Valentine’s Day

Looking for romantic ideas for your loved one this Valentine’s Day? This lovers’ day is the ideal time to celebrate love, whether you’re married, in a long term relationship, dating or still searching for your special someone. Take the chance to remind your Valentine how much he or she means to you – rekindle, reaffirm or kickstart the romance in your life with a romantic gesture, small or large, on Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day history
Originally a Pagan fertility festival celebrating the god Lupercus, St Valentine’s Day was adopted by the Christian faith to eventually become the celebration of love and romance it is today.

Who was Saint Valentine?

There are three martyred St Valentine’s, but most historians agree that the lovers’ day Saint was a priest who lived during the reign of Roman emperor Claudius II. Saint Valentine was put to death for performing marriage ceremonies at a time when marriage was prohibited – unmarried men were said to make better, stronger soldiers!

How did St Valentine’s Day become a lovers’ day?

During the 14th century, an era when the idea courtly love was celebrated, the Christian festival of St Valentine’s Day became associated with romance. In 1381, Chaucer wrote a poem to acknowledge the first anniversary of the engagement of England’s King Richard II and Anne of Bohemia; in his work he connected the event to the mating of birds and to the Christian feast of Saint Valentine’s Day. From this time, the festival was associated with romantic love.

Where did the idea of giving Valentine’s Day cards come from?
By the 18th Century, the tradition of exchanging Valentine’s Day gifts, cards and tokens of love was established in Europe, but the practice did not become widespread in the rest of the western world until the 19th Century. Today, the commercialised holiday has even spread to Asian culture: in China on The Night of Sevens, or Chinese Valentine’s Day, girls and young women show off their domestic skills and make wishes for a good husband. Japanese Valentine’s Day gifts are much like those of our own celebration, with women giving chocolate orValentine’s flowers to boyfriends and male colleagues.

Romantic Valentine’s Day ideas

Show your loved one that you care and get some romance into your life, with:

  • Valentine’s Day flowers – Say it with flowers! Valentine’s Day roses are the tried and true way to show your affection, but there are many varieties of flower to send that will deliver a message of love, passion and devotion.
  • Valentine’s Day gifts – Shop smart on Valentine’s Day with our guide to Valentine’s gift shopping for him and her, including chocolates, lingerie, jewellery and personalized Valentine’s Day gifts.
  • Valentine’s Day dating – Whether you’re in a relationship or still searching for love, taking someone on a romantic Valentine’s Day date is the perfect way to get to know a potential mate, grow closer or just enjoy a fun-filled night out!
  • Valentine’s Day dinner – What better way to celebrate and spend time with a loved one than sharing a romantic dinner at your favourite restaurant – or at home! Get inspired with ideas for DIY Valentine’s dinner romance and find romantic dining options in your area.

 

Make Your Easter Eggs at Home

Making Easter eggs is one way to lessen the guilt and heighten the enjoyment of your chocolate feast at Easter! After all that effort, don’t you deserve a little chocolate Easter egg indulgence? You can make Easter eggs for your family, friends and workmates – and if you’ve got kids at home, get them involved too with these easy Easter eggs recipes.

Why do we have Easter eggs?

At Easter time, we give, eat and buy Easter eggs (you’ll find some in most confectionery stores) to celebrate the life of Jesus Christ and the arrival of Spring (it’s Autumn for us here in the Southern Hemisphere though!). Eggs have been a symbol of new life throughout time, but the history of Easter eggs tells us that in the 18th century, Jakob Grimm (yes, the author of Grimm’s Fairytales!) was the first to suggest a connection between Easter eggs and pagan symbolism.

In the Jewish Passover feast an egg symbolises new life, as did the painted eggs that were used in celebration by the ancient Persians. In Christianity, the egg also represents new life – Easter eggs may have been used to mark the end of Lent, a time of fasting when eggs and other animal-derived foods were not allowed. Today, the Easter bunny hides chocolate eggs for children to find on Easter Sunday morning.

