How's life in NZ/Aus?

jank · 03-02-2012 10:38am

Submitting the PR application next week. Same as coileach dearg, a ENS 856 application.
Have all the docs ready. Just need work to sign off on their part and BOOM walk down to Lee street and hand that baby in. Non DRC so could be waiting anything up to 6 months, hoping for a quick turn around ala 3 months or so.

Traq · 03-02-2012 11:30pm

Best of luck with it jank, just got the 856 lodged myself. Went the DRC route so am hoping for a quick turnaround on it. Had my own side of things finalised ages ago but was waiting on work to sign off on their docs for an eternity!

CrackisWhack · 03-02-2012 11:38pm

quick question, say if your in the process of being sponsored through a company you work for, and you have previous criminal convictions, will your employer find out about that?

jank · 04-02-2012 4:32am

Not too sure about sponsorship. I forgot if I had to submit a police clearance cert for it. If you are thinking of PR anytime then don't lie about it as a garda clearance cert must be submitted with the application. If you lie now it may stick with you. Best to be open about it.

Also it depends on what type of work you do

The Aussie · 04-02-2012 6:03am

Any criminal convictions should/must be reported at the immigration desk anyway, if it turns out that someone at the point of entry ticked the no box and the it gets crossed checked for a later visa application it could result in a cancelled visa.

CrackisWhack, if you get on well with your boss pull him aside and just tell him quietly, if they are thinking about sponsoring you you must be getting along well with them, as long as it was just some stupid stuff you did as a young fella and not some horrendous crime of the century stuff i seriously dont think they would care.

ruthie23 · 06-02-2012 11:02am

Hey I lodged mine on 20th jan in Melbourne I lodged visa and company nomination together also hoping for a speedy response I hope to have an answer by march!!!

nathancool · 07-03-2012 4:21am

Hey were is the best city place to work and socialize I'm 20 if thats any help

hussey · 07-03-2012 6:14am

nathancool wrote: »

Hey were is the best city place to work and socialize I'm 20 if thats any help

Melbourne or Sydney ... depends what you like
Melbourne is cool and funky
Sydney is big and flash

Mellor · 07-03-2012 6:17am

nathancool wrote: »

Hey were is the best city place to work and socialize I'm 20 if thats any help

You are city you are talkign about, or even a country.

No point somebody suggest good place in Sydney if you are in Melbourne or Christchurch

markymark21 · 12-03-2012 8:25am

nathancool wrote: »

Hey were is the best city place to work and socialize I'm 20 if thats any help

Melbourne has some awesome bars. The city has some gems. Usually behind alley ways and in behind dumpster's so the aul GPS on the iPhone does come in handy

Cookie_Monster · 15-03-2012 4:20am

Location: New Plymouth, New Zealand
Time here: 6.5 months

Both of us are working, place is amazing. Weather on a good day is amazing. The beer is good, place is cheap in comparison to home, everything just works better.

Was home for a week back in early Feb and apart from family and friend can't say I miss Ireland at all, no desire to move back.

NZ = Awesomeness

jank · 15-03-2012 1:04pm

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

Location: New Plymouth, New Zealand
Time here: 6.5 months

Both of us are working, place is amazing. Weather on a good day is amazing. The beer is good, place is cheap in comparison to home, everything just works better.

Was home for a week back in early Feb and apart from family and friend can't say I miss Ireland at all, no desire to move back.

NZ = Awesomeness

Must agree, NZ is a great place to have an easy going, stress free life. However wages arent great and after a while you feel the world is passing you by, if you can handle then then great!

CiaranC · 15-03-2012 8:08pm

Also loving NZ, but if you think its cheaper than Ireland it must be a while since you lived there. Also it feels even more remote than Oz!

Cookie_Monster · 15-03-2012 8:18pm

CiaranC wrote: »

Also loving NZ, but if you think its cheaper than Ireland it must be a while since you lived there.

still lived in Irl 7 months ago. pretty much everything* is cheaper here, bar maybe booze which is much of a muchness. Even the tax is cheaper

rent, power, fuel, cars, insurance, groceries - all the major stuff
They need an Ikea though, furniture is really expensive.

