elaine1810

Hi all,
My first post! My family and I are most likely coming over to the Christchurch area in November (just waiting for confirmation on hubbys job), and was after some advice please regarding the following:

Electrical Goods - From what I can gather electrical goods are pricey/a bit low quality over there and therefore best to ship stuff over. Does this include smaller stuff like kettle/toaster/hairdryer etc? Is it best to just get plug adapters for everything or to get the plugs switched over once arrived? Also what kind of sockets are over there, are they the 2 prong rounded pins?

Kitchen Stuff - Should I pack stuff like plates & cutlery? I'm thinking just best to replace on that side as they are likely to get damaged on the way over. What about stuff like pots and pans, are they pricey over there or sort of on par with the UK?

Linen - Bedding, duvets & towels etc - bring or replace? Are they expensive over there?

Clothes - People have said that clothes shopping there is not the same as over here, much less choice etc - and have heard of lots ordering on line from places like Tesco and getting it shipped over. Was thinking it might be a good idea to stock up on some stuff for the kids to grow into and ship over with our stuff? What kind of stuff would you advise?

Any further advice on what to bring and what not?

Just trying to get my head around the whole packing scenario! With two 4yr olds and another arriving in a few weeks I'm trying to get organised as early as possible - all advice much appreciated!
thanks

Snap Shot

Yeah, ship stuff over. I'm still using my UK toaster with an adaptor for an nz socket. I'm on my third kettle in 2 years. Briscoes in NZ is a good place to buy electrical goods, kitchen things, bedding etc. Wait for their sale which comes round about every 3 weeks and is good. Farmers in NZ is similar to British Home Stores. Warehouse in NZ is like Woolworths used to be in Britain. BTW, I've still got my UK fridge freezer with an nz adaptor. Same with my UK hairdryer. Get some nz plug adaptors. Bring some socket sets with you if you have them. Then use them and you only need one plug adaptor to plug into the mains. The plugs in NZ are flat pins, slightly diaganol. Some three pin, some two pin. Just bring what electricals you were going to anyway. I'm just using attrition to replace my electrical stuff i.e. phone charger for nz phone came with nz plug, as you would expect. Same with anything I replaced when it wore out, i.e. an iron, a bedside radio alarm clock, dvd player, microwave.

You won't have the mental capacity due to jet lag etc to change your plugs on electrical cables. I had an electrician do some work at the house last year. I asked him to change the plug from a British 3 pin plug to an nz plug on my vacuum cleaner as he was here anyway.

I purchased a dishwasher from another expat which had come from England. As her husband was an electrician he was kind enough to put an nz plug on the power cable.

There'll always be something that's still got a 3 pin UK plug on it. DIY tools, Christmas lights etc. It's just easier to put an adaptor plug on and use the appliance for it's function.

Snap Shot

You don't do things by halves do you ! I should have said welcome to the forum, so, welcome to the forum.

So, you've got all this to do whilst due to give birth shortly. Also you've got twins to supervise. You can't even have an alcoholic drink as you're pregnant.

Good luck !

BTW, bring things for your children to grow into. I believe M&S do a free online delivery service overseas but I've never used it. Pumpkin Patch is a kids clothes shop here in NZ. So is T&T. I don't have kids, so I might be talking out of the back of my head re: quality of kids clothes here.

MrsFychan

whatever you do bring toys in your hand luggage for the children for the first few days/weeks until you are over the jet lag and can get out and buy them stuff here, The Warehouse is good for toys and kids clothes as they grow so fast, nothing trendy really just functional and thats all kids really need.

shoes are expensive here if you want good leather ones, I order from UK and get them delivered. Bed/Bedding is different size to UK, we have found, so again I order from UK.

Electrical - we shipped ours but had to buy another fridge/freezer as didn't have one in the rental, could of rented as we did the washing machine but we wanted 2 in the end. Husbands just changed the plugs when and if we need them changed.

Kitchen stuff - you will need to buy some or borrow until the shipment arrives so entirely up to you

Mark Smith

Shoes, bring lots of decent shoes and trainers as mentioned above. If used make sure they are spotless - MAF will be checking for dirt on the soles. Footwear over here can be very pricey and limited in choice/quality.

