Josie68

We made our decision, booked the flights and arrive back home in Jan.

Returning from New Zealand. No criticism of New Zealand it's a beautiful place just not for us anymore. We tried been here a couple of years, got good jobs but still miss the UK.

Looking forward to buying a house again....with heating!

Jo

Leewales

hi josie, i am thinking of moving out there about march time, and i see you have done that and got the tee shirt, whats the pit falls? and they say its 30 years behind the uk is this true? i will earn about 60,000 dollars a year and wife will have to find a job , will this be ok to live on? i have a good friend on here i use for advice is name is Happens, he is a top guy and i trust him and belive what he says even though i have not met him i can tell, but would value your advice, anyway is the cost of living more expensive? and is the all round weather better than the uk, sorry for all the questions, cheers Lee.

JAJ

Good luck. You may want to make sure you have your Indefinite Returning Resident Visas before leaving, just in case things change further down the line.

Josie68

Hi Lee,

the weather is far better than the UK, summer is lovely and hot, winter is wet but not bitterly cold...depending on where you live, we are North Island. Houses are not the same standard as UK so most need a fair bit of doing up unless you are buying in the $600k region, no heating so can be quite cold in the house in winter...in fact it's often warmer outside than in.

$60 is OK but you will need a second income...depends whether you are looking to buy or rent and if you have kids or not. Me and hubby could manage in a rental on $60k but no frills! Overall it is quite expensive to live over here but you learn to live on less..which is a good thing.

Behind the UK, yes as in it doesn't have the infrastructure, no buses or public transport where we are no trains etc.. so you drive or go nowhere. Not a lot in the way of shops, less choice in foods and we struggle to buy presents for our daughter again less choice. Pay the docs, costs a lot for the dentist $200 a filling.

Overall I don't regret coming and wouldn't hesitate to come back at some point in the future. It's a beautiful place to live, it has wonderful beaches, fab scenery, good weather and blue skies...GO FOR IT!!

We just want to go home, we realised we aren't the outdoor people we thought we were, we like our home, we like to be comfortable, we like watching TV (it's sport sport sport over here) we like choice in the supermarket, we like being able to use public transport, we want to own a house again rather than rent and we want a home that is warm in winter. Sad but we are the homely type and now we realise it.

The other major pull back to the UK for us is over here there is quite a work culture, we both work more hours than we did back home and for less money. Can't criticise my employer as I love my job, they have been so welcoming and I will be really sad to leave but at the moment I feel like my daughter is bringing herself up. So for now moving home is the right thing for us.

Would I recommend NZ, 110% Lee, enjoy it!

Jo

billynomates

Hi Josie, We are heading home from NZ too! Must say the hardest part was making the decision, but what a relief now we have. Wherabouts in NZ are you and where are you heading back to? We are returning to Norwich from Nelson. Can't wait to flick a switch and get heating lol! I will be returning with our little boy (hopefully Jan) followed by hubby and dog in March (we have to wait for her to 'do her time' for the Pet Passport thing.

Josie68

Hi,
we are off from Kerikeri in Northland back to North Yorks...a little village near York.

Yes making the decision was a tough one but for some reason is now a huge relief...silly but we miss having a home and one that you can use all the rooms all year...instead of huddling round the log fire and not wanting to move through the winter!

We have loved being here but are really excited about going back. We've managed to get everything sorted from over here, as in got a mortgage approved and got the inlaws to view houses for us so hopefully if all goes according to plan we can move straight in when we get back.

Really looking forward to shopping!

We fly back 15th Jan from Auckland so will be going back around the same time. Good luck and keep in touch.

Jo

billynomates

OMG shopping tell me about it! Just got back from a trip home and I was drooling around Tesco, Asda and Next! Lucky you getting a mortgage all sorted. We probably wont ever be able to buy again we have lost so much money but ho hum it's only money!!!!! It's been an experience though, at least we can say we tried it, but it's definately time for us to go. For me personally I've realised that beautiful scenery is not enough for me, and I can't survive without my friends and family.

Josie68

Ditto everything you have written!

I may be sad but I'm looking at Argos online...oooh shops and choice. No longer having to go to the Warehouse where everyone gets crap service and everything you buy works for a month!

We have very little in the way of money, cost a fortune for this little adventure but again...don't care, done it, enjoyed it but prefer the UK. We can manage a 10% deposit for the mortgage so will be paying a huge mortgage every month but at least we will be buying again and it won't be a pritt stick shed!

Yeah we love the scenery but after two years of it, it really isn't enough, everyone keeps saying but the grey skies, bad weather, immigrants, council tax....if I have learnt anything it's tolerance! I don't care about any of that any more, I am an immigrant and now have had a little taste of feeling like an outsider, so good luck to them, I paid rates on a piece of land for over a year (we planned to build) at least in the UK you only pay if you live there, the weather may be bad but you can be warm in the whole house and not have to huddle in one room, the only room with a log fire and then struggle to get logs for the fire!

