Thanks for the update Koru. I spoke to Margie again yesterday to let her know that a copy of my PR was on the way. Wow is she sharp...I have not spoken to her in months and she remembered me straight away and even asked after Karen. The she asked about my license conversion...arghhhh. Damn CAA. She suggested that I send my stuff to them anyway to force their hand. I don't believe they will have a clue what to do with my military records. We'll just have to wait and see.

Cheers,
JD

Anyone have any single female relatives between 28-40 I could propose to? I'm a pretty decent guy from the States :)

Or, I'm 38 with over 7,000tt mostly in the left seat of the crj, but am rapidly building 74-200 right seat time - can I do the Air Force route to achieve NZ residency? I would love to immigrate and spend my free time on the Keplar or Able/Tazman Tracks.

Thanks for the straight and honest info.!

Yeah, some of my brother's wife's family/friends. She's also part Maori. But like A LOT of NZ women, then tend to run a little "husky", or larger rather.

I am familiar with your description - "husky" is a rather accurate adjective. No offense to anyone - the wood carving is awesome and I am grateful that part of their unique culture is thriving in the modern world.

rj, ok about dojetdriver's comment "But like A LOT of NZ women, then tend to run a little "husky", or larger rather".
That is a subjective statement; and it really it depends on what you consider "A LOT" to be... is that 1000 or 1,000,000?

Speaking in general, dojetdriver's description would not apply to most NZ'ers.

Here's some facts:

Population:
4,115,771 (July 2007 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 20.8% (male 437,547/female 417,698)
15-64 years: 67.3% (male 1,393,057/female 1,378,358)
65 years and over: 11.9% (male 214,189/female 274,922) (2007 est.)
Median age:
total: 34.2 years
male: 33.5 years
female: 35 years (2007 est.)
Ethnic groups:
European 69.8%, Maori 7.9%, Asian 5.7%, Pacific islander 4.4%, other 0.5%, mixed 7.8%, unspecified 3.8% (2001 census)

https://www.cia.gov/library/publicat...k/geos/nz.html

http://www.stats.govt.nz/people/default.htm

Husky chicks and all, it's still a great country. You should make a to trip New Zealand someday and see for yourself.

Here's one for ya...

http://gowild.net.nz/female.html

Knock yourself out.

Well, when I wrote it, I didn't mean to imply that Maori people are ALL fat. What I meant was, it doesn't matter if they are Anglo, Maori, Tongon, Samoan, Fijian, whatever. The amount of females that were a little "husky" surprised me. Especially compared to Europe, Canada, and South America. And yep, I know that there are plenty of "large" women in the US as well. Like I said, I was surprised when I went there, relative to other parts of the world I have been.

And yep, it is a great county. As far as the other guy's comment about the carving. I'm sure it's seen as a very "touristy" thing to do. But the cultural center at Rotorua is a must see.

Well, there's no denying that there's been a progressive brain drain from NZ in the last decade. "A lot" (somewhere around 500,000) of NZ'ers have moved overseas to live (mainly in Australia) due better work opportunities and income. I'm not sure when you last visited, as you didn't say, but I've been out of the country for about 7 years now; so things might have changed a bit from how it used to be when I lived there.

15 months ago, will be going back this fall to visit my brother and his wife. But yep, he told me all about the "brain drain", and how it's starting to affect the country. As far as skilled/educated labor goes, or the lack thereof for the reasons you just gave. Many of my sister in law's friends have fled across the Tasman Sea.

Yes, the mass exodus of skilled/educated workers permanently leaving the country is a real concern for NZ; but, that’s market forces for you. Until there's a change of government and a significant review and overhaul of its laws and polices, the trend will probably continue for the foreseeable future.