Making chocolate Easter eggs

You can make Easter eggs at home with this simple and delicious chocolate Easter eggs recipe:

¾ cup peanut butter
¼ cup butter, softened
1 cup dessicated coconut
1 ½ – 2 cups icing sugar
300g milk chocolate chips

Cream peanut butter and butter together, then stir in coconut and 1 cup of icing sugar. Mix well, then stir in remaining icing sugar gradually, until the mixture holds when pressed into an egg shape. Divide into 24 pieces and press into egg shapes with your hands. Cover and place in fridge to chill for 1 hour. Melt chocolate chips in a microwave or on the stove-top. Stir until smooth and melted. Dip eggs in chocolate and place on waxed paper to harden. Chill, then enjoy!

How to make icing for your Easter eggs

Making these traditional Easter egg treats is simple and heaps of colourful fun for the kids. If you’re worried about using food colourings – you may be able to find natural food colouring alternatives at your local supermarket, or try homemade alternatives like crushed blueberries or strawberries to use when you try this simple Easter eggs recipe at home.

250g soft white icing:
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp butter
1 Tbsp water
¼ tsp vanilla essence
Your choice of food colouring – red, green, blue, yellow
Your choice of flavour essences – raspberry, banana, peppermint (optional)

Combine icing sugar, butter, water and vanilla essence until the mixture is smooth and pliable – it should be firm, not liquid. Divide the icing into three bowls and add different colourings and flavour essences to each. Work the colour into the icing with your hands until the colour is even, then form Easter egg shapes and place on waxed paper. Decorate with patterns: stripes, dots, zigzags and stars. Chill to set.

Decorating Easter eggs

If all that sugar is making you ill, try decorating real eggs to make your own Easter egg decorations! This is a great way to bring this symbol of new life into your Easter celebration. Dyeing or painting Easter eggs is also easy for kids to do and will give art-loving kids a canvas with a difference.

To make dyed Easter eggs, you can use hardboiled eggs or blown eggs (a completely whole, empty eggshell). Blown eggs are more fragile, but can be used again the next year. To empty the egg, shake it to break the yolk then pierce the egg at both ends with a needle and blow into it with a small drinking straw. Rinse well, then use food colouring, dyes or paints to decorate the eggshells.

 

This article was kindly supplied by NZS.

New Year’s Events

New Year’s Eve should be one of the biggest celebratory events of the year, but it can often be a bit of an anticlimax. Use this simple guide to make sure this New Year’s gets rung in with a bang and sets a new precedence for the annual event.

Host a New Year’s Eve Party
It’s never too lake, often many people who don’t go out of town for the holiday season don’t make plans until the last minute. Even when those do have plans to go to events, the opportunity to attend a New Year’s Eve house party will more often that not be the event of choice, and a reason to cancel any prior commitments.

Hosting a New Year’s Eve party sounds like a lot of effort, not exactly what you feel like after a week of relaxing in the sun after Christmas. New Year’s Eve parties needn’t be formal or terribly organised, you will find that you probably have everything you need left over from previous celebrations.

Leftovers
Food and wine is the easiest thing to organise for a New Year’s Party – leftovers! Christmas and Boxing Day celebrations always mean countless leftovers and treats get thrown away because everyone’s stomachs are too full to consume them. Prepare yourself with a bunch of re-sealable bags and airtight containers (grab some at a Boxing Day sale), and seal anything from fruit mince pies to legs of ham tightly and refrigerate until New Year’s Eve.

You’ll probably have been gifted countless boxes of Sampler biscuits and novelty sugar treats, so in addition throw them out on platters, grab yourself some fresh bread and relishes on the day, and you’ve got enough food for everyone to nibble on throughout the night.

It’s never too much to ask people to bring their own bottle of wine, but to get the party started open up some of the corporate bottles you received during the lead up to Christmas, and throw in a few bottles of Xmas bubbles if there’s any left from the big festive day.

Music and Fireworks
Music is easy – just throw on the radio! For local stuff, you’ll find many popular radio stations host New Year’s Eve countdowns with uninterrupted music you can dance too all night. Additionally, they’ll do an official countdown as well so you as the host won’t need to worry about keeping track of time. For something more personalised, grab your iPod or iTunes, choose a few quintessential celebration hits (70s disco is key), and run a couple of Apple Genius playlists to formulate appropriate music for the entire night.

