FrequentFlyer

If you come over with the right attitude - ie glass is half full -then you should enjoy NZ.

It's warmer and milder in NZ than UK but most of the houses do not have insulation or heating. You get mould in the wardrobes and condensation on the windows in winter.

On the plus side you can buy a place closer to the water or views but prices are pretty high in good areas and especially with sterling having nose dived. In Wellington now you are looking at around 250k sterling for a modest home without views and water. I think a few years ago, maybe 10, that would only have been 30k !!

The kiwis are a great bunch and very friendly people. The culture is pretty much the same as the UK.

Driving standards are incredibly poor over here. But running a car is cheaper! No TV licence too which is great. Fuel costs I find more expensive here and also phone and internet more expensive. Council tax is lower generally. Anything you would get from a pharmacy including make up is about double the price of the UK. Generally food is about the same, maybe slightly more expensive in New Zealand.

Commuting to work here still takes me an hour each way on the bus across the city. Generally working hours are longer here I find - but as pay back they dont mind you hopping out of the office or a coffee and a catch up!

The thing that got to me, as with a lot of migrants, is the long distance from family. This tears you in pieces believe me, wanting to be there for family events and milestones.

Having missed my daughters significant birthday and my parents fifty year wedding anniversary to name just two things. Its all too much for me and I am now heading back - for me I have come to realise its all about being with the right people and the location doesn't matter too much.

I haven't met a single POME who doesn't get a bit cut up with missing family at least some of the time.

So ......... apart from the family thing its easy!

Make the most of where you are each day everyone!

Genesis

You have not met me!! Being away from MY biological family that I was born into is somewhat of a boon. I think they feel the same too!!

danjones1

Well its probably not clever to ignore all the bad things and put your heads in the sand, and there are quite a few bad things about living in NZ!

Genesis

NZ is the 6th best place in the world to be mum. It would have been waay higher but apparently was down graded because of the awful child murder stats in this country. The latter are carried out in the main by family members in the main and are alas hugely over represented in just one or two ethnicites. I mention that as I don't want people coming to think we have a HUGE random child murder situation in NZ. That is NOT the case.

Charismatic

I’ve never heard a politician say that, but it would be bloody funny to observe the following implosion.

Flower Pot

If you read some earlier posts Dan, you'll see the bad things aren't being ignored nor are we burying our head in the sand... just wanted a thread about the GOOD things NZ has to offer for a change!!!

We seem to be slipping into negs in this thread anyway... oh well I did try

I am deffo a glass half full kinda gal Frequentflyer so will keep my spirits up and hope for the best, put in a lot of hard work and we make a great new life, thats all of us can do eh

Thanks for the karma Angela&Jim... very true the saying 'dont judge a book by its cover'!

Any more nice anecdotes of your time in NZ peeps?

shelloid

our neighbours invited us round for afternoon tea the other day....and we had a tour of their garden and got given fresh spring onions and a courgette. How nice!
We had mentioned that we were still waiting for our belongings to arrive from the UK and when we came in from the garden we had 3 small fold-able tables, a massive stock pot, mixing bowl and a saucepan waiting for us - to borrow until our stuff arrives.
I saw our neighbour on the bus today and as it's getting chillier talk got around to heating. I mentioned that we only had a log burner and our electric blanket at the moment and she said we could borrow an oil filled heater until we were more sorted.

How kind is all of that? In the UK we didn't even know our neighbours.

simonsi

No you are right, the speeding would have been handled by a robot and the phone and no seatbelt would never have become an issue.

Can´t remember when I last saw a traffic car on patrol doing anything to enforce anything, they seem to always be dealing with incidents leaving speeding as virtually the only offence to be enforced, and that only by camera...

