hello from NZ
Oct 30th 2003, 3:09 am
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2003
Location: Nelson/nz
Posts: 44
hello from NZ
Hi it's been a while,we arrived in nz about 8 weeks ago,and the wife has not stoped shopping,hopefuly she will stop before all the uk money runs out
We are just out side Nelson and its such a lovely place,we bought a house after a week in an auction,stood in the garden and stuck a hand up at the right moment and have been told we got it at agood price $282,000 which a year ago would have been about half that,so be warned any one who is heading this way,house prices are going balistic.
The house we bought has a 832m2 section but thats bigger than most of the new houses,those tend to be about 4to500m2 and you'll pay in axcess of $350,000 and rising.
Food prices are expensive which is a bit disapionting as there is so much of it about,the kiwis I work with say all the good stuff goe's for export,and in restuarants it will state export quality on menu's
On a positive note the place is fantastic,we've got a lovely house,swimming pool,spa,weather's getting nice uncrowded beaches,roads etc.
One more sad note our furniture arrived in a shocking state and that was with a mover we had heard good things of on this site,and we have now been waiting 2 weeks for claims forms, we will let people know about this in no uncertain terms if they do'nt get there act together,best regards to everyone
Tezza and family
We are just out side Nelson and its such a lovely place,we bought a house after a week in an auction,stood in the garden and stuck a hand up at the right moment and have been told we got it at agood price $282,000 which a year ago would have been about half that,so be warned any one who is heading this way,house prices are going balistic.
The house we bought has a 832m2 section but thats bigger than most of the new houses,those tend to be about 4to500m2 and you'll pay in axcess of $350,000 and rising.
Food prices are expensive which is a bit disapionting as there is so much of it about,the kiwis I work with say all the good stuff goe's for export,and in restuarants it will state export quality on menu's
On a positive note the place is fantastic,we've got a lovely house,swimming pool,spa,weather's getting nice uncrowded beaches,roads etc.
One more sad note our furniture arrived in a shocking state and that was with a mover we had heard good things of on this site,and we have now been waiting 2 weeks for claims forms, we will let people know about this in no uncertain terms if they do'nt get there act together,best regards to everyone
Tezza and family
Oct 30th 2003, 4:41 am
#2
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Nov 2002
Location: NZ since 2003.
Posts: 1,433
We have been here 15 weeks and understand your feelings about the shopping. When spending the English money everything seems like a bargain. Then it hits you! you are earning NZ dollars and are going to have to live off them. I agree about the food prices, but we have just come out of the winter and it will be interesting to see how the prices go once we start getting the gluts of seasonal produce.
I feel there is a balance though with cheaper non-food items such as electricity, rates/council tax, car insurance etc. Especially when compared against UK costs and related to wages in each country. Also we have no TV licence, although that shows up in the quality of TV programmes. But then again we did not come to NZ to watch TV.
Sorry to hear about your furniture, who did you use? (PM me if you don't want to mention them on here), did you have insurance on everything?. We used Crown who were great and only had insurance on certain items, thank god everything was ok for us. We thought the insurance was very expensive, and to be honest why should we pay insurance for them to move our stuff, if something goes wrong they should be liable after all we are paying them to move us and look after our stuff. Did you have a whole container to yourself, we did and from what we have heard it can make a difference to how stuff arrives.
We purchased a house that was vacant in Rotorua, we looked at it on the 14th July and moved in on the 1st August. Very quick, and most of that time was spent on price negotiation. When we think of how long it took for the conveyencing on the house we sold in the UK (about 10 weeks from agreement of buyers to purchase to money in bank).
Hope you are enjoying the new life as much as we are.
Rob
I feel there is a balance though with cheaper non-food items such as electricity, rates/council tax, car insurance etc. Especially when compared against UK costs and related to wages in each country. Also we have no TV licence, although that shows up in the quality of TV programmes. But then again we did not come to NZ to watch TV.
Sorry to hear about your furniture, who did you use? (PM me if you don't want to mention them on here), did you have insurance on everything?. We used Crown who were great and only had insurance on certain items, thank god everything was ok for us. We thought the insurance was very expensive, and to be honest why should we pay insurance for them to move our stuff, if something goes wrong they should be liable after all we are paying them to move us and look after our stuff. Did you have a whole container to yourself, we did and from what we have heard it can make a difference to how stuff arrives.
We purchased a house that was vacant in Rotorua, we looked at it on the 14th July and moved in on the 1st August. Very quick, and most of that time was spent on price negotiation. When we think of how long it took for the conveyencing on the house we sold in the UK (about 10 weeks from agreement of buyers to purchase to money in bank).
