How's life in NZ/Aus?

Crumble Froo · 10-10-2008 9:07am

oh man, after being home for that short time... i miss it even more now

lull season for surfing too, so nothing to distract myself with properly. bleh.

absolutely loving my job though, and the weather's just about perfect for me.

Xavi6 · 14-10-2008 7:26am

Perth is finally starting to heat up - 30 degrees today, though I still want more. Bring on 35/36!

watna · 14-10-2008 7:37am

Hmm, we had mid 20s in Wellington over the weekend and I was delighted. It wasn't fun running around trying to get stuff done in work yesterday though!

Also, in NZ news. I got a kiwi driving licence today. It was worringly easy. I just had to give them $40 and show them my Irish driivng licence. I feel like I should have worked more for it, expecially as I didn't have to surrender my Irish licence.

BarryCreed · 14-10-2008 1:59pm

hey Xavi. Off the top of your head, how's the job situation in Perth these days? Hard to call? What's word on the street like, especially amongst newly arrived? I'm talking full time jobs, not casual work....

Could I get a number driving out in Kalgoorlie!?:o

The_B_Man · 19-10-2008 4:39am

Is there many boardsies in sydney? Everyone seems to be in perth or other places.

Also, anyone going to the melbourne cup?

Crumble Froo · 19-10-2008 9:10am

watna wrote: »

Hmm, we had mid 20s in Wellington over the weekend and I was delighted. It wasn't fun running around trying to get stuff done in work yesterday though!

Also, in NZ news. I got a kiwi driving licence today. It was worringly easy. I just had to give them $40 and show them my Irish driivng licence. I feel like I should have worked more for it, expecially as I didn't have to surrender my Irish licence.

i have no idea how hot it got this weekend, but i have a very very clearcut farmer's tan already! my freckles are darkening remarkably, and you can see the large white patches when i take my rings or bracelets off.

my lovely gothtan is ruined

hehe, at least my surfing has improved, and i damn well enjoyed myself doing it

and oh yeah, i knew i quoted your post for a reason! i got really excited for a moment reading it, until i realised you already had an irish licence. i think the system here is that it takes a couple of years to get a full license. i dont want to start trying to get mine until i know if ill still be in the country come jan (and previous crap is cleared up... change for the better!

) so if i do get my visa i shall celebrate by starting the lengthy process of learning to drive and getting a licence in nz

edit: *GASP* just saw the back of my hair! it's beginning to bleach itself light brown and... and... *cringe* blonde! :eek:

pucan · 20-10-2008 1:00am

The_B_Man wrote: »

Is there many boardsies in sydney? Everyone seems to be in perth or other places.

I think there is 4 or 5 in the Sydney 'posse'

watna · 20-10-2008 6:00am

Crumble Froo wrote: »

i have no idea how hot it got this weekend, but i have a very very clearcut farmer's tan already! my freckles are darkening remarkably, and you can see the large white patches when i take my rings or bracelets off. my lovely gothtan is ruined

hehe, at least my surfing has improved, and i damn well enjoyed myself doing it

and oh yeah, i knew i quoted your post for a reason! i got really excited for a moment reading it, until i realised you already had an irish licence. i think the system here is that it takes a couple of years to get a full license. i dont want to start trying to get mine until i know if ill still be in the country come jan (and previous crap is cleared up... change for the better! ) so if i do get my visa i shall celebrate by starting the lengthy process of learning to drive and getting a licence in nz

edit: *GASP* just saw the back of my hair! it's beginning to bleach itself light brown and... and... *cringe* blonde! :eek:

Yeah, the system here is a pain. You have to do a theory test to get a learners permit, then do a test to get your restricted licence, then a test to get your full licence. I am very relieved I could just flash them my Irish licence (which was hardly easy to get either I suppose!)

hussey · 20-10-2008 6:06am

The_B_Man wrote: »

Is there many boardsies in sydney? Everyone seems to be in perth or other places.

Also, anyone going to the melbourne cup?

I is in sydney and a few other... not going melbourne cup
heading to the int. rules + melbourne derby though!

Xavi6 · 20-10-2008 6:08am

33.5 degress yesterday =

Hit the beach for the day and got workin on my tan. Absolutely beautiful out.

watna · 20-10-2008 6:10am

Xavi6 wrote: »

33.5 degress yesterday =

Hit the beach for the day and got workin on my tan. Absolutely beautiful out.

It was beautiful here too. Everyone was at the beach swimming when I drove past.

I was hungover so no sun for me!

