownhope in the UK – Wye Leisure, which a great gym, 2 pools, 2 saunas and 2 steam rooms. Just as we were leaving, they were renovating and expanding – and on a trip back to the UK – I was left drooling at the additions of another pool, sauna and steam room. One of the things we really loved about the place, was that you could do your workout and then you could have a nice relaxing swim, soothe your muscles in the sauna, and then collapse on the loungers around the pool and order some coffee. It was a good life.
Ideally, we were looking for something similar, because I really did become something of a gym-rat, but what kept me going was that relaxing bit at the end.
The problem was that in Wellington we couldn’t find the kind of Health Club style gym we wanted. We only found 2 gyms with a pool: Habit on Willis Street (but the pool as bit grotty and you sure as hell ain’t gonna relax next to it), and the Freyberg Pool owned by the council – but really didn’t want a huge families pool.
And the gym situation wasn’t that great for us either – the main ones were a chain called Les Mills – of which there are 2 in wellington and more around the country. They were TOO big and noisy. There was a Women Only Gym – but that doesn’t work as we both work out, and none of the smaller gyms grabbed me. Most of all – I was put off by the cost! We were paying £75 a month for a joint membership at Fownhope – New Zealand gyms were wanting about $35 a week. Each. (£120 using 2.5$:£1). And we weren’t getting as much for our money. I kinda objected to that.
So over the years we have collected some extra gym equipment (I already had some) was tried to work out at home – with very limited success.
Now we are living in the city, and the plan was to work out in the apartment’s onsite gym. But as that’s not being maintained – that didn’t really work out. The equipment is old, broken and filthy, and the pool is out of action.
But just up the road – about 5 mins slow walk – is the Exodus Gym. They were building it when we first moved here, but we were moving out to the country. And besides – still no pool. (They did tell me at the time that the problem they had with this was the council wont give planning consent for gyms to have pools cos they want to force you to use theirs!) But needs must when the pounds just keep clobbering you and you need to either deal with it or buy a whole new set of clothes (having got rid of all the “fat clothes” – I refuse to buy another set!) So off we went for a look round.
Which brings me to the headline – it’s a bit big! To be fair – the Les Mill’s Gym on Taranaki street is bigger, but exodus is not bad in terms of size. Theres 2 floors – the lower one being mainly Cardio equipment with a set of weights machines, and the upper floor being mainly the body building floor with a few Cardio machines.
While they do have a Sauna and steam room, they are in the changing rooms, so again, not somewhere I can relax with hubby after a killer workout (and our workouts are deadly!), but then with no pool anyway, we just go in, do the workout, then go home to shower and have a slap up breakfast.
You are still looking at about $35 a week each – there doesn’t seem to be any such thing here as a Joint Membership, but they do have corporate deals – so you may be able to get a cheaper deal depending on who you work for. Telecom for example!
By the way – if anyone is in Wellington and wants to try it out – I have some One-Day free passes which I’m happy to send you. Email me at avalon@avalonsguide.com with your address and I’ll send you one.
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Answering some questions from Thomas :)
Cos it’s easier sometimes to write a new post.
This follows on from this post about my complaint to BSC Fireprotection
I for one would like to hear their side to this as there is always two sides to everything.
I would love to share that with you, but unfortunately the company doesn’t feel it needs to speak to me – so I cant tell you what they have said, other than what they did bother to say which was a polite version of “Sod Off”. And legally it turns out – BSC actually don’t have to answer to us, no matter how badly they behaved – and they obviously are fully aware of that.
In the complex in which you reside how many units are there and was there any others that had an issue?
There are about 140 units, and I’m not aware of anyone else having an issue. How many occupants need to have had a problem I wonder? Isn’t one enough? Hopefully I was one of the earlier units looked at, and they learned their lesson pdq. Many of the units are empty, as they are still owned by Century City – the developers- and are being used as extra Hotel Rooms for their Grand Mercure hotel which is at the front of the block.
Do you own or lease?
Both as it happens – which I did mention in the original post, and in a few other blogs. This unit, we are renting direct from Century City. We actually own one of the other units and have tenants in there on a fixed term lease till January. We are renting to “Try it out” and decide whether to move into our own unit next year, or whether we would prefer to sell it. We really need to live in the city now, but at heart are both country people, so it was worth renting to see if we could cope with the life of a city dweller.
Have you read the Body corparate small print?
Yes and no. Oddly, we were not given a copy of the Body Corp Rules when we moved in as tenants, which we should have been, but yes, I happen to have a copy of the Body Corp Rules because I’m a Unit Owner. It actually doesn’t make any difference to my rights, or the obligations of the Landlord or Body Corporate.
