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Not even my test, but just as happy!!
My sis passed! One step closer to her NZ life 
So I cycled with a moerse heavy back pack on Monday .... as in 10kg heavy .... cycled home with this and at the end of the ride I came to the realisation that I would really like to loose that same 10kg's off of my body weight ... target set.
I use to have that in mind every Monday and Friday when I use to cycle my clothes to/from work, and my bag was only about 4-5 kgs. It is scary what just carrying that little bit of extra weight can feel like on the bike.
Now I am 9kg's heavier than I was then (no back pack, just the front pack(s)...haha), and just getting up and out of bed is hard, I will never want to weigh this for a long time! Cant imagine how it will feel dragging myself up a hill now on the bike! 
Congrats WP on your families PR!!
I am jealous! 
(My residency process will only start in 3 weeks!)
And ONLY +- 5 weeks till we have to get use to another completely new process 
How did you discover that out of all who wrote, only two candidates achieved a score of 7? Results are not put up on a notice board to my knowledge. To review my result I was required to log in to the IELTS website as memory serves.
There was a list of all the candidates and their results when my sis went to fetch her certificate at the place where they despatch all the certificates from (they are the main centre here in NZ).
Edit: You can go fetch your results and/or they post it to you and/or you can view it on line.
She wrote it again on 12 May. Still waiting for the results but she does not feel very positive - and that after studying very hard for it. Too little time seems to be the biggest issue.
Yip, my sis is getting her re-write results on Friday - DAMN I hope she makes it!
My wife had to do the academic IELTS for nursing registration, also requiring 7 or higher in every section.
She passed well with average above 7, but 6.5 for the writing - so she has to do it all again. Looks like the academic writing is quite difficult.
Has she written again and got a 7 for writing?
It seems like that one is the most difficult to pass here, of the time my sis got a 6.5 for it only 2 people that wrote on that day got 7's (nothing higher).
Are any of you guys or your spouse teaching in NZ?
I have found out quite a bit lately about teaching here, anything specific you want to know?
I'm guessing this is not for you as you have W2R so no English competency tests are required.
Is this for the primary applicant or a partner? Often a partner requires a lower score. Do you know what score is required?
A couple of years ago I was supposed to write my IELTS,but due to their "system being down" (a South African epidemic) on the day of the test , I ended up making a last minute booking for my CAE (Cambridge Advanced English) exam.
I won't lie and say it was a cake walk. There was a lot of ambiguity in the questions.
That said, I was writing for a C2 level score on the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference), which is the highest category.
http://www.chelseaenglish.com/en/images/cambridge-english-scale.jpgAs you can see above, Grade 11 & 12 English as a first language are at a C1 level. Most visas will require B2 level. NZ for instance requires an IELTS score of 6.5, so that puts it just below a C1 and at about grade 10 level. Shouldn't be too hard!
Heck, if I can get an 95% on C2 just by reading the questions carefully and using my most delicious English, then just about anyone who can hold a fluent conversation in English should be able to get a B2 (6.5).
Hope that helps!
Correct, I don't need it for residency application, and luckily my partner is a PR already (hence the reason why we can register the little one as a NZ citizen at birth), but I will need it to do my LAT (Limited Authority to Teach) registration. They unfortunately only accept 4 tests, the Parsons isn't one of them. To register at the education council one needs to get a 7 in each section of the IELTS test (not as an overall). This seems like a big mountain to climb, as my sister wrote a couple of weekends ago and got 7.5 overall, but on 2 separate sections got 6.5 so she cant submit her education registration yet (although she already has a job offer).
It is overall such a long process too (just to write the test), because you have to complete registration at least a week before the test date, then after the test date they take 2 weeks to give the results, so the quickest turn around time just to know if you passed is 3 weeks. That's longer than her Registration at the council will take and probably longer than her work visa too.
Anyone ever had to write it IELTS english test?
So how long does one have to go without riding a bicycle before being kicked off the hub?
will it work on massive samoans?
Lets start with 'closer to home'....the Maori's.
Actually I am quite interested to see my own data at this moment...or maybe I shouldn't be! 
So from this morning it seems official that in the last 7 months I have gained 7kg's.
For me it is a HUGE deal and I am really starting to feel the 'quick' weight gain, manly when I sit because most of the weight is in my top half (for the 1st time in my life I'm top heavy) so my bum and tailbone area goes numb. My wrists even is feeling the 'beating' as I push myself up from everything with my hands.
Everyday when we go walk, or when we do other activities like sailing or even just getting into the car I think how this 'sudden' weight gain compares to the 'normal letting yourself go'/weight gain over a longer time period where your body gets the time to adapt to that 1 or 2 kg's at a time.