The best way to ensure your parties really goes off with a bang is to bring your own bang – fireworks! Guy Fawkes was only 7 weeks ago so you may still have a half-full Boom Box lying around. Pull this out on the stroke of midnight while your party sings along to Auld Land Syne.

New Years Eve Events
To find out about New Year’s Eve events in your city for the whole family, check out your city council’s website. Many cities host a concert and countdown at a public area in their city centre, and these are normally policed and alcohol-free, making them a great place to take kids.

There are also several large-scale music festivals that happen around the country over the New Year’s period, many of them several day events. These include Canaan Downs, Rhythm and Vines, at Phat.

Additionally, there are smaller events such as NYE @ Cassette Number Nine and Highlight NYE Experience in Auckland, Bodega’s New Years Eve Party in Wellington, and the Dux De Lux New Year’s Eve Party in Christchurch. For New Year’s events in smaller towns and cities, check out a gig guide.

 

This article was kindly supplied by NZS.

Christmas Holidays

Christmas is just one day, but a New Zealand Christmas can last for weeks or months over the glorious days of summer…

Falling in December, during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer, Christmas is synonymous with holidays in the sun, barbeques and picnics, and time spent with family. A Reader’s Digest poll revealed the most cherished aspect of Christmas for New Zealanders is celebrating with family (closely followed by eating a hearty roast dinner and traditional Christmas pudding).

Christmas public holidays
Families and workers look forward to the Christmas statutory holidays as a chance to catch breath after a busy year. Many New Zealand workplaces close for two weeks over the festive season. Public holidays in the Christmas season are:

Christmas Day – 25 December
Boxing Day – 26 December
New Year’s Day – 1 January
Day After New Year’s Day – 2 January

School holidays during the Christmas season
New Zealand school children are lucky enough to combine their Christmas holidays with a summer break, making for a long and restful study-free zone over the Christmas and New Year period. Christmas school holidays run from mid-December until the first or second week of February.

Top ten holiday escapes at Christmas time
Before, during or after Christmas Day, many New Zealand families take a Christmas holiday. After the flurry of Christmas shopping, celebrations and end-of-year madness, it’s great to escape, but remember when booking that this time of year is a busy one, especially during the school holidays from 20 December until the end of January. For a Christmas holiday with a Kiwi flavour:

1. Rent a bach or beach house
Baches, bungalows and beach houses are the perfect place to wind down after a busy Christmas season. Catch your breath with a relaxing stay at a New Zealand bach or holiday home. Rental is usually charged per night; some owners offer a discount for extended stays or require a minimum rental of more than one night. Heading to a sandy golden beach and finding a bach for rent will give you a chance to refuel yourself, soak up some sun (not too much), splash in the ocean, make sandcastles, read a good book and enjoy the outdoors.

2. Pitch your tent
Escaping for a camping trip with family or friends is a great antidote to the busy Christmas season. New Zealand camping grounds are scattered from one end of the country to the other. As with baches, be sure to book your campsite early, as spaces fill up quickly over the Christmas and New Year holiday season.

3. Take a walk in the wilderness
Tramping or hiking is the ideal way to walk off your Christmas over-indulgence and see some of New Zealand’s spectacular scenery. Numerous New Zealand walking tracks take outdoors enthusiasts through bush, up into mountainous terrain and along coastal walkways. Try popular New Zealand walking tracks, such as Marlborough’s Queen Charlotte Track and the Abel Tasman walkway, or let your feet explore lesser-walked tracks, such as those on Stewart Island.

4. Dive in the Bay of Islands
Explore a magical underwater world in the waters of the Bay of Islands. Located at the far north of New Zealand, this area offers many adventure tour opportunities on dry land, but its dramatic underwater landscape is what makes this spot one of the world’s best diving locations. Formed by volcanic activity, the underwater setting is like no other. You can even scuba dive around the wreck of the Rainbow Warrior, a Greenpeace boat which was sunk by terrorists in 1985. Submerge yourself at the Three Kings Islands, Matauri Bay or the Poor Knights Islands (said to be New Zealand’s best, but for experienced divers only). Find more information on New Zealand dive charters.

