1 step closer to being home

Well today was a great day as the sale of my house went unconditional and I finally have a date to book the international movers to go back home to New Zealand and my awaiting 08 VFR



The land of the long white cloud and winding roads twisting through beautiful scenery and no stupid suicidal kangaroos

It has been fun living in Australia but the lack of work and no support from agencies in being able to secure a job on top of my work place injury has prompted a move back to the homeland (I am not eligible for any govt assistance )

I have many contacts in the logistics and road transport industry in NZ so hopefully I can find work quickly and spend as little time as possible working for temping agencies

And I get to be back on my bike EVERY day with winding roads tempting you to take the long way home

Now comes the madness of getting all things ready for the movers, 3 weeks of utter madness and organisational chaos

 

That is good news mate! I hope it works out for the best and you change your name to "happy ole lad" instead! Maybe you can join up with the VFRW NZ crew as well!

Cheers!

 

Happy for you. Have never been there but it sure looks like a great place to ride from what I've seen and read. Hope the move goes well.

 

Great looking ride! Congrats!!!

I hope to visit NZ one day. It's beautiful there in all the photos I've ever seen of it!

 

Too bad you are not totally broke, in dire need of handouts and not willing to contribute to society by trying to get a job and pay taxes. You could have come to Canada as a refugee. Hell. Our liberal government would even pay to ship your bike over here.

Good luck in your move. Hope you find work you enjoy.

 

beautiful place when i was there in the early 90's with the antarctic program.

 

When you do look me up and give me some notice I would be glad to show you around ......I mean what better excuse for a lap of the country

 

I could not find work no matter how hard I tried 316 "CV's" handed out in the last year alone by knocking on doors cold calling

And I can't remember how many sent via online applications

But we were lucky enough to be able to purchase a run down older house and give it a complete flip make over and made a nice little sum over the last 18 months

And I have learnt a lot of new skills along the way

When life gives you lemons make lemonade

 

Grumpy I hope it works out ok for you..The fuckheads running this country and I use the term "running" very loosely can't get their heads around the fact there is no work in this supposedly "lucky" country. Everything is all offshore now, manufacturing is at a standstill but they have this relentless desire to allow countless people in (because it is our duty to help out resettle half the worlds disadvantaged populations) and then because 98% of them have no chance of finding work they go on welfare and do very nicely out of it. Your disadvantage was being a Kiwi, you were not a refugee, so no big handouts

 

I hear ya loud and clear , funny how Aussies can get welfare and assistance in NZ but not the other way around if you got here after 2001

Now before anyone goes off claiming I want to be a dole bludger, drain on society etc etc I DO NOT I just want to be able to register with centerlink so that I can look and apply for the jobs they have on the books BUT I am not even allowed to do this

I have been told this after countless visits to differing offices of the above agency all because I arrived in Australia after 2001

I want a bit of help getting a job not a $$$ handout for sitting on my backside

Oh well onwards and upwards Just a bit of a shame to leave behind the friends I have made here

But it is only a short and cheap flight for a catch up

 

I ran a publicly owned company here and one in Oz at the same time. The company in Oz was quite a bit smaller but took exponentially more effort to run profitably because people there were so f-cking hard to work with....as in hard headed. I got tired of it and cleaned house on one trip and started most of the company over again. I've flown across the Pacific so many times I wanted to cry before every trip. It's a brutal round trip. The first trip there is cool but every one after that is hell itself if it involves work. Everything there is ungodly expensive too. I never did figure out how people can afford to even eat there. Matter of fact they don't eat as well as Americans can. I wish you the best Grumpy.

 

Driftin, if you think Aus is expensive forget about NZ, wages are lower and housing, in particular around Auckland, absolute bullshit, I can't imagine how any young person over there could have any chance to get anywhere. My son has lived in Auckland for 15 years and what he tells me is hard to believe

 

I know. Spent enough time there to just see what it's like. Socialism and corruption at a higher level is what it is. Not to worry, it's creeping in here fast. Socialism that is. The corruption has always been here and everywhere else for that matter.

 

Count on it!!

I'd love to experience that area!!

Sent from my SM-G930W8 using Tapatalk

 

I would be glad to meet any one from here and help them find their way around NZ

Unfortunately I only have 1 bike maybe I should look into getting a second one

 

I hear that is very common in NZ, hire a bike to ride around the country. I remember a story I read a few years ago (I think it was written in the early sixties) about a bloke (from memory he was a fitter and turner)who worked his way around NZ for 12 months on holidays. He bought an old Indian for peanuts, hobbled his way around picking up a job in each town he broke down in, get a job in a machine shop so he could get a few bob together and also make whatever parts he needed so he could get a bit further along the way on his trip. The sad thing was at the end of his trip he hopped off the bike and left it by the side of the road and flew back to Aus. Bike would have been worth a fortune these days

 

Maybe I need to buy another VFR and have a sideline donation funded rental for VFRWORLD members

Just be prepared for a bit of petrol price shock
When I was back there 5-6 weeks ago I was paying between $1.73 and $1.88 NZ per liter for regular 91 RON fuel

3 years ago I was on holiday there and was paying $2.06 per liter

But I did manage 1 stretch up the coast riding in -2° C temps on icy roads to see 338 km's for just 16.2 liters

 

Woohoo I have now ben back on NZ soil for 4.5 days and it has been awesome actually getting outstanding customer service and support from banks,utility providers, general retail outlets etc etc....

the weather has been reasonable with a little bit of heavy rain and a few stormy patches and a nice cool 14°c to 19°c

Riding in the rain is actually refreshing and Auckland traffic is a walk in the park compared to Brisbane so far

The bike needed a new battery after sitting disconnected for 8 weeks since I last rode it But it fired up almost instantly when the button was pushed and settled into a near perfect fast idle

I have been looking at houses to rent for a short period while we get some local employment history behind us to enable us to buy a house and find the better areas to live in in the region we have chosen

SOOOO good to be home