Kentish Lass

How many of you have come to live in Australia after trying New Zealand? We have been here nearly six years but I feel we are missing out on something. NZ seems to me a good place to retire but I'm not ready for that yet! We have been over to holiday on the Gold Coast (Byron Bay was fantastic but I'm sure everyone wants to live there and I haven't got Russell Crowe's money), Sydney and Melbourne. It all seems more alive there.
Any comments?

Buzzy--Bee

There's a lot of us on here from NZ first. We lived there for 2 years, then back to the UK for 8 years. When we wanted to emigrate again, we wanted to find somewhere with the lifestyle of NZ, but the economic and cultural realities of London.

We have found an excellent combination of both in Melbourne, where we live within a 30 min commute of the CBD, and a 20 min walk to the beach.

Which bit of NZ are you in?

Buzzy

Kentish Lass

We are about half an hour south of Hamilton. Nearest town Te Awamutu. We used to live in New Romney when in the UK, just a few minutes from the sea. I assumed we would be near the beach when we came here but it hasn't worked out like that and we are 45 mins away. I really miss being by the sea.

Buzzy--Bee

Ah Te Awamutu, home of Crowded House etc etc

Come to Melbourne. The water's lovely, as is the vibe!

Buzzy

mohogony

Only half the population of NZ.

michael_w

We came in through the back door. Couldn't get accepted for immigration to Australia, but got a job in Auckland and spent five years there. When we had citizenship we moved over to Sydney - a good move. NZ is nice, but career wise it's a dead end. I also prefer Sydney because I'm a city person and NZ was just too insular and parochial.

Geelong Gent

Near Tirau then

Buzzy--Bee

agreed 100%. Interesting to see that the biggest city in NZ is just as inward looking as the rest of it.

Buzzy

Spellbound

We had four years in NZ - Auckland. We much preferred NZ to the UK, but for us something was missing. We had hobbies such as fishing and camping and enjoyed getting out and about, but it was too cold in the winter, so we ended up sitting indoors hibernating for at least 4 months of the year under blankets and with the electric heaters on.

We now live on the Gold Coast, we go camping all year round, not so much fishing anymore (only because we don't catch anything) but the weather is definitely much better. We only put the A/C onto heat once last winter and although we brought our electric heaters with us, we haven't used them at all.

We earn more than in NZ and pay less rent, so we also have more disposable income and a better lifestyle. It really was a good move for us which felt like a sideways move, as there is quite a bit of similarity with NZ and we have already gone way past the home sickness phase.

For us, there is more vibrancy too and our 19yr old who thought of herself as a New Zealander (13 yrs when we moved there) is now calling NZ - one giant farm! She is enjoying the day/night life the gold coast has to offer.

We have friends who spent 5 years in Auckland then came here to GC. 1 year later they are back over in NZ for good as Australia just wasn't for them and they are now very happy. So Australia is not for everyone, but we are very happy to be here and call it home.

JAJ

You only get any advantage in Australia if you are an NZ citizen (NZ permanent resident won't do) and even then it's limited.

http://britishexpats.com/wiki/New_Ze...s_in_Australia

Kentish Lass

Thanks for all your replies. Certainly food for thought. This is all for future planning....we could try another part of NZ, Oz, or even go back to the UK.
Having made one HUGE step in coming here in the first place, I feel very hesitant in deciding on anything else. At the present time though my 15 year old has only this and next year to go at his school and is in the middle of his NCEAs. It would be wrong timing for him in his education. My daughter is nearly 14 and she will be in the same boat soon. The easy time for life changing moves for kids is at the age they were when we came here ,9 and 7. Then you can go anywhere, do anything, and they are just happy to be with you. At nearly 16 my son is starting to see NZ in a different light. Great place to grow up but he is starting to want more.

Spellbound

We had the option of applying for NZ Citizenship as we had done the required amount of time, but we discovered on BE that we could apply directly for Australian Permanent Residency, so thats what we did before we came. We even managed to get PR for our eldest daughter who lives/studies in the UK.

Our youngest daughter who was 17 yrs at the time didn't want to come at all to Aus as she felt like a Kiwi and had lots of good friends (so she thought). After many trials and tribulations (which I have spoken about on BE) we ended up leaving her, on her own in NZ to fend for herself. Four/Five months later, she telephoned to ask if I could book her a flight over and now she absolutely loves it here and it didn't take long either.

I personally (my opinion) think that if you are going to make a move, to do it now whilst son and daughter and 15/13 yrs as they will end up back in the education system over here in Aus, where they stand more chance of making friends and much easier for further education etc to be in the system. If you wait for son to finish NCEA's and then daughter to do the same, you could be carrying on living in ambivalence in NZ for years to come.

We knew that we never wanted to go back to the UK and I still shudder at the thought, Australia was the best decision we have made. We kept what we liked about NZ but ticked some extra boxes here in aus, so win/win in the end for all of us.

It definitely needs careful thought and consideration though, so good luck to you with that. You know your family best. My thoughts expressed were only my opinion and I have got it wrong for myself many times - hindsight is my favourite word.