5. Play a round of cricket
Many New Zealanders will remember summer cricket matches at the local park, in their backyard or at one of the many sandy coastal beaches. Whether you’re eight, eighteen or fifty-eight, you’ll enjoy hitting the ball around with friends and family. Casual cricket has hardly any rules, so it’s easy to learn for all ages – it’s all about hitting the ball and getting as many runs as you can! Make sure you’re well-equipped with cricket gear – and if cricket isn’t your thing, take a rugby ball, frisbee or soccer ball instead.

6. Drive yourself to top New Zealand destinations
There are limitless touring routes in New Zealand, taking you to destinations as diverse as Auckland, our largest centre, to bustling Queenstown, cultural Wellington, subtropical Northland, the wild West Coast and the deep southern beauty of the Otago peninsula. Driving yourself around New Zealand is easy – rental cars are readily available and travel distances are manageable. Take care on the roads during the Christmas holiday season, as traffic is heavier at this time of year, particularly on popular New Zealand touring routes.

7. Take a break at the beach
Sometimes all you need over the Christmas holidays is a complete break from life – a moment away from the requirements and pressures of life. For many, relaxation is the key to a Christmas holiday, and beach holidays are a great way to do just that. A typical New Zealand Christmas holiday often includes the beach in some shape or form – whether you choose to take a day at the beach for ice cream and a walk, camp at a beach location for a week of solitude, catch some waves at one of our famous surf beaches, or rent a cottage on the beachfront.

8. Book a flight to an exotic destination

If you really need to get away from it all, book a holiday with your family, or a romantic getaway with your partner, to some far-off destination. A Pacific Island holiday will let you relax at a beach resort, snorkel in tropical waters, mix with friendly locals or take a cruise on a chartered boat.

9. Get your adrenalin pumping

Getting away from the hustle and bustle doesn’t have to mean slowing down – many Kiwis and visitors enjoy adventure holidays in New Zealand. Get your heart pumping with sky diving, bungy jumping, jet boating, paragliding, abseiling, whitewater rafting, quad biking or surfing.

10. Float your troubles away on a sailing trip

As an island nation with many miles of coastline, our ties to the sea are strong. A boat trip or cruise in the waters around New Zealand is a relaxing way to enjoy the outdoors, get an unbeatable sense of freedom and see New Zealand’s dramatic landforms and scenic beauty from a new perspective. Boat charters are an ideal way to fish, dive or just cruise the harbours and bays of New Zealand.

 

 

Celebrating Father’s Day

Why Celebrate Father’s Day?

Father’s Day is our chance to show our dads how much their love and various parental sacrifices over the years have meant to us. This is the day to remember the times your dad supported you in your favourite sport, helped you with your homework, drove you to the movies to meet your friends, and every other little task which dads do for their kids.

Father’s Day was first celebrated in the early 20th century in the USA. A number of people around the world raised the idea of creating a day to honour dads that would complement Mother’s Day. The loudest spokesperson was Sonora Smart Dodd, who lost her mother at an early age and was raised by her loving father. Sonora held Father’s Day celebrations in 1910, and in 1924 the U.S President announced an official Fathers Day.

Ways to Celebrate Father’s Day

  • You can use Father’s Day to acknowledge all the important male role models in your life – for instance stepfathers, uncles, and grandfathers. Pregnant women can also make this a fun day for the father-to-be.
  • Father’s Day is a great chance to get the whole family together – share a coffee, a meal, or a drink, and catch up on the family gossip.
  • You could make a homecooked meal for your Dad: a breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and perhaps consider inviting the whole family around for a gathering. If your family is on the larger size, an outdoor BBQ, potluck, or picnic might be the best plan of attack.
  • A drink is a nice way to catch up in the afternoon or evening. Maybe a pint down at the local pub, or a cup of something hot at a neighbourhood cafe?
  • Spend the day doing something recreational that Dad loves – fishing, watching sport, playing golf, walking, biking, etc. There may be a music or sporting event coming up in the near future which you could shout dad to as a Father’s Day present.
  • Greeting Cards give you the opportunity to pass on a personal message of appreciation. You can either buy a Father’s Day Card card with just the right saying, add your own message, or create a card from scratch.
  • Special gifts are a lovely way to show your appreciation. See our Father’s Day Gifts article for more ideas, some of which won’t hurt your wallet.

