Joke time............................

This one was sent to me by my good mate Anton............................................................................. An Irishman walks into a bar in Dublin, orders three pints of>> Guinness and sits in the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each>> one in turn. When he finished all three, he comes back to the bar and>> orders three more. The bartender says to him, "You know, a pint goes>> flat after I draw it; it would taste better if you bought one at a>> time." The Irishman replies, "Well, you see, I have two brothers. One>> is in America, the other in Australia, and I'm here in Dublin. When>> we all left home, we promised that we'd drink this way to remember>> the days we all drank together." The bartender admits that this is a>> nice custom, and leaves it there.The Irishman becomes a regular in>> the bar and always drinks the same way: he orders three pints and>> drinks the pints by>> taking drinks from each of them in turn. >>>> One day, he comes in and orders two pints. All the other regulars in>> the bar notice and fall silent. When he comes back to the bar for the>> second round, the bartender says, "I don't want to intrude on your>> grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences on your great loss." The>> Irishman looks confused for a moment, then a light dawns in his eye>> and he laughs. "Oh, no," he says, "Everyone is fine. It's me..." >> "...I've quit drinking!"

Family

As usual the Universe plans everything to the correct point. I had trouble getting a flight with a good price behind it. I was quoted from R8700.00 (Incl of Tax), to R27000.00. The reason for this was the time of booking. If you book 3 months a head, you get a great price, even better than R8700.00 (NZ$1701.54).

Well, I booked and it works out that I was able to be here for my Dads, Uncles and best mates birthdays! Today we had a small family get together at my Aunt Margies place for my Uncle Mervs birthday. It's only on Tuesday but we would rather celebrate it over a full day than rush to his house at night.

Otherwise it will be my dos Judases last training session with me before I leave for New Zealand. He is doing so well at school and the other day was told he has the best figure and hip shape out of the other 30 dogs! (Of which most are pure bread.)

My Office. His Pad! Run, but you can't hide! MY TRIBE!!!!

I love my family and thank the universe for every one of them in my life as together we have learnt a lot from each other!

I GOT MY VISA

Well, today I got a phone call from Candice at Flight Centre to pick up my passport. I now have my Australian transit visa. It took 6 working days. I droped it off on the Thursday last week and picked it up Friday morning the following week.

It was simple to get. If you are travelling on a South African passport and you have a stop over in Australia, you need a TRANSIT VISA. This will allow you to stay in Australia 3 days at a time (72hrs). The reason behind this is incase you miss your flight or something (touch wood) happens that causes some delay. You do not have to have a visa if your stop over is less than 8hrs. The problem is if you have a delay, after 8hrs you are now an illegal!!!

The cost of the Visa is R160.00, plus if you don't feel like driving to RoseBank, an extra R150.00 for courier services. There are about 10 pages to fill out. If you are single with no kids, you can throw half of them away. They do ask you some odd questions like," where in Australia will you stay?", I just put, "In Transit for 1.5 hrs!

The visa is a piece of cake. They don't request proof of Foreign Exchange or much other details. I'm just happy I am single!

NEW ZEALAND & my big move............

Well, it's about time I sat down and got to it! A day to day Diary of my move From South Africa to New Zealand! I will put in as much detail as possible, from all and any paper work to dealing with the move and my progress in New Zealand. I will compare the front pages of the Daily Sun and Star newspapers in South Africa of my last 1o days here to the News Papers I read while travelling, and the first 10 days of head lines in the New Zealand papers. NO BULLSh*T!!

I will give a daily report on job searches, cost of living, people, places and once I have found a job, details about getting a work visa, the costs and paper work involved!

I will then start on my new section of Blog when I bring my dog over. I will list all the details and costs.

Please be aware that any costs I post on my site are not set fees and my go up and down with the current and future rates of exchange. At present all my costs in Dollars NZ will be on a R5.09 to the NZ$1.00 exchange.

So what have I done up to now?

Besides stress and panic, I've been enjoying the great, hot and sunny South African heat! But honestly when I first decided to leave for New Zealand after witnessing crime first hand, being held up in a house armed robbery just a few months after my parents were held up in a Pick n Pay armed robbery, I was scared. I could either play with the Devil I know, or read the writing on the wall that said,"It's time to go".

