DiffordA

Hi All!

I am a new comer to all of this in so many senses so please be gentle!! My husband and I are in the very early stages of considering imigration to New Zealand and we are still at the stage of feeling rather overwhelmed by it all. We are both 26 and are Graphic Designers. We currently live in a small market town in North Shrophire and we just feel the time has come in our lives to make a change. If I outline some of our reasons for consideing this move and what we hope to gain from it then maybe some of you could offer me some advice as to how realistic we are being. We would greatly appreciate any thoughts based on your personal experiences.

Reasons for considering change:

• We are passionate about sports and adventure, we compete in triathlons and we love to ski and snowboard. This is something we would love to have more time to enjoy, plus we would love to try even more activities.
•Travel is something we love to do and we like the idea of having such a diverse country to explore.
• We would like to consider having children in a few years time and the prospect of raising children in the UK doesn't thrill us, we would hope that a life in New Zealand could offer children so much more.
• Most important to us is a general better quality of life. By this I don't mean financially or in a materialistic sense but we would like to feel less stress and be able to start really enjoying life without everything being a struggle to maintain a certain posession-based lifestyle (not that I feel we are particularly materialistic at present, it just seems we are ready to focus on us and our life quality).
• Also, to be frank, and I hope this doesn't offend anyone, we are sick of so many things in the UK. From increasing crime rates, to the unfair nature of the benefits system, the dreary and unpredictable weather and the ever rising cost of living.
• We have a lovely house but it leaves us with little spare cash to spend on ourselves. We feel we would benefit greatly from downsizing our mortgage to enable us to live a little (Iknow we could do this in the UK but somehow we feel we need a bigger change)
• We would like to maintain our careers in Graphic Design, for the immediate future at least, and to continue to climb the professional ladder within this field. However, we love the prospects that NZ seems to offer regarding starting our own business in a completely different field.

I should say that neither my husband or I have been to NZ and we are basing our thoughts on the country on information from friends who live there or have visited and some very thorough internet research. If anyone has an opinion about whether or not they would advise a visit prior to us packing up or leaving then I would love to hear it. I do however sense that I know the answer to this!

I would just add though that we are so determined to make a change in our lives and with no major ties in the UK we feel ready to get out there into the world and see what it has to offer before we have children to consider. We intend to leave with enough money in our pockets to last a year without work if we had to and enough left in the UK to get us back to the lifestyle we lead now if it had to come to that!

Anyway if you have successfully got through my ramblings I would very much appreciate your thoughts and would love to hear about your personal experiences, both positive and negative equally.

Thanks for your time!

westies

You can get whatever you like in NZ, it is great for outdoor living and for raising children, I would say you have nothing to lose but lots to gain, if only a fantastic adventure, it is just as easy to go back to the uk as it is to come here, it may be the other side of the world, but you can be here in just over a day, I say come try and enjoy the experience!!

DiffordA

Thanks for that, it is great to hear somebody be so enthusiastic about it all. I appreciate it will not always be easy but I hope we can be as positive as you about it all a year or so from now!!

Just out of interest can anyone advise on the timescales we might be looking at, based on your experiences. Bearing in mind that we have just completed an online EOI and scored 105 points which we are almost ready to submit.

P18PPS

Your reason for wanting to get out of the UK seem very familiar to me, we went through the same process but had two young children to think of. If anything though this made our decision easier.
The options in NZ to change your lifestyle are there for the taking but you have to be willing to accept it is not the same as the UK although it might appear like it on the surface. Lots of people on this site seem to either love it or find their new lives a big let down. We are on the positive side so tend to play up the benefits, the negatives (I think) will be found in most places around the world.

We would advise anyone to do as much research as they can, not necessarily coming out here which we didn't, and decide if they think not coming will be a regret later in life, again we felt we would an we don't wont to be old and grey thinking "I wish we had done this or that".

You said you have 105 points on your EOI which I don't think is enough to get you fast tracked so it might take a while. I had a job lined up so the points was no problem, maybe this is something you could look in to, if you want to get over here.

I know it is boring but you should look at the financial aspects of being here for more that an extended holiday. The cost of living is comparable with the UK, perhaps slightly less but not much, and salaries are less in general.

If you have any specific questions feel free to PM us or ask away loads of people on here have opinions on pretty much everything.

DiffordA

Thank you very much for your thoughts, they seem very valid points to consider. We have done some research on employment within our industry and it seem we would need to head to Auckland. I appreciate every company and industry differs greatly but what was your experience with regard to the willingness to employ across seas? Did you have phone interviews etc?

P18PPS

I don't know if I was lucky but I did the usual agency thing. I contacted 5 and all seemed really keen at first, I was willing to come out here for interviews and stated that i wasn't expecting any sponsorship which showed I was committed to coming. Two were very good and kept in regular contact for the first few weeks, taking the trouble to phone me a sensible UK times went down well with me. Within the first two weeks four good companies said they wanted to talk to me and all were willing to do this over the phone so interviews, well they were more like chats, were set up.
Two went well, one not so well and one was great. The great one was with a large accountancy firm (Ernst & Young) and they pretty much offered over the phone. I waited three days and received a verbal offer, 2 more days and the contract arrived. After that we could have been in NZ within 2 weeks.

