We have been here for three months now arrived 27th April, just in time for my second winter,(although not as bad as ours its still winter).

I was just wondering how long other people had been here and how long it took for you for it to feel like home.

I though once our belongings arrived it would be better and it was for awhile until I realised that we cant actually unpack our three bed semi into a two bed flat. So we are still living with boxes everywhere until we decide if we are going to lighten our lives by getting rid of some stuff. I also wondered if any of you had come here and gone straight back.

Oh dear, sound like a little home sickness creeping in!!
I've been here just over 3 years and definitely consider it home now.
It took a year or so to stop thinking about going home (still call uk home)
whenever i felt down but it does pass in time.
Many years ago I migrated to OZ and was home again 9 months later.
I didnt like the place at the time but the experience of migrating taught me
a lot about who i was and what i wanted from life.

We've been here for nearly 2 years now and I can honestly say that it was only around 4/5 months ago that I first felt truly at home and started to consider that I might stay here permanently. Prior to that I wasn't homesick but had always been in the mindset that I would go home after being here around 5 years. The time varies for a lot of people - my OH knew after a couple of months that he never wanted to go back to the UK!

we are here 4 years this year, felt like home after 3 months and still loving it

Been here too long, I don't consider it home but I like lots of things about the place, but Wanganui is wearing a bit thin for me now

We emigrated here 7 years ago.

We have a home here & live in a really lovely place, but I don't consider the country my home as I don't feel a sense of belonging.

Totally agree about the sense of belonging Bev

Been here 4 years btw, loved it at first but lately have had enough and want to try somewhere else, maybe Oz

Been here over 6 years now and felt at home from day one more or less. Have my ups and downs and miss much of the UK but not the overcrowding. Would return to the UK in a shot if it had the same population density as NZ. So I guess I came here to get away from the madding crowds. Job achieved.

2 years and i,m only just starting to settle in, Jan on the other hand loved it straight away. Stick with it remember how hard you worked to get here

Neil

I've been here a year on Aug 18th. It doesn't really feel like home to me but then I didn't have any deep sense of belonging in the UK either so maybe thats just me.
I also made a mistake in where I fist came to live (a mistake for me as I know others love it here) so Im off to try somewhere else and see if I feel like I 'fit in' better there.

We moved a lot in the Forces and it feels very strange not to be looking at a move in about three years. Perhaps no where feels home for us. Everywhere has its good and bad parts. I was thinking how lovely Weymouth, England, was back 14 years ago, but it will have changed so much now. We lived in USA, but we were in a bit of a bubble and not effected by the outside world. One major employer let 4000 people go from a pharmaceutical plant. And when they are not making money you know something is wrong.
Just had friends over from Aus....who fell in love with the scenery here but when they are at home they loathe the constant heat and insects.

Been in NZ since Feb this year. Totally understand the 'double winter' feeling ! We've had to shoe horn our 3 bed house contents into a small 2 bed bungalow. Had a clear out before we left Britain. Can't believe I'm still having further clear outs now. Still, the local charity can always use stuff. We departed Christchurch NZ at the end of June as that was where we tried to re-locate to from Britain. Now we're in Wanganui on the North Island. So, we've now moved twice in 3 months !
Does it feel like home ? Not really, we've just crammed our stuff into rented accommodation. The washing machine is in the garage
I'm using an electric cooker, I'm used to gas. There's no heating except for a couple of fan heaters we've got. I just remind myself I've not seen four seasons round yet. Good luck with all your plans.

Been here 2 weeks, living in a rental with no belongings and no heating.......but I am still wearing a huge grin. We have a couple of friends and we worked hard to get here. It may not end up being home forever, but the early signs are positive and my kids love Tauranga.......life is what you make it.
One thing emigration is teaching me is that you get one life, and you cant live it for other people i.e. your parents.
I love my folks and I hope one day they share my vision.

If you have any regrets, regret the things you do, not the things you dont do.

After grappling with the where is home scenario for sometime - we now know as a family that there are 2 places in the world where we know we could easily slip into life and feel comfortable, as and when life turns we know we could adapt as a family in either destination - it took about 5 years to get to this point though.... and who knows there may be a third destination that we can add to this list at some point in the future ??....