Hope you are enjoying the new life as much as we are.
Rob
Last edited by Gill and Rob; Oct 30th 2003 at 6:38 am.
Oct 30th 2003, 8:45 am
#3
Non-addicted member!
Joined: Nov 2001
Location: Nelson, New Zealand
Posts: 343
Re: hello from NZ
Originally posted by tezzabart
Hi it's been a while,we arrived in nz about 8 weeks ago,and the wife has not stoped shopping,hopefuly she will stop before all the uk money runs out
We are just out side Nelson and its such a lovely place,we bought a house after a week in an auction,stood in the garden and stuck a hand up at the right moment and have been told we got it at agood price $282,000 which a year ago would have been about half that,so be warned any one who is heading this way,house prices are going balistic.
The house we bought has a 832m2 section but thats bigger than most of the new houses,those tend to be about 4to500m2 and you'll pay in axcess of $350,000 and rising.
Food prices are expensive which is a bit disapionting as there is so much of it about,the kiwis I work with say all the good stuff goe's for export,and in restuarants it will state export quality on menu's
On a positive note the place is fantastic,we've got a lovely house,swimming pool,spa,weather's getting nice uncrowded beaches,roads etc.
One more sad note our furniture arrived in a shocking state and that was with a mover we had heard good things of on this site,and we have now been waiting 2 weeks for claims forms, we will let people know about this in no uncertain terms if they do'nt get there act together,best regards to everyone
Tezza and family
Hi it's been a while,we arrived in nz about 8 weeks ago,and the wife has not stoped shopping,hopefuly she will stop before all the uk money runs out
We are just out side Nelson and its such a lovely place,we bought a house after a week in an auction,stood in the garden and stuck a hand up at the right moment and have been told we got it at agood price $282,000 which a year ago would have been about half that,so be warned any one who is heading this way,house prices are going balistic.
The house we bought has a 832m2 section but thats bigger than most of the new houses,those tend to be about 4to500m2 and you'll pay in axcess of $350,000 and rising.
Food prices are expensive which is a bit disapionting as there is so much of it about,the kiwis I work with say all the good stuff goe's for export,and in restuarants it will state export quality on menu's
On a positive note the place is fantastic,we've got a lovely house,swimming pool,spa,weather's getting nice uncrowded beaches,roads etc.
One more sad note our furniture arrived in a shocking state and that was with a mover we had heard good things of on this site,and we have now been waiting 2 weeks for claims forms, we will let people know about this in no uncertain terms if they do'nt get there act together,best regards to everyone
Tezza and family
Most of the s/markets have special deals from time to time etc.
Sounds a nice house, well done, we wont be buying for a while, like you said, 12 mnths ago we would of, no probs, cant afford it now!!!
Anyway, we got here & thats the importaint bit, right?
Where do you live, we are in Annesbrook.
If you're passing, call into Thunderbike Powersports on Bolt Rd, its where I work, and say hi!! Might have a little in common with the movers issue!!
Oct 30th 2003, 10:38 am
#4
Forum Regular
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 43
keep up the commentry I'm enjoying hearing that people have moved and are enjoying it and finding that it is better than the UK.
There is a lot of negativity on these forums which puts me off, from time to time, from making the move.:scared:
I don't understand the square metres thing, is what you guys have said bigger than UK plots,suppose must be if you have a pool. How much of the year will you be able to use it?
Keep the posts going it encouraging,
good luck
Jase
There is a lot of negativity on these forums which puts me off, from time to time, from making the move.:scared:
I don't understand the square metres thing, is what you guys have said bigger than UK plots,suppose must be if you have a pool. How much of the year will you be able to use it?
Keep the posts going it encouraging,
good luck
Jase
Oct 30th 2003, 5:16 pm
#5
Inverted Firkin Inventor
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 757
Re: hello from NZ
Originally posted by tezzabart
Hi it's been a while,we arrived in nz about 8 weeks ago,and the wife has not stoped shopping,hopefuly she will stop before all the uk money runs out
We are just out side Nelson and its such a lovely place,we bought a house after a week in an auction,stood in the garden and stuck a hand up at the right moment and have been told we got it at agood price $282,000 which a year ago would have been about half that,so be warned any one who is heading this way,house prices are going balistic.
The house we bought has a 832m2 section but thats bigger than most of the new houses,those tend to be about 4to500m2 and you'll pay in axcess of $350,000 and rising.
Food prices are expensive which is a bit disapionting as there is so much of it about,the kiwis I work with say all the good stuff goe's for export,and in restuarants it will state export quality on menu's
On a positive note the place is fantastic,we've got a lovely house,swimming pool,spa,weather's getting nice uncrowded beaches,roads etc.
