Garybarber

Hi all,

My young family and I currently living in Suffolk, England and I have a potential job offer in Christchurch new zealand. We are doing a lot of research to see whether this would be a good move for us. I'm 34 my wife is 29 and my son is 9 months. One of the biggest motivators for me to make this move is to be able to have a better family/job balance and spend more time with my son and wife. The job offer I have is less hours than I currently do and is a lot more interesting not to mention a step up in my industry.

The biggest concerns we have are:

Being lonely
Grass isn't always greener
How easy it is to fit with a little one
Cost of living (whether my salary would allow us to enjoy our time off)
Earthquakes

I want to make more opportunities for my family, spend more time being a dad and just improving our lifestyle. We are quite active people and love the outdoors I am just worried about making a huge decision and it back firing on us.

Any advice and or experiences please share!

Thank you all

Bo-Jangles

Just to remind you, you do already live in arguably one of the loveliest most idyllic counties in the UK, which has beautiful countryside, an abundance of outdoor space, low population, great climate, beaches etc - so IMVHO the grass doesn't really get much greener. I would just say be very careful what you wish for.

How does the pay compare?

Stormer999

Hi Garybarber welcome to a very good information site I won't attempt to tell you what Suffolk is like as I have never lived there like yourself. Some of your questions are a little open ended as only you know how easily you and family can integrate into a new area. I can only answer for Chch as I have not lived anywhere else in NZ and listening to some of the moans the weather is completely different. In Chch we have only 600mm rainfall per year so irrigation is a big concern, we have frosts -1c to -3c leading to lovely sunny warm winter days. The area is made for outdoor types from Salmon fishing to skiing. Saturday is kids sports day and there are plenty of them. Earthquakes are something we are without at the mo and the city is being rebuilt at a very quick rate and completely quake proof for future generations.
Concentrate your questions around your wife's ability to adapt and how your salary compares to the UK. Food is more expensive but then we ex poms tend to remember prices of what used to be when we were UK based.

chc4me

Hi Gary,
The biggest issue when moving countries is usually family, especially with a young child. How will you, and particularly your wife, handle living on the other side of the world to brothers, sisters, Grandparents, extended family etc?

Making friends in new places depends on the type of person you/your wife are. If you are outgoing, like to get involved, maybe play sport or like to socialise, then you should do fine.
Children can make it easier to fit in and make new friends through play groups, children's activities, birthday parties and the like.
Cost of living in NZ is not cheap, particularly food and petrol. On the plus side, there is plenty of outdoor pursuits to keep you busy (many are free).
Earthquakes and aftershocks have settled down now, it's been quite some time since the last aftershock.

While NZ is Awesome!!, would you be better negotiation better working hours in your current position? Moving countries is big commitment and the costs do add up.

BEVS

My thoughts also.

MarineboyNZ

Hi Gary,
You haven’t mentioned if you have been to NZ before. I have been in Dunedin for 9 months with my longstanding Kiwi partner of 17 years. I had visited NZ 10 times before and took the plunge. But nothing can prepare you for actually living here. My partner feels more British than a Kiwi and we are thinking of moving back to the UK. We love the weather here – yes even in Dunedin and the countryside and coast are beautiful. But some of it you can only look at and not touch as unlike the UK you don’t have the exhaustive walking tracks that you are free to roam.
The cost of living here is very high and it is unlikely you will be better off here especially if you have funds to bring over from the UK your money simply won’t stretch. Most Kiwis seem to struggle financially. We have found it so hard trying to connect with Kiwis we both feel there is a massive cultural divide and people just are not very professional here. People and the country over promise and seldom deliver. It’s a funny place. There are days I love it but most days I just get frustrated. And as I say, my kiwi partner feels the same!
My advice to you is to concentrate on and exhaust all avenues of making things right in the UK before you think about coming the NZ!

Snap Shot

Two good points well made.

Snap Shot

Erm, really ?

The two don't really go together. It's pretty much the equivalent of post war pre-fabricated housing so that the NZ Govt can say the rebuild got done. There's a reason why whole suburbs of Christchurch got abandoned after the earthquakes.

