It's been a while since the last "Project Koru" post—although not because there's been nothing happening. We've been busy behind the scenes preparing to depart to China in just over 7 weeks, where we will spend 3 weeks before our arrival in Wellington, New Zealand. Here's a summary of where we are at, what we hope to share with you in the coming months, and how those of you with a personal interest—or interest in doing something similar—can stay in touch.

What is Project Koru? The code name of our "great escape" from our adopted home in the UK to spend a year living and working in New Zealand. You can find an introduction to the project here together with an explanation of why we chose the koru as the symbol for our journey.

Current project status

The threads are coming together nicely. So far we've had no unpleasant surprises, hopefully a reflection of our careful planning and timely enquiries. Here is a synopsis of the current situation:

• Both of us have obtained registration with the Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ, interviews pending);
• Simone has a confirmed job offer;
• Simone's work visa has been received from Immigration New Zealand (after just 4 working days!);
• We have booked accommodation for the first month of our stay in Wellington;
• Our cat Bess has obtained her EU pet passport in anticipation of her immigrating to Germany;
• We've made arrangements for the upkeep of our UK property;
• We arrive in NZ early October, following 3 weeks in China.

Blogging our experience

We intend to journal our experience, writing for family and friends but also as a "how to" record should we (or others) wish to repeat the experience. We'll be blogging our thoughts on topics such as:

• Maintaining a base in the UK;
• Pet care considerations;
• Banking and financial planning;
• Insurance;
• Excess baggage;
• Living in Wellington;
• Computing power to go;
• Taxation and cost of living;
• Applying for a work visa;
• Accommodation options;
• Internet access in New Zealand;
• Transportation and driving;
• Health care entitlement;
• The practice of medicine in NZ.

I'm sure we'll think of other topics along the way—perhaps on the basis of your suggestions? Let us know what you'd like to know about...

Staying up-to-date

The Project Koru category of this blog has its own domain address: tekoru.net. It also has a custom look. You can bookmark tekoru.net and visit the site periodically to what's new.

Alternatively if you use a feed reader (heard of RSS?) you can subscribe to the Project's web feed, so you'll know where we've made a new post. If you haven't heard of RSS or feed readers don't worry—there's an e-mail option too. To receive a notification when new content is posted on the site, just enter an e-mail address into the form field in the sidebar. You'll be asked to enter a confirmation word, and then once you receive your first e-mail you will need to click the link in order to activate your subscription. It's easier than it sounds, really!

We hope you'll find reading about our experience as exciting as we hope to find living it. In the meantime, why not download a koru desktop background from the "Extras" tab, and think about what direction you want your life to take?

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