Beach Time
Filed under: Beaches in New Zealand, Hubby's Views, Life in New Zealand
I’ve learnt to relax about time since we came to NZ.
In the UK I’d always be wearing a watch and needing to keep an eye on the time. Time to be somewhere, do something, time to get somewhere else – especially during the working week. Much like Alice in Wonderlands mad march hare – mustn’t be late!
Holiday’s always used to be down time, where I didn’t wear a watch ‘cos I’m on holiday and the time generally didn’t matter.
So having moved to NZ and got used to people being more relaxed here, I stopped wearing my watch. While of course mobile phones are everywhere, and I’m hardly without mine these days, there is still some symbolism for me in not wearing a watch.
So today in talking with Avalon about some other people saying they haven’t got time to do stuff, I was pondering beach time as we drove back from Riversdale.
Beach Time, it’s a bit like Island Time for anyone who has been to the smaller south Pacific islands.
It goes something like this;
- What time is it? – time to head to the beach
- What time is it? – time to head into the surf
- What time is it? – time to dry off and read a book
- What time is it? – time to apply more sunblock
- What time is it? – time to turn over and continue reading my book
- What time is it? – time to have a snooze
- What time is it? – time to head back into the water
- What time is it? – time to get some ice cream
- What time is it? – time to go back and get some coffee
- What time is it? – time to catch some more waves
What time is it? – who cares, we’re at the beach!
Only in New Zealand: The Prime Minister auctions a doodle.
To cut a long and very complex story short – the Flag of New Zealand is always a topic of argument and occasional news, because it contains a Union Jack and some people hate to be reminded of a colonial past. So John Key, our Prime Minister went on Breakfast TV this morning and doodled his preferred alternative. Its supposed to be a Silver Fern by the way: 
And it is now being auctioned on Trade Me to raise money for charity.
How cool is that?
Can you imagine Gordon Brown doing that?
Like what Avalon has to say?
Click Here to buy Avalon's Guide or Click Here to buy the E-Book
The life and times of a Swimming Pool
Pools- lovely to look, but you have to clean them if you want to use them. Not that we have used ours this year yet – because the summer has been a very long way away.
This is how it starts off at the end of winter. The water is slightly green, murky and full of leaves (even with a pool cover you can’t quite stop all the leaves getting in).
So the first step is to dump some Chlorine in to get rid of the green murk.
But this still has crud in the bottom – so a bot of hoovering, filtering and backwashing is in order:
And then you end up with a clean sparkly pool all ready to play in:
With water the most stunning colour in the sunlight:
Like what Avalon has to say?
Click Here to buy Avalon's Guide or Click Here to buy the E-Book
A Royal rugby team?
There’s a couple of curious coincidences that happened in the last few weeks which gave me a startling idea this afternoon.
- A few weeks ago I happened to be walking past the Intercontinental hotel when Prince William came out and drove off to do his childrens ward hospital visit. There were some crowds outside the hotel. And to be fair, more crowds at the hospital.
- Then yesterday I happened to be walking to the bank, and there was the rugby seven’s parade working it’s way down Willis St. There were some crowds along (both sides of) the street, (round the corner, up the road, back along two other streets and filling civic square).
“So what?” you may think.
A republican minded Green MP has got his private members bill randomly selected for consideration in parliament. This private bill is to hold a full referendum on whether NZ should become a Republic, and cut the last remaining Govt. & Monarchy links with the UK. We would no longer hold allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II of New Zealand. {Is it just me, or do the Greens have no Green policies? Their major contributions to NZ politics in the last few years; A Republic referendum bill, anti-smacking legislation & a ‘Buy Kiwi made’ advertising campaign}.
Anyway.
This bill proposes more than one Republican option, and if they’ve learnt anything from the failed attempts of the republican movement in Australia years ago, they will have a bit more sense about wording the question. And think very carefully about the options they give us to choose from.
Next to this, there is a debate about changing the NZ flag. So all this is being talked about a lot. Something along the lines of ‘Look how well Canada has done with a new flag, showing it’s maturity and responsibility’. A bit like a teenager getting a hair cut & colour in rebellion against stuffy old parents.
But anyway.
What occurred to me was, if the Monarchy don’t want NZ to go republic, they need to form a rugby team.
huh!? you may be thinking.
And take part in the sevens tournament. Or indeed any rugby match taking place up and down the country or oversea’s where NZ is playing – just so long as they don’t always beat the NZ team.
double huh!?
It’s no surprise to hear that rugby is popular here, and if you want to win popularity you need to appeal to the people. By this point you’re probably thinking, ‘what’s he going on about’.
Well look at the crowd pulling power involved here;
Prince William (who likes rugby!), makes his first official visit to NZ. Look at the crowds;
While of course the Police were keeping people away from the hotel lobby, the crowd is standing in the middle of this picture, and there’s lots of empty space around. I’ve seen more people waiting for the first thing in the morning train on a Monday in sleepy Carterton. And that’s at 5:45am.
Compare & Contrast with – The rugby sevens teams, who visit every year, and will be here again next year;
Yes, okay, there’s some empty space in civic square, but look below at the roads outside and people queueing to get in;
&
.
So my theory is, if the Royal’s want greater popular appeal and keep NZ aligned with the British monarchy – they need to form a rugby team.
{ssshh, don’t tell anyone, but it’s 9pm on a Friday evening, we’ve got the opening match of the seven’s playing and yes, I’m writing a blog. ssshh, we don’t follow the rugby}
Stars
We were in Wellington last night, I looked out the window around 11pm and was most surprised.
To see stars.
Not something I’d expected when in the middle of the CBD. My feeling was very much encapsulated by the phrase “OMG, it’s full of stars”.
Most cities I’ve been in over the years have no real night sky, since it’s all drowned out by light pollution. So seeing the stars last night was a pleasant surprise.
