New Zealand - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

[Beer4Recovery]

Whilst on the NZ subject, I was quite shocked to see this…

 

[davetapson]

We went and found the rivers affected by agricultural runoff and - they had agricultural pollutants!!   (While showing pics of pristine rivers as we set this up to make you think those are the ones that are affected.)

Yeah, needs to be looked at, looks like they are looking at them. 

Also personally I find the 'us Maori are one with the land' thing a bit hard to swallow when you go and see just how denuded of ANYTHING traditional Maori coastlines are.  Once the rocks are completely bare they institute a rahui.  When I see the rahui's instituted before that stage, and in Marine Reserves, I'll possibly be a little less cynical.  At least in the Transkei there is at least some seaweed and the odd critter (although that's not exactly good either.)

[davetapson]

Also, damn, but rivers with algal blooms due to nitrogen run-off is pretty low down the scale when you compare to elsewhere.  The Vaal is pretty toxic, and not with N run-off, and the the big rivers running in to the sea on the E Coast of SA are just thick with topsoil - which is sending your future out to sea not to mention more horrible kinds of e. coli etc than one would care to know about..

https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2009/sep/05/author-loses-leg-in-lagoon

This I know about because we had a holiday home just up from there.  I used to hate my kids playing in the lagoon at Southbroom etc because of things like this, and as a kid my brother and I got some form of 'food poisoning' from a lagoon in the Transkei that nearly put us in hospital, so been there, done that.

There's not much going on in NZ, so they can afford to get uptight about things that most other nations wouldn't much notice.

Which is not to say the N issue is nothing, but a sense of perspective is required.

Edited June 30, 2021 by davetapson

[davetapson]

Out of interest, this is the type of thing that is going on - latest DOC newsletter...

https://newsletters.doc.govt.nz/t/ViewEmail/i/467C7590BE7FE2EC2540EF23F30FEDED/2D493111994076709E794568BD214575

 

[patches]

Just a heads up to any NZ residents planning on visiting Aussie (for tourist reasons) in the next little while.

• Apply for your Class 600 Visitors Visa asap. Current processing time frame is listed as 5-8 months ????
• If you had a visitors visa that expired during the covid restrictions, you can apply for a new one and not repay the $160-odd. One just needs to pay for new biometrics $25.

[patches]

On 7/2/2021 at 1:09 PM, patches said:

Just a heads up to any NZ residents planning on visiting Aussie (for tourist reasons) in the next little while.

• Apply for your Class 600 Visitors Visa asap. Current processing time frame is listed as 5-8 months ????
• If you had a visitors visa that expired during the covid restrictions, you can apply for a new one and not repay the $160-odd. One just needs to pay for new biometrics $25.

Australian visa granted yesterday! So around 1 month processing time (not the 5-8 they stated ) ????

Also, they gave me 2 years again. Now just to wait for NSW to get their act together

Funny enough, I (a Saffer with the little green book) can now legally go to Australia but my wife (an Australian) cannot (her passport expired a couple of weeks ago, haha).

Edited July 13, 2021 by patches

[davetapson]

On 7/14/2021 at 8:24 AM, patches said:

wife

Quiet change of status there Patches...?

If so, congratulations...

[Slowbee]

MIQ voucher issued.

 

A new chapter will be starting soon. It is amazing how much material excess we keep in our lives #minimalism

 

[davetapson]

On 7/23/2021 at 11:44 PM, Slowbee said:

MIQ voucher issued.

 

A new chapter will be starting soon. It is amazing how much material excess we keep in our lives #minimalism

 

Has to be the quickest zero to go I've heard of...

[Rocket-Boy]

On 7/23/2021 at 1:44 PM, Slowbee said:

MIQ voucher issued.

 

A new chapter will be starting soon. It is amazing how much material excess we keep in our lives #minimalism

 

Congratulations, Im sure you will be very happy

I get so sad when I hear of people leaving for Aus/NZ, its all selfish though because I really want to go myself, my wife flatly refuses and the only way I would be leaving SA would be as a single man.

At least I can live vicariously through the rest of you!

[patham]

On 7/14/2021 at 6:24 AM, patches said:

 

Also, they gave me 2 years again. Now just to wait for NSW to get their act together

Funny enough, I (a Saffer with the little green book) can now legally go to Australia but my wife (an Australian) cannot (her passport expired a couple of weeks ago, haha).

You could be waiting a while. The little travel bubble to anywhere in Aus has also well and truly popped.

[patham]

On 7/23/2021 at 9:44 PM, Slowbee said:

MIQ voucher issued.

 

A new chapter will be starting soon. It is amazing how much material excess we keep in our lives #minimalism

 

Congrats. Be ruthless with chucking things out now.

 

From our own experience, I wonder what kicking off migration with a 2 weeks confinement feels like? Its a given that with young kids it would be a nightmare to keep them happy, for our first few weeks the local park was well frequented. With Brisbane summer heat and the effects of jet-lag, late night excursions to the park were invaluable.