One more sad note our furniture arrived in a shocking state and that was with a mover we had heard good things of on this site,and we have now been waiting 2 weeks for claims forms, we will let people know about this in no uncertain terms if they do'nt get there act together,best regards to everyone
Tezza and family
Hi it's been a while,we arrived in nz about 8 weeks ago,and the wife has not stoped shopping,hopefuly she will stop before all the uk money runs out
We are just out side Nelson and its such a lovely place,we bought a house after a week in an auction,stood in the garden and stuck a hand up at the right moment and have been told we got it at agood price $282,000 which a year ago would have been about half that,so be warned any one who is heading this way,house prices are going balistic.
The house we bought has a 832m2 section but thats bigger than most of the new houses,those tend to be about 4to500m2 and you'll pay in axcess of $350,000 and rising.
Food prices are expensive which is a bit disapionting as there is so much of it about,the kiwis I work with say all the good stuff goe's for export,and in restuarants it will state export quality on menu's
On a positive note the place is fantastic,we've got a lovely house,swimming pool,spa,weather's getting nice uncrowded beaches,roads etc.
One more sad note our furniture arrived in a shocking state and that was with a mover we had heard good things of on this site,and we have now been waiting 2 weeks for claims forms, we will let people know about this in no uncertain terms if they do'nt get there act together,best regards to everyone
Tezza and family
Hi
Welcome to NZ. Gad you settling in OK, your house sounds lovely. Sorry to hear about your furniture. Did you have a sole use container or not? I am beginning to think it makes quite a difference. We used PSS and had no problems. Although we had a sole use which was sealed outside our house in the UK and not opened again till NZ and it wasn't unpacked until outside our house hear. The MAF people inspected at our house. So our stuff was hardly handled at all, I think this may make a difference. Anyway good luck with the claim.
Paula
Oct 30th 2003, 6:41 pm
#6
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Sep 2003
Location: Banks Peninsula, SI, NZ
Posts: 373
We moved out about 6-7 months ago and now live in the bay over in Banks Peninsula. We had a shock when we stopped spending british pounds so to speak.
Housing is also much more than we expected, however we didn't want to live in the town anyway so we managed to get a good deal on a place. We paid $365,000 NZD for a five bedroom 1,000SQM house looking over the bay which is very nice and still far cheaper comparably to the UK.
I think with the finance you have to loose the UK way of shopping and thinking. Adapt to a more basic lifestyle and it then works fine. After all, I guess we moved here for those reasons so thats only what we wanted anyway.
The lifestyle certainly out weighs any issues with only having seasonal produce at good prices...
Housing is also much more than we expected, however we didn't want to live in the town anyway so we managed to get a good deal on a place. We paid $365,000 NZD for a five bedroom 1,000SQM house looking over the bay which is very nice and still far cheaper comparably to the UK.
I think with the finance you have to loose the UK way of shopping and thinking. Adapt to a more basic lifestyle and it then works fine. After all, I guess we moved here for those reasons so thats only what we wanted anyway.
The lifestyle certainly out weighs any issues with only having seasonal produce at good prices...
Oct 31st 2003, 4:12 am
#7
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2003
Location: Nelson/nz
Posts: 44
the kids are in the pool
To anwser some Questions,the kids are trying the pool at this moment,still a bit cold I think,but it looks like we will be able to use it from now until next march,although not having been here long I could be wrong.
The hard thing to gauge at the moment is the cost of living as we are still gathering the stuff we need and decorating etc,with our uk money and as my wages are paid into the same account they are just swallowed up.
We still have a bit more money to come over and i think we will then seperate the two and try living of the nz money.
At the moment the wages seem a bit low,and when speaking to my workmates they say its always been like that in Nelson,why?
Nelson seems to be booming so you would expect the wages to reflect that.
One of the guys at work said that people taking home around $400-450 a week still have to pay $200-250 rent.
I still love it here though and we can adapt to the way of life and i'd say to anyone heading this way go for it.
We shared a container so to speak,we had 500 cubic feet of one,
The movers say they sorting things out,and I sent them photos of damage and the way it was packed which they say was not exeptable,so we may get sorted
Well the kids want to use the phone(no change there then) so I'm going to have a stubbie
Great hearing from you all see ya Tezza
The hard thing to gauge at the moment is the cost of living as we are still gathering the stuff we need and decorating etc,with our uk money and as my wages are paid into the same account they are just swallowed up.
We still have a bit more money to come over and i think we will then seperate the two and try living of the nz money.
At the moment the wages seem a bit low,and when speaking to my workmates they say its always been like that in Nelson,why?