The web is a very powerful arena for public comment, but is very open to missinterpretation, as a Blogger you should be aware of this.
Yes I am quite well aware of that thank you. It also means that companies like this can no longer hide their shitty attitudes towards people – which is kinda cool.
If you are as you state a property investor, you should be fully aware of the compliances required on an annual basis and interuptions are the joys of living in a complying complex.
If? 
Yes I am thank you. I am also aware of the rights of my own tenants, and thus my own rights as a tenant. I’m also fully aware of what is right and what is wrong, and that if you treat someone the way I was treated – you should apologise at the very very least, and work your butt off to make up for it. What you do not do is ignore the issue, and make damn sure the people complaining then go lawyer up. Which is what we have done. Thats just bad manners, bad business and quite frankly – Stupid.
Our Lawyers inform us that in fact, we now have to make our complaint to the Landlord, and the Body Corporate, as it is their failure to communicate properly with us that lead to this issue. They are the ones that then have the ability to hold BSC to account for failing to behave in a proper or professional manner. So what should have been handled as a simple complaint, is now going to get complicated and cause agro for a lot more people than it actually involved.
We DO have the right to refuse entry unless it is for an emergency, and we have the right to insist that we are given proper notice. As the Body Corp and the Landlords have several methods of contact for us, the fact that they relied on a “Note through the door” (which we didn’t get) really isn’t up to scratch. Interestingly, the Body Corp failed to inform us as Owners of a unit, or the Property Managers that run it for us, so we would have failed in our obligations to inform our own tenants and make sure they were happy with this happening. This is not acceptable. I take my obligations as a landlord very seriously, and I feel awful that our own tenants could be left feeling that we let them down.
All in all – I think this constitutes “a right cock-up”, but its the refusal of BSC to apologise that is resulting in it becoming a legal complaint for everyone.
Century City have been quite lovely and understanding over this as it happens, and will be giving me the extra security in the apartment that we have asked for. I really have no complaint with them over the way they have handled the complaint – and it annoys me that we have to send them a legal letter.
Look forward to seeing your comments as you will post, you can’t resist.
I’m glad to oblige, though I hope you had more in mind when commenting than trying to wind me up – cos that would be just a tad sad. Whether or not I could “resist” is not the issue – you have asked some questions, and it would actually be rude of me to ignore them. I hope I have managed to clear that up for you.
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When is your New Life no longer your “New” life?
I was browsing through some my Blogroll yesterday, and left a comment on the Domestic Executive Blog:
One of the best things about my new life here (which really after 5 and a half years I ought to stop calling my “new” life) is that I am NOT busy all the time. I can say to people – I’m flexible – when’s good for you – when we need to meet up. But I’ve also had to learn to say No when people ask me for favours. Because I found I was spending a lot of time “working” for people for free, and then not having the time to enjoy not working.
As you can see – while I was writing it – I suddenly wondered if I could any longer claim that this was my “New Life”.
At what point are you really no longer a Migrant or an Ex-pat, but someone who lives in New Zealand?
I reckon it might be when you stop complaining about the things that are different here, and start complaining about the things that other Kiwi’s complain about. Which are often the same things as it happens.
Maybe it’s when the novelty wears off. Which in my case it mostly has – but not entirely. I think there will always be moments when I think “Wow! I get to live here??? Really???”.
Either way – it’s not really my own personal “New Life” anymore – it’s just a better version of my old life.
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Why can’t Kiwi companies ever say “Sorry”?
Following the rather traumatic barging-in of 2 men into my home the other day – I wrote a rather impressively stinky email of a complaint to the company behind it:
BSC Fireprotection Ltd
PO Box 40-138,
Upper Hutt
I was not polite – because let’s face it – it’s hard to be anything like polite in circumstances like this. But look at the response I got from BSC FireProtection Ltd:
Thank you for your e-mail, as Century City Body Corporate arranged for this inspection I have passed your e-mail to them.
Regards,
What on EARTH can you say to such a pathetic cop out? Why is it that so often complaints here just utterly ignored? Its like talking to the Immigration Department all over again. A complete and utter refusal to even acknowledge that something has gone badly wrong somewhere, and a mindbogglingly arrogant refusal to apologise.
So, as this is very serious – its not like they got my order for some flowers wrong or something – this is what I have responded with:
The body corporate and Century City have already been informed.
