Archive for the 'gromit' CategoryPage 2 of 2

a place to call home

Published
by
antonyfoster
on October 8, 2007
in gromit, housing, moving and new zealand
. 0 Comments

we’ve been going back and forward between looking for a place to rent and place to buy.

if we could find the right house in the right neighborhood at the right price that would be ideal, but a home search here in wellington is much harder than any place i’ve bought previously. there are dramatic differences from one street to the next. sun & wind exposure, age & condition of house, amount (if any) of insulation and heating (most houses have neither), type of street (some are narrow twisty routes up mountainsides), local amenities, distance to the cbd, dog friendliness, etc.

we had looked at probably 20 houses or so over the span of a month but it became clear that we wouldn’t have time to feel confident about any decision, and it was logistically challenging with the jboss in the states and me here, so we switched to focusing on finding a rental.

the initial week of the rental search was very depressing with few places that would consider dogs, and few of those that would were places that i would want to live it. the small number that passed those 2 tests were all very pricey and were gone almost immediately. there was a bit of stress since we needed to have something lined up by the time that gromit returned from his holiday in quarantine in mid november. i had seen a few places that weren’t horrible, but i was really hoping that that wouldn’t be the benchmark.

jackie passed along a new posting of a nice looking place in island bay, but it said no pets. so i wrote my nicest possible email explaining that we had a well behaved dog, and that we would put down additional bond (deposit) & have the house professionally cleaned when we left if they would consider waving their no pets criteria. i wasn’t optimistic that i would get a yes so i went off to look at other potential places.

fortunately they called me and said we wouldn’t have to give gromit away, so i rushed over to confirm the place measured up to the listing. it was actually better than the listing so i told them that i was very interested but would like to confirm with my partner back in the states. the owner was very generous and said that she would consider us first in line and allow me get back to her the next day. fortunately i was able to connect with the jboss soon after and was able to call back the owner and said we would like to take it. another bonus here was that the owner then said the place was ours pending a deposit, a lease and employment verification. most rentals here just accept applications and then pick the best from the stack.

after an exchange of paperwork (and money - once again all electronic, no dirty cheques here) we had a place to live as of october 27th.

small bonus. the owner sent me an email asking if it was ok if they left the fridge and washing machine. nice to avoid that expense for a while.

50016246 Full 50016798 Full

50051273 Full 50017181 Full

gardens (yards) are surprisingly uncommon. many of the island bay sections (lots) have been subdivided surrendering all their green space. gromit’s bedroom (with a guest bed for slumber parties with his new friends from the neighborhood). great views.

Img 2056

southerly view of the ocean (island bay) out the bedroom window.

25 Tiber Street, Island Bay

3 bedroom house with 2 bathrooms.

Simply stunning family home.

Be welcomed into the famous Island Bay community!

Luxurious yet practical and comfortable. Super sunny, light and warm. All day sun with french doors opening front and back, and gas central heating to warm you cheaply through the winter.

Stunning polished floors downstairs, stylish new carpet upstairs. Kitchen with modern European appliances and stunning concrete bench. Open plan kitchen/dining/living, with additional separate lounge.

Two double bedrooms, one single bedroom and office/kids’ playroom. All with internet/phone connection points etc, sunny, seaviews and open outlook. Also floor to ceiling wardrobes/shelving.

Upstairs bathroom has luxurious family sized bath/shower.

Flat, sunny and sheltered backyard with swing set, sand pit and herb garden. Entertainment deck, amazing indoor-outdoor flow and wonderful entertainment options indoors and out.

Fully fenced and child friendly, located in a quiet cul de sac 200m from two good schools and 400m from kindy.

Enormous storage options throughout house.

luxury accommodation - 8 sq ft

Published
by
antonyfoster
on May 18, 2007
in gromit, moving and new zealand
. 0 Comments

gromit’s immigration agent strongly suggested that we get his travel crate as soon as possible to begin the acclimation process. lots of rule on the crate including amount of ventilation, sturdiness of closures and size. the crate has to be big enough for him to turn around and stand up without touching the roof. we’re luck gromit isn’t any bigger or we’d have a problem - he just fit’s into the biggest crate. don’t know what folks to with bigger dogs?

another $140 to the tally and we have gromit’s new luxury digs.