Stormer999

You can buy NZ plugs approx $3 each from supermarkets etc so bring 2 or 3 UK 4 way short extensions with you and simply put a NZ plug on the end. The plugs are a lot smaller here as they do not need to carry a separate in line fuse (the household supplies are radials and not high power ring mains like the UK). You can then slowly change the ends at leisure just leaving you with the transformer type to adapt. I now have a huge box full of UK plug tops I am looking for someone going the other way to donate them to. If you bring your vacuum cleaner and dispose of the used air filters (MAF) then bring some new ones with you. I brought a load of clothes and shoes and find I spend all of my days in a pair of shorts and jandals. Do bring good sunglasses. You will most likely end up buying Merino under clothes when you get here. Sort out your UK bank to make sure they allow UK/NZ support, mine refused to support my account when they found I had a NZ address. So welcome to Chch soon, the air temperature here is 10C but the sun is very warm sitting out on the deck..in shorts and jandles...

S_and_T

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Electrical Goods - From what I can gather electrical goods are pricey/a bit low quality over there and therefore best to ship stuff over. Does this include smaller stuff like kettle/toaster/hairdryer etc? Is it best to just get plug adapters for everything or to get the plugs switched over once arrived? Also what kind of sockets are over there, are they the 2 prong rounded pins?

Kitchen Stuff - Should I pack stuff like plates & cutlery? I'm thinking just best to replace on that side as they are likely to get damaged on the way over. What about stuff like pots and pans, are they pricey over there or sort of on par with the UK?

Linen - Bedding, duvets & towels etc - bring or replace? Are they expensive over there?

Clothes - People have said that clothes shopping there is not the same as over here, much less choice etc - and have heard of lots ordering on line from places like Tesco and getting it shipped over. Was thinking it might be a good idea to stock up on some stuff for the kids to grow into and ship over with our stuff? What kind of stuff would you advise?

Welcome first of all. We've been in Wellington 2 months and I'd like to echo a lot of what has been said already. I bought lots of shirts for work from Tesco before I came as they are so cheap compared to men's shirts over here. We've bought online from John Lewis, Tesco and Next who deliver here.(The difference in seasons is useful...we'll buy our NZ summer clothes in the UK end-of-summer sales!)

Warehouse, Pumpkin Patch, JK are all decent for kids clothes (our daughter is 5) and remember that when your's go to Primary School, chances are they wont wear a uniform, so cheap falling over clothes are essential! I'd recommend bringing all of your kid's DVDs as they are a bit pricey here.

We shipped all of our electrical goods (2 fridge freezers, tumble dryer, washing machine, as well as our TVs, computers and even our Nespresso machine!). Remember with washing machines that they use top-loaders a lot over here so I'm not sure of any plumbing differences. Someone else may be able to advise on that. We also brought all of our sofas, beds and most of our furniture.

Ultimately, it will depend on how much room you'll have in your container. We completely filled ours, but your shipper should be helpful in this respect. Good luck!

Snap Shot

OP, your shippers will use your blankets, towels etc to brace your t.v. in the packing box and other breakables e.g. pictures.

Well, that's what our did and I thought it was a clever idea.

moonie2011

We have been here 2 months now, and I would say pack EVERYTHING,
despite only buying what we NEED so far money has flowed like water. To add to that lots of stuff which was perfectly fine but I gave away, I would be crying.
If it fits in the container bring it.

Re the kids, get the family to give monies for birthdays etc and going away presents. Mine loved the amount they got in dollars and they could go out and buy toys etc with it. We also did a car boot before we left, sold all the old outgrown toys and the kids kept the money made to spend here

Good luck, hope all goes well

C4udynz

Bring anything old or that looks French.... you will make a fortune. Wish I'd brought antiques.

elaine1810

Thanks all for your replies - kind of backs up what I was thinking.

Whats the one thing you got rid of that you wish you had bought over?

cappuccino

Bring beds, they are so expensive here! I recently sold a couple of beds on TradeMe and got back what I paid for them years ago!!

MrsFychan

My Henry Hoover - had heard horror stories about bringing vacuum cleaners and having them trashed or pay a lot for getting them through MAF. Miss him soooo much

Bo-Jangles

I've still got my Henry but by crikey I'll be most upset when he dies.

http://www.godfreys.co.nz/henry $599.00 only £110 quid in John Lewis

qssue

Hi, we have just shipped our container. I did the same, bought loads of kids clothes, trainers,shoes, work clothes and shoes for me. I also bought extra toiletries/make us etc. as they are very expensive. Calpol/paracetamol/neurofen, they are a hideous price so packed afew boxes of them also. Be aware though that if you cubic capacity at time of packing exceeds your quote, you will pay extra. We fell into the trap of thinking that as we have a 40ft container, we could fill it at the quoted price and ended up with an extra £400 bill.
The other thing is to designate a room/space where you put everything that is not being packed, we used our daughters bedroom. The only thing that was forgotten was a couple of my husbands tools that he did not put out!
Best of luck...... let the madness begin!!!