Father’s Day Dates in New Zealand

Father’s Day in New Zealand is always the first Sunday in September.

 

This article was kindly provided by NZS.

Auckland Anniversary

It’s the biggest regional weekend in New Zealand every year, not only do Northerners get three days off in a row to experience the Auckland weather and middle of summer in all it’s glory, but the weekend is also host to events galore, bringing in thousands by the truckload.

Auckland Anniversary Day is observed not just throughout the Auckland region but the wider historic province of Auckland, encompassing much of the northern section of the North Island. It is a statutory holiday which falls on the closest Monday to January 29, making a long weekend for over a million people.

The date of January 29 is celebrated as the anniversary day because it signifies the arrival date to New Zealand of the first Governor of New Zealand and co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi, William Hobson, in 1840.

Events during Auckland Anniversary Weekend

Fire and Light Show
What’s a public holiday without fireworks? The entertainment of a lit-up sky is something Aucklanders, like members of all big cities, relish whenever possible. Auckland Anniversary weekend would not start out right without the Fire and Light Show, which opens the weekend annually on the Friday night. A spectacle for both Aucklanders and out-of-towners, this event is truly one to enjoy over a bottle of chilled bubbles. Additionally, the Fire and Light Show is supplemented by the musical delights of both classical and modern musicians on stage.

The Auckland Seafood Festival
Celebrate Auckland’s maritime history with the Auckland Seafood Festival, held rain or shine over all three days of the long weekend. Sample some of New Zealand’s finest seafood delights, from your favourite catch of the day to various unusual delicacies. Contemporary musicians perform throughout the festival, and all proceeds are donated to the Rotary Stellar Trust to support the ‘Say No to P’ campaign. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at the gate, or pre-purchased for $10 from Ticketmaster.

Viaduct Showcase
The Viaduct Showcase, held on the Sunday of the long weekend, is a free entertainment event with popular bands and artists, giant video screens, and shows by the NZ Navy, NZ Army, Airforce, Police and the Fire Brigade.

Auckland Regatta
The Auckland Regatta is the largest single-day yachting regatta in the world, and has been held since Auckland was founded in 1840. The first regatta was an impromptu three-race affair which William Hobson himself participated in, and is even older than the famous America’s Cup regatta, which was first held 11 years later.

Today, many classes of boat races are catered for, from multi-million dollar racing fleets to radio-controlled yachts. Also included are optimist, centre-boarder, classic vessel, keelboat, multi-hull and the popular tug boat races. The regatta is distinctively Auckland, and firms its nickname as the City of Sails. It brings Auckland’s harbour and the surrounding viaduct to life and vibrancy, and is an annual event not to be missed.

 

This article was kindly supplied by NZS.

Home Security Tips

Locked doors

Would you prefer an easy nights’ sleep or a visit from the police and a late night phone call to your insurance company? A few precautions around the home makes all the difference.

Most burglars are opportunistic, and the brazen will attempt to break in while you are home and during the day. Don’t make it easy for them. Here are some ways you can be clever with home security.

