brandn

Hi,
I have spent the last couple of hours reading through posts trying to gauge what the general consensus is on moving out to NZ. I have been pretty shocked by alot of the negative comments but like a lot of people point out, its important to get a reality check.
I am absolutely amazed that anyone would contemplate moving half way around the world without actually having ever been there to check it out. Without wanting to offend anyone, that is not adventurous its at best irresponsible and at worst bloody reckless. I can only assume that a lot of people concentrate on getting out of where they are and dont necessarily focus on what they are going to.
My wife and i and our son went over on a reckie this year and it was definitely an eye opener. It wasn't what we expected but i think our expectations were unrealistic. Now that we have seen it we can perhaps make a better judgement on the place. It is still a massive gamble because, as many of the posts i have read have pointed out, you cant really make an informed decision based on a few weeks holidays but i think that has to be the bare minimum.
Anyway thats just my bit of waffle, i have a couple of questions as well after reading a load of posts:
1) A lot of people moan about heating? Do most houses really have no heating? Why?
2) Alot of the negatives are predictably based around people struggling financially. I know there is no absolute answer to this but ill ask for opinions anyway, how much cash do you think you would need to bring to set yourself up, ie buy a house and get yourself setup. We own a house here and am fortunate that we could bring some readies but how much do you think you need.
3) Finally, can someone tell me what they like about NZ, i have read so many negatives in the last couple of hours i would just like to hear that there is another side to the coin.... anybody?.....please?.....
Cheers,
Neil.

bookemjano

Neil - we did it without ever coming to the country and I don't think we were being irresponsible. You can visit a country many times, but nothing in the world will prepare you for living there, and we did not have the funds to be able to visit beforehand. And how can a visit staying in a holiday home/hotel etc equipped to make your stay as comfortable as possible give you an insight into working, living, shopping, paying your bills etc here? Staying with friends or relatives, yes, and living their lives alongside them for a short time could give you a better insight, but how many people have that luxury? If you look back at previous posts there was a poll on how many people were coming here to live without having been before, I think you'll be surprised.

In the interests of shared learning and advising 'reckless' people, where did you come here and what did you see on your recce that you weren't expecting that opened your eyes?

I'm not easily offended, but I disagree strongly that anybody who hadn't seen the country for themselves is being irresponsible and reckless in moving here. We were lucky, we came out with enough money to be able to return to the UK if we needed to, some people aren't that fortunate, but if they want to come out and give it a go that's their decision and good luck to them.

Thanks to the www and fantastic forums with this, along with making friends in NZ before we got here, I know we were as prepared as anyone could be for the move. There has not been one part of life here so far that we haven't been prepared for thanks to the endless research and if you read the experiences of people who have tried it and returned you'll see that some of them had really bad luck that could have happened anywhere in the world. We've only been here a month, but we already feel we're 'living' here. The word 'utopia' is used a lot on this forum, but you'll find there are very, very few people who expect that in NZ, they want to come here to improve their life, not to live in utopia.

We wanted out of Manchester, without a doubt, but we also researched heavily other UK cities, Canada, Australia and parts of Europe. I didn't need to visit any of those other places to find out if I wanted to live there either.

So, that's my waffle.

In answer to your questions, more and more houses are being built now with some form of heating and/or double glazing, I guess the Kiwis are tougher than us spoilt Brits.

Cash is very personal, and what some people think is a deep pot is a shallow dish to others, we came over with just enough for a deposit for a house, and to get us started, with a little left in the UK for emergencies, such as flights home if needed.

My list of positives is too long to put in one post, and my negatives are nothing to do with NZ itself, just the fact that I'm not near to my friends and family and I miss them like hell. No amount of research or visiting will prepare you for that.

Good luck to you in whatever you decide.

newkiwi

We also came to Nz without having visited before. It is a big step, but it all happened quite quickly so we didnt really have time for a trip beforehand...or probably more importantly, the money..... Its good if you do have the money, but we only came to Nz with a few thousand dollars to our name, and needed that to set up in NZ. I did have a job lined up already, so that made it a lot easier.

Going for a holiday has merits, but it is still not going to prepare you for how it will be living there..

Regarding your questions.......


1) ppl moan about the houses being cold because they are cold!! An Id say its fair to assume most houses do not have central heating. Dont know why, thats just the way it is.

2) Thats a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question.. Depends on what your budget will be, and how much you want to be spending on a mortgage. In auckland youd need say $400k for a house, maybe $350k in Wellingotn and Christchurch less again. Compare that to what you will be bringing over and the diff will need to be in teh form of a mortgage.