CiaranC · 15-03-2012 8:46pm

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

still lived in Irl 7 months ago. pretty much everything* is cheaper here, bar maybe booze which is much of a muchness. Even the tax is cheaper

rent, power, fuel, cars, insurance, groceries - all the major stuff
They need an Ikea though, furniture is really expensive.

I bought my furniture in Warehouse, it was super cheap.

My rent in Wellington city centre is more expensive than my last place in Dublin. Maybe its different in New Plymouth. Aldi is way cheaper than PaknSave though - its 4 dollars for 2 litres of milk here! 4 dollars for a loaf of bread. 20 dollars for a couple of chicken fillets. Veg is expensive, no 69cents bag of carrots/tomatoes/mushrooms here. 10 dollars for a pint for the love of god. Cars are not cheaper either? I sold my runabout in Dublin and paid double the price for almost exactly the same car over here. Insurance and Petrol are way cheaper though.

Havent got a power bill yet but ive only been here in summer. Gaff has no insulation or central heating so should be some craic paying to heat it in winter.

Things that are cheap - beef! Even off the shelf supermarket beef is great quality too. Why is lamb so expensive though there are sheep everywhere? Eh, thats all I can think of.

Crumble Froo · 15-03-2012 10:09pm

I got pretty much all my furniture at opshops, and people can be quite good about leaving stuff at the side of the road too - got a few good tvs, videos, couches and desks outta those.

I find fruit and veg to be far cheaper at grocers - the more local food you can get, the less money you'll pay for it (and it tends to be bloody good too).

Can't say anything about cars, meat or milk though as I don't drive or eat much animal produce.

I still don't understand this country's lack of radiators. They think it's flash to have a single bloody heatpump, which I find a bloody joke as far as heating goes. Open fires are illegal in Christchurch anyway (not that there's many chimneys left for them), but damn, I miss having them.

Cookie_Monster · 15-03-2012 10:34pm

Crumble Froo wrote: »

I still don't understand this country's lack of radiators. They think it's flash to have a single bloody heatpump, which I find a bloody joke as far as heating goes.

yeah, I really just don't get that.

CiaranC wrote: »

I bought my furniture in Warehouse, it was super cheap.

warehouse furniture is **** though, we looked at it and have a few bits but it's awfully built stuff
Briscoes is a great place for small bits, something is on sale at 60% off nearly every week :pac:

My rent in Wellington city centre is more expensive than my last place in Dublin. Maybe its different in New Plymouth. Aldi is way cheaper than PaknSave though - its 4 dollars for 2 litres of milk here! 4 dollars for a loaf of bread. 20 dollars for a couple of chicken fillets. Veg is expensive, no 69cents bag of carrots/tomatoes/mushrooms here. 10 dollars for a pint for the love of god. Cars are not cheaper either? I sold my runabout in Dublin and paid double the price for almost exactly the same car over here. Insurance and Petrol are way cheaper though.

7.50 for a pint

$5 for 2l of milk and a loaf
The chicken is expensive but fillets are three times the size you get at home and it actually tastes like chicken
Veg in the veg shops can be really cheap. I got 3 corn on the cobs for a dollar last weekend for example
In relation to cars they hold their value much better over here so old ones can be more expensive, but I think they are better value. I'd never get or be able to afford the insurance and petrol on a 3.5 V6 at home

:D:D

Havent got a power bill yet but ive only been here in summer. Gaff has no insulation or central heating so should be some craic paying to heat it in winter.

The houses are so badly built but it also never gets as cold as back home (well in NP anyway) so shouldn't be too bad

Things that are cheap - beef! Even off the shelf supermarket beef is great quality too. Why is lamb so expensive though there are sheep everywhere? Eh, thats all I can think of.

Scotch fillet, yum yum yum
All the decent lamb gets exported seemingly, so whats left is crap stuff.

CiaranC · 15-03-2012 10:58pm

Ill have to check out independent grocers, new world in Wellington is expensive for veg, thanks for the tip

kdevitt · 15-03-2012 11:37pm

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

The chicken is expensive but fillets are three times the size you get at home

One of the main reasons for mongo sized chicken fillets over here is that they are allowed pump them full of water, it was banned in the EU years back.

