NGUTF Posted December 18, 2015 Share Loving it. They are so resilient. They never bring up SA. They are making new friends and enjoying themselves. We are a lot more active here. My son joins me twice a week at my boxing gym. Today we walked to school and tonight both kids have swimming lessons. Its a whole other way of life.Thanks WP. Anyone else that has been there for longer with kids care to share their experiences on how they adjusted? One of the biggest things keeping us in SA is my oldest son's (4yrs old) relationship with his cousin and grandparents. Meerkat82 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIPSLICK Posted December 18, 2015 Share Thanks WP. Anyone else that has been there for longer with kids care to share their experiences on how they adjusted? One of the biggest things keeping us in SA is my oldest son's (4yrs old) relationship with his cousin and grandparents.as i said my sister has been there 7 years approx, she said for the first time the other day she went for her kids, but she is not so sure now she rekons they cant be controlled, they are wild by most peoples standards, she says discipline is an issue, kids in general totally have no respect for their elders, she says the gov. fault the kids can do what they want,,,, then again i use the term "sister" losely im sure she was adopted, my sani partner has been there 5 years he is old school boerkie, he does not like the lack of respect towards the older people(pensioners) in general GrumpyOldGuy, nonky and NGUTF 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyOldGuy Posted December 18, 2015 Share as i said my sister has been there 7 years approx, she said for the first time the other day she went for her kids, but she is not so sure now she rekons they cant be controlled, they are wild by most peoples standards, she says discipline is an issue, kids in general totally have no respect for their elders, she says the gov. fault the kids can do what they want,,,, then again i use the term "sister" losely im sure she was adopted, my sani partner has been there 5 years he is old school boerkie, he does not like the lack of respect towards the older people(pensioners) in generalIts a big issue here too (well for me anyway) kids here are treated like adults and not kids, I have heard parents discussing the merits of having / or not, another ice cream with their kids of 10, they dont just say "No" - its first a 15 minute discussion, and then after all that the kid throws a tantrum and the parents cave in anyway. In my opinion kids here are particularly precocious, many of them call their parents by their first names, they scream and demand and swear and have no respect for authority or their elders. In general SA kids are still very well behaved and respectful of authority and parents, here, not so much. NGUTF and nonky 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niterider Posted December 18, 2015 Share Sorry for only just discovering this thread, but let me comtribute a few random photos... This is the village where we live, about 20 minutes from East Auckland (still part of greater Auckland though) The view from the boat club Winter at the beach Looking out from the top of the forest behind our house Finishing a ride at the beach intern, SwissVan, nonky and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niterider Posted December 18, 2015 Share Other random pics... Kids mtb track in Rotorua Paddleboarding on lake Okareka Some trail wildlife Picnic spot in one of the nearby regional parks SwissVan, ZakAttak, RossW and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIPSLICK Posted December 18, 2015 Share I'm starting to think my "mates" who left for NZ were trying to talk me out of joining them, all the talk about rain rain rain,,,,,,where is the rain mtbride, Amberdrake and Meerkat82 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niterider Posted December 18, 2015 Share I'm starting to think my "mates" who left for NZ were trying to talk me out of joining them, all the talk about rain rain rain,,,,,,where is the rainThere is rain, don't you worry! Most of my pics have a cloudy sky, and it's quite possible that there was rain before or after any of those shots. Outside of winter though, the weather changes quickly, so it can be raining one minute and sunny the next. And because rain is possible at any time, people just ignore it and carry on carrying on. In winter however, there are periods where it rains continuously for consecutive days. The result is that there are many indoor activities available, especially for kids - eg. climbing gyms, trampolines and bouncy parks. nonky 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