Nelson seems to be booming so you would expect the wages to reflect that.
One of the guys at work said that people taking home around $400-450 a week still have to pay $200-250 rent.
I still love it here though and we can adapt to the way of life and i'd say to anyone heading this way go for it.
We shared a container so to speak,we had 500 cubic feet of one,
The movers say they sorting things out,and I sent them photos of damage and the way it was packed which they say was not exeptable,so we may get sorted
Well the kids want to use the phone(no change there then) so I'm going to have a stubbie
Great hearing from you all see ya Tezza
Nov 3rd 2003, 4:42 pm
#8
Just Joined
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 4
Re: hello from NZ
Originally posted by tezzabart
Hi it's been a while,we arrived in nz about 8 weeks ago,and the wife has not stoped shopping,hopefuly she will stop before all the uk money runs out
We are just out side Nelson and its such a lovely place,we bought a house after a week in an auction,stood in the garden and stuck a hand up at the right moment and have been told we got it at agood price $282,000 which a year ago would have been about half that,so be warned any one who is heading this way,house prices are going balistic.
The house we bought has a 832m2 section but thats bigger than most of the new houses,those tend to be about 4to500m2 and you'll pay in axcess of $350,000 and rising.
Food prices are expensive which is a bit disapionting as there is so much of it about,the kiwis I work with say all the good stuff goe's for export,and in restuarants it will state export quality on menu's
On a positive note the place is fantastic,we've got a lovely house,swimming pool,spa,weather's getting nice uncrowded beaches,roads etc.
One more sad note our furniture arrived in a shocking state and that was with a mover we had heard good things of on this site,and we have now been waiting 2 weeks for claims forms, we will let people know about this in no uncertain terms if they do'nt get there act together,best regards to everyone
Tezza and family
Hi it's been a while,we arrived in nz about 8 weeks ago,and the wife has not stoped shopping,hopefuly she will stop before all the uk money runs out
We are just out side Nelson and its such a lovely place,we bought a house after a week in an auction,stood in the garden and stuck a hand up at the right moment and have been told we got it at agood price $282,000 which a year ago would have been about half that,so be warned any one who is heading this way,house prices are going balistic.
The house we bought has a 832m2 section but thats bigger than most of the new houses,those tend to be about 4to500m2 and you'll pay in axcess of $350,000 and rising.
Food prices are expensive which is a bit disapionting as there is so much of it about,the kiwis I work with say all the good stuff goe's for export,and in restuarants it will state export quality on menu's
On a positive note the place is fantastic,we've got a lovely house,swimming pool,spa,weather's getting nice uncrowded beaches,roads etc.
One more sad note our furniture arrived in a shocking state and that was with a mover we had heard good things of on this site,and we have now been waiting 2 weeks for claims forms, we will let people know about this in no uncertain terms if they do'nt get there act together,best regards to everyone
Tezza and family
Nov 3rd 2003, 4:44 pm
#9
Just Joined
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 4
Re: hello from NZ
Originally posted by tezzabart
Hi it's been a while,we arrived in nz about 8 weeks ago,and the wife has not stoped shopping,hopefuly she will stop before all the uk money runs out
We are just out side Nelson and its such a lovely place,we bought a house after a week in an auction,stood in the garden and stuck a hand up at the right moment and have been told we got it at agood price $282,000 which a year ago would have been about half that,so be warned any one who is heading this way,house prices are going balistic.
The house we bought has a 832m2 section but thats bigger than most of the new houses,those tend to be about 4to500m2 and you'll pay in axcess of $350,000 and rising.
Food prices are expensive which is a bit disapionting as there is so much of it about,the kiwis I work with say all the good stuff goe's for export,and in restuarants it will state export quality on menu's
On a positive note the place is fantastic,we've got a lovely house,swimming pool,spa,weather's getting nice uncrowded beaches,roads etc.
One more sad note our furniture arrived in a shocking state and that was with a mover we had heard good things of on this site,and we have now been waiting 2 weeks for claims forms, we will let people know about this in no uncertain terms if they do'nt get there act together,best regards to everyone
Tezza and family
Hi it's been a while,we arrived in nz about 8 weeks ago,and the wife has not stoped shopping,hopefuly she will stop before all the uk money runs out
We are just out side Nelson and its such a lovely place,we bought a house after a week in an auction,stood in the garden and stuck a hand up at the right moment and have been told we got it at agood price $282,000 which a year ago would have been about half that,so be warned any one who is heading this way,house prices are going balistic.
The house we bought has a 832m2 section but thats bigger than most of the new houses,those tend to be about 4to500m2 and you'll pay in axcess of $350,000 and rising.
