The wheels have come off!

Last night it became clear that the visa application process is now so delayed that it's unlikely that I will have my visa before I leave on the 1st of November.

In addition to this, entering NZ on a tourist visa and then get the work visa may lead to serious problems with immigration law etc.

So, I have to cancel my flight, ask to stay longer at Deutsche Bank, give the bad news to TechTime in New Zealand, find a place to live for the additional 3 weeks and a plethora of other things.

The new tentative time for my departure is now 21st or 22nd of October, perhaps even later, as even that cuts it a bit fine.

I knew I would jinx it when I planned my leaving do!

No rough sleeping needed!

I finally managed to find somewhere to live after I hand over the keys to my new tenants on Saturday 10 Oct!

It's a really nice 1 bedroom apartment on the 15th floor in Shadwell, just by the station. I'll get myself a pointy stick to keep the locals at bay when entering/leaving the property, but it's otherwise perfect!

I've not decided on an exact date yet, but it'll move on the 7th and will probably rent it a few days before that.

That is yet another MAJOR worry out of the way. The next thing is to get my visa to be allowed to work in New Zealand... ;-)

Farewell party Sat 31 Oct

Things are going at break neck pace, but I don't want to blog about IKEA runs and mile-long todo-lists.

I've had a look at the calendar and it looks like my best option for my leaving do is on Saturday 31 October - the day before I leave.

I was planning to go to Sweden the weekend before, so it looks like it's have to be Halloween.

First port of call will be to see how many that can make it. Then I'll need to find a place to be.

I may even use Facebook!

Please feel free to comment on the blog as well.

London traffic

I'm just back after being stuck in traffic on the A13 for over an hour. I left at 20:00, but the traffic was so bad that I would barely make it before IKEA closed. I had to cancel and turn back.

The A13 is a 4 lane motorway and it was at 21:00 at night - completely gridlocked.

It's going to pour down for 2 days now, so I won't be able to take anything on the roof. I'll have to cancel meeting my friends on Thursday or things will start to slide seriously.

Last night was more productive. I managed to clear up a lot and cobble together a wardrobe:

 

I can't help enjoying building IKEA furniture... Either it's an odd Swedish thing or I'm just plain odd. I can guess which one most of my friends would opt for.

Time for today's admin session!

A sports car with roof bars?

It will cramp my style considerably, but it will allow me to get big flat packs from IKEA:

The BMW 320Ci-RB (Roof Bar version)

It appears it was a wise choice as IKEA managed to reply to my enquiry after 3.5 days. No, it's not possible to add or remove any items from the delivery as it's too close to delivery.

It's three weeks to delivery.

Tonight will be the big test. I'm going to IKEA in Purfleet to buy two wardrobes a chest of drawers and a sofa bed.

If it works, then great. It does mean going to IKEA 3-4 times, though. They're open until 22:00, so it's not a problem. I'll even miss the traffic.

Edited to add: I didn't miss the traffic, but the mission went well. I've cancelled my order with IKEA and will do it myself. It confirms my golden rule in IT: Never let anyone else do work you're responsible for if there is any chance you can do it yourself.

In New Zealand? Really?

Most of you know that one of the main reasons I move to New Zealand is that it's quite possibly the most freedom loving and liberal country in the world.

You can just imagine my reaction when I read this: Into the River banned: Award-winning sex and drugs teen novel off the shelves

From The Guardian (New Zealand bans award-winning teenage novel after outcry from Christian group):

According to the FLBR website, the interim restriction means no one can “distribute or exhibit” the book and if the order is breached individuals face a fine of NZ$3,000 (£1230) and companies of NZ$10,000.

Yes, that means that if one adult lends his/her friend this book, they can be arrested and fined NZ$3,000.

I would expect this kind of hysteria in the UK and possibly even Sweden, but in New Zealand? Really?

Well, at least it has distracted me from thinking about the IKEA delivery and transporting three 2 meter tall plants in a sports car across London.

Farewell Wapping

The new tenants agreed to moving in on 10 October, so I'm re-arranging for the hauling company to ship off all my belongings on 8 October.

I have no idea where to live until I leave, but I guess I can buy a tent and live in one of the parks ;-)

My hope is that even if IKEA messes things up, I'll still have things delivered before it's hauled off to New Zealand.

Tenants!

...and I managed to get a tenant. Two women fresh out of Uni with excellent jobs in central London.

The French blonde that checked out the apartment today was... well, very nice and a very good potential tenant. ;-)

I almost uncorked the New Zealand bubbly.

Mortgage in the bag

Yay!

My buy-to-let mortgage application was just approved. It'll only be a few weeks before it's finalised and the property will be ready to be let.

It also frees up well needed funds for all costs that keeps on cropping up.

On top of that, since the bank stopped interfering with what I'm allowed to charge in rent so that I could lower it, the viewing bookings are coming in thick and fast.

I'm positive I can get a definite date in the calendar next week. Brilliant!

Good news... and some bad news

In the customary order:

Bad news: my medical has been referred to a doctor in NZ that will take a whopping 8 weeks! So much for using private healthcare to have a turn-around of 3 days instead of months.

Good news: I've booked the flights. I'm leaving the UK at 18:50 on Sunday 1 November. I'll be stepping off in Auckland at 08:10 on Tuesday 3 November after 24 hours travelling.

I found out about the delay in the Visa application a few minutes after I paid for the flight. I can't sit around for 8 weeks, so everything will have to go ahead and if it falls through, then it will be complete chaos and very, very expensive.

Welcome

Welcome to this blog!

I’ve got quite a massive adventure ahead of me that I hope to both document as well as share.

It’s funnily enough a bad day to start blogging, as I was extorted by the lease holder yesterday and had a valuation of my property nothing short of an insult today, but I will not start off with a moan.

Needless to say, the rules and regulations governing the UK housing market is one of the reasons I'm leaving.

So, instead of having one of my trademark whinges over this, I should rejoice in the fact that this is reaffirming my decision.

Onwards and forwards!