Posts with tag: spring

Letters from the Southern Man

Migrating is more than just filling in forms and submitting paperwork, its a complex process that will test even the most resilient of people. 

Understanding New Zealand is paramount to your immigration survival and to give you a realistic view of the country, its people and how we see the world, read our weekly Southern Man blogs. Often humorous, sometimes challenging, but always food for thought.

Year end wrap up!

 

This is my last Southern Man Letter from New Zealand for 2011.

My bags are packed, I’m going to do the family thing and then it is off to the peace and quiet of Lang’s Beach in northland for three weeks of not very much.

What a year it has been.

It began as 2010 finished – uncomfortable trading conditions thanks to our Government’s ongoing (but unofficial) cut in migrant numbers, flat property markets in the countries so many of our migrants are sourced from, fewer people being able to realise the equity in their homes that funds the move to New Zealand, a tight labour market here making the prospect of finding work (often to secure residence) daunting and the uncertainty in the global economy causing many a would be migrant to ask themselves if they were jumping out of a local fire into a New Zealand frying pan.

I can tell you though that it has ended on a very positive note – for us anyway. The last few months have been pretty good. Although we all have to work far harder for our clients given their heightened fears about what they are doing and the risks they are taking I am not aware of any client who did not find work and we haven’t had a residence case declined yet that has meant our ‘money back guarantee’ required a refund.

I suspect 2012 will continue to be challenging given the uncertainty in international markets.

It is funny though how we view the world. This week there was a business headline in the local rag that trumpeted a fall in business confidence in the last quarter of 2011. Reading through the survey what it actually said was ‘I am worried about everyone else’s business but actually we are doing pretty well in our own and think the next year will be better than this year for us’.

This was a typical survey finding over the past two years here. We worry about the economy but feel relaxed about our own prospects. Weird how it works but everyone I know from manufacturing through construction to real estate is feeling positive about the year ahead.

New Zealand remains well placed to ride it out with low Government debt (albeit climbing) and everyone I know doing their utmost to pay down their own private debt.

The next few years will see further reform of the welfare system which is simply too generous to too many people and the public servants will be twitching as Government signals they will have to keep delivering quality ‘service’ with fewer people. Should be interesting!

Our Australian operation, Immagine Australia has made great strides and it has been a lot of fun learning Australian policy (just to prove our own Government policy makers aren’t the only people on Earth who understand little about migration and the realities of labour markets). Really good fun to use Australia as the welcome doormat to New Zealand.

We are looking forward to growing that business through 2012.

And so it ends for another year.

Christmas here is not so much religious any more, it is a day pass from the day job. With summer heating up it marks the first day of a well deserved summer break. Beaches, books, good food and family time. If you are lucky a few days at the beach – its free, its clean and the water warming with every passing day.

For me it is as I say off to the beach house up north. The fishing rods are ready, the new fire pit has the wood stacked in it, the wine is stacked, the freezer full of food.

All that remains is for me to thank my dedicated team of consummate professionals for their efforts this year. Jo, Kay, Chris, Paul and Karina all take this break knowing that not only is it well deserved but they can pat themselves on the back for another year in which they made a real difference to people’s lives. We all know how hard migration is – leaving friends and family, homes. Security, jobs and settling in a new country is never easy and is always stressful. This small but dedicated team takes away so much of the fear and I can but thank them all and salute them on behalf of all our clients.

And to finish on a lighter note a Christmas ditty put together by Paul. I promise it won’t fry your computer but will bring a smile to your face.

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/KYzYHLJm15Q8DbQCZOWG

Take care, look after yourselves, have as Merry Christmas and all the best for 2012.

Until, well, next year

 

Iain MacLeod - Southern Man

 

It's Spring in Auckland...

It’s spring in Auckland and I love this time of year.

There’s something about it for those of us who are lucky enough to enjoy more than two seasons. Here in Auckland we tend to get four of them of equal length although there are those who will tell you we can get all four before lunch.

September tantalises with the summer to come. It dangles the possibilities of warm nights and hot days.

It speaks of winter nights fading quietly into the warmth of an approaching summer.

As the nights get shorter and days lengthen there is a palpable sense of renewal.

In the first week of each September my street explodes into a riot of cerise colour as the blossom trees that line it wake up slowly from their winter slumber. The hum of bees as they seek out the sweet nectar contained in those flowers fills the trees.

The Tui, a native bird of the honey eater family sit in the tops of these trees calling their melodic song to rivals. A beautiful bird, about the size of a very large Starling, it has plumage of stunning dark metallic green, with a white tuft of plumage under its throat. They are without any doubt one of my favourite native birds. These nectar feeders have surged in numbers in recent years as more and more Aucklanders plant native, nectar producing plants in their gardens. They can be quite aggressive with one another and it isn’t unusual to see a dozen or more chasing one another through and between the lines of trees. 