The_B_Man · 20-10-2008 6:19am

I wanna go to perth!

Sydney is nice (also got voted best city in the world again) but I'm used to citys and think ya have much more craic outside of them. Maybe its coz im not living anywhere near the beaches here. Stuck in a sh*thole suburb.

Crumble Froo · 20-10-2008 6:23am

watna wrote: »

Yeah, the system here is a pain. You have to do a theory test to get a learners permit, then do a test to get your restricted licence, then a test to get your full licence. I am very relieved I could just flash them my Irish licence (which was hardly easy to get either I suppose!)

think about it though. kiwi boy racers. im all for making it harder to get a licence,and highering the age.

watna · 20-10-2008 6:28am

Crumble Froo wrote: »

think about it though. kiwi boy racers. im all for making it harder to get a licence,and highering the age.

True, but I really don't think the roads are any safer here or people are better drivers. I get reports from the police emailed to me at work (it's free to sign up to and is super interesting). I get them for the wellington region only but there is a lot of car accidents on it and usually with very young people.

How much does their system help I wonder?

Xavi6 · 20-10-2008 6:34am

Same system over here, and to be far it is far better than the Irish one.

The problems however come from the fact that at 17 you can get a 5 litre automatic, which is essentially a glorified go-kart. Any tool can drive an auto and that's exactly what you get on the roads over here. They are the ones causing the problems.

IMO everybody should be made learn and pass the test in a manual. Then if you want you can go for an auto once you're a competant driver.

hussey · 20-10-2008 6:38am

Yeah teh boy races over in sydney seem to have much bigger cars (as Xavi said 5lt go-kart), they spend hours on the saturday night driving up and down George st ... muppets

I never get this at all, they all rev up their engines then move about 10meters then stop again ...

Crumble Froo · 20-10-2008 6:42am

the age here is 15. i know plenty of idiots who dont give a crap about the rules about not carrying mates with them till they've a full licence. drinking, getting into fights, racing, shouting about out the car... and that's just the girls i know.

personally, they are in no way mature enough to be behind a wheel. some are, granted. but an 18 year old is, on average/in general, more responsible than a 15 year old.
usually more likely to have learnt how to tell their mates 'no' as well.

One Cold Hand · 27-10-2008 1:54am

Got my 457 visa. Wahoo!
I don't have to go home to poverty ridden Ireland!

pucan · 27-10-2008 5:52am

Congrats.
Hit the town to celebrate. It'd be rude not to.

The_B_Man · 27-10-2008 5:56am

where ya gonna go?

Mahatma coat · 27-10-2008 7:05am

457's rock

also did ye notice that its generally Holden Drivers that are thebiggest Tools on the road as young fellas

I know a few younglads workin out in the yard who got their licences recently,

one went out and bought a 94 EBII Falcon and cruises around everywhere at about 50K

the other bought a VL Comodore and you should smell the tyresmoke as he leaves of an evenin

Crumble Froo · 27-10-2008 7:20am

duno about oz, but in nz, it's the cops riding the holdens.

and woo! i actually went to a party last night, with some people i konw!

and forcing myself to a halloween party by myself on friday!

The Sweeper · 27-10-2008 9:03am

Mmmmm, good weather.

Thoroughly enjoying the country life in mid-spring Victoria today. Though my neighbour's effing dog is currently making a noise like an indoor football team with rubber sneakers on one of those shiny gym floors.

The_B_Man · 27-10-2008 10:52pm

How did ya end up in Rural Vic?

Skittlebrau · 30-10-2008 3:20am

One Cold Hand wrote: »

Got my 457 visa. Wahoo!
I don't have to go home to poverty ridden Ireland!

How long did your 457 take to process?

One Cold Hand · 30-10-2008 5:43am

Once I'd submitted the application it took about 2 weeks to approve.

The application took a while to prepare though, as I did it myself. A lot of people go through Visa agencies.

BattyInNZ · 31-10-2008 12:36pm

Oh God! Hellooooo!!!!!!! I've just found ye!

I'm in Auckland and on lots of forums populated by the people across the water but nobody from Ireland! I was in Ireland in August and am not homesick as such but I miss the humour...

