“No worries mate”

Finally we have the visa! The final hurdle is now complete and all that is left is a small holiday in Spain to recuperate which was planned months before New Zealand but has turned out to be a timely break.

Even this final hurdle presented challenges.....British bureaucracy was in full swing when we paid £70 for the police check to be completed in 2 days, and then found out after we posted all the documents there is a backlog of over a week and they cant guarantee “2 days”. This, coupled with the bank informing us that they couldn’t print 3 months of bank statements because they don’t keep them electronically almost led us to despair when we started to realise that Spain trip with friends was in jeopardy.

In the end with 80% of the required documents in hand we tried our luck at the NZ embassy in London. After explaining our trials and tribulations in getting all the documents together, the response received was “No worries mate, if we need anything else we’ll give you a call, it normally takes two weeks but we should get it back to by next week”. Brilliant, what a refreshing change we thought and true to their word, one week later the visa was ready.

The only thing to do now is watch the money markets on the internet trying to choose the best rate to transfer money to our NZ Bank account. While it’s not the most exciting thing to do, every cent change in the rate is the equivalent to 2 weeks rent so timing is every thing.

So, for the next 2 weeks life is in a suitcase, living with very generous friends and family and starting the farewells...oh and Theresa’s birthday ;o)