However if that is the total sum of your personal concern and attitude to what you staff did to me – its hardly any surprise that they felt they could storm into someones home.
You should be ashamed of yourself for such a cop-out. Thats truly the most pathetic response to a complaint I have EVER seen. The Body Corporate did not barge into my home while I was in Bed. The body corporate did not laugh at me when I was clearly shocked and angry at being subjected to this. YOUR company did.
I expect a proper response – by the end of the day -or I will be taking this matter a whole lot further than the Body Corporate I can assure you.
I was subjected to a Home Invasion by your staff. Do something about it.
I think a letter from my Lawyers may suffice to persuade BSC FireProtection that they perhaps need to take this a bit more seriously. In the meantime, the Apartment owners have been told that I want a chain on my door, so that never again will anyone be able to just barge in when they feel like it and amuse themselves at my expense.
I’ve already let the Body Corp know, because not only are we tenants in this building, but we own one of the apartments here. So my Body Corp fees are actually going toward paying these idiots wages. If we lived in our own apartment, we would have no issues changing the locks and beefing up the security, but as we live in a rental we don’t have as many options. But I sure as hell am not putting up with that lamentable response!
What the hell is wrong with these people???
And theres me thinking I would be able to sit back and relax for a while !
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Wairarapa weekend – attempt 3
Avalon wrote the other week about our inaugural attempt at the Wairarapa weekend.
Last weekend we did a bit better, skipping the breakfast out I went all the way to Moore Wilson’s to get supplies. We hopped in the car and made our way home. Got there by about midday in the end.
This weekend we tried again.
It was all planned, I had no afternoon meetings, we could head away by 4pm, home by 6pm for dinner. Sweet, as they say.
Except it didn’t quite go like that.
By Thursday afternoon I was feeling so ill with a cold I needed Avalon to come collect me from across town. I wasn’t in a fit state to work the next day. So I figured, we’d head back lazily during the day Friday. Only Avalon then had a late lunch organised.
So Friday came, we’re both feeling tired & unwell, & don’t get up til 11am. Avalon heads off for lunch an hour later, leaving me to pack. By 3:30 I’m ready – it was really slow work packing. And by 4:30 we’re away.
About the time we’d have left if I’d been at work.
Ho hum.
But we’re home just after 6pm, and settled in. Ready to leap to our feet Saturday morning and make the most of being home when we wake up.
Which was 11:50am Saturday morning. Well at least we made the morning.
Next weekend we may try the train, which as it leaves Wellington approx 8:30 am means we’ll have to be up and awake to get out for the weekend.
Back From Fiji with a few photos
Ok – so Ive been back a week now. but it took a while to settle back in, and then I came down with an awful head-cold. Thankfully I still had some UK Sudafed tablets, so its all dealt with – cos you now can’t buy them in New Zealand.
I had a wonderful time. In fact the only downside of the whole week was that I went for a very quiet relaxing break, and unfortunately so did half of Australia because it was the school holidays there. With their children. So it wasn’t exactly as quiet as I was hoping. But the hotel was wonderful, the spa beautiful, and thankfully the room I was in was away from the pool area where the children were, and I basically had my pick of loungers and umbrellas to sit on the beach with.
Fiji is in no way cheap to stay in for a good hotel – and there are plenty of good hotels. And this time of year seems to be a good time to go: its still hot but not too hot, and theres a nice mid morning and afternoon breeze which makes lunging on the beach just truly wonderful.
At first I was very conscious of the high price of everything. After all money is a bit tight right now and I didn’t want to go crazy, but after a day or two I did relax and decide that I could cope with a bit of rampant overspending in the search for some recovery time. It really worked.
So- heres a few pictures of Fiji – I didn’t got go exploring – or do anything other than relax, order room service, laze on the beach, and hit the spa.
Oh – and hubby got major brownie points for rearranging his work and booking a surprise flight out to join me on Thursday night.
View From my room as the sun starts to go down.
The “Adults only pool” at about 8am – before it gets filled with kids that can’t read.
My Own Personal Sun Loungers – not a single other person ever sat there the whole week I was there. Perfect.
And the view from my own personal lounger. Ahhhh.
A beautiful gift of Frangipani from housekeeping.
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Avalon is in Fiji…
…thanks to a free flight on Singapore Air points from our last UK trip, and a deal on a hotel via Expedia.
…where internet connection is really expensive – hence its taken me a few days to log on and approve comments – so apologies for the delay.
…where hubby couldn’t join me cos the life of a newbie contractor means he cant take time off right now
Ill be back online at the weekend.
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