KiwiRider

New Zealand health and safety. Hi vis horns.

We are very lucky although we will be living on beans and toast for a long time. NZ has some plans to help first home buyers but I didn’t qualify for the grant because I earn more than the threshold and the house we wanted was too expensive. So we are being punished for working too hard. Otherwise we could of got $20K from the government for the deposit:(

3 years ago I wasn’t feeling well at work and took myself off to the doctor. They took my heart rate and found it was at 265bpm and was in VT. The doctor basically told me I had 5 minutes to live and should phone family to say I might not make it. Luckily I was fit from cycling and my heart could handle the high rate. They rushed me to hospital and managed to get my heart back to normal using a defibrillator. If I was in SA I probably wouldn’t of made it to the hospital. This happened three more times before they put in a pacemaker/defibrillator. Which I think was irresponsible letting someone out when they have a chronic heart condition. But the pacemaker and the surgery cost me nothing which I am very grateful for. My medication cost me $25 every three months which in SA would be thousands a month. With my condition I feel they do not want to find out what is wrong with me and just want me out the door. If I was paying for it in SA I would make more of a fuss. They also don’t have the equipment in the government hospitals to do the test I need. My friends wife also had heart condition which they have been trying to treat. She eventually couldn't work because she was so sick. They decided to move to Australia where her doctor took all her medical records and threw them in the bin. He said they had totally misdiagnosed her and she would be dead in two months. She has since had open heart surgery and is feeling much better. I have another friend who had to wait nine months for is knee operation. He couldn’t walk or work while he waited. Having spent a lot of time in hospitals over the past three years I have noticed some trends. There is more pressure on the government medical system and the service is dropping, the waits for some procedures are increasing too. Because of the limited resources they will rather bandaid a problem and get you out the door than fix it because it is too expensive. The systems is good and cheep but I am not sure for how long. My advise is to get medical insurance it is not that expensive and enables you to choice what surgery and when you want it. If you leave it too long it gets really hard to get cover when you are older.

I just cleaned it myself and used a cardboard box from my local bicycle shop to put the bike in. Having your bike serviced in SA will be a lot cheaper. You can PM with any other questions you have.

We are getting a townhouse built in Hobsonville so we can be on the shore and still get to the city easily.

Make sure bike is very clean when you bring it. Customs does not like dirt on anything.

My partner and I are looking for a one bedroom or studio apartment preferably on Auckland's North shore. We are having our house built and need accommodation from Easter weekend till the end of June possibly later.