lulukp

Hi my OH, 7 year old and myself are considering making the move to NZ. hopefully we would both be able to get jobs as we both work in healthcare. I suppose my biggest concern is my son at the min he goes to school fulltime and has a childminder before and after school. What is the set up for childcare in nz? Will I get the quality family time we need or is it just the same as here?

MrsFychan

Child care can come in the former of after school care or child minders so don't think any worries there. You would need to check to see if you could gain visa and have enough money to make the move successfully. Some Health care pposition have been removed from the skills list so you would have to check immigration sites to see if yours are listed. If not then a little more work may be involved with obtaining visa. You may have to register with an appropriate board and be assessed before visa application, that would depend on your field of work. Can I ask why New Zealand?

lulukp

My hubby was in the navy and was lucky to travel the world, he spent a while in both aus and new zealand and fell in love with New Zealand. So ten years on a whole new career and family and we both long for a better quality of life. New Zealand appears to off it all? We have done the visa test and have enough points to apply for a visa and it seems I would get a job easily so would the oh.
I have reservations can the grass be much greener down under? I know financially we wont be better off but will we be richer as a family?

MrsFychan

ahh the million dollar question - is it greener on the other side?

To be honest it depends what you are looking for.

Personally I do the same day to day stuff as I did in the UK. Weekends can be spent down at the local beach and dog walking. the only difference is the dog walk can be on the beach.
My kids seem to be over - "let's go to the beach" DD aged 12 now at college so just wants to hang out in her bedroom or down the mall. DS aged 8 just wants to play minecraft, does basketball club on a sunday or play computer games with his mates. So I expect they would be doing the same in the UK.

We are in a small community and hoping to move to a place a bit bigger which may offer more activities for the children. My work means that most local clubs are run when I'm working so kids miss out. although DS does do tennis once a week in term 4 and 1 and swimming at the weekend. If we move I am hoping DD will have more opportunities for recreational clubs. But that will depend on costs obviously.

Is it better? all I can say is that it is different.

lulukp

See that sounds like our life now we work long days and our DS has no life he cant got to clubs or swimming misses parties all cos we are at work. We live north so have beach and countryside on our doorstep

MrsFychan

working in health care would that mean you would more likely get shift work, so really what will change for you?

thepinkone

I work in the health sector, OH just in a local hardware store - we both only work 4 days/shifts a week and find its enough to pay the mortgage, have a few of lifes luxuries and give us time to spend with DD (although I do alot of night shifts so don't have to pay for childare as I sleep when she's at school). She has a much more outdoor'sie lifestyle. When the weather is nice she swims every day at school, meets mates and plays at the beach; still spends too long at her computer (in my opinion) but not as much as in UK. It really depends on what you make of it. We did loads in our first bit out here and have slumped back into normal life but still think 'adventure' oportunities are better if and when we decide to take them, but thats only because we'd seen alot of the UK and are relativley new here so still have loads to see.

AndyEvs

Incredibly difficult question to answer.
Our move here saw us in similar/same jobs as UK. We bought a cheap house that is cold in the winter and needs a lot of maintenance but doesn't break the bank in terms of mortgage payments. It's a shack really and I'm thinking of changing my surname to Clampett.
Our kids are both teens now so we do less as a family.
If the truth be told life here (for us) has not actually been a radical change. No change in career, no real change to our housing and since we used to go out and do stuff in the UK not a massive change in that either, although after 10 years here I'm sorry to say we do feel as though we have exhausted what the region has to offer and to a certain extent NZ too.
What I'm trying to say is that we made the move for a number of reasons with the children being top of the list. They have had a great childhood and we don't regret that. But because not much changed for us the grass here isn't any greener. It's the same but we are much further away from friends and family.
For those who come and make radical changes it must be great and I'm sure they would give quite a different answer.
One question I would ask is are you one of those people who 'hates' it in the UK? we've met a lot of those. People who when they go back to visit can't wait to leave again.
We still love it there and have been back 6 or 7 times in the last 10 years (I wonder why we have no money?) and we still like it there just as much. I just know I don't really want to work in the UK education system again (too old anyway).

BEVS

I'm sure there will be lots of differing opinions on that one.

So, over to the main forum it goes ,where more folk hang out.

BEVS

I'll stick with the practical visa stuff for now.

Was that the official NZIS points indicator ? Are you talking about the skilled migrant category?

Sounds great. What are the occupations?

marooned5

If you're coming for a change and a bit of a family adventure, then just do it - especially if you have jobs that you can pick up again if you decide to return.

But apart from the fun of doing something new, the grass would have to be a LOT greener here to make up for the distance from friends and family, taking the kids away from their grandparents,the lack of travel opportunities and the increased cost of living. And for us it's not that green. We don't regret coming here at all, but we won't stay.

Bo-Jangles

All I can say is be careful what you wish for. We've got tough woody horrible friggin weedy grass with great big cracks in it; compared to the lovely neat bowling green we had in the UK.

pippalonghorn

I once heard a saying - The grass is always greener on the other side, only because it's fertilized with more bull....!

That applies to anywhere in the world. Will the thought of not knowing outweigh the thought of giving it a try and having to return home?