  • Barricade. Fences walls trees or hedges around your property make it difficult for burglars to scout your home from the street. It could also hinder their access or getaway when in a hurry.  And make sure it is sound. Why have a high fence if the latch on the gate is loose?  And just because you wouldn’t crawl through a hole in the fence doesn’t mean they won’t.
  • Garage doors. Left unlocked or ajar garage doors are an open invitation to the dishonest. Get an automatic garage door opener from an access control company or buy a padlock. And use it.  What do you store in the garage that you would miss? Car? Bikes? Tools? Pram? Furniture?Teenagers?
  • Tidy up. Search your section. Have you put your garden tools away? Rocks or pot plants on your front porch? Timber or building materials lying around? All can be used to break windows and doors.
  • Light up. Burglars want to be invisible. Make sure your security lights work or consider having some installed at each entrance, motion sensor lights are recommended. If going away have lights on a timer or buy light sensitive ones that activate when its dark. Your local DIY store can help if you prefer to save some money or contact a home security company for more info.
  • Alarming plants. Use them to your advantage. Plant rose bushes or succulents like Aloe Vera under windows as a deterrent. Use exotic smelling plants to foul the air. Small cacti in pots on windowsills could be enough to surprise even the stealthiest bad guy. Check out your nearest garden centre or gardening enthusiast for help on this.
  • Listen to your home. Footpaths and driveways laid with gravel shingle or mussel shells give good warning someone is coming. Put wind chimes by the door or a hanging door screen with beads or bells. Take note of the unique sounds your home makes; have you noticed the bathroom door will shudder as it opens, the floorboard by the TV squeaks and the back door clicks twice when it closes? Thieves will not know your home like you do.
  • Be friends with your neighbours. Let them know when you’re going away, have them collect your mail, leave them a key to draw your curtains at night. Ask if they could park a vehicles in your drive. And do the same for them when they go on holiday. Some may even house sit or carry out neighbourly surveillance for you.
  • Paper mate. Stop your newspaper deliveries. A build up on your driveway indicates an empty home. Some newspapers have an online facility to stop and restart deliveries yourself. Or ask a neighbour to pick them up daily and they get a free read for doing so.
  • To beat them, join them. Your property looks different at night. Prowl around with the lights out and see what security issues you may have missed during the day.
  • Say cheese. Unfortunately even the bad guys succeed. Remember to photograph precious items. Save to an online photo sharing website like Flickr or Snapfish (but make sure your privacy settings are on). Don’t leave them on your camera, hard drive or PC as they could be stolen too. Caption the photos with the relevant serial numbers so you will always have a record.

There are many more ways to protect your home and belongings.

By being proactive you can make your home less attractive to criminals and you can have that easy nights’ sleep, every night.

 

This article was kindly supplied by NZS.

Finding Body Confidence

If you don’t feel good about the body you have, you’re not alone.  The number of diet programmes available is evidence of how many people are concerned with their body size and shape – and their continued existence also shows that diets are at best temporary solutions.  Happily, there is an alternative.

In the culture we live in, there is a widespread belief that a slim, streamlined figure is better and healthier than a big, curvy one.  This belief is often incorrectly presented as a timeless and universal truth.  And it’s presented in so many different overt and subtle ways, that many people feel under pressure from themselves and others to achieve or maintain a particular size, shape or weight – whether or not this is the one they were designed to be.  The good news is: it’s possible to feel great about your body without changing a thing.

Helping Yourself

There are a number of ways you can improve your self-image and facilitate the development of good body image in yourself and others.

Instead of reading and talking with others about diets, you could gather information on the subject of ‘body image‘, and discuss what you find out with supportive friends and family.  For example, you could investigate: how this culture’s approach to body size and shape is a passing fashion, and how other cultures exist which value very different body types.

It may also help to ensure your relationship with food and eating is positive one.  Strange though it may sound, research has shown that strict dieting can actually create the experience of ‘feeling fat’.  And where there is unwanted overeating, the thoughts which follow it often support continuing dissatisfaction with the body.

Food and Eating

So a positive relationship with food and eating doesn’t involve dieting or unwanted overeating. Instead it involves:

  • enjoying the food you like in a relaxed way
  • eating the right amount for your body
  • including the nutrients that enable it to function at its best.

If doing these is a challenge for you, you may want to consider getting some help from a specialist practitioner (examples of practitioners are counsellors, psychotherapists, dieticians or nutritionists with experience in and knowledge of these issues).

Your Body

It may also help to pay attention to your relationship with your body itself.  This may include:

  • getting a different perspective on your body, and on what part it plays in how you see yourself as a person
  • learning to value your body– what it does, as well as what you do like about how it looks
  • honouring its needs for activity and rest, for nutrition and pleasurable treats
  • noticing what leaves you feeling less good about your body, and finding solutions to this.  For example, if you have clothes that don’t fit your current size, find the courage to get rid of them and invest in clothes you enjoy wearing.
  • noticing what supports you in feeling good about your body, and bringing more of that into your life

Again, if doing these is a challenge for you, you may want to consider getting some help from a specialist practitioner.

 

 

Building a Home

 

Building a new home or renovating an existing house is a lot easier now, with loads of information already published on the Internet by various providers. You can easily use the online resources when starting to build a house.