 

But purely from an adults point of view, maybe it has some postives as long as you have a suitable internet device. It's possibly a chance to do all the last minute arrangements, research, get a feel for local traffic, transport, media, ads, shopping and brands all whilst the basics of life are being tended to by others. Because there sure isn't enough time on the S.A. side to do that in the last few weeks.

 

   

[patches]

On 7/23/2021 at 11:44 PM, Slowbee said:

MIQ voucher issued.

 

A new chapter will be starting soon. It is amazing how much material excess we keep in our lives #minimalism

 

Congrats Slowbee! I'm guessing you're moving to Auckland?

I moved over super-minimalist. 2 duffle bags, a backpack, and a bike in a box. However I was a single guy in my early 30's and didn't need too much. 

My sister, brother-in-law and their little one did the container shipment thing. pros and cons to that too. One bit of advice I had for them was:

"Unless your TV is top end and less than 1yr old, don't bother bringing it. Rather get one this end."

Reason being, TV's here have Freeview (like free digital television with On Demand streaming etc). I don't think SA smart TV's are compatible and although one can pay like $100 to get a Freeview decoder, it's probably best just to get a new TV unless your current one is super-duper.

My Sister didn't listen and brought a thick bezel, 5yr old Samsung 40" over. She waited 3 months for it and regretted  

Anyway, there's no shortage of advice, personal experience and option on this thread. But all that aside I hope this is a great new adventure for you and your family, and as you know we're always here to help out where we can.

14 hours ago, Rocket-Boy said:

Congratulations, Im sure you will be very happy

I get so sad when I hear of people leaving for Aus/NZ, its all selfish though because I really want to go myself, my wife flatly refuses and the only way I would be leaving SA would be as a single man.

At least I can live vicariously through the rest of you!

A little while ago a close friend and I were having a chat about him returning to SA. There were a few life events etc that he was missing out on by being in NZ and he was feeling rather homesick.

I asked him if he could assign percentages to what the biggest draw is, what would the pie-chart look like. Is it things like missing the places (scenery, climate, wildlife, etc)? Missing the people (South Africans as a whole) and culture? Missing friends and family? Missing certain conveniences and luxuries?

Anyway, it came down to that 90% of it was missing friends and family. My answer would be the same, and I'm guessing your wifes' would too. It's a tough one! Especially now that travel isn't as free as it used to be.

37 minutes ago, patham said:

Congrats. Be ruthless with chucking things out now.

From our own experience, I wonder what kicking off migration with a 2 weeks confinement feels like? Its a given that with young kids it would be a nightmare to keep them happy, for our first few weeks the local park was well frequented. With Brisbane summer heat and the effects of jet-lag, late night excursions to the park were invaluable.

But purely from an adults point of view, maybe it has some postives as long as you have a suitable internet device. It's possibly a chance to do all the last minute arrangements, research, get a feel for local traffic, transport, media, ads, shopping and brands all whilst the basics of life are being tended to by others. Because there sure isn't enough time on the S.A. side to do that in the last few weeks.   

Good call! A little bit of time to adjust before jumping into it.

I was late for my 1st day of work (3 days after I arrived in NZ) because I overslept due to jet-lag   

[patches]

On 7/16/2021 at 5:15 PM, davetapson said:

Quiet change of status there Patches...?

If so, congratulations...

Thanks! yeah, quiet and small were the operative words. Very small occasion. Would have even been permissible under Level 3 rules  (9 people including celebrant and photographers)

1 hour ago, patham said:

You could be waiting a while. The little travel bubble to anywhere in Aus has also well and truly popped.

Yup, NSW is a circus at the moment. between rampant case number (rampant for Australia. Not rampant by world standards), and the protests. It's not looking great!

But yeah, we were lucky that the in-laws were able to come over in June, and with the wedding done and dusted the pressure of the travel bubble doesn't seem so critical. However I would like to get me some Aussie retail in before the end of the year, hahaha!

[davetapson]

Sounds like Gerald de Kock commentating on Olympics cross-country.

Dude knows his stuff.

 

Edited July 27, 2021 by davetapson

[Rocket-Boy]

9 hours ago, patches said:

 

A little while ago a close friend and I were having a chat about him returning to SA. There were a few life events etc that he was missing out on by being in NZ and he was feeling rather homesick.

I asked him if he could assign percentages to what the biggest draw is, what would the pie-chart look like. Is it things like missing the places (scenery, climate, wildlife, etc)? Missing the people (South Africans as a whole) and culture? Missing friends and family? Missing certain conveniences and luxuries?

Anyway, it came down to that 90% of it was missing friends and family. My answer would be the same, and I'm guessing your wifes' would too. It's a tough one! Especially now that travel isn't as free as it used to be.

 

Yeah man, the issue is she doesnt like change at all. 

Add to that her parents are 2 minutes from our house, her sister is 5 minutes and my whole family is 10 minutes away.

Im really unhappy in SA, living here is having a really negative effect on my mental wellbeing and negatively changing my personality. There are a number of other factors involved, but what I mostly want is safety.

I want to be able to go and enjoy the outdoors without having to worry about who was harassing me to watch my car when I parked, who is watching for mugging opportunities etc. I dont do a lot of that stuff anymore because its simply too dangerous without having a group of people.