Others will have had more trouble but this started our positive attitude to NZ which hasn't really stopped.

DiffordA

Thanks, that is really helpful. Whilst I remain realistic about the chances of things going quite so somoothly, it is nice to hear that there is a bit of luck out ther to be hunted down with some thorough research and hard graft!

Sorry to keep thinking of more things to ask (I don't expect you to be my guru throughout this process I promise) but I was jus wondering how you found life in Auckland. As far as cities go does it have a relatively laid back feel or does it have a faster pace than I am perhaps imagining. Also, how is the access to the great outdoors from there? Is it far to the slopes for example?

danny.f

Similar answers to the above really. We too understand your reasons for wanting to do something different.
We recognised that,in general,life in Britain is so stressful that life itself seems to be flying past. Obviously stresses are still going to bare themselves,but all you have listed is there in New Zealand. You seem to have far more control over the pace of your life (I'm quoting this from our friends who live there now),far more options for things to do.
We have 3 kids aged 9,8 and 2,and have got to the stage where we think the future for them here is bleak-granted we live in Huyton/West Derby-with all the typical inner city problems,but there does seem to be a gradual breakdown of civility,manners,antisocial behaviour is an increasing problem-and I as a parent do not want to expose my kids to that any more.
If you're not in any hurry-I would recommend visiting if you can,then you'll have more answers from yourselves than relying on others feedback.
Good luck to you both. Do it. You wont regret it.

P18PPS

It really is what you make it, slow, fast a bit of both. In general I have slowed down but there are still the odd moment (usually when work need me to do a bit more). My wife said last night I am at home more and we do more as a family but I also do more work. I think thats because in the UK I used to travel a lot more so didn't do any work at home where as now I do quite regularly do some work at home rather than stay at the office.

There is no real pub culture here, rather more cafe culture or going out for a meal. I am 35 so I don't really miss the falling down drunk stuff that goes on all over the UK. It can be found here though if that floats your boat. Mentioning boats they are really popular in Auckland and lots of our friends have them. Getting to the slopes is easy 3 hours and you can be there, again I know people who have been skiing most weekends for the last month. As I said if you want it and can afford it, its there for you, whether thats skiing, boating, cycling whale watching etc. etc.

trigod

You seem to have a good grasp of sports in the country, I was wandering if you had any knowledge of the Triathlon scene? (Its my other half that has started this thread! So Ill let her ask the important stuff and Ill ask about the fun stuff! )

DiffordA

That sounds great, exactly what we are looking for. I have no problem with working hard bet the idea that you can getter quality of life at the same time is what really appeals. The lack of a pub culture is a plus for us as we have well outgrown that 'phase' also. The idea of a cafe culture and meals out appeals so much more - alongside the triathlon training and throwing ourselves down the slopes!! Thanks for your help

P18PPS

I don't do the triathlons myself, but am hoping to do the half marathon in October. Two people I work with are very in to it though and they seem to be gearing up for events all the time. To put a bit of context to this once a year they have mini triathlons for kids at several locations around the country and I am lucky enough to make my way home from the city via the seafront (Tamaki Drive) and there are loads of runner, cyclist out. My father in law came to see us in January and he is really into track cycling. He was going out at 6 in the morning to train and he couldn't believe the number of people out, no matter the weather.

I am off to bed now, but if you want any other info feel free to post / PM.

Apple12

The outdoors scene is really big down here in Christchurch - the only downer is that it can take longer to find career jobs than in Auckland. There is a realy strong tri club, skiing only 1.5 hours away (choice of 6 skifields within 2 hour drive)and heaps of adventure sports if that is your thing too. Mountain biking is really strong with new trails going into the hills each year, and there are always roadies out training in the hill sections. At the moment night ride mountain bike races are all on, there are heaps of races on through the year. Also, don't know how mad you are, but check out the "coast to coast" website, what an event! http://www.coasttocoast.co.nz/
So, if you think your careers can handle it, come down south =)

daviesl

Hi we are also newcomers to all this and live in shropshire, in fact as I was reading you thread and it sounded spookily similar to us.

We are in the early stages, but are no longer considering and are now applying, but still feeling overwhelmed by it all. I have a job offer, but my other half hopes he will get a job once we get over there. We have sent off our EOI, and have been successfully selected from the pool. The selections are once every fortnight - so I think the next one is the 9th but not sure.

We have chosen NZ for many of the same reasons as you (except the triathlon.... I don't think I would survive), we have never been to NZ but from what we have heard we hope the lifestyle will suit us. We have no children but hope NZ would be a better place than UK to have some. We also have a nice house and are just going through the thought processes of trying to rent it out etc. If the visa's are through in time work want me to start in Oct, therefore, not enough time to sell really, and some of the house to buy look nice - whereas the rentals can look scary, especially the wooden prefab ones....and once or twice we have thought are we doing the right thing! but then I would rather have tried it than not. So go for it, we are only a few small steps ahead of you.

DiffordA

Thanks for your thoughts, it is nice to hear from people in the same/similar situation and yours certainly does sound scarily similar! Where abouts in Shropshire are you from and where are you heading to once in NZ?