Since that is probably the most asked question right now, here is a short summary of where we stand at this point (it turned out to become a rather not-so-short summary in the end 🙂 )
Old Jobs: 90 % sorted
Nina and I both have quit our jobs. The paperwork is through and there is nothing in the way of our departure, jobwise. In the next week, we both will hand in our last work schedule. After that, we know exactly how much money we have to go on for the next couple of months (or until I find a job in NZ, at least).
The only thing that is nibbling on our time is the prep work for the customary “Ausstand” (going-away “parties”, kind of semi-formal goodbyes meetings with selected co-workers). But nothing to worry about.
Birthday & Goodbyes 80 % planed / 30 % done
Just don’t ask – I messed up finding a venue for my birthday / going away party with our friends. But – they know us – a little bit of chaos is a necessary part of all our endeavours ;). We already said goodbye to some friends and family members. You want to take your time, but it is really hard to do everyone just in the midst of everything else that has to be done. We are trying to give this as much time as our schedule allows.
Flight & Visas 95 % sorted
Thankfully, almost everything is sorted in this department. We have our e-tickets and we have our working holiday visas. 31-8-2012 22:10 h became somewhat of a mantra for me in the last couple of month (departure of our flight from FRA – now sometimes with an added QF6 for the flight number). There are a couple of small things left to do though: Buy more luggage (2 suitcases and and one more carry-on trolley) and most importantly don’t forget to check in online one week before departure.
After our initial hick-ups and disappointments with visas, we were glad that at least the application under the working holiday scheme went as smooth as one could wish for. The only thing to do here is to print out and not forget them or any other important documents. Speaking of …
Other paperwork, documents 80 % at hand
First: We have all the necessary documents for the next couple of steps. We even have some for later possible immigration issues. That means:
- New or +1 year valid passports
- New or +1 year valid id cards
- A new European and international drivers license
- international birth certificates
- Criminal Records Bureau checks
- New Visa and MasterCards, and a debit card that allows free withdrawal worldwide
- a large collection of job / qualification / uni related documents
What is still left to do? First, not all of those are scanned yet – but that is the lesser bit of our worries. A good chunk of those still needs to be translated. We could wait until we are in NZ and only translate what is really necessary. On the other hand, at least Nina has the opportunity to get her translations certified by her Uni and that could save us quite a lot of money.
Moving out and storing stuff 50 % sorted, 10 % done
Oh boy – that! Phew. Lets start with what is already done: We have given notice on our flat. We have enough packing material to get pretty much everything packed. Shrink wrap is awesome, by the way. If you need to pack a lot of stuff, especially if you want to protect it from mould or say, seawater: get a roll of this. It costs 20 € for 250 m and makes packing books almost waterproof really easy.
We had the much feared talk with our landlords – and it went really well. Now we know how much renovation there is to do (yep, we do that in Germany, renovating to move out … buy me a beer and I’ll try to explain it to you). Of course, none of that can start before we have gotten way more stuff out of the apartment.
Probably most important: We have the offer of Nina’s most amazing friends Uwe and Patzi to store everything that fits through the trapdoor up their attic. That means we only have to find a place for three pieces of furniture, instead of all our stuff. The only catch: Everything needs to be there before the 18th of August. Another deadline that really messes with all our schedules, but with such a gracious offer, who is to complain?
Oh, yes – packing. We packed 7 boxes, stored 5 of them. I expect to hit around 20 to 30 in the end. Still a lot to go and the easy stuff is kind of running out. Now, we either have to really need to start sorting stuff into “to keep” and “get rid” piles, or we would have to start packing stuff that we might still need this last month. But, I think we will solve this conundrum the same way we solved the last dozen or so …
Shipping Rocinante 80% sorted
I am planning to write a lengthy post about shipping our bike and camping gear to NZ, but in essence: I found a shipping company (InTime Motorradtransporte) and Olaf of Intime has been of great assistance so far. The bike will go by plane.
There was a bit of contradicting info on how original Transalps are shipped nowadays. The correct answer: They come on single-use metal pallets that can be used to build a crate from them. Sadly, I found out way too late to acquire such a pallet, so me and my uncle will build one ourselves out of OSB (to avoid dealing with biosecurity). There are great guides on how to build those, which I will also link in the post-to-come. I have plans and a calculator for the parts, but we need to take measurements with my propped up bike to order the parts (of the crate).
Stuff to do when we arrive in NZ
Don’t even get me started …
