Originally Posted by elainec_nz

I assume from your list and your indecision you have never visited NZ?
The problem with your list is that it covers the whole of NZ (apart from Auckland) which is a country of huge diversity in culture, cost of living, population and the weather. And, you'll find biased views everywhere. It's a bit like asking a Southerner (UK) what living in the North is like... Even if they've never visited, they'll have an opinion.

I first moved to Dunedin where my family reside and I love it. Otago is simply stunning and it's so easy to get to the Southern Alps. House prices are still reasonable too. For me, job vacancies (in IT) were few but once I looked at the bigger cities, Welly & Auckland, I quickly found a job.
I love Wellington. It can be windy but in reality strong winds are not a daily occurrence and you can always find a sheltered spot.
The more north you go, the warmer the winter will be, but it can also become very humid around Auckland. Personally, I can do cold, windy and hot, but not high humidity.

Rental prices will vary considerably across the country too. No different to the UK there.
In the UK I owned my home, so renting has been a shock. The main problem is the lack of regulations placed upon landlords to provide a reasonable standard of accommodation. Do not expect central heating or double glazing.

Wherever you begin your life in NZ, it's doesn't have to be permanent.

Originally Posted by Cryoslider

Hiya,
I think a good idea would be to go to the up coming Immigration New Zealand Employment Expo at Sandown Park Esher on the weekend of OCT 15th,16th , they have Accent Health recruitment running a stand so they could be of some help not to mention all the other stands that will be there, I went to one last year and it was very useful.

P.S this is Ari from Nicu's Dad.

Originally Posted by escapedtonz

Is it a specific Neonatal unit that you are looking for as they are not all Neonatal or should I say NICU (Newborn Intensive Care Unit) ?

For instance, the Tauranga unit is a SCBU. They only take baba's that are 32 weeks and over 1.5kg's and don't usually have critically ill baba's. For those and baba's that are born prior to this gestation or under this weight they must go to the NICU at Waikato Hospital, Hamilton.
Not all the places on your list will have what I think you think is a NICU, or what you know as a Neonatal unit in the UK ?
Hamilton and Wellington does for sure as we were threatened with Hamilton NICU when our latest was born at 31 and 1 and 1.51kg's and an ex. pat friend of ours who's a Neonatal nurse from Lancashire got a job in the Wellington NICU.

NICU/SCBU - NNCA

Originally Posted by inkedneonurse

Cheers I'm not specifically after a NICU would be happy in a scubu and looked at the NzNo page to get places that had the most cots logic being they were more likely to need nurses

Originally Posted by Pollyana

Thats really handy info, thanks



Have you found there to be many openings in NICU or SCBU? The agencies are all full of 'yeah, loads of jobs, give us your CV' but when searching adverts, job sites etc there don't seem to be too many actual jobs out in the open. Have you done any serious job hunting yet?