If you dont have a job allow about 4-6 weeks living off savings. Short term furnished rents will be expensive, but you will need two weeks of that untill you get a longer term rental place sorted out. That will probably be in the order of $500-$600 a week. Over and above accommodation costs, say around $500 a week at least for living expenses until you find a job, but if you want to play it safe, budtget slightly more.

Put some money aside for a car as well, you need one in NZ, good 2nd hand cars are around for about $8k.

3)Lots of positives, NZ is safe, allows you the opportunity to see amazing places and scenery, get outdoors, sail around to islands dotted around the coast, you can afford to buy your own house (even in Auckland), antisocial behaviour not a big issue (but maybe worse now than it had previously), work-life balance is good, no 2hr commutes to work..outside of Auckland anything more than 20-30 mins would be considered a major commute, we dont have kids yet but i reckon if we had NZ would be a good place to raise kids...

brandn

My post wasn't meant to be offensive so apologies if thats how it read.
I must have read 15-20 posts today by people for who it hasn't worked out in NZ, and the majority had not been there before and so basically had few realistic ideas about the place. Its such a major step to take, such an inevitable risk, that educating yourself about the place is essential, hence all the posts and questions on here. I'm not intimating that you did not do any research or that others dont, clearly they do but I would have thought that the one piece of educating which would be more beneficial and for me essential is a visit. You can only learn so much about a place from reading about it and looking at pictures. I'm not under any illusions that a couple of weeks holiday will give you a true reflection of a place and tell you definitively whether you will enjoy living there but i would have thought that actually gaining some first hand knowledge of the place, no matter how limited, would be a pre-requisite. A reckie is will allow you to meet people check out facilities, housing, costs, check out supermarkets, and generally see how the day to day stuff works. We rented a camper and did a tour of a fair bit of the north Island, we certainly weren't living in the lap of luxury and it was far from comfortable!
I just think alot of people have friends, me included, who have done some travelling and gone to NZ and done all the great stuff and not necessarily seen the other side, the mundane day to day stuff. They come back and tell everyone how great it is which gives people the rose tinted glasses. This is basically what happened to me and i guess that i built it up in my mind unrealistically. A visit helped me get a reality check, the weather was shitty, we met some pretty unfriendly people (and a lot of good ones too), there was a lot of poverty, there wasn't such a wide range of goods available as we have in the UK and just generally it did not live up to my unrealistic expectations.
Dont get me wrong, I'm not knocking NZ, all in all its a great place and we are on for starting a new life out there, but my expectations and i suspect from reading alot of the posts on here, a lot of others, are unrealistic. It is not a perfect place, it is just like any other place in the world with pros and cons. For me its Pros outweigh the cons.
I think its going to take some major adjusting if/when we make it out there but i think after a visit my expectations are a little bit more realistic. Maybe some people are not as naive as to believe all the hype or manage to get a fully rounded view of a place by reading about them, maybe others dont mind stepping out into the unknown, but i have a couple of kids now and that makes me want to cover as many bases as i can.
What made you choose NZ over Canada or Europe? You say you know you wouldn't want to live there, but what is that based on if you have never been there? other peoples opinion? guide books? Like you say everyone is just looking for a better life, but without seeing or having any experience of what you are moving to sounds more like trusting in lady luck.
You sound like you have settled well and are enjoying it but there are loads of people on here who seem to do nothing but moan and knock the place and i just wonder how many of them would have made the mistakes they seem to think they have, if they had had a more realistic view in the first place.
Anyway, i wasn't trying to belittle others and in hindsight i could have perhaps chosen a better word than reckless so sorry if i offended. I am chuffed its working out for you, its nice to hear someone positive about the place.
Cheers for the answers to my questions as well, I still find the heating one a bit odd, but maybe like you say the Kiwi's are made of sterner stuff.

aleybeezer

Wow.

I'm getting scared to even think about moving there.

Also, we're young, have no family to worry about and don't mind "scrounging".


We're both very well educated, still... sounds scary.

livewire

I guess the biggest reasons for why many NZ houses don't have central heating are:

1. The limited supply of gas
2. The relatively high cost of buying a heating system and installing it
3. NZlanders don't think it's cold enough, or that the winter is long enough to warrant it
4. Many rely on woodburners anyway
5. The relatively high cost of using electricity and gas for heating

The worst thing about not heating the whole house is that it results in damp forming in the colder rooms. Houses never seem to dry out properly.

