dave77

Hi,

I am in the very fortunate position of going on a recky with family (unfortunately not wife and kids..too expensive lol!)to the SI for 14 days, with a view to doing as much research as possible before emigrating possibly in 2011-2012.

Any advice on where to visit etc. would be most appreciated.

Does anyone know the best and cheapest method of phoning home? In the past when I've been abroad, I've purchased telephone cards which are a much cheaper rate, do these exist in NZ or is there some new fangled way?!!

Are there many internet cafes in Christchurch area? It would be easy to keep in touch via email with pics etc. especially due to time difference!

I will be keeping a keen eye open for employment offers while out there. I am a qualified electrician... does anyone have any advice on this? Are there employment agencies who I can visit whilst there?

Many thanks for any help!

Dave

southerner

Three most likely spots in the South Island for most immigrants are Christchurch, Dunedin and Nelson areas (but obviously it depends on what your wants and needs are).

You can get cheap calling cards, for example we use Kia Ora which is I think 11c/min to the UK. I've heard of other cheaper ones even. Internet cafes are plentiful in the main cities and tourist spots.

What line of work are you in and what do you want out of your new lifestyle? That might help us direct you to certain areas in your recky.

NakiMan

yeh, best plan is to get a phone card, Kia ora is actually 3.8c a minute to the UK

dave77

Thanks guys, that is very cheap, I wasn't expecting that!

Must admit, these are the 3 main areas I would like to visit! We're staying just outside Christchurch, so access to both Dunedin and Nelson should be pretty good. Do you know roughly how long each journey is by car?

I'm an industrial electrician, so ideally will be looking for a job in manufacturing (preferably food or bottling industry!) although anything in manufacturing I would consider.

Lifestyle wise, we would prefer to live at least half hour from a big city, coast or country would be ideal! Preferably close (maybe an hour) to the slopes for the odd bit of skiing!!

How's life in general in the south?

Cheers

Dave

yorkshire_sparkie

Hi

We have been to the South Island a couple of times. We stayed with friends in ChCh...which was a lovely place. We also stayed with friends in Rangiora (hope thats spelt right) which was a nice place too.

All the places we visited were fab!!!

Christchurch & Rangiora - over arthurs pass Greymouth (not much there) to Hokatika, past Haast (fricking mozzies man what a killer), Wanika through to Queenstown, Te anu, Manapouri, through Cromwell, back up past Timaru to ChCh again.

Also visited Kiakoura and Blenheim. Never got to Picton but is suppose to be lovely there too.

Have a fab time

My mtes on the south island seem to live a really laid back lifestyle - it was pretty quiet from what I am used to in UK (especially on the roads). Very behind the times in my opinion JUST WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR!!!!

dave77

Hi!

Yes that is just what we are looking for too! I'm really looking forward to my trip, just want to make sure I get the most out of it!

Mossies?! Thats not the first time I've heard someone say that on here!! Do you know if you need jabs or the tablets or anything before going (strange question I know, but thought I'd ask!?) or do you just need to make sure you stock up on repellent!

So you're a sparky too? I was told by someone at the emigration fair last weekend that NZ make it really difficult for sparkys to get the right paperwork, is this true? Do you know who I would contact to get the skills assessment we need?

Cheers

Dave

yorkshire_sparkie

Hi

We just used mozzie repellent and it was fine... Funny thing was in Haast we stopped at this sort of service station and there was a sign on the door that said "the owner of this store is severley allergic to citranella and all repellents, please do not enter if you have any on"???? It was like the mozzie capital of the world

OH is the sparkie... but he's an internet phobe so I do the typing

We have gone along with advice from this forum. Firstly we looked on the NZQA site - they verify your quals are recognised in NZ. We are just about to post off OH certificates to them. There's a list on the site (NZQA) telling you how to go about things. Secondly, we need to contact the EWRB (electrical workers registration board). You have to send info to them and they then send you a letter saying they will give you a provisional licence subject to the other criteria you need to fill. You need to do a health and safety course and have an employer too before you can get a prov license. Check out the EWRB & the NZQA for info..and search the threads on here - everyone has been really helpful.....

We are going to get our NZQA recognition back and then send in our EOI and request to the EWRB in, probably around April/June time.......

It seems long winded but I think it's just to weedle out time wasters.. you certainly need to be serious to wanna wade through all the paperwork

Good Luck

Dustybin

From Christchurch it's about 5 hours to nelson and 3-4 to dunedin.

TheArmChairDetective

Fly, we did from ChCh to Blenheim and then drove.
Havelock is a nice place, we would live there.
The plane was a twin prop which was exciting, mind you the 10 seater single prop from queenstown to ChCh was fantastic.

TheArmChairDetective

Nice place, we stayed with friends in West Melton just after New Year.
We googled all of the car journeys before we went which is why we chose to take some of them by plane, ChCh to Queenstown is a ggod short flight and an eye opener when you come into land through all of the scenery...above you

dave77

Lol! Probably not the best place for a guy with a repellent allergy to live, thats awesome!!

dave77

Hey! Thanks for the info on the NZQA site, sounds like a lot of work! I will check it out later, fingers crossed its not as bad as it sounds! Where abouts does your OH have to go for his assessments?

So am I right in saying I would need a job offer before I go out there? Sounds very daunting!

dave77

Sounds like a plan, never really thought about flying! I can imagine the scenery is breath taking

yorkshire_sparkie

You don't necessarily need a job offer although if you do you would score more points for your EOI (I think!).... Basically you can apply for the provisional license from the UK, you can do the health and safety course in the UK (costs £300 here, about $80 there I think)..... So that when you land in NZ your all ready to go as soon as you find an employer.... We plan to do the course here if the timing is right (the guy comes over twice a year I think - his name is Nick Chandler... I will send you his email)..... other people might be able to give you more info or expalin better as I am new to this too I have just picked all this info up on here to be honest The H&S course is held in London UK.....

Hope that helps

dave77

Yeah ur right about that, I think a job offer scores an extra 50 points (don't quote me on that tho! lol)
I will drop that chap an email and see what he says, London is not too far from me so would probably do it over here so its one less thing I've got to do in NZ!