stevebikebarton

Hi....to all. I'm new to this site so i hope this goes to all N.Zealanders.
I'm a 31y/o qualified engineer, been running a business in u.k for 5 years and have 15 years experience in machining, mechanics, CNC, autocad, product design and manufacture. Now this is the clincher, i asked myself if i was happy doing what i do and doing it in england. the answer was no. i think the contry has seen better days, its over crowded, expensive, cold and most of the inner city people are rude. I live in stourport near worcester which is supperb. its quiet, nice people, and low crime (lowish) and has lovley contryside views. But and heres the but, the though of selling up here and moving to NZ to start new life petrifies me. i think its the thought of every thing going wrong and worst case scenareo ending up with nothing both in NZ and england. So can any one give me advice or accounts of their experiences. and can anyone suggest where i might find work over there. i have heard that some parts of Aukland are becoming no go areas is this true?. i like the look of Napier....... hope you can help....fanx....Steve

Avid

So why move to New Zealand then? You've pretty much described all that NZ has to offer so it hardly seems worth the effort to travel to the other side of the planet for more of the same!

happynz

Steve,

My advice is that you stay where you are.

Nerine

I can't really see why you want to leave.

Why Napier? It's famous for its devastating earthquake (reason enough not to live there!) and for some over-rated art deco buildings that wouldn't merit a second glance in many places in the UK. Sort of town you could do in a weekend and then be bored stiff, it must be deathly in the winter. The pebbly beach is virtually a no go area because of the winds and currents so people use a lido for swimming, or nip round the back to the safer beaches.

If you're feeling the need to see something of the world there are better places you could be looking at. Don't sell up either, if you're keen to do a bit of OE rent your place out and take a sabbatical - test the water before you leap in.

TeamEmbo

Hi and welcome. Have you visited NZ before? I would suggest maybe a holiday/recce of the place first if you think you might like it but aren't too sure. We've been here 7 months and love it. But then the benefits we've gained as a family outweigh the disadvantages so although in comparison we are overall worse off financially here, we do have a better life in terms of where/how we live and the access we now have to the activities and things we enjoy. We're happy. But it certainly isn't the land of milk and honey and you really need to come and check the place out first and do heaps of research so that you can at least make an informed decision as to whether it feels right for you.

whitesand

I think you're already having doubts about whether it would be a good move. Perhaps you should listen to them! Why sell up everything to come here then? Don't you think you should visit here first and perhaps also Oz to see if you would like it first. However, be warned that visitng a place and living in that place are two very different experiences. Some places lend themselves to holidays but are not so good to live in, whilst others are not holiday destinations but are great places to live permanently.

Maz

Hi and welcome to BE.

Don't move, esp. if you want to carry on in tool-and-die making. Hubby has nearly 2 decades of experience in this area. There's pretty much zero work, at least in the Wellington area, for him. Not worth it!

Besides, you live in a beautiful and safe part of the country.

RobClubley

I agree with the above comments.

Do some travelling, see what you think of other countries

Wilma & co

The grass may look greener over here but that's because of all the rain !
Seriously, it's a big move to make if you are happy in Stourport. I'd expect the wage for your profession would be less than you earn in UK and there will not be the choice of jobs here. Having said that, we made the move even though we were relatively comfortable in UK - better lifestyle for the kids mainly - but we had visited NZ before and hubby is in IT so lots of jobs (relatively speaking). Would suggest you visit to get a feel for various areas as the country varies widely, check if there are many employers in your field (perhaps via yellow pages, www.yellow.co.nz) and reasses your options. As you may have gathered from other posts, some people love it here and some hate it and either return to UK or move on to other countries.
Good luck with your decision!

Watt Dabney

Hi Steve,
I dont normally reply to threads but was intersted in this one as I grew up in Stourport (Burlish), work in the engineering industry and have just spent 5 years in Christchurch, NZ. I am also into motorcycling, I am presuming from your name that you have similar interests.
I moved to NZ with my UK employer, Brintons, 5 years ago and I have got to say it was not without problems. Apart from visa and other problems which I wont bore you with I went from engineering R&D at company head office where I was running a team to tool room in Christchurch manufacturing spares. This I was prepared for, going back 10 years career I was prepared for, dropping my income by half I was prepared for sort of. What I found the hardest was that my experience I brought from UK counted for very little and I had to earn my stripes again. This you may find hard if you have been running your own business.
During 5 years in Christchurch I worked for lots of companies on contract basis through my own design business running a seat of solidworks and on the whole found the working world there to be a complete turn off. In my experience people were obsessed with working long hours to make up for shit pay compared to UK. Organisation was appalling and companies seemed to rely on people working long hours to get them out of a hole on a regular basis. My last company there, which was one of the biggest manufacturers in Christchurch, would have design staff work through the night on a weekly basis to get jobs out. I worked with one designer who worked 40 hours straight at his desk to complete his work 2 hours before he left for Europe with his family for a holiday. Work / life balance was very poor in my experience.
Having said all that if you are prepared to work hard, keep your head down for a period of time and have good skills to offer you can get on really well there. In Christchurch I am sure you would have no problem finding work, most engineering companies there are permanantly looking for good staff and someone comes along they can use they will hire them. Every company I contracted for wanted me to stay on as permanent. Likewise if you wanted to set up again. I have a friend there who makes a living running a 3 axis and 4 axis mc centres but he is working 90 hour week to make it happen. Most of the kiwis I worked with are very good engineers who are prepared to work very hard so competition is high.
I suppose you have to get something out of all the other things that NZ has to offer, mountains, skiing, empty beaches, empty roads, natural beauty, great outdoors, etc. Sadly, alot of this stuff passed me by which is why we moved to Brisbane a month ago. Better pay, better prospects, better work / life balance, more opportunities that Au has to offer got the better of me.
I found leaving NZ much harder to do than leaving the UK, I know exactly how you feel about how things are there and believe they have got worse since I left. I made some life long friends in NZ who I have dearly missed since I left.
I think you have got to look at moving countries as much as an adventure as trying to find a better life, that way you can justify the shit when it happens.
This is just my opinion, experience, I am sure there are many others who have found it different.
What part of Stour do you live in, whats the name of your business and what sort of stuff do you do, are you in to bikes, just being nosy.
Good luck whatever your decision.