Mrs OBumble · 31-10-2008 10:26pm

Crumble Froo wrote: »

iIdont want to start trying to get mine until i know if ill still be in the country come jan (and previous crap is cleared up... change for the better! ) so if i do get my visa i shall celebrate by starting the lengthy process of learning to drive and getting a licence in nz

Warning, warning: do you ever want to move home to Ireland? If you do, then having an NZ licence will let you drive in Ireland for up to 12 months. Then you have to go through the WHOLE painful process (pass theory test, get learner permit, have learner permit for six months, pass practical test - 10 week waiting list for the test!, get full licence). Licences for NZ are not accepted for trade-in in Ireland. Grossly unfair, cos Irish licences are traded in in NZ. But that's life in RoI.

The way around it is to go home via a state in Oz that does trade in with NZ licences. You have to be there for long enough to get a postal address, a few weeks in a hostel might do it. Then the Oz licence can be traded-in in Ireland.

'Tis a good thing to tell any Kiwis you meet who might be thinking of moving to Ireland.

Crumble Froo · 01-11-2008 12:17am

ooh! thanks for that! im not sure if i intend to come home or not... ive had a fantastic weekend so far though, so maybe ill say no. either way i wanna learn to drive, mainly for surf convenience. surf whichever beach i want, minus the hassle of having to get a lift with someone so's to move my board.

watna · 01-11-2008 2:54am

BattyInNZ wrote: »

Oh God! Hellooooo!!!!!!! I've just found ye! I'm in Auckland and on lots of forums populated by the people across the water but nobody from Ireland! I was in Ireland in August and am not homesick as such but I miss the humour...

Welcome to the forum. Hope you like what you see. I have to say it has been great to come on here and have a laugh- I miss the Irish humour too.

Dirty Frank · 06-11-2008 2:57am

Thank Cripes, more Irish people! Anyone else in New Zealand finding it a bit more difficult than you expected to get work??? And howdy to everyone! I'm only here 2 weeks but I love Auckland already

watna · 06-11-2008 7:49am

Dirty Frank wrote: »

Thank Cripes, more Irish people! Anyone else in New Zealand finding it a bit more difficult than you expected to get work??? And howdy to everyone! I'm only here 2 weeks but I love Auckland already

/waves at dirty Frank. Welcome!

No, I found it pretty easy to get work but then again I'm in Wellington and I arrived 5 months ago.

Keep on going - I'm sure you'll find something, just be flexible I get. What kind of work are you looking for?

Crumble Froo · 06-11-2008 7:53am

i applied for two jobs, and got both! within a week, actually, of applying!

what sort of sectors are youa pplying in? i was looking at looking after people... early childhood, and elderly care.

how do you find auckland? looks scary up there!

Panda · 06-11-2008 9:40am

was over in nz and oz between 2006 and earlier this year and they were crying out for workers in every sector,
ringin people up from ads in the paper wasnt doin it
i got work lickety split when i went thru an agency in nz and oz.

there was this one ad i saw in the paper while i was over there, (cant rem the name of the main paper now...) the ad was for people to come work down in the research stations in antartica, apparently the money is amazing and you get to go to antartica!
if id heard about it in time i definitely would have a applied for it, but alas i was too late

Dirty Frank · 07-11-2008 7:16am

watna wrote: »

/waves at dirty Frank. Welcome!

No, I found it pretty easy to get work but then again I'm in Wellington and I arrived 5 months ago.

Keep on going - I'm sure you'll find something, just be flexible I get. What kind of work are you looking for?

I'm bein flexible nuff... I think! I got a part time job interview for a job on tuesday so its a start. Maybe my CV just sucks monkey balls or something. I moved in with a Canadian girl and she said best way she found was through an agency so I'm goin trawlin them now. God, the dole was so much easier than this job crap. That Antartica sounds flippin mint! I really like this city so far - Auckland that is. Where is everybody else? The most Irish I've met so far were in Irish bars.

watna · 07-11-2008 7:23am

Dirty Frank wrote: »

I'm bein flexible nuff... I think! I got a part time job interview for a job on tuesday so its a start. Maybe my CV just sucks monkey balls or something. I moved in with a Canadian girl and she said best way she found was through an agency so I'm goin trawlin them now. God, the dole was so much easier than this job crap. That Antartica sounds flippin mint! I really like this city so far - Auckland that is. Where is everybody else? The most Irish I've met so far were in Irish bars.

Yeah, I got my jon through an agency. I signed up for temping work but they also looked for longer contracts for me. Hays put me forward for the job I'm in now - even though I wouldn't have gone for it myself and it's worked out great. They're willing to keep me on when my residency comes through and I enjoy it. I don't enjoy the pay though. When I think of my Irish salary it makes me cry! I would send in your CV to some agencies though.

