Hi folks

I am due to move to NZ later this year with my kids - this follows a separation and I am very nevrous about the move. My nerves are kicking in and I am wondering if I am mad. I will be joining someone there, a kiwi, and he doesn't really understand my fretting as he is obviously at ease there.

I'm moving to the north island, not far from Palmy and wondered if any of you lived in that area and what you thought of it.

Huge thanks

Hi there,

I moved to NZ to be with my partner,met via the internet and met in person for a 4 week stay in the UK. I too was very nervous

The most difficult thing was leaving my friends, I'm finding it difficult to make friends of my own in NZ, I think it gets more difficult generally to make friends when you are older. This is made easier as my partner and I are a very self contained unit and happy to spend most of our time together. I aslo really like my partners friends.

I travelled to NZ initially on a 6 months visitor visa and could have come back home if things hadn't turned out.

My partner and I are very happy, and I have finally got residence and I'm back in the UK making the final move.

I miss a lot of things about the UK, but love a lot of things about NZ.

My partners parents lived in Palmerston North for a long time and I liked the countryside round there. Rolling hills and fields.

Not sure if any of this info helps, but good luck to you in yourmove and I hope you are happy in NZ

Thank you for replying - I am so worried about making the wrong choice for my kids.

I keep reading on here how people can't settle, hate the cost, have found racism an issue.

Is it all really so dire? I so want to have a positive frame of mind about it/.

Hi,
I think the biggest question for yourself is why do you want to leave the UK and what are you thinking you will get from NZ that the UK cant offer you? Everyone here is different, people move for different reasons. If you are trying to work out what's right for the kids, how old are they, what do they enjoy etc?
Its a very personal choice, it may be the best thing you ever do, it may not be. If you have met someone, why doesn't he go to the UK for a while see how it all goes. Its a long way to take the children if you aren't keen.
For me, the best thing I did for my children was bring them home, but that's me. Everyone's different.
Good Luck

Did the father allow permission for you take the kids to NZ?

age of the children would be an enormous factor. we have been here for just over 2 yrs and have only just got children into decent schools which was only done by moving area's, and for my eldest moving her on to college (usually start at age 13) a year early as she "was so bored" at the intermediate school.

What type of visa would you be coming over on??

dont worry, we moan a lot on here (well some do) but NZ really is a great place.
many think its like the UK simply because we share the same language, it's not.
but stick with it and you'll be fine. dont compare everything to the UK,
Initially you miss familiarity but the longer you give it the more it starts to feel
like home (Not home as in the UK, but home where you belong)
Good luck and I hope it all goes well for you.

+1

By the way, rule number one

Do not think that because some of us don't like it here, or it's not worked out - doesn't mean that you should not come

Are you one of these people who believe everything tripcloseitdownadvisor says? Because if you do, then that's a big negative. Some people are born to moan, or are born to be easily offended at the slightest thing. Never think because they say it's rubbish, means it is. It's not worked out for them, that doesn't say it won't work for you

One of my clients is originally from the USA and she hated Christchurch until she moved to Oxford and commutes to work from there daily. Now she loves the place, loves NZ and loves her life.

If people really hated a place so much, then they'd get out. During my years in London, I heard it all - place going to the dogs etc. Did any move out, of course not.

Come out here, enjoy the life in Palmy North and if it doesn't work out, then as long as you keep your British Passport - you can always go home. I can never, ever say it enough for people to not ditch their UK passport. I remember the rugby match between England and Crusaders about people wanting to ditch their UK passport because they love this place so much. Sad that people can really think that about their home country.

+2

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Also a damn good post.



In my near on 2 years using BE on the pessimist(1)/optimist(10) continuum I reckon I'd go a 4.

You see the people who like New Zealand are usually branded happy clappers, or something similar and usually all but disappear from the forum.

In my opinion, one is unlikely to come on here to wax lyrical about stuff anyway, let alone the treatment they may get if they do.

People who are in NZ using this are normally here to blow of steam, and rightly so. Most people don't have a network of people in NZ necessarily to raise their grips about NZ.

So whilst people are unhappy about things - the cost of food is a running theme - it's not as though people are saying "Right! That's it! The price of milk it too much. I'm leaving."

The people who leave seldom leave for other reasons than the pull back to whence they came for one reason or another (usually family, lack of opportunity for the right employment in NZ) or they get a better opportunity somewhere else.


Come and give it a go.

The nerves are perfectly normal. I was all over the place, from one day to the next in fits and starts in the months before my move.

Since we got here, so far, so good.


Come and give it a go and see for yourself - you've got as far as committing to it, so you may as well!!

All the best.

Agree with the last few posts. Life here is good for us as well. Sometimes positive posts are shot down in flames by people who aren't so happy with life in NZ. It was even suggested a while ago that people who are happy with life here are delusional and being ripped off! I mean really, come on. I personally have no issues with the cost of living - some things are more expensive, some things are cheaper. I've not come here to get rich, just have a good standard of living with some money left over to have some fun with. I've also never felt discriminated against nor experienced racism.

As Tommy said - the people who are happy usually disappear from the forum, having too much fun and getting on with life! The people who aren't as happy need a place to vent and a forum can be a great tool for that.

Good luck in whatever you decide

Ooo. Can you see a certain irony in your post Pom_ChCh.

Actually , the forum is populated by all sorts of posters, living all sorts of different NZ lives and who all seem to find ample time to express their own opinions and experiences, all of which are valid & true for themselves as that individual.


..and back on topic .


Hi and welcome to this little NZ forum.

I think most all of us are very nervous before we emigrate. It is a real roller coaster of a ride.

As you state, the most important thing for you will be the happiness of your children.

Which visa are you coming in on and do you have their Dad's permission for the children to emigrate?

You haven't said whether you have ever spent time in New Zealand before. Has your new partner spent time with you in the UK?

As all of us will point out , the UK is not NZ and vice versa. You and your children may settle very well but there are no guarantees .

If you choose to come , ensure you keep back enough of a fund to make a UK return if needs be.

For you, I don't think it will about NZ at all. It will be about how happy and settled your children are and how strong your relationship with your partner is. These are what will matter the most, regardless of which country you live in.

Might I suggest to talk to your partner about what will happen if you come and you hate it? Would he be prepared to move to the UK?

I bet if looked hard enough through some old threads we could find someone like that.






BTW you still owe me a pint