Cookie_Monster · 15-03-2012 11:39pm

kdevitt wrote: »

One of the main reasons for mongo sized chicken fillets over here is that they are allowed pump them full of water, it was banned in the EU years back.

while that may be the case I've found they don't shrink when cooked, you get a lot of actual chicken in one fillet, enough for the two of us usually.

Crumble Froo · 16-03-2012 12:21am

CiaranC wrote: »

Ill have to check out independent grocers, new world in Wellington is expensive for veg, thanks for the tip

Oh god, new world is expensive for everything!
Crap'n'Slave all the way :pac:

It's worth checkin out local community hubs too. I've joined a fruit n veg co-op with mine and get 4kg of veg and 3kg of fruit for a tenner every week.

Buses are pretty cheap here too, but remember being unimpressed with the Wellingtonian fares.

CiaranC · 16-03-2012 12:27am

No PaknSave in the city though. Couldnt be arsed going out to Newtown to save a few dollars. In fact I havent found PaknSave much cheaper anywhere in NZ. Think they are opening a Countdown near the Basin there, maybe that will be better.

Mellor · 16-03-2012 1:52am

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

The chicken is expensive but fillets are three times the size you get at home and it actually tastes like chicken

You pay by weight, so size isn't an issue really.

kdevitt wrote: »

One of the main reasons for mongo sized chicken fillets over here is that they are allowed pump them full of water, it was banned in the EU years back.

The reason they are bigger is that they sell the full breat. Both the inner and outer muscle. At home these are normally split. If you look at the back on a breast here in Oz you'll see the divide, the line where the two muscle are split and only membrane joins them on.

The water injection does actually happen in europe (prob oz too). But it has to be labeled on the packaging. I've seen it with pork (at home), not with chicken.
Normally you'll see meat with: Ingredients: Pork (80%), Water, Salt

jank · 16-03-2012 4:15am

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

The houses are so badly built but it also never gets as cold as back home (well in NP anyway) so shouldn't be too bad
.

Have you spent a full winter in NZ?

Crumble Froo · 19-03-2012 4:05am

I was wondering about that... BUT, I think it could be a fair statement depending how far north you are....

I'd say Chch easily gets a fair bit warmer and a fair bit colder than Ireland does, but I don't think Auckland would get as cold or Invers much warmer...

pclancy · 19-03-2012 5:35am

Yeah New World is always pricey, same with Countdown but they do have some nicer brands then Pak n Save.

For cheap veges in Welly city head to the Sunday Victoria St or Te Papa Markets or Saturday market at Newtown. Cheap and fresh and theres always nice food and coffee with some music thrown in for ambience. When i'm out the Wairarapa way or up towards Kapiti at weekends there are always Farm shops that are really cheap and worth loading up at with fruit and veges.

I havent bought fruit or veges from a supermarket in years. Finally got a vege garden going this year so next summer I wont even need to go to the markets

Crumble Froo · 20-03-2012 3:31am

Oh and just cos speaking about 'cheap' and 'welly'...

Have you had the $2 tofu burgers? They're phenomenally good for the super cheapness and a must-do when in Wellington. I'll say this too, there's not a lot of food that I/my veggie mates get this excited about that the omnivores do too, but seriously, if you've not had them... do.

jellie · 02-04-2012 5:52pm

Don't think this really needs a thread & I've searched a few times but not finding my answer so hopefully this questions ok here - just wondering if anyone has used visafirst for an australia WHV & how you found it? Or if anyone knows of another simple/easy/cheap way to apply? Usit only seem to offer it as a package of things I don't want to buy from them.

Hail 2 Da Thief · 02-04-2012 6:36pm

jellie wrote: »

Don't think this really needs a thread & I've searched a few times but not finding my answer so hopefully this questions ok here - just wondering if anyone has used visafirst for an australia WHV & how you found it? Or if anyone knows of another simple/easy/cheap way to apply? Usit only seem to offer it as a package of things I don't want to buy from them.

Just apply for it directly. It's fast, easy & more cost effective!

jellie · 02-04-2012 7:10pm

Thanks, that seems the most straightforward

Possible stupid question: what's the difference between a working holiday visa (417) and a work & holiday visa(462)?

How's life in NZ/Aus?

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