Food prices are expensive which is a bit disapionting as there is so much of it about,the kiwis I work with say all the good stuff goe's for export,and in restuarants it will state export quality on menu's
On a positive note the place is fantastic,we've got a lovely house,swimming pool,spa,weather's getting nice uncrowded beaches,roads etc.
One more sad note our furniture arrived in a shocking state and that was with a mover we had heard good things of on this site,and we have now been waiting 2 weeks for claims forms, we will let people know about this in no uncertain terms if they do'nt get there act together,best regards to everyone
Tezza and family
Hi Tezza and family
I am new to the forum today and wondered if you could help with insurance?!
I am going to Auckland on 5th December, to work for a year on a working visa and permit.
I need some insurance to cover myself and the few possessions I am taking, but the policies cover for a max trip of 60days!! what have you got for insurance??
Nov 4th 2003, 5:15 am
#10
Banned
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 7,613
Re: the kids are in the pool
Originally posted by tezzabart
The hard thing to gauge at the moment is the cost of living as we are still gathering the stuff we need and decorating etc,with our uk money and as my wages are paid into the same account they are just swallowed up.
We still have a bit more money to come over and i think we will then seperate the two and try living of the nz money.
At the moment the wages seem a bit low,and when speaking to my workmates they say its always been like that in Nelson,why?
Nelson seems to be booming so you would expect the wages to reflect that.
Tezza
The hard thing to gauge at the moment is the cost of living as we are still gathering the stuff we need and decorating etc,with our uk money and as my wages are paid into the same account they are just swallowed up.
We still have a bit more money to come over and i think we will then seperate the two and try living of the nz money.
At the moment the wages seem a bit low,and when speaking to my workmates they say its always been like that in Nelson,why?
Nelson seems to be booming so you would expect the wages to reflect that.
Tezza
Wages: they are just very low in NZ vs the UK (though tradies seem to do disproportionately better than they do in the UK).
I think wages are probably the biggest negative I can think of about emigrating to NZ. Anyone emgrating really needs to research this issue VERY thoroughly and shouldn't ignore the fact that most people like to live within their means (ie not eating away at capital).
Nov 5th 2003, 8:28 am
#11
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2003
Location: Hands up if you like shopping !!
Posts: 876
Re: hello from NZ
Originally posted by tezzabart
Hi it's been a while,we arrived in nz about 8 weeks ago,and the wife has not stoped shopping,hopefuly she will stop before all the uk money runs out
We are just out side Nelson and its such a lovely place,we bought a house after a week in an auction,stood in the garden and stuck a hand up at the right moment and have been told we got it at agood price $282,000 which a year ago would have been about half that,so be warned any one who is heading this way,house prices are going balistic.
The house we bought has a 832m2 section but thats bigger than most of the new houses,those tend to be about 4to500m2 and you'll pay in axcess of $350,000 and rising.
Food prices are expensive which is a bit disapionting as there is so much of it about,the kiwis I work with say all the good stuff goe's for export,and in restuarants it will state export quality on menu's
On a positive note the place is fantastic,we've got a lovely house,swimming pool,spa,weather's getting nice uncrowded beaches,roads etc.
One more sad note our furniture arrived in a shocking state and that was with a mover we had heard good things of on this site,and we have now been waiting 2 weeks for claims forms, we will let people know about this in no uncertain terms if they do'nt get there act together,best regards to everyone
Tezza and family
Hi it's been a while,we arrived in nz about 8 weeks ago,and the wife has not stoped shopping,hopefuly she will stop before all the uk money runs out
We are just out side Nelson and its such a lovely place,we bought a house after a week in an auction,stood in the garden and stuck a hand up at the right moment and have been told we got it at agood price $282,000 which a year ago would have been about half that,so be warned any one who is heading this way,house prices are going balistic.
The house we bought has a 832m2 section but thats bigger than most of the new houses,those tend to be about 4to500m2 and you'll pay in axcess of $350,000 and rising.
Food prices are expensive which is a bit disapionting as there is so much of it about,the kiwis I work with say all the good stuff goe's for export,and in restuarants it will state export quality on menu's
On a positive note the place is fantastic,we've got a lovely house,swimming pool,spa,weather's getting nice uncrowded beaches,roads etc.
One more sad note our furniture arrived in a shocking state and that was with a mover we had heard good things of on this site,and we have now been waiting 2 weeks for claims forms, we will let people know about this in no uncertain terms if they do'nt get there act together,best regards to everyone
Tezza and family
Great to hear from you, thanks for the pics of house, looks fab, will reply back to Maria's e mail
Have fun
Love
Teresa, Graham and Oliver xx