I think most of it now the last week or two is fluid retention though (no not an excuse), swelling is getting real for the 1st time in the 7 months and I found this 'interesting study'...
https://legionathletics.com/water-retention/
At least in 2 months time I will loose most of it within a couple of hours
Happy birthday to two Hubbers on this thread!
Nolan and Hayley.
May the coming year be everything you dream of and more!
Ah thank you!
I woke up this morning with everything exactly as I always dreamt of having (well maybe being kicked in my ribs from the outside would be one step better than being kicked from the inside) but all right there - a living dream
Hi Hayley
You still looking for ZAR's. Have just landed in NZ and looking to offload some SA Rands.
Yes!
PM me ..
I found I got by a on a lot less than I though I needed. And if you speak to most here (including myself) they will confess that they have been on their bikes very little since moving over, especially in the first year or so.
But non of you were/are roadies... haha
There is actually nothing more relaxing/peaceful to go out on a long road ride around Auckland (as in really around it) - you get to see so much more of the areas and knowing you can go just by yourself and be safe is what makes it so peaceful.
** I am not riding now anymore due to an overprotected father (haha) of the little one inside me, but it is something I am longing for and missing everyday! **
Week 3 in the new job. Still adjusting but loving the new challenges and seeing things from a different perspective (client side + government).
Last week marked 2yrs since I moved to NZ. A lot has happened in that time. Moved cities (and islands), changed jobs, so many new experiences.
Time to apply for residency, and hopefully quality for fast tracking to PR. I meet the criteria, but it's not guaranteed, as a former work colleague found out.
Has anyone here applied for residency from a Work to Residency visa, and managed to get the fast track to PR?
Have you sent your documentation to the Police in SA yet? Did it arrive and are they processing it?
Edit: for the police clearance certificate
I am still looking for people that want to exchange NZ$ for Rands (I give NZ$ and you Rands)...
Just to avoid all the transfer costs etc etc
(Don't laugh) But I actually follow a few male models on instagram and youtube (It's for style). All of them say the same same. We all buy clothes too big for us to begin with. They all advise to try the same experiment. Next time shopping, try one size smaller. You will be surprised that one size smaller fits the majority of people, better. (I've done this myself and it worked! And this is not saying its going to fit like a skinny jeans or something like that)
And something I have been a firm believer of (as I don't wear 'loose' clothes) is that wearing clothes bigger gives you that feeling that you have room to grow into it...
And you don't really notice when you have gained just a little weight/cm's.
The last 6 months I have picked up 4.6kg.
Which for my mind is something difficult to get over, but I am accepting it, luckily haven't had the need to buy bigger pants, just tops to adapt around the belly and boobs. (I cant believe for the 1st time in my life I have a belly.)
In just over 3 months (end June) I will actively get back into this thread to loose all I have gained by then
I have tried to do the pregnancy the 'healthy' way, although not being able to cycle anymore has made that difficult the last little while.
Anyone been to Rarotonga and can suggest some accommodation?
For anyone living in these areas and want to have an input regarding cycling infrastructure...
This is usually the point that I punt my local trails at Maraetai Forest (East Auckland), however they have just closed for logging, likely until next summer
.
Rotorua is pretty awesome, and I far prefer the redwoods to skyline. You can ride in the forest for hours, there's a huge range of different trails and some spots are just awesome to take in the scents of nature.
Closer to home, I haven't been to Woodhill for a while, but apparently its a bit better than the last time I was there. Totara Park is ok for some winter xc laps. Hunua forest has some nice xc loops through native bush.
440 is good fun and now that Maraetai is closed I'll need to head out there again.
440 also close from I think just after Easter weekend for the 'wet season' till about Oct/November I think.
Thanks for that.
I'll be heading to Rotorua next weekend for a day trip.
I'm trying to figure out if the Skyline gondola or the other shuttled trails are the best use of one's money.
As for Auckland, I plan to try Woodhill and Riverhead.
I have also heard of a place called Four Fourty (440) that does shuttles. Anyone been there?
Damn I never expected Christchurch's many MTB options while I was there.
*kicking myself*
Yip been to 440.
More tehnical than the other two (with jumps etc), not as much ground to cover than Woodhill though and also you dont have the option not to use the shuttle at 440.
For your current fitness you will enjoy skyline more I would say, more trails closer together. At the other trails they only drop you at one point and although there are a few fun trails from the drop off point, there are amazing ones even further from the drop off point and require some pedalling.
New Zealand - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
in Chit chat
Posted
Police clearance certificates are only taking 1 week these days at the police department in SA (from submission to ready to collect) so I didn't have the need to pay someone this time to fast track it.