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What to do when you first arrive in Auckland

1K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  anski 
#1 ·
Heya

I can now confirm that my husband has formally accepted an offer of a job in Auckland, so we will definitely be moving to New Zealand!!! Woooohooooo!! I'm so excited but also very scared and nervous, as I assume all of you were.

My husbands employers are arranging all the visas and provide us with accommodation for one week upon arrival and we are hoping to arrive at the start of July. Happy days!!

Anyways, I am now in planning mode and starting to plan the logistics of moving our family and furniture to NZ.

Our furniture will take between 8-12 weeks to arrive, so we are planning to move into a holiday home temporarily whilst we look for a longer term rental and will try to co-ordinate our move into rental with the arrival of our furniture. However when we first get there we won't have a car or mobile phone/internet access. We will need internet access to allow us to search for rentals. What did everyone else do when your first arrived? We were thinking of hiring a car for two weeks until we bought ourselves one, plus can you easily buy a pay and go sim with phone call and data allowances for a short time until we sign up to a mobile contract?

Can you recommend any other tips for us to consider to make the first few weeks as stress free as possible?

Thanks
 
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#3 ·
Hi topcat...my husbands job will be based in CBD but will be posted to various client sites as and when required. You previously recommended manukau city..botony downs and dannemora areas. Although I have done a fair bit of research and I am really keen on the north shore area...I know the commute can be horrific at times during rush hour but there is a ferry that travels to CBD from Birkenhead so we are focusing on that area at the moment.

Thanks for any help you maybe able to provide.

Thanks
 
#4 ·
Hi,

I replied to your pm re accommodation & this apartment also has a phone allowing free local calls & there is internet connection available also. It was a great help when we first arrived back from long spell overseas & had to reestablish everything.

I joined https://www.2degreesmobile.co.nz immediately you can buy them almost anywhere & have a great pre pay plans including data if you have a unlocked phone. They also sell phones so take a look.
I found Vodafone & Telecom to be horrendously expensive they have come down now theres competition but my vote goes to 2degrees.
We bought 2 cars sight unseen from trademe.co.nz (he was car wholesaler took a gamble) & the cars are still running perfect 27 months later. He was waiting for us at Auckland International airport at 6am with one of the cars & drove us back to his office to do paperwork. Both cars cost under $10,000 in total.
Just try to explore & get used to the place, you can do a lot online for transport see maxx.co.nz

cheers,
 
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