turkeytickler

good idea - in the spirit of xmas and all that - your good health...

Biddy

And yours

JoannaD

The nearest we got to was Australia (Perth) but it was a unanimous decision to go to NZ! Our big move is only 2 weeks away

shazzafromnz

Tauranga is a really nice city on the east coast and close enough to Auckland for the bigger city events to be accessable.Im sure you will like it
.if I wasnt so happy in Whangarei I would have Tauranga as my next pick (or Napier) but Taurangas milder weather and proximity to Auckland is a bonus over Napier.
We had a weekend in Mt Maunganui on the 4,5,6, Nov 2005 and really enjoyed it.
Best wishes for your move
Shazza

urbanproject

Hi Bodgit,

I moved to NZ without having visited before, been in Auckland for just over 2 weeks now, although I didn't make the move as a skilled migrant but as the partner of a NZ citizen (from Auckland). It's made the change from London to NZ and the settling much easier that's for sure.

We had spoken about going to NZ but not til a few years...but things moved fast when my partner couldn't extend their stay in the UK, so there was no possibility for me to actually go there for a visit (and as another poster mentioned, financial constraints)

I love it here, even if it's only been 2 weeks. I even admit that Auckland is NOT as crowded as some people have told me it was

Good luck in your plans,

Jen

Gill and Rob

Of the 4 chickens we started with, we returned two to the Evil Chicken Lords {Jam and Pizza}, the 2 we kept turned out to be ........ROOSTERS. !!! They are now living the free and easy life .......DON;T ASK !!!!

After all of Robs hard work and ingenuity {and he's not even a kiwi }, we decided to re utilise the beautifully constructed chicken coop {constructed from the under bed drawers from our divan bed} to keep 2 out door cats in it.

They were 2 abandonded cats, 8 months and 18 months old we got from the SPCA. We love them to bits and they seem to love us in return.

Gill

Lenny the Lion

There's no need to be rude to someone you know nothing about.


Why waste six grand on a 2 week holiday. If NZ is as bad as many posters on here would have you believe, I will use this money to move on to the next country........but it will NOT be back to the UK. There is no way I would live in a country that made my family unhappy.
By the way BIDDY.......I note where you live and it is a place we have all considered, it looks fantastic. Why do you like it there and what do we need to look out for?

Pompey_Paul

IMHO i would disagree with you, we visited for 4 weeks and stayed a week with rellies and got a very good grasp of what NZ is about, Cold , Wet, Expensive (for just about everything except eating out), Tin roofs, creaky wooden houses, crap drivers (nearly got killed at Bay of Islands - Tosser never even stopped to see if we were OK)....................
......................................still want to go though it just tilted the rose tinted specs further down the end of my nose.

I would say visit for sure! ....finances allowing

HOBSON1840

We never set foot in NZ. We just packed and left without hesitation.

We wanted to get out of South Africa as quick as possible and did alot of research regarding NZ - luckily we feel right at home

sky

Urm what are the for?

Biddy

Hi Lenny - yes we think this is a really nice area ....why? Hard to define but these would be some of the good points:
Climate - mild witers and warm summers (but not too hot) - at the moment it's hovering around 20 - 24deg c - perfect BBQ weather.
Beach - everything from sandy to rocky around here. And empty most of the time.
Fishing - haven't been yet but am so tempted to get out there with tales of big snapper etc for the BBQ
Hills - if you're looking at the beach then the hills are behind you - makes for good bush walks and scenery
Convenience - 95% of anything you might want to buy is nearby ie within 10 mins drive - 4 Supermarkets - the local Pak n Save in Paraparaumu is fantastic - electrical shops - the Warehouse - cinema - Libraries - car sales - loads of fresh fruit & veg roadside stalls/shops - swimming pool etc etc
Size - waikanae has a pop of 9000 and the Kapiti coast area a pop of 40000 ish so big enough to attaract development but not big enough to loose it's rural charm.
Cost - our friends have just bought a 4 bed house with 1.5 acres and an indoor pool for $385,000 - we've invested in land - 3 acres 1k from beach with elevated beach and hill views for $300,000 - we can see about 4 other houses from this land nd yet we're only 5 mins from the town.
Schools - our kids are thriving in their school - can't really define why, but the teachers take a real and genuine interest in the development of each individual and don't just teach a class.
Work - I'm in Healthcare sales and so have quite a lot of freedom to choose where to go (New Plymouth, Wanganui, Palmy, Napier, Masterton, Welly) so I have variety and can avoid the traffic.
People - although we've only got a few good friends here at the mo - the people that you meet 'in the street' are brilliant and we've had no anti Pom feelings and everyone has been open, warm and friendly.
Relaxed - absolutely no stresses - the kids are happy, so are we.

Not so good aspects:
Traffic - state highway 1 is way too small and so at times you can be stuck in traffic for yonks - an hour trip can easily become 2.
Uglyness - whilst most of the area is beautiful to look at, the developers haven't bothered to make the main road through the towns appealling to the eye. The route is cluttered with commercial signs and hoardings and shopfronts - very different to the UK. However I would say this is typical for the bits of NZ I have seen - the ring road round Hamilton was one of the ugliest roads I've ever seen and really put me off the city.
That is genuinely all I can think of specific to this area.

We chose well - it's worked for us and I'm sure wherever you end up it will be the same.
Good luck

CWEMM02

My mum is not very happy that we are moving, or planning on moving to NZ. She has no idea why we want to go somewhere we have never been. She fails to realize that her progenators had never been to Canada to see if they would like carving a home out of the wilderness. Near as I can tell, NZ is very much like Canada, just smaller and a little less frosty in places. We are waiting on the London NZIS office to assess our ITA.

Michael

Bodgit

[\QUOTE]Why waste six grand on a 2 week holiday. If NZ is as bad as many posters on here would have you believe, I will use this money to move on to the next country........but it will NOT be back to the UK. [/QUOTE]

Thanks to all replies and opinions. This summed up my feelings but you can never be sure. Good luck to us all.

Happy Christmas.

Lenny the Lion

Thanks for the reply Biddy..............Great post, still sounds very much the place for us,,,,,,,,,,,,,MERRY XMAS!

Batty

I had never visited either before arriving in Auckland 6 months ago. I love it. My favourite time of the day is when I see the city rising from the sea as we head onto the motorway. If anyone ever watched Stargate Atlantis, well Auckland reminds me of Atlantis I don't know that coming here on holiday would have helped any - of course being married to a Kiwi, we were always going to be coming back anyway.

I think it all depends on the type of person you are. The more cautious you are, the bigger the chance that you will want to visit first. I packed my bags and went to live in London (on my own) without having ever been there and did exactly the same thing when I lived in The Netherlands. So, for me NZ was just a few thousand miles farther away and with my husband to look out for me this time, how bad could it be?