In Cornwall Park, that wonderful park that sits under Maungakiekie or One Tree Hill (now sadly treeless but that’s another story) the year’s newly born lambs bounce and ping among the daffodils, now in full bloom.

Across the city and through Auckland’s Domain the Oak trees with swollen buds are bursting into new growth. The colour of spring leaves is something that screams spring to me – emerald green, juicy green. Want to turn it into salad green.

In the Hauraki Gulf the Snapper and other inshore fish will be gathering and looking for food as they prepare for spawning in early January.

My sons are putting away the football boots and looking for their cricket bats in the garden shed.

Although Auckland doesn’t really get cold (as in England or North American cold) winter can be wet but we seem to have been blessed once again this year with a very mild and dry winter. We had, as you may have read previously, a couple of cold snaps which lasted a few days and even resulted a month or so with snow flurries for a few minutes.

Although the temperatures now are only 2-3 degrees warmer than those of the winter months it is amazing just how different the temperature feels. A 17 degree day, remembering that temperatures are measured in the shade, makes the temperature in the sun around 23-24 degrees. Add to that Auckland’s humidity and the comfort readings are generally a few degrees warmer than the temperature might suggest.

While we aren’t out of the winter woods just yet the warm days increasingly outnumber the cool.

Winter coats are being increasingly left in their wardrobes and the shorts are making an appearance.

Things can still be a bit temperamental in terms of the weather and spring brings with it four or five calm clear and sunny days followed by a day or two of unsettled weather with rain and occasional thunderstorms.

The cafes and restaurants that open up to the streets are peeling back the plastic walls that protect diners during winter and the large sun umbrellas bloom in increasing numbers.

One of the great changes to downtown Auckland is allowing those that live and work in its environs enjoy the warmer weather even more. Running parallel to or perpendicular to Auckland’s main road, Queen Street, many of the narrow streets are being turned into shared space. This means cars can use them but not park. They have been cobbled and are far more pedestrian friendly. Aucklanders love their coffee and I expect these places to increasingly be more peaceful spaces where people gather, to ponder, read, catch up and have a coffee without breathing in exhaust fumes with their short black or latte.

The day of the car in downtown Auckland isn’t over, but it is clearly not welcome. Our fantastic public bus service is increasingly becoming the transport of choice.

Thousands of visitors are of course currently enjoying the warmth of spring and the people of this city with the Rugby World Cup.

The opening ceremony was something special and a bit of good old Kiwi magic.

Watching this from my hotel in Johannesburg was hard. My heart was thousands of kilometres away in Auckland with my friends and family who were all out in the middle of all the madness.

Up to 100,000 people turned up in downtown Auckland to enjoy the party atmosphere. What impressed me most was the wonderfully choreographed display around the harbour and downtown incorporating the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra based on Queens Wharf and a cast of Pacific Island Drummers, Pipe Bands, Gospel Choir and Maori groups scattered among and on top of Auckland’s skyscrapers culminating in a wonderful song, ‘All Lit Up’ as three and half tonnes of fireworks went up in a profusion of sound and colour.

It was a moment I imagine all New Zealanders will long remember and cherish. For me it wasn’t just the celebration of sharing who we are and where we live it was the technological achievement of bringing it all together in an 11 minute and 22 second feat of planning and execution.

Amazing. And it sums up New Zealanders perfectly. Many cultures and many histories but singing with one voice and having fun. On top of that was a performance that could have gone horribly wrong but which came off with the precision of a Swiss watch.

If you haven’t seen it I expect it will be on You Tube somewhere and it is definitely worth a look.

The big little country that could is all I can think.

Those of you watching the Rugby World Cup will have noticed I hope that the games so far have been played in dry, sunny and warm conditions except perhaps the Boks v Wales but even in Wellington – which the rest of us think is always wet and windy the weather Gods smiled and delivered conditions that would not have been alien to either the Welsh or the South Africans. And to slightly digress what a wonderful game it was, well done South Africa – my dream of an All Black v Springbok semi final at Eden Park remains intact! Just...

Nice to not only bathe in the warmth of the rugby world sharing this great occasion with us in New Zealand but the spring sun.

Roll on summer!

Until next week

Iain MacLeod - Southern Man

Post Script: A clarification if clarification is required. This blog is my take on my world. It is based on my experiences as an Immigration Adviser and New Zealander living in my country and those I regularly visit. The experiences I have in my travels mould my opinions and world view. At times I intentionally set out to provoke but do so in order to promote discussion. My purpose is to pass on to you as one of 30,000 readers an opinion piece. I do not set out to offend or to insult and I do not have a monopoly on insight. If your experiences differ from mine that is cool – if you think that you live in the best country in the world and that country is not New Zealand, I can but wonder why you read this blog. However if you do, you need to understand the readership is those that have chosen to join us in New Zealand, or are seriously considering doing so and not to stay where they are. Therefore their opinions and mine might be quite different to your own.