Views of a morning walk.
Like what Avalon has to say?
Click Here to buy Avalon's Guide or Click Here to buy the E-Book
Immigration reports x2
Filed under: Getting to New Zealand, Hubby's Views, Life in New Zealand, NZIS & Immigration issues
The Dept of Labor have actually come out with two reports on migration, as a contribution to some OECD studies.
It’s possibly sad that I’m working my way through both of them at the moment. At 62 & 125 pages I should at least get some sleep, even if it takes longer to finish reading them.
My first question will be what’s the difference between;
International Migration Outlook
&
Migration Trends & Outlook
‘cos I sure can’t tell the difference first off. Still, why publish one paper using a set of research when you can publish two? It’s at least efficient if the reports have completely different purposes.
So I shall work my way through the reports. There’s some fascinating info buried in the tables and numbers already.
Still, it’s an excuse to swan off to the beach and read the paperwork in some sun 
A different “view” of UK vs NZ
Both photos taken in the past few weeks.
Like what Avalon has to say?
Click Here to buy Avalon's Guide or Click Here to buy the E-Book
Holiday in NZ vs. Here for good
Filed under: Cost of living, Getting to New Zealand, Hubby's Views, Life in New Zealand
A friend from the UK came to visit yesterday. He’s been holidaying in NZ on an almost annual basis for the past two decades. Before we emigrated out here, he was one of the few people I knew who had really spent any significant time in NZ – so he was a great source of information, places to go, what NZ was really like etc.
This time, he is in NZ for six months after he left his former employer with enough cash in hand to tide him over for a year or so. {nope, he’s not one of the Westpac fugitives}.
So as you do when you’re young(ish) and single, he’s spending six months travelling around NZ, staying with various friends, and enjoying being away from the UK winter. And UK politics (until today – sorry D!)
He’s found this trip quite a revelation. Where as on previous holidays he’s been ‘right which restaurant shall we head to this evening?”, ‘cos you do when you’re on holiday and NZ restaurants are (relatively) inexpensive. Only this time, with no job and much longer here, he’s been to the supermarkets – and looked at the actual cost of living here.
So I asked him, what did he find as the major differences on the extended trip? In order of immediate response he said;
Bloody hell, the cost of [supermarket] food is high
I can’t believe the [high] cost of electricity
OMG, Kiwi’s don’t know how to drive, they’re lethal on the roads
Enough said.
Now it sounds (to us) like he’s living it up here, some motorcycling, off to get his glider pilots license, more biking, horse riding, more motorcycling and the odd biking race, plenty of outdoorsy stuff that is what NZ does best. The joys of free time and no domestic obligations, but he’s shocked at the cost of living.
For example, his UK electricity costs for three months equate to different friends average NZ monthly electricity costs.
For all that he’s spent plenty of time riding the roads of NZ previously, it’s only now that he’s absorbing how poorly some Kiwi’s drive. We’re all still undecided whether this is because;
- People are (relatively) inexperienced, compared to driving in and around London on a weekly basis. Or long stretches of packed motorways for hours on end. Or stuck in half hour traffic jams during a morning rush hour to get into some middle market town for work/shopping/whatever
Or
- With the slower speeds and lower levels of traffic, people are more relaxed, and there really is time to pull out right in front of other cars because they’re only traveling at 50 kph. And besides, the other guy can always stop if he gets too close or almost hits me.
Not that any of this seriously colours his perspective on Quality of Life vs Standard of Living. The Standard of Living may be higher in the UK, but you have to work harder or longer to achieve that, and then work even more to maintain it. The cost of servicing a BMW M3 can be a bugger.
He still see’s that NZ has a better Quality of Life, even if traffic has grown a lot in 20 years. Now he (had) a really good job, with high pay, good bonuses and plenty of perks. So he’s used to spending plenty of money on things as required. The cost of living is still a shock, which is at least reassuring for us that we’ve not got a uniquely daft perspective.
It’s interesting to hear from someone with a long term love affair with NZ, that he see’s the same stuff we did five years ago when we arrived.
And that it’s still worth being here.
5 years – who would have thought?
Filed under: Beaches in New Zealand, Life in New Zealand, NZIS & Immigration issues, The Family Sponsorship Saga
Yep – it’s been 5 years now that we have lived here in New Zealand. According to many – I am not supposed to be a successful immigrant. I whinge too much: about sausages and bacon, about the houses, about the banks, about the politics, about the 100% pure marketing crap. I get homesick. I’m proud to be English and miss the UK, and at heart, even though I have citizenship in New Zealand, I am still English – probably will never think of myself as a Kiwi.
And yet – I’m still here, and happy to be here.
Yes – there are things that make my blood boil, things that enrage me, things about living here that frustrate me to the point of tears. But isn’t that the case anywhere? Much as I love the UK and have a huge sense of national pride (and no amount of being labelled a nasty white coloniser will change that) – there were things about living there I also didn’t like.
You simply do not have to like every single thing about the place you choose to live in order to be allowed to live there. If that were the case – we would have a world population of about 1000 people.
One day I will work on a list of my likes and dislikes – just to see which list has more items on it. What I do know is that despite the things I do not like about living in New Zealand, I love living here, and it terrifies me that Immigration New Zealand may yet be able to screw this up for me and make me go back to the UK because they are determined to keep families apart. What I have seen of New Zealand in the past year is the very worst it has to offer it’s immigrants, and if my family are not all welcome here, then in the end, I too will not stay.
Because at the end of the day, no matter how nice New Zealand’s beaches are, no matter how comparatively cheap the houses are, and that we have a pool and a big house – home for me is where the family is.
Like what Avalon has to say?
Click Here to buy Avalon's Guide or Click Here to buy the E-Book