MrsFychan

Hi and Welcome,

firstly does this job offer enable you to uplift a visa to enable a move?

Do you know anyone here? Why do you think life here would be better?

All of NZ has earthquakes, some places just have bigger ones than others and ChCh and Seddon seem to rock and roll the most at the moment.

Let us know what the job is for, salary and company and we can advise on the best way forward re visa's (bearing in mind that any advise would be from personal experience and is no way meant as immigration advise)

Mark Smith

Does Stormer999 mean the actual city centre? If you haven't been there in a while Snap Shot, there are some pretty substantial steel buildings going up with lots of cross bracing, base isolators etc. Having been allowed inside the new justice building for a sneak peak, that place has some serious EQ technology. We've made a point to wander round the city on foot or by tram almost every weekend since the cordon was lifted and things are really starting to move now, to the point where I think it's a really exciting time to be here.

Garybarber

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies, the job being offered is under the accredited employer scheme so visas wouldn't/shouldn't be an issue. The salary is around the 115K(nzd), we don't know anyone living there at present the main reasons are that we are ready for a new challenge and want to get a better life balance.

We are not a family to make decisions lightly so we are making sure this is the right thing for us, I think the employer will be inviting me to christchurch for a week quite soon to meet the team and have a look at the local area. This is a huge decision and really appreciate peoples opinions, advice and shared experiences.

Thank you,

Gary

Justcol

Thats a very good wage.

Having a little one should make integrating a little easier, mums groups, parents at day care etc etc
Chch has a good expat community so I'm sure someone would say hello and invite you for coffees
Have a look on trademe or realestate nz for types of properties availabe and you can then ask
on here about any areas you might like the look of.

LittleGreyCat

From someone who lives in coastal Suffolk as far as I can remember the weather and the rainfall are much the same. Suffolk is a very dry county. If you want a significant climatic improvement over Suffolk then you would need to move somewhere north of Auckland.

Christchurch (although heartbreaking to visit after the big one) knocks spots off any Suffolk town IMHO.

It really depends what some of your minor needs and wants are.

As already stated, there just isn't the network of public footpaths you find in Suffolk. We walk a lot and can find loads of different country walks within a few miles of home. You won't find that in NZ.

We noticed the lack of old buildings, especially churches, and also of dry stone walls.
There are all sorts of subliminal keys which make you feel unsettled because NZ looks almost like the UK, but is different in many small ways.

From Christchurch there is loads of access to interesting stuff including mountains and the roads are much easier and less crowded. However you have to be prepared to drive a long way. We have generally run out of "things to do" in Suffolk but the roads are narrow and twisty for the most part so it takes time to go further afield.

Given your age and that of your child my temptation would be to "go for it" because you have at least 3 years to experience NZ before you decide if it is right for you long term. First crunch time is when the kids start school full time, and dislocation gets worse the older they get.

I would keep your house in the UK and rent it out until you are really sure that NZ is for keeps, and rent in NZ. Renting your UK house keeps you on the housing ladder, and it is generally considered to be unwise to buy straight away when you move to a new country; you don't really know what you are getting into. If you were moving in the UK you would quickly weigh up any new area, look at the schools, talk to Estate Agents just "feel" if an area is right for you. It can be a simple as the age and make of cars in driveways, the mix of shops on the high street, the look of the yoof, the mix of people in town. All these cues which are learned from your whole life in the UK are mainly useless in NZ. So you need time to adjust before you pick somewhere to settle.

Read some threads here about housing, including the build standards and the lack of double glazing and central heating. You need to live through at least one NZ winter to get to grips with the climate.

Moses2013

Unless your first winter was like the one in 2013.

Garybarber

We have now been doing some research into where to rent a property. Any opinions on Rolleston? And any recommendations on some nice suburbs where is good for a young family etc. Also what is the average monthly costs for household bills etc. I'm hoping that my wife wouldn't have to go out to work straight away of not needed I've done the calculation and I should take home about 1560 nzd per week.