Dylan Firn

Making the move from Godzone to Queens Country isn't as easy as you think, but in hindsight it's not as hard as you think either. It seems to be a right of passage for many young Kiwis (myself and many friends included), we cross the globe individually or in small numbers to create a base for our European adventures. We come lightly packed (well the guys anyway), excited and ready to soak up all and every experience we can.

Kiwis and Aussies have a natural rivalry when we are on our home turf, but when you are as far away from home as you can possibly get we all seem to band together. I haven't met anyone yet who isn't ready with a wealth of advice for the newbie. The first place we crashed was a dank, dark flat above a Curry shop and a Polish convenience store where the door was in a tiny alleyway between leaking air conditioning units, but the people were friendly and every time we saw one of them the conversation was on where we could find things or what we should do in our first week. If a Kiwi or an Aussie you know of, have meet once back home or is a friend of a friend has a spare couch or bit of floor they are usually more than willing to let someone crash on it. Now after being here for the best part of 6 weeks I can see why, its tough, its tough for everyone and thats why I said earlier that it is harder than you think. 

The first thing you need is money, for sure, now depending on who you talk to depends on how much you need. Accommodation for the first few months is the biggest cost I have found. If you are lucky enough to have a friend with a couch beg for it and then don't let it go until you have a job (which can take sometime). We were a bit unlucky with accommodation, as we have had to sublet a few different rooms every few weeks. It is cheaper than a backpackers but its expensive because you are paying UK rent from you slightly insignificant NZ dollars. Hence why I would say find a couch and stay on it for as long as possible. 

As soon as one arrives in London there are a few things that have to be done and can get a bit tricky.

Bank account

National Insurance Number (Like our IRD Number)

Proof of address

If you are traveling on a New Zealand passport with a 2year youth or a 5year ancestry visa getting a bank account is easy, Lloyds Bank doesn't require a proof of address if you are travelling on a NZ passport and have a valid work visa. But you will need proof of work, usually, I managed to get a nice lady who listed me as a student which meant that she could open an account with out a proof of job, address or study for that matter.

The National Insurance Number or NIN takes sometime and you do require an address to have the paperwork sent out to. My recommendation is that you call as soon as you arrive and have a friends address to send it to. It is a long and drawn out process and if you miss the two week cut off like I did you have to start all over again.

The proof of address is the hardest thing you can come across but you need it, for everything from other banks, to signing up with recruiters and getting a SIM card on a plan. If you have a friend or someone you know here get a bank statement from your NZ account sent to their address before you even leave New Zealand.

So once you have yourself comfortably settled into your couch, the job hunt will begin. I feel I messed this all up and if I was doing it again would not apply for jobs relevant to my degree first. I think (and hindsight is a beautiful thing) that the first thing you should do when applying for jobs is apply for what you did while at high school or at university. If you worked in a cafe apply for cafe jobs, if you worked in a bar apply for bar jobs. I err never worked in either so it makes it a bit tougher once you realise your not going to get the perfect job straight away and have to start applying for the "easier" jobs.

I am into roughly week 6 and have worked a few days for a temp agency and applied for countless jobs both in my feild of my degree and not, so now I am to play the waiting game. With about another 6 weeks of accommodation and hopefully enough money to feed me until then and I guess if no work comes along (I would have to be very unfortunate) Part 2 of this will be from my parents house back in New Zealand and if I do get work well then we shall see Part 2 and 3 slightly sooner.

One thing is for sure there are good days and bad days. Everyone one I have talked to has gone through the same. The trick is to stay positive which should be easy because when your feeling like its getting too hard there is always someone there to pull you back up, and soon enough the roles will be reversed and you will be the one picking someone up. 

Its not all that bad, we are young. 

What could possibly go wrong..............

Follow me on instragram for more photos

Lambton Quay, Wellington, New Zealand

The collection

Newest set up. Look out for photos from this coming soon.

Ricoh KR SuperII 

Riconar 55mm F2.2

Tokina 70-210mm F4-5.6

"I AM PETER PAN" - Self portrait, 2011

Me and Richard Clarkson, End of 2011

Canon AV-1

Cafè on Lambton Quay.

The only day of snow 2011