It may not be hot, sunny and have fab beaches but it still has more to offer us right now than NZ does, all about personal preferences.

We will have to arrange to meet up sometime back home.

Jo

billynomates

Lol we are both a couple of saddos then! I'm always looking online at Argos, Next etc to see what I'm missing. I haven't been able to find any decent clothes over here since we arrived over 18months ago. The quality of everything is utter rubbish. That would be really nice to meet up, when hubby returns in March he will be working near the Grimsby area which I guess is nearer to you than Norwich so maybe we could arrange something! Are you taking any pets back with you? Who are you using for shipping?

Josie68

Hi,
we have used NZ Baggage Movers for our shipping, cost us about $1460.00 for 2.80 cubic metres, which for us was 22 2ft x 3ft boxes, and no pets so all OK.

No I haven't found anything decent to wear either, it's either the knitted brigade...the stuff I would buy for mother in law or teeny bop stuff. I feel like I am living in Hicksville, pass me the gumboots!

We had really hoped to be back for Christmas but decided we'd be better off after then we can buy furniture in the sales! I will PM you our new address details and you can contact us when you are all back.

Jo

siouxzy

hi,
i don't wont to put the dampers on your excitement of going home, but we as a family have just returned from the uk to australia for the 3rd time.
i don't presume to know what New Zealand is like and what your life has been,
but i do urge you to think about why you left uk in the first place.

we arrived in adelaide feb 2004 as a transfer from british army to aus army. My husband lasted 9 mths and put in a move to brisbane (wheather was a lot better) again found it hard to settle- we had even gone back to uk for 3 weeks to see if we could get rid of the blues- we eventully in oct 2005 we made the same discision as you and booked our flights and freight to come home.

i come from the south coast and Gary from the North East so for weather conditions we settled for the south coast to go back to, we lasted 6mths.
the weather was really bad and you miss the amount of sunshine that you get.

we returned to the gold coast, and unfortuatly my daughter was really home sick for family and again after 6 mths returned to UK.

we took on a pub and ran with this for just under 18mths, working 25/7
after going on holiday to greece we realised that aus was 100 better than the uk-kraine(ment that literally-so many polish, croations russians ect ect after that opened the gates)
so here we are. You really do get the boomarang effect.

i hope this is the right descision for you but if not where the is a will there a way.

we found it easier as we do have aus passports
have a good journey
warm regards sue

Josie68

Hi Sue,

thanks for your reply. I think it depends on what you want and why you left. We are not that bothered about the sun, it's great for holidays our 2 weeks in Spain etc...but working full time in it is a different story. I lived in Oz for 10 years but have never had a desire to return there and it is very different to NZ, more to offer in terms of infrastructure, public transport, shopping etc... but the heat, flies, insects, killer creepy crawlies are not for me.

In terms of migrants...they are everywhere, I should know I'm one of them! I should imagine the ozzies think about the Brits as the Brits do about the Polish. I am British so I feel I do belong and if the government is going to welcome other people in so be it, fair play to them, at least for me I can feel like I belong.

I know what I am going back to and it's up to me to make the most of it. I am being careful about the choices I make, as in, I have secured a job that I only need to do part time to earn enough to live on, I don't have any desire to keep up with the Jones's just want to be able to live comfortably. We have bought a beautiful house in a little village in Yorkshire, so making the right choices to get the lifestyle you want is important and is achieveable in the UK. Having done the migrant thing twice myself I've learnt my lesson, it's not the place or the people, it's ME! I am not the outdoor sporty type, I'm the homely, mumsy, 2 weeks holiday a year type...love to be at home snuggled on the sofa with something nice to munch from Asda, so I am going back with that realisation.

The UK can be whatever you want it to be you just have to realise what it is you want.

Jo

Marmalade

Hi Jo,
I couldn't agree more. That's why I have decided to go back to the UK next year. It is what you make it no matter what others say, good or bad. Good luck to you. Keep us updated.

Elvira

Ah............ the irony of it .......... - what a gem of a first post!

brits1

So true....weather..homes and well we do not have excellent scenery in Perth (will most probably get told off for that comment) but home is home and know amount of sun etc makes up for that...we were home for 10 weeks this year and the weather was just lovely (Marc-May 08) and all we can say was it was just nice to be home with our family and friends...did all the shops...Tesco..Next...Asda...Sainsbury's and found nearly everything a lot cheaper than here in Perth....we have lots of migrants where we live in Canning Vale (from all parts of the globe) and we have never had a problem with migrants arriving in the U.K except for the ones who don't want to work but that happens in most countries.....
Good luck and best wishes...oh by the way we stayed in York for a few days and it was just wonderful...our sons thought it was one of the best highlights of the holiday...great hotel (and cheap) loads to do and see.....
Jackie in Perth