Glad you're enjoying Auckland. I really like Wellington too. It's similar enough to home that I don't feel really awkward but different enough that I'm having lots of new experiences and am not bored.

Crumble Froo · 10-11-2008 7:53am

how the FCUK do people live in this heat?! it's unbearable! just drains energy almost entirely. this is gonna be a crap summer.

watna · 10-11-2008 7:55am

Crumble Froo wrote: »

how the FCUK do people live in this heat?! it's unbearable! just drains energy almost entirely. this is gonna be a crap summer.

It was fecking freezing in Wellington today. After such a nice weekend and everything - I was not impressed.

Xavi6 · 10-11-2008 7:59am

30-odd here yesterday. Absolutely beautiful.

One Cold Hand · 10-11-2008 8:00am

I went for a run at about 11am on Sunday. Bad idea! it was about 26degrees in Melb. Struggled around 5km.

Crumble Froo · 10-11-2008 8:08am

watna wrote: »

It was fecking freezing in Wellington today. After such a nice weekend and everything - I was not impressed.

we had snow and hail on friday. saturday was just cool and cloudy, felt like home, sunday was cloudy, miserable looking, but warm enough.. hit 22/23 degrees here by 10am. pure blue skies, all that bull. i guess we've had reversed weekends.

Crumble Froo · 10-11-2008 9:09am

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! we're moving at the end of hte month, thought we had 2 weeks of bond to carry us through. at the end, which woulda been a nice lil saving...

turns out the chick who was living here before (who is now married, living with her fella the other side of town) used the bond up by missing rent payments, as well as racking up some debt in rent as well. fortunately, landlord's not charging us for that, but we don't get the two weeks rent free like we thought, and HAVE to keep paying rent till the 25th, so gonna move on the 29th. BLEH! this is costing a couple hundred dollars more than anticipated already.

Dirty Frank · 11-11-2008 6:21am

Its really nice here in Auckland, like a really good summer at home (around 20 deg most days). But the forecast is muck! It was supposed to be raining on Saturday last and I got sunburn, bad as MET Eireann are these guys could learn a thing from Evelyn Cusack and Gerald Fleming.

brendansmith · 11-11-2008 6:25am

Crumble Froo wrote: »

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! we're moving at the end of hte month, thought we had 2 weeks of bond to carry us through. at the end, which woulda been a nice lil saving...

turns out the chick who was living here before (who is now married, living with her fella the other side of town) used the bond up by missing rent payments, as well as racking up some debt in rent as well. fortunately, landlord's not charging us for that, but we don't get the two weeks rent free like we thought, and HAVE to keep paying rent till the 25th, so gonna move on the 29th. BLEH! this is costing a couple hundred dollars more than anticipated already.

Always, always the way im afraid!

Coileach dearg · 11-11-2008 6:25am

Dirty Frank wrote: »

Its really nice here in Auckland, like a really good summer at home (around 20 deg most days). But the forecast is muck! It was supposed to be raining on Saturday last and I got sunburn, bad as MET Eireann are these guys could learn a thing from Evelyn Cusack and Gerald Fleming.

Is that Martin King clown still doing the weather for tv3? I still have nightmares about him.

One Cold Hand · 11-11-2008 6:47am

"And a special HELLO to Bridie in Ballina. Happy 95th Birthday to you Bridie"

F0ck off Martin!

Crumble Froo · 11-11-2008 9:09am

brendansmith wrote: »

Always, always the way im afraid!

bah! got a letter today telling as all the things we have to do to get our bond back. i dont see what the point is, when hiring professional carpet cleaners will cost about the same amount. :mad:

Coileach dearg · 11-11-2008 11:39pm

Crumble Froo wrote: »

bah! got a letter today telling as all the things we have to do to get our bond back. i dont see what the point is, when hiring professional carpet cleaners will cost about the same amount. :mad:

Feck them and their carpet cleaners. Get a bit of shake n' vac and run the hoover over it a couple of times and it leaves it smelling nice. Then tell them ya had the 'carpets steam cleaned', there's no such thing as a carpet expert. I've done this loads of times.

One Cold Hand · 12-11-2008 3:47am

Sh!t it's warm! 33degs in Melb!

dSTAR · 12-11-2008 6:10am

It is disgustingly warm today in Melbourne today. Waiting for the clock to strike 5pm and I am heading to the bottle shop, getting out of these clothes, into my wife beater and shorts and hanging out in the garden for a while sinking a few coldies :cool:

How's life in NZ/Aus?

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