niterider Posted December 18, 2015 Share Thanks WP. Anyone else that has been there for longer with kids care to share their experiences on how they adjusted? One of the biggest things keeping us in SA is my oldest son's (4yrs old) relationship with his cousin and grandparents. Our daughter was 3 and a bit when we moved here. And we've been here for almost 2 years. She used to see her grandparents multiple times a week, and we stayed with the grandparents for 7 weeks before we left. Sad to say, but I don't think she really misses that at all. And by that I mean that she's so busy, and has made so many friends, that's its not really something she thinks about. My wife does weekly skype calls with her parents, and my daughter will only care to join about every 2nd time, and then after 5 minutes she's done. Kids' concept of time is strange. Perhaps when she's older she'll have more of that proper "missing" emotion, I don't know. nonky and NGUTF 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NGUTF Posted December 19, 2015 Share Thanks. Down at the coast on holiday and my boy hasn't asked for cousins, grandparents or anyone else. He only asks for the beach and scooby doo really Wayne Potgieter and nonky 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissVan Posted December 19, 2015 Share Thanks WP. Anyone else that has been there for longer with kids care to share their experiences on how they adjusted? One of the biggest things keeping us in SA is my oldest son's (4yrs old) relationship with his cousin and grandparents. We don't have kids and we are not in NZ but in CH (Switzerland). Been here for nearly 13 years now. I've seen quite a few expat families with kids in this time and imo the younger they are the better they will adapt in the new place...leave it to late (Teens and older) and they will have had time to build up and remember relationships in SA and might struggle or be resistant to start new ones. NGUTF 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
droenn Posted December 19, 2015 Share Some trail wildlife ImageUploadedByTapatalk1450469450.502485.jpg My partner told me she saw a hedgehog in NZ and I wouldn't believe her until she sent me a picture. Such a random species to become invasive! niterider 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissVan Posted December 19, 2015 Share I'm starting to think my "mates" who left for NZ were trying to talk me out of joining them, all the talk about rain rain rain,,,,,,where is the rain The first summer we had in Switzerland there was a major heat wave for months...and we thought "these Europeans...they kept this weather secret to keep people from moving here" ...sadly the summers have never been like that again other than for a few weeks...actually it was a bit to hot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intern Posted December 19, 2015 Share I went to a mate's wedding in Taranaki last year. A pretty amazing spot, good surf, insane forests and there are 14 year old girls at Rotorua who ride downhill bikes like Minaar. BUT, insanely expensive. Not only by SA standards, the Kiwis can barely afford a beer themselves. Most of the crowd I stayed with (many CAs etc back from London) brew all their own beer and run massive veggie gardens (with good soil and 9 meters of rain a year it is easy to grow stuff). The main thing that amazed me is the level of hunting. Most guys I met hunt goats, pigs, deer, fish, crayfish etc etc. Before the wedding we quickly popped out and shot 26 goats, stabbed a massive pig in the neck and shot a deer. "All good hey". Then there is the rain....Spose it's different strokes for different folks. I'm just a typist and we don't battle. Also, any CA who thinks a veggie garden is going to save him money must have missed the 'economies of scale' lesson.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intern Posted December 20, 2015 Share Managed to get out for a bike ride on Saturday morning before taking the family out on the boat in the afternoon...did some road bike on the metal road (Kiwis call dirt road 'metal roads' because of the corrugation...corrugated iron...metal). nonky, jonnow and FrankG 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intern Posted December 21, 2015 Share I should add that we had visitors from South Africa this weekend, a chap who has worked for me for the past 5 years and his wife. It is pretty interesting for us to see how people new to the country react - the amazement at unlocked doors and no fences, constant comments on how beautiful everything is, a wry observation on the absence of car guards, water from the taps (!?) is something of a novelty, roads and how people drive (so civilized). And also on how expensive everything is...Makes you realise how quickly one takes so much for granted. Wayne Potgieter, dirtypot, Lexx and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Potgieter Posted December 21, 2015 Share I should add that we had visitors from South Africa this weekend, a chap who has worked for me for the past 5 years and his wife. It is pretty interesting for us to see how people new to the country react - the amazement at unlocked doors and no fences, constant comments on how beautiful everything is, a wry observation on the absence of car guards, water from the taps (!?) is something of a novelty, roads and how people drive (so civilized). And also on how expensive everything is...Makes you realise how quickly one takes so much for granted.My in laws are coming over for 3 weeks in january. I have been compiling a list of the things that i most enjoy. Surprisingly its pretty mundane things. Cant wait to show them the bits i like. nonky, Amberdrake and GrumpyOldGuy 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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