Arrival

Though it is now going onto our third week here, and things are relatively mellow at the moment, we thought it would be a good idea to write about our action packed first week and all of its accomplishments. I felt it was also important to give a few people and businesses some recognition for all their help.

Firstly, I have to give a big thank you to stokedforsaturday.com. It is a blog written by a couple that also moved to New Zealand. Many of their posts have been absolutely tremendous in educating us about how to have a successful move, like how to acquire driver’s licenses, insurance, job hunting, etc. If you have a minute, you should check their site out because they also are quite the adventurers and have great posts about many of the gorgeous sites around New Zealand.

Now, back to our first week in Kiwi Land.

I’ll begin with us at the airport. As stated in our first post, we came with 10 bags total (including our hand luggage) to the airport. We approached the check-in counter for Air New Zealand expecting to pay at least $600 in oversize/weight fees, but miraculously we were not charged. The man at the counter (his name was also Ben) informed us that since we prepaid for all of our extra luggage online when we booked our tickets, we didn’t have to worry about paying at the counter. THANK YOU AIR NEW ZEALAND! We chatted some more with Ben about mountain biking, surfing, and Santa Cruz, and after some time he asked us if we would like to wait in the Air New Zealand lounge. He made a quick phone call and before we knew it, we were waiting in the lounge with a glass of wine, snacks, and free internet. Not a bad way to spend two hours waiting for your plane. A big thank you to Ben from Air New Zealand! Soon enough, it was time to board our plane that would be taking us to our next big adventure. Needless to say, that the weeks leading up to our departure were bittersweet, since we had to say good-bye to all of friends and family (I’ll admit I was crying a little bit in the airport and on the plane).

Enjoying the perks of the Airline Lounge

So off into the sky we went with a 13 hour flight ahead of us. Now, sleeping on planes is not the easiest, but thanks to our travel pillows and the free wine available after take off, we were out within the first four hours of flight. We woke up to the air hostesses telling us we will be landing in 2 hours and that brekkie (Australasian for breakfast) is being served. Ben and I were shocked to find we were able to sleep on a plane for seven hours, even though our butts were a quite sore. We arrived in Auckland around 4:30am and then had to wait for all of our luggage to be unloaded from the airplane. It took a long while, but eventually paid off for us because we went through customs after most of the crowds from our flight had dissipated. So here we were both pushing a luggage trolley and carrying a surfboard each through the airport. We got a lot a of strange looks and laughs from other people in line. Exiting the airport, we were picked up by a shuttle company for transit to Hamilton. Although being a little surprised at the massive amount of luggage we were carrying, our driver was able to get it all on, and was still be able to fit the other three passengers and their luggage as well. We headed off for Hamilton right as it began to dump rain in the pale dawn.

Now for those of you who may not know, it is winter time in the Southern Hemisphere. We had mentally prepared ourselves for that, but our bodies had just come from a nice 32°C (~90°F, you all should start learning these conversions) climate into 9°C (48°F) one. Needless to say, It was a bit cold for us at first.  

As a quick interjection to my story, several months back we started looking for lodging in Hamilton. Knowing that dining out would get very expensive very quickly, we decided to find a place that had rooms with kitchenettes. We found the Argent Motor Lodge ontripadvisor.com due to its accommodations and its great ratings/reviews. I contacted Clare (one of the owners) about pricing and told her we were coming from the states to stay until we found a house. I ended up booking a room for a week, thinking, “surely we can find housing in a week.” So back to our arrival- it was 7am and the check-in time was listed as. Here we were a young couple with a LOT of bags arriving way ahead of the appropriated time, and immediately we were greeted by Clare who anticipated us arriving early. She had the room almost ready, save for a few extra touches that needed to be made. While we were waiting, she and her husband, Richard welcomed us into their home, made us coffee, and cooked us breakfast. Not a few hours into the country and we were greeted with the famous kindness and hospitality of Kiwis. It was at that moment Ben and I knew we had picked the right place to stay. If you are coming to Hamilton, I HIGHLY recommend the Argent Motor Lodge. They run a tight ship and are amazing hosts. For information about the Argent Motor Lodge please check out their website at www.argenthamilton.co.nz

A tidy place for a few weeks' stay

And a kitchenette too!

Richard and Clare walked us to our room, helped us with our bags, and Ben and I were soon settled. After taking a minute or two to relax, Ben and I decided to stretch our legs and walk into town. By the end of the day we had opened up our bank account, set up cell phone accounts, hired a car, and got groceries. Our whole second day was spent getting to know Ben’s advisor Julia, who is absolutely wonderful, and the university he will be attending. Julia referred us to a used car dealership called “Ideal Cars.” She informed us they are VERY helpful, and she was right. We later went to Ideal Cars to check out their inventory and quickly found that the sales people were very nice, helpful, upfront, honest, and proud of their outstanding reputation. That is always a great sign. Within four days of us being in NZ we found the car we wanted and put a down payment on it. Shayne and Ralph (owner/salesman) were absolutely wonderful; they helped us with everything including setting up the registration, AA (the same as AAA in the States), and car insurance (which is not mandatory in NZ like it is in California). In the end, Ben and I befriended both Shayne and Ralph, which again exemplifies the friendliness of Kiwis.

Our shiny new car!

A dirty Soob is a happy Soob

As for house hunting... well, that did not go quite as smoothly. Ben and I set up a few viewing appointments for our third day in the country, which were all a disappointment. We quickly learned that most of the rental property here is rented by rental agencies, many of which are only interested in turning around properties as quickly as possible. Many agents we met were pushy, unreliable, and were quick to shrug off the imperfections of the rental property. We can confirm that, as we were warned, many of the houses in NZ are not insulated. Most of the houses we looked at were colder inside than outside, and in addition, many of the homes also had water damage and mold! It was getting to the point when we were desperately looking at what ever we could find in the area, and sometimes we would see up to 4 houses in a day. We were quickly running out of good options. Eventually, we emailed about a showing in a quiet neighborhood close to the University. It was like the stars aligned when we saw the house! The previous tenants have many similar hobbies and had installed a few items that fit our needs, like a surfboard rack, work bench, veggie garden, and compost area. And it gets better... The garage locks and is roomy enough for a car, a few bikes and surfboards, the house is partially insulted (a BIG plus here), has a sunny office area, and has a nice back yard well laid out for BBQs and sipping wine on a sunny deck in the summer. Currently, we've signed the paperwork for the house, but have to wait until the second week of September to move in. So stoked!

This brings me back to where we are staying. First, a shout-out to my dad and step Mom (Bob & Deb), as they are very generous and paid for our hotel. When we told them we found a house but have to wait to move in, they helped us again by covering our room until our move in date. THANK YOU!!! 

Next we had to let Clare and Richard know, and this is why I am so happy we booked with the Argent. They had anticipated that finding a house here might take longer than we had expected, so they made sure to leave an available room in their reservations just in case. As a result, we were able to stay for an additional two weeks. An excellent review is coming their way on trip advisor.
All in all, we were able to get a bank account, phones, a car, and a house (kind of) all with in our first week in the NZ. Now that all the harder stuff was finished, Ben and I took some time to ourselves to check out a little bit of the country... on the next blog post.

Nice day for a walk, eh? A view of the Waikato River looking back towards Hamilton City Centre

Other adventures await...