jason t

Its been a while...! From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (781 days old)

Been some time since I last posted anything on here, and figured some people might be wondering if I am still alive!  Everything here is plodding along quite nicely and we are very well settled i… more

Simpsons have arrived in NZ... From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (843 days old)

For those Simpsons fans amongst you, guess where we stopped off today?!?!?  We went out for a short "road trip" up to Arthurs Pass, and drove through Springfield on our way.  … more

Our view on New Zealand... From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (843 days old)

PEOPLE - so laid back they could be horizontal!  I saw an outcrop of rocks today when we were out driving, and I said to Sam that it was probably the NZ version of stonehenge.  A group of ro… more

The joys of Variety From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (854 days old)

The best thing about living here? I will give you an example... At the weekend we decided to go out. There has been a fair amount of snow although not in Rangiora, so we drove about 25 minutes until w… more

Plenty of snow on the mountains From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (867 days old)

It’s been a while since I last wrote anything, and things have certainly changed. We finally got our car back from the garage; they gave up trying to repair the stereo and just put a new one in which… more

Where is that car?!?!?! From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (883 days old)

Last Wednesday I took our car to the garage to get the stereo repaired, and we still haven't had it back.  I keep calling them every day and am being told "it should be this afternoon - … more

Great news! From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (888 days old)

I had another call today regarding the job with EC; it appears that they have only had one reference through for me so far - not the two I had initially thought!  They were planning to offer me t… more

The shopping begins! From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (890 days old)

You'll be pleased to know that we only had to spend one night at Barry and Edith's place after we were informed we couldn't stay in ours.  Looks like everything is back on track, and … more

Anecdotes From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (895 days old)

Funny thing about the sky in New Zealand.  Everything is so much clearer here; pretty much all through the day, it is still possible to see the moon.  Ben is chattering like mad now; on the … more

Where we are at now.. From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (895 days old)

Not written for a while, but we have all been pretty busy.  I had a job interview on Tuesday afternoon which I think went relatively well.  I haven't made my mind up yet whether I w… more

Closer to our own place From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (905 days old)

Had some unexpected financial drains, but nothing outstanding that we couldn't cope with.  Because Sam bought his motorbrike less than a year ago (by a matter of days!!) we were stung for a w… more

House Purchase From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (909 days old)

Yesterday I took Ben to a playgroup so that he could have some interaction with other children again.  We were there for a good three hours and he certainly seemed to enjoy it even though it took… more

One Week On... From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (912 days old)

Unbelievably, Ben and I have been here in New Zealand for over a week now and we have certainly been busy.  I have spent a fair bit of time trying to sort out various bits and pieces for the hous… more

First full day in New Zealand From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (921 days old)

Not much to write about today, which has been our first full day in New Zealand.  Ben woke up at about half two this morning which was a bit of a pain; I got up with him and he was up for about f… more

The House From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (921 days old)

Sam was waiting for me in arrivals when we got through, and both Ben and I were pleased to see him to say the least.  He had bought a car which is a big people carrier and we did manage to fit al… more

Travelling to New Zealand From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (921 days old)

Departed for the airport mid-morning on the 2nd of May.  Neither our car (still unsold) nor my parent’s car were able to fit all our baggage in as well as four adults and a child, so we had… more

Sam is hard at work From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (931 days old)

Sam has sent me some pictures of him at work, just so that we can all be sure he is doing something out there.  He seems to be enjoying himself and settling in well, and Ben and I are looking for… more

Not long to go now!!! From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (932 days old)

I was away with the TA for all of last week and although I did miss Ben, I really enjoyed my time away.  Hard work but certainly lots of fun and I had my first proper experience of a Sgt's Me… more

20 days to go From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (943 days old)

We currently have 20 days left to go in this country, before Ben and I board the plane out to New Zealand.  The time does finally seem to be going by faster; the house in Leicester has been signe… more

Some tips for this site From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (948 days old)

Just a brief one for you folks out there...  If you really don't want to keep coming back to this site to see if there is something new, but do want to find out what is going on, you can subs… more

All quiet for the timebeing From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (948 days old)

It feels like there is very little happening a the moment, although there are still various things taking place.  I am currently away with the army, having just spent the past week working night … more

It's been a while!!! From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (958 days old)

The big news from here is that finally I have booked a flight for Ben and I to join Sam in New Zealand!  The flight has been booked for Wednesday 2nd of May, with an expected arrival in Christchu… more

What happened next?!?!?! From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (966 days old)

Well as I had rather suspected, they didn't succeed in fitting all of our "stuff" into the container, although I have to admit that they did an excellent effort of trying.  There wa… more

Going, going, gone From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (967 days old)

THE REMOVALSThe house is in organised turmoil at the moment...  The removals people arrived yesterday in a medium sized van that was full of packing equipment - boxes, paper and tape.  Two v… more

Wasted no time at all! From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (971 days old)

The big news is that we got our visas yesterday!!!  Just under three months after first starting the whole process, we each have two full page stickers in our passports allowing us to enter, work… more

Leaving on a Jet Plane.. From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (975 days old)

The debate has been on since Sam's last flight was postponed by two weeks to be rescheduled for the 16th of March... Would he be able to make it for the new dates?  Well, I spoke with ou… more

The time is drawing near!! From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (975 days old)

Had our leaving party "open house" at the weekend which was well attended - mostly dominated by Sam's family which was great...  My family are of course thin on the ground with the … more

AArghh! Removals! From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (983 days old)

I spoke to the removals company a few days ago.  They told me that although they can change our collection date by a week, that would then delay our delivery date by two weeks.  We decided t… more

Sam is working till the bitter end.. From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (991 days old)

Decided that I am going to change the date for when the removals van will come to take away our worldy possessions.  At present we are booked for the 19th and 20th of March (it takes them two day… more

The End Date is Set! From gaynorsmith in Journey to the Other Side of the World!! (994 days old)

I spoke with my boss today about my end date for finishing work.  Haven't offically handed my notice in, as there is still a possibility that I may be getting made redundant at the end of Mar… more