...but then road safety and driving standards aren´t the aim of UK traffic policing any more....

forshy

Hi Flower pot, we arrived on the 1st April with our kids and dog and we love it we have a gorgeous rental with sea views, lots of room for us and the kids and the dog! I have started work and yeah the comute is a pain but you know what.................................... life is better!
My kids have started school and love it we are enjoying more quality time as a family yep its scary, yep we miss folk back in the Uk but over all we have made our bed and we will lie in it
Its a bran new scary place as its totally different to a holiday having to sort out finances, schools, accommodation etc
however, given the very emotional goodbye in the Uk we know we have to give it our best shot:
So far so good everyday is a school day you are learning new things constantly and therefore have to be very open minded as now your the foreigner its not the UK its NZ :
maybe its a honeymoon period, but after watching with a tear in my eye my little girls bravely start school i thought, wow if they can do this then so can we
So just go with the flow is my advice and what will be will be ( as good as you make it

forshy

waiting for our stuff too what a nightmare maybe we are sharing the same container

Flower Pot

Wow, thats amazing Shelloid, you've landed on your feet with good neighbours there

We kind of know some of our neighbours here, but they mostly knock to borrow money for electricity meter when they've spent it at the bingo looking forward to leaving that behind!

Thanks Forshey - this post made me smile, sounds like its all going well and you have the perfect attitude, you have made me excited to get out there now!

Tomsk

It's nice to read a positive thread
We've been here for almost 2 years now, so those early days have kind of faded in the memory a bit, but people are kind and generous here. They find the time to put themselves out to help others, but tend to do it in a matter of fact, unostentatious way. We were lent a car right at the start. I can't remember what else, I just remember feeling overwhelmed with kindness at a time when I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with the enormity of the move.

Two things strike me about the whole negativity thing. Of course NZ isn't perfect, but a great many people participate on the forum when they're preparing for the move, then they arrive here and slowly but surely they settle into their new lives, and for those people who are busy, happy, fulfilled....whatever....the forum has served it's purpose and become of less interest. Especially when it's full of negative threads that seem to bear little resemblance to most people's lives. Frankly I find the negative threads get a bit repetitive and, imho, boring . I tend to avoid them. But for those people for whom it doesn't work out, (and of course, it's not right for everyone), can, on occasions, feel the need to vent and also to try to help others avoid making the same mistakes as they did. There's a few wonderful posters who've hung on in there throughout and continue to post well thought out & balanced posts about NZ, helping others prepare for the move and trying to give honest, realistic comments about life over here. Hats off to them

Secondly, we all now have a "default". When we lived in the UK (or wherever) we accepted that way of life and of doing things. It's what we grew up and it's what we see as the "norm". We may not have always liked, or agreed with it, but that's our culture and our expectations. So when we move elsewhere there is immediately a comparator, NZ has a better climate, England has more range in the shops, NZ has more space, UK has better housing.....and so on and so forth. It's so much easier when the comparisons stop and NZ is accepted as NZ with all that's good and not so good.

I love NZ. It's given me & mine a good life. We've made friends, acquired livestock & a delinquent dog. My teenaged children are happy, more confident and out going than they ever were in the UK, with a huge circle of friends. After returning from a month in the UK at Easter my eldest has expressed his relief to be back & is now considering university options for next year (Waikato is the fave ). Summers are long and lovely, there's loads to do that is free or very inexpensive, Winters are short, sharp and very wet. There are great houses to be had (I found one) despite the scaremongering, and if it's not perfect to start with it is possible to improve. Salaries are lower, money doesn't go as far because essentials aren't cheap, but then there's very little keeping up with the Joneses or ostentatious lifestyles....or maybe that's because I'm in deeply deprived and untrendy Rotorua

In summary, there's heaps & heaps to be positive about in NZ. It is important to be realistic......but it's one heck of a fantastic place to live. I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to experience living over here, and hope that the rest of you share such positive experiences

scrubbedexpat094

Excellent post

Jo_Paul87

A great post very encouraging

forshy

I loved this post, as 6 weeks in i am feeling the enormity of what we have achieved My mood and feelings are all over the place and I miss my friends alot. However i am sure this is normal and Im not booking a flight back to the UK