today i made a visit to http://www.immigration.govt.nz, signed on to my account, and what did i see? a residency visa staring back at me! "Visa Resident 207724058 - Please apply for transfer of this visa when the passport expires. The holder may travel to NZ and on application shall be granted a residence permit. This returning resident's visa is current for two years from the date of issue of the original residence permit"

wooohoooo, it's even more official now :-P then i went to my bank account online and saw that they have charged me the migrant levy! that's it! now i just have to wait for my passport to find its way home. this was a bit exciting for me.

otherwise, not much new going on. i have been continuing to sell things. a lot of trying and not as much selling, but slowly things are going away. i will probably have a yard sale in a few weeks to try and clear things out. i went through a lot of clothes over the weekend. i'm really getting rid of a lot, i probably need to get rid of a lot more, but i've made a good start.

oh, i found a cheaper place to start off in NZ! Newtown Heights Lodge has rooms for only nz$140/week. This involves shared bathroom and kitchen, but my own private room. they also have tv room. i think that is a pretty good deal. i may be there a few weeks, it just depends.

yes, i think i will leave it at that for now.

jon