Hey everyone. I've just found this site and its great!!!! Found soe really useful information. We're about to goto NZ after recently being accepted by immigraytion- couldn't believe it toook only 2 months from EOI to having the migrant levy taken from my account! Have been really surprised at how costly it is to get your application done but hey now we're there. We're moving to Auckland and originally from Brum in the west mids. Would like to hear from anyone who might be going through the same predicaments and dilemmas as me...i,e, can you buy decent food, electronic stuff, will the kids like it etc etc etc...... :)

Re: Hi - New Member with Questions
 

Hi Paresh :)

From a future Aucklander to another, just wanted to say welcome to the site and good luck with your move to NZ. My partner and I will be settling in Auck in December :)

You'll see there's a lot of posts on here with helpful advice on how to settle in NZ.

Take care,

Urb

Re: Hi - New Member with Questions
 

Hi Paresh, welcome to the forum, and congrats with getting your blue stamp. I know absolutely nothing about Auckland, but can tell you the food in NZ is either very good or pretty poor, depending on your tastes and diet (veggies not catered for at all, other than lots of veg, but no meat substitutes etc, very hard to keep a varied diet going), but fresh produce is pretty cheap. It's a bit hit and miss on the shopping, but once you get used to which labels you like, it's ok. We're only in week 3 but I'm used to the shopping now. Electronic stuff - you can buy the names you'll be used to eg Sanyo, Sony, Phillips etc, but there are also a lot of new names but if you see a product and you're not sure, post a message here, someone will certainly know if you're getting value for money. If you've not already, go cyber shopping and get a feel for the prices and quality of the furniture and electrical shops. The Really Useful Thread above has some great shopping links. Whatever your kids' ages, they'll be happy - loads to do outdoors, a safer environment by comparison and from what we've seen, schools are better here than in the UK.

Good luck with it all, just shout out if you need any help, someone on here will definitely know the answer!

Jan

Re: Hi - New Member with Questions
 

Hello and welcome!! We are from East Mids and moved to Auckland over 4 months ago now. What date are you moving over?? We live in Beachlands which is East Auckland and its lovely here! We have a couple of beaches within 5 minutes walking distance and the next village Maraetai has the most beautiful beaches. We are 20 minutes outside Auckland and the countryside is very pretty near us. The views over the water are stunning around here.

Not everything is plain sailing though...couple of little negatives is that we live in a pretty expensive area.... my partner has quite a long way to travel into work on very busy roads so he doesnt get to spend much time with our 2 year old son in the evenings. I agree with the other posts at the moment about food shopping.... you have to shop and around and not just get everything from the supermarket. We are definately worse off financially than we were back in the UK.

I cant see us moving back to the UK though.... I hope not anyway. I'm just starting to make friends and feel more settled now.

If you want any questions answered about this neck of the woods then PM me. Its nice here and the weathers wet but warm.

Cheers, Sarahb

Re: Hi - New Member with Questions
 

Hi

Finally got my Visa through this am and have booked flights out to NZ on the 22nd of Nov. Can't wait. Beachlands sounds like a nice place to live- will defo check it out over the coming weeks as we're looking for somewehere to rent / buy.

Cheers for all the great advice people!

Paresh :)

Re: Hi - New Member with Questions
 

Paresh,

Check out this book - http://www.wheretoliveinauckland.co.nz/

I have a copy and it's very informative.

Good luck!

PP
x

Re: Hi - New Member with Questions
 

Hey

Thanks - yep got my employer in Auckland to send me out a copy- its a wealth of information but only problme is you really have to ben in NZ to make the most of this book. Would recommend it to anyone. I did try to get hold of it from the website but it never arrived so be warned!

P x