New Zealand being an island country situated in Pacific Ocean is noted for its geographical location, with its closest neighbors being Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Caledonia.

Planning building a home
Do your research before getting started and look at various ideas from magazines, websites and by speaking with friends and family who have been through the process of building a home.

There are many websites which provide advice and information regarding successful planning and building a new home in New Zealand. While you can easily take advantage of the skills of architects who design the layout of the house, this can be an expensive option. An architect can prepare a custom design house which is tailor made for you. However you have to make sure that the person employed by you for building your dream home has the right qualification, skill and expertise otherwise it would cost you dearly.

Building home overview in New Zealand
Building a new home in New Zealand is a very challenging task but it is immensely enjoyable as well. While building a new home you have to be prepared for investing on time and budget. There can be many frustrations that come with a building project, but with proper management these can be overcome.

The length of the project also depends upon the subcontractors and builders. The availability of the specified supplies and the weather can cause delay in the construction process. Accepting all these limitations before construction begins can reduce the stress later on, but more importantly, quick identification of any problems at their early stages will save you a great deal of worry.

Make regular communication with the home builder
You need to have a smooth working relationship with the home builder so there is no confusion regarding your requirements and the actual building style. You should make sure that communication with the builder is open and clear because disputes in these cases sometimes can lead to legal arbitration.

Even if you have given the contract to a builder, he has to regularly supervise the construction as there can be minor changes in his home. You should regularly supervise the quality of work and progress regarding building a home. It is important to remember that it is easy to fix things while building is still going, rather than wait for the house to be finished before pointing any issues out to the builder.

Tips to keep in mind while building a home
Anyone who has been through the process before will tell you the importance of managing your budget while building a new home in New Zealand, and you should be sure to keep a close eye on spending as the work progresses. Compare the actual costs of the supplies and overruns with the estimated cost regularly so as to keep on top of things.

Although the storage of material is not the responsibility of the home owner, it’s also a good idea to make sure they are kept in best condition for installation. And as a general rule, keep in mind that the more simple the plan, the less it is likely to cost.

 

This article was kindly supplied by NZS.

A Moving Checklist

Whether you’ve got a new job that requires a relocation, or you’re moving out of your parents place to your own house, or maybe it’s just time for a change of scenery.

Whatever your reasons, moving house can be an exciting time for all involved. At the same time, it can take a lot of organisation and preparation to move all of your furniture and belongings to your new home.

There’s a lot to think about. Perhaps the most important question is whether you’re going to employ the services of your friends and family to help you move or whether you need to start researching some professional moving companies.

With a professional company, you have a few more rights should the worst happen, like in this moving accident video. You can imagine how these two guys feel!

So to make sure you don’t end up with damaged furniture or, if you do accidentally damage something, to make sure you have the necessary protection in place, here’s a simple checklist for you to follow when moving house.

Tips for Moving House

  1. Research moving companies.If you have decided to go with a moving company, be sure to check out a few different companies first before you make your decision. Not all companies are created equal and different companies can offer very different levels of service.
  2. Contact your insurance company.Many of us insure our household contents and we may even be thinking ahead enough to transfer the policy to our new home. However, often over-looked is insurance protection for when you’re travelling inbetween homes. If the truck carrying your furniture is in an accident and your furniture is damaged, who is liable for the cost of repairs of replacement? These are things that you should discuss with your moving company and also with your own insurance provider if necessary.
  3. Take the day off.It’s tempting to leave your furniture removal company to it. It would be great to leave your house for work and return to your new home with everything un-packed.However, it’s a good idea to book the whole day off work so that you can over-see the moving operation and assist where needed. Your movers may not be quite clear on which furniture goes into which room in your new house. It will be much easier to direct them while they are still working on the job rather than having to move bulky items after they have left.
  4. Enjoy the experience.Most of important of all is to enjoy your moving experience! It can be easy to get too involved with the moving project and to try and micro-manage your movers, but moving should be an exciting and enjoyable time for you and your family. If things start getting too stressful, take some time out and go for a coffee. Once the move is complete, be sure to celebrate with a bottle of bubbly.

 

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