Ian

WheelsOfSteel

Perhaps do the OE type thing as Nerine suggested, sounds like your looking for adventure.

From what you have outlined, I would be wanting to keep my options open and certainly not sell in the UK, just rent in e.g. NZ.

If you like NZ enough to stick around for a few years, get your citizenship and try Ozz? If after that, well who knows, but I think at least you will have had an adventure...

WOS

uk+kiwi

Hi Steve,

I can't help much with an answer, firstly because only you know what's right for you (but you must visit first!) and secondly since having been through similar thoughts ourselves, (kiwi) hubbie & I decided to stay in the UK (...for the time being). Good for an adventure though.

However, one thing I have read time and time again is that the most successful expats are those that are happy with their life in their country of origin and not those who can't wait to leave. Something to do with a glass half full mentality and less inclination to suffer from rose tinted specs and then be dreadfully disappointed I believe.

So I think your attitude is healthy and not a reason to necessarily stay in the UK. NZ is no utopia and you will most certainly be giving up some good aspects of your life by moving. And hopefully gaining in other areas. Also, you might absolutely love it and wonder why you didn't do it sooner!

Which way will the dice fall? ....

SidNZ

Hi Steve, just to let you know our experience has all been peaches and honey. We visited NZ before we made the decision to move which made it easier for us - my wife would never have agreed to go somewhere without visiting there first. We landed in Wellington Oct 2004 and haven't looked back. We sold up lock stock and barrel so there was nothing for us to return to and this put us in a fortunate position of being mortgage free here.

I did step back in the work force compared to what I was doing in the UK but after six months I was promoted to run a team and I would say that I am now back to a position where I was in the UK. Except now we have a much better lifestyle and I work to live rather than the other way around as I did in the UK. I was accepted in to the workforce by not only my colleagues but the also the clients that I work with.

Would we upsticks and move to another country again - no we are staying in New Zealand - this is our home and we love it.

Sid

Genesis

I must note that by contrast I was not that happy in the UK and know of many people who have come here because the Uk is 'not what it was' thus they were in the main not satisfied with things in the UK. Myself and all those that are here because the UK was not giving us satisfaction are all quite content. I would not even think about doing such a move if it 'petrified' me...by contrast remaining in the UK petrified me thus I had to leave!!!!!!!

The UK is a great place, if 60 million people left and house were 50% cheaper..then it would be like NZ, just closer to wonderful europe..then we wouldn't have had the tumult of emigration!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally I think NZ is great, its quirky, remote, backward and the country as a whole has got LOADS of problems but we have the life here we could never have in the UK. Miss much of the old country (just the good bits!!) but the pros far outweigh the cons. Life here for us is exceptionally good, warts and all.

uk+kiwi

Hi Dom,

Hope all is well with you.

Yep, you are right that many leave due to dissatisfaction with the UK and many are happy in NZ. (To be honest, I think it's those that see nothing good about the UK whatsoever that have the potential to struggle, but again I have no direct experience of that. Not people who see the good and bad.)

But anyhow, I'm very curious as to what it is that people are meaning when they say 'the UK is not what it was' and are not of my parents generation and above? A lot of people have mentioned that and it's gone over my head but this time it just stuck in my head and I'm been pondering the quandry.

We're in our mid 30's and aside from a huge political change from conservatives to (new) labour and a massive rise in house prices which does adversely affect a lot of people (esp first time buyers), I don't see a lot else that has changed if that makes sense. The population hasn't changed much.

Perhaps house prices are the biggest (only?) major negative. And I appreciate it is a huge problem for many people. I think having moved house every 4 years max my whole life, I am quite nomadic about homes.

The schools my kids go to for instance are much better than those I went to. Antisocial behaviour seems to be in line with when I was younger. There has been an influx in Eastern European immigrants that I have really noticed, but see its effect as neutral, positive in some areas and possibly negative (as in straining resources of eg NHS?) in others. Hence my curiousity.

In typing this however, I'm wondering if it quite simply is my age? My parents are in their mid 50's and I think notice it much more than me, as in the change of youth today vs the youth of their day. Us 70's children have always been highly consumerist with little respect for their elders (joke!)

Anyhow, I'm interested in what it means.