gingerninga

Hi everyone,

I've been reading this mighty forum for a few months now, and today, finally taken the plunge and signed up.

I've been married to a Kiwi for 5 years and we have two daughters born here.

Recently we have decided we want to give a move to NZ a shot. I have no family here and our friends are spread all over the country, so we would love the kids to have their grandparents, aunties and uncles nearby. Something we can't offer them here and something we all really miss. His parents are great and the kids love them.

We have a house here to sell, which should free us up to buy a section and build something in NZ without needing a mortgage. To be mortgage free in our 30's is beyond what we ever thought possible, but a move to NZ would give us that.

My husband runs his own IT business, which already has international clients, so he plans to continue that. I worked for the NHS in London before we moved to Somerset when I became a full time mum. I was a Nurse Therapist and manager. I'm undecided what i'll do career wise when my youngest has started school, so that's still a thinker. However, we're not dependent on me having a salary so are very lucky to have that luxury.

We moved out of London to Somerset in 2012, looking for a slower pace of life, better access to the countryside, cleaner air and more affordable housing. However, whilst we certainly have all those things, we miss easy access to a city. Neither of us are keen on Auckland (my husband grew up there and his parents currently live in West Harbour). However, we both loved Welly on our last trip and his older brother, wife and our niece are there, so we're pretty sure about the Wellington area. His parents say they will move to the Kapiti Coast if we are in that area too so all the odds stack up.

Because my husband has been in the UK for over 10 years and because we have been together for over 5 years, I can apply for permanent residency from here and miss a few of the visa stages. When we spoke to the emigration office, they seemed very keen to have my husband back and they did say we would get my visa quickly as prioritised. So fingers crossed there.

So yeah, that's us. Everything seems to point to NZ!

We both have some reservations about such a huge change. We know NZ isn't perfect. That Wellington is WINDY. That it's hard to make new friends. That the cost of living is higher, but we've crunched our numbers and think we can make it work.

I was really glad to have found this site because prior to that the website that kept coming up on google searches was **** which terrified me. I am finding this forum a little more balanced

Woodlea

Welcome to the forum! I'm sure you'll manage the move with ease with all that family support - good luck

gingerninga

Fingers crossed!