Newbie visit - appreciate if I can ask some questions.
Discussion
Mark387sw, Siscar, Gator - thanks.
I came back two days ago, and didn't update the thread while away because... well I was getting away from it all.
Lovely place, really enjoyed it. I won't say any more since we don't want everyone finding out do we?
But on the PH front, the motoring was interesting. The roads are great, well maintained, and empty. The speed limit's a little low but I would happily have that for the freedom and space. Returning to the UK was a shock, everyone is too close, and too aggressive. Why do we ever bother with performance cars in the UK?! I now see that's it's just a status symbol.
The Falcon turned out to be an XR6 which seems to be a higher-spec slightly sportier version of the regular Falcon, with the same 4.0 I6 (280hp?) engine. I was excited, but then I got in. It felt so cheap, it sounded like a four-cylinder on start up, and it didn't seem that pokey. Cue a few hours wondering why I bothered. But then I had to use the performance on a curved slip road, and was shocked to see that it likes corners. It really likes them. From that point on, the rest of the driving was fantastic fun. It has enough power to get about well, but best of all some entertaining roadhandling very reminiscent of a Focus or Mondeo. Not to mention great comfort. The 6-speed auto with manual mode worked well too. I really liked the car and remain surprised that it didn't fall apart during corners.
You guys seemed quite negative so I'm not sure why my view is different. Is this latest version more advanced? As a rental car it worked well. Loads of luggage space, sat nav that included every imaginable destination (even out-of-the-way hostels), bluetooth for music and phone, and a bit of fun.
I then borrowed a 90s camry - comfy and surprisingly likeable, but the lack of a/c was a challenge - and a 2000s Skyline which was vastly inferior to the Falcon. But I'm not sure the Skyline was meant to be remotely sporty, and it was incredibly soft in suspension. In the UK a skyline is of course known as a performance car. This 300GT was definitely not and I couldn't help but be disappointed.
So that was a short summary of my time. I didn't visit anything with my Dad in the end but it was nice to have those options. I did see that Napier art deco weekend by chance. In fact I got a parking ticket there. A huge $10! I was actually thankful! Thanks for the advice and I'll keep quiet about the place. While quietly wondering how hard it is for a brit to find IT work over there for a year or so
.
I came back two days ago, and didn't update the thread while away because... well I was getting away from it all.
Lovely place, really enjoyed it. I won't say any more since we don't want everyone finding out do we?
But on the PH front, the motoring was interesting. The roads are great, well maintained, and empty. The speed limit's a little low but I would happily have that for the freedom and space. Returning to the UK was a shock, everyone is too close, and too aggressive. Why do we ever bother with performance cars in the UK?! I now see that's it's just a status symbol.
The Falcon turned out to be an XR6 which seems to be a higher-spec slightly sportier version of the regular Falcon, with the same 4.0 I6 (280hp?) engine. I was excited, but then I got in. It felt so cheap, it sounded like a four-cylinder on start up, and it didn't seem that pokey. Cue a few hours wondering why I bothered. But then I had to use the performance on a curved slip road, and was shocked to see that it likes corners. It really likes them. From that point on, the rest of the driving was fantastic fun. It has enough power to get about well, but best of all some entertaining roadhandling very reminiscent of a Focus or Mondeo. Not to mention great comfort. The 6-speed auto with manual mode worked well too. I really liked the car and remain surprised that it didn't fall apart during corners.
You guys seemed quite negative so I'm not sure why my view is different. Is this latest version more advanced? As a rental car it worked well. Loads of luggage space, sat nav that included every imaginable destination (even out-of-the-way hostels), bluetooth for music and phone, and a bit of fun.
I then borrowed a 90s camry - comfy and surprisingly likeable, but the lack of a/c was a challenge - and a 2000s Skyline which was vastly inferior to the Falcon. But I'm not sure the Skyline was meant to be remotely sporty, and it was incredibly soft in suspension. In the UK a skyline is of course known as a performance car. This 300GT was definitely not and I couldn't help but be disappointed.
So that was a short summary of my time. I didn't visit anything with my Dad in the end but it was nice to have those options. I did see that Napier art deco weekend by chance. In fact I got a parking ticket there. A huge $10! I was actually thankful! Thanks for the advice and I'll keep quiet about the place. While quietly wondering how hard it is for a brit to find IT work over there for a year or so
.Pentoman said:
.... While quietly wondering how hard it is for a brit to find IT work over there for a year or so .
As an IT person (and ex-Brit) myself I can say that depending on what your expertise is, there's nearly always work in Wellington, as it's the Govt hub, and lots of departments with IT requirements. IRD (= Inland Revenue) in particular have always got several IT projects on the go, or it seems like it anyway..Also, it's very common for IT workers to be contracted, so 1 year arrangment is actually pretty standard here.
Pay was still good, a few years ago before I retired at least....
Not sure about work visas etc, as I did the full emigration and NZ Citizen route, but I don't think it's very hard.
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