I looked at how many of my friends had all ready left, and compared there life style to mine and my friends here.

So, I put one leg in front of the other and began my journey. I started by phoning around for some info on were to start. Once I had an outline I made a list of what to do first and how to do it. I looked at my car first. My car was my pride and joy that I loved with all my heart. It was the weirdest feeling putting the For Sale sign up in its window! Sadly this trip would not be cheap so my Baby had to go. After selling my car that saw me to Varsity, work, parties and other great events in my life I had a start of R40 000.00

First thing first, was to create a budget. The New Zealand Government allows South Africans to travel as holiday makers for 3 months with out a Visa. But remember the words HOLIDAY MAKERS!!! Unless you have a job offer, or comply with age and trade qualifications you will NOT get a work visa. That's why you have to budget for a 3 month holiday. Do not, under any circumstances, (a warning not only from me, but a nice lady at the New Zealand Embassy and from people who have walked the line before me), do not arrive in New Zealand and state at the airport that you have come to look for work, do not even carry your resume on your body or even in your bag, they will send you home, or stamp your passport preventing you from a work visa!! They don't want you taking their kids or families jobs away!

Your Resume could either be mailed to an e-mail address that you could grab it off once you land in NZ, or post it to a friend or family member over seas.

Choosing a date!

After getting a few quotes I was finally able to get a ticket. You need to book about three months in advance for a good price. Sadly by the time I sold my car to the time I wanted to be in Auckland it only gave me about 2 months playing time. My ticket was R8750.00 incl taxes. This flight will take me from JHB Int to Dubai, Singapore, Brisbane and then finally 22hrs later to Auckland; New Zealand! I land in Auckland on the 12 February 2007.

Before I arrive check list!

Do I know any one there? Yes, thankfully two or three and family.This is a great help from accommodation to receiving up to date info on NZ. What do I need besides a job to get a work visa?

1. Tax Clearance Certificate, which is pritty quick. Mine was over the counter, some may take a few days. The cost is R0.00.




2. Police Clearance Certificate. It is a bit of a mission because you to go to your local Police Station, ask for Police Clearance in which they will charge you R60.00, take your finger prints and send you and your prints to 271 Schoeman Str, Pretoria to the Sanlam Plaza Building, which has under cover parking across the road for about R8.00 so don't worry about your car. (first 15min are FREE, so RUN!) There are no real queues and I was in and out in 15 minutes, but parked on the 7th level!But do this a head of time as it does take up to 6 weeks. The certificate is valid for 6 months.




3. Passport, if you passport is valid for more than 2 years, don't renew it. Travel and renew it over seas as it is a lot quicker and easier at an Embassy!




4. Foreign Exchange. You may speak to your bank or travel agent. I got a International Travel Card from FNB. They work in the four major currencies, US Dollar, GB Pound, Euro and Australian Dollar. The great thing is that you buy it with a fixed exchange rate, you only pay charges if you with draw from a Card Machine. You don't pay exchange rate commission no matter where you use it and you don't pay Bank charges if only swipe.
5. Your Health! This is part of your visa application is done by one of the appointed New Zealand Doctors that will do a Blood test, X-ray and one or two other things to mainly check for Aids, TB and Cancer.





6. Dogs cost between R14000.00 and R30000.00 to take over. New Zealand has very tough border regulations and there are heavy fines that follow people who don't obey them. Threw watching reality TV with New Zealand airports, last night they fined a guy $200.00 (R1000.00) for two mango's and some honey. Your dogs must be chipped 3-6 months before leaving and they must have all thier vaccinations before they leave or else they could be put down once they arrive in New Zealand as any decease out break on a Island with more sheep than people would cost the Government Billions of Dollars!!

Research and explore the web, libaries and any other info you can get your hands on. The more you know the more you can prepare.

I now have NZ$5000.00 on my card and NZ$1000.00 in cash as a starter.With that I will start a new life on the 12 February 2007. On Monday, 29 January I will start with News Paper headlines and more info on New Zealand.