Img 0032

so we now feed him all him meals in his crate and he seems quite comfortable in it. a couple of times in the evening he has gone in and taken a nap. before we go we need to get the point where he spends the night in it with the dog shut. comparing that to his normal custom of hogging the bed i’m guessing this might take a bit of work.

immigration agent hired

Published
by
antonyfoster
on May 17, 2007
in gromit, moving and new zealand
. 0 Comments

not for jackie or me - but for gromit.

after reading the nz emigration forum for almost a year now i don’t think i’ve seen a single person who has hired an immigration agency to help them with their application - but with only one exception every admits that if you are bringing in a pet that it is so complicated that you have to hire a professional. six months of test and treatments that have to be in a specific order by specially certified vets or you have to start all over again. worse if nz maf (responsible for pet immigration) determines after the pet’s arrival that the process was not properly followed then the offender either gets 6 months in quarantine or -gasp- destroyed.

so as of today gromit has his own immigration agent - diana b. escandon of international pet transportation. they are based in los angeles and all they do is coordinate dogs and cats immigrating to nz and australia. they handle about 40 animals a month so i’m confident that they know what they are doing. nothing that $2,518.82 won’t solve.

Or Bust

i continue to be amazed at how specialized some successful companies are. who would have thought that you could run a company that just helps americans ship their dogs and cats into nz and australia?

updated tally:
• gromit intl pet transport fee $2,518.82
• old tally $2,700.74
• TOTAL = $5,219.56

rabies test - the results show

Published
by
antonyfoster
on April 13, 2007
in gromit and new zealand
. 0 Comments

? ? ?

welcome to the results show. i know everyone’s been anxious to hear the results. today we’ll hear if gromit is allowed to travel with his family to new zealand.

this - is rabies test.

<wild cheering>

time to meet today’s judge. let’s hear it for kansas state university laboratory!

<applause>

Images

gromit foster, please stand up.

Gromit Closeup 8X10-1

kansas state university laboratory has spoken and the results…

…will be announced right after this.

? ? ?

Images-1 Iam’s is dedicated to enhancing the well-being of dogs by providing world-class quality foods and pet care products that delight the consumer and strengthen the human-pet bond.


11211L Novartis Animal Health is dedicated to maintaining and improving the health and welfare of animals, both pets and farm animals. We research, develop and commercialize leading animal treatments that meet the needs of pet owners, farmers and veterinarians


? ? ?

welcome back.

gromit, how are you felling about today’s results? nervous?

why don’t you take a seat and we’ll move onto the results.

Gromit

gromit - the results are in and… you’re safe!

congratulations gromit!

<wild cheering>

? ? ?

canis familiaris

Published
by
antonyfoster
on March 12, 2007
in gromit, new zealand and timeline
. 0 Comments

probably should have been no surprise, but the process of getting gromit into nz is almost as complicated as it is for us. nz biosecurity and nz maf (ministry of agriculture and forestry) are responsible for regulating the process. the good news is that the states are considered “a country or territory in which canine rabies is absent or well controlled” so the process is not as lengthy as it could be. whilst it’s still a major logistic, paperwork and scheduling headache - the biggest challenge for us will be that gromit is a major scaredy cat. sneeze and he cowers. smoke alarm goes off and he’s under the table. take a ride in the car and he’s shaking non stop.

the highlights of the process are:

  • gromit is micro-chipped, vaccinated and tested for rabies starting a six month clock.
  • after six months, a second rabies test and a battery of other tests gromit is cleared for transport.
  • on flight day he is placed in a crate sealed by immigration officials. the crate must remain sealed until he has arrived in christchurch at an authorized quarantine facility. this will require a 14 hour flight from la to auckland, a 1 hour flight to christchurch and a 30 minute car ride to quarantine.
  • gromit then spends 30 days in the slammer. we can visit him each day for as long as we want until they nicely ask jackie to go home.

for some reason we didn’t connect the dots and realize that we needed to get hoppin’ on this or gromit would become the long pull to our departure. so 2 weeks ago we had him chipped and today he had his rabies booster. in a week i will go back for the rabies test and that will start the six month clock. that puts his earliest departure at 24-OCT. doh. our vet was great and reviewed the tall stack of paperwork to ensure we had everything in order. my favourite sound bite was “omigod - the last time i did that test was in vet school and it was on a sheep!”

the jboss has done a lot of the leg work contacting the authorized pet shipping companies that specialize in us to nz transports. they seemed to have the process down and it will be a big relief to have someone handing it that has been through it before. either that or we smuggle him in on a chinese container ship.

our current plan is to take several weeks traveling across the country before departing from la. i’ve always wanted to see more of the states and this will save the hound one 6 hour plane ride. but as i mentioned he’s is terrified of the car - so it could be that by the time we get to nz all three of us will need valium for the flight to nz.

one lingering fear in the back of my mind. on april 4th i go in for lasik surgery to get my steve austin bionic vision. if for some reason i were to lose my sight the jboss would be able to have gromit ride with us in the cabin as a service dog. now is it a coincidence that jackie asked to meet in private with my surgeon? or that when i was recently trying to choose between two paint colours she said something like “oh, i wouldn’t worry too much about that.”

probably nothing.

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