And double glazing is catching on, even up here in Auckland.

Servant24kids

Hi Neil,

I give my opinions of your queries.

1. NZ houses do have heating, but not central heating. Almost all houses have a woodburning stove to warm up the living area which is usually open-plan lounge/dining/kitchen. Some have warm air heating into this area. Bedrooms and bathrooms usually have no heating and use portable electric heaters. Some folks say that NZ is just a few decades behind the UK in house heating but I think normal radiator central heating would have problems with safety in earthquake areas. There is also the fact that, apart from the colder areas of NZ, winter lasts only three months (give or take a week) and Kiwis seem to be quite happy roughing it during this period. What is important when buying/renting a house is finding one that has plenty of sunlight and has no dampness (which makes the cold even worse). What really needs to be improved upon here is insulation without compromising ventilation.

2. To give an example, I would say that with an income of $65-70,000 you should have a mortgage at no more than $150,000. Interest rates are rising here. So, if you want a $400,000 house (a very nice property in Auckland, a very very very nice one in most other places) you must take over to New Zealand at least GBP100,000 for this purpose. Others have managed with less and bought for less, but this is just an example.

3. Positives? We love NZ. We live in a particularly warm part of the country and it is a big buzz to have temperatures reaching 16/17 degrees during winter (often it is warmer outside than inside). Everything is brighter here, the colours more vivid, the air cleaner, the scenery uplifting. We've found the people friendly and the schools great for the kids. Even though were are not a particularly sporty and outdoor family, we do find the kiwi 'lifestyle' good. There is crime wherever you are in the world, but we feel safer here - particularly walking in town at night. Nothing has made me think "I am better off in the UK". Of course, everyone's own experience is different as we all have different priorities, but we have adapted easily and are content.

Pompey_Paul

Exciting i would say........

Pompey_Paul

Where do you live?

expomm

As a plumber just moved here 4 months ago with my wife I too have to say that it has not at all been what I expected. Not to go into too much detail the reasons are these A) the cost of housing is way out of proportion to wages.
B) Wages are extremely low - as a plumber I have never been so poor since moving here.
C) the houses are really of bad build quality compared to elsewhere.

in answer to your question i feel i am able to tell you why the houses dont have heating, it is because the average cost of a heating system 10 rads and a boiler ( no hot water cylinder) costs about $20 grand NZ now in english terms this is about 8 grand - expensive in england but do-able here $20 grand is like £20 grand - a lot. also the have no gas in the road here and where they have got (north island) there is only about 10 yrs worth left so dont expect heating systems to take off like the did in the uk. Main thing is money is tight here and living is hard unless you come over with a lot of savings. I personally have done 6 thousand english and have been paid over $11 grand NZ and as of today have less than $100 dollars in my account - great huh? now you may think i have an extravagant lifestyle? -no way I rarely drink have been to 1 rugby game and am yet to go out on the town since arriving.
I think many people are so pre occupied with leaving the UK that they fail to look sensibly at what they are moving to ( me included ) a flight home from here is $2500 dollars - a months wages for 1 person so dont expect to be flying home very much. On the plus side the country is beautifull if a bit isolated in places. but remeber whats the point in living in paradise if you are skint? your in a no better situation than living somewhere grim with nothing to spend your money on. - hope that didnt depress you

brandn

Im living just outside London and doing the commuter thing. Ive got a half decent job but i dont get enough time with my family and basically we want to change the way we live. Get a more outdoors life and and generally enjoy life a bit more. I dont want my kids to grow up in London, and want to have access to more outdoors way of life.

It nice to get some positive feedback from people for who it is working out.

Cheers,
Neil.

Biddy

It has only been 6 weeks for us but is definately working out well. We did a lot of research before coming. I had a 3 week visit to find work and we brought quite a lot of £ from our business sale so that all helped. However we are now living off kiwi$ and would say that cost of living is comparable to UK.

brandn

Hi expomm,
Thanks for the info.
I think the same, a lot of people concentrate of moving away and dont necessarily focus fully on where they are moving to. With that in mind, your post is informative, its important to try and be as realistic as possible about a place.
I hope it all works out for you.
Cheers,
Neil.

expomm

cool,
i'm sure it will we have travelled the world for the past 10 yrs and are used to roughing it but it's just disapointing when you expect a cahnge for the better and get one for the worse - hope all goes well for you too

lizard

Try going self employed, you will earn better wages and you can get flights back to the UK for around $1600 return