southerner

You forgot NZ - where most people from NZ go on holiday.

I've been surprised since we have been back in NZ (nearly six years) we have not missed overseas holidays as much as we feared. Although we did have a short break in France on one trip back to blighty. You may feel differently, but generally for family holidays I think Central Otago, Nelson or other spots around the country seem to do the trick nicely.

Catchafire

Hello OP

We have been in NZ for five years now. And I have changed my job three times now, and being a sales rep I now earn a $ 80K basic + car and commission.

If your husband is a successful salesperson, then he should be able to get a job quickly and start earning commission a lot quicker. As one of the positives of doing business in NZ is, everything is quite a bit more laid back then "cut throat" UK. So getting appointments and getting in front of people is fairly easy. Also the local Kiwi sales reps, tend to be a bit "amateur" (down to lack of experience in a survival of the fittest environment), so your competition is just on a lower level than yourself.

I would even go as far as saying that it is easy..............

Also your husband might have to think a bit outside the square from his usual industry. It was in IT sales in the UK, now I am selling agricultural equipment!

kiwinow

You're young enough to try it, aren't you?
Perhaps you need to try to live in NZ before you can decide about Cardiff. Salaries and wages are a lot less here, and although you are a kiwi you might find that a culture shock on your return. I think the mean is something like $40 -50K, although the actual average may be higher due to a few high income earners. As a recruitment consultant your OH should be able to earn a reasonable wage. My OH was earning $60K+, 20 years ago in Auckland in the same job - shame his field dried up as they paid for our honeymoon in New Caledonia too.

pixi-dust

Dannigirl, I just wanted to say good luck whatever you decide to do. I've loved reading your posts and found them incredibly interesting.

ExKiwilass

Can I join this thread? I'm not thinking of moving back but I'm married to a foreigner (Canadian) and living overseas and I get the feeling of being torn between 2 places, and not totally fitting in culturally, though Vancouver is a great place to live most of the time and quite similar to NZ. I also get asked sometimes why I'm here, when NZ is so beautiful..it's kinda funny. but I think people here think it's this warm tropical paradise...ha ha.

I also have mixed feelings about bring my child up as a Canadian, not a kiwi. I dunno. It's not that I don't see the limitations to kiwihood, but there's something about losing touch with that family history going back generations in NZ. Even if it is parochial. I also miss the lack of materialism back home.

Dannigirl, i could really relate to your love of anonymity in london - I love that about Van too, except there is more of a community feeling here as it's a smaller city.

Anyway, I'm enjoying this thread. Back to lurking.

BEVS

No need to lurk. Have some karma as a warm welcome to the NZ forum.

ExKiwilass

oooo..thanks for the karma Bevs.

I agree with southerner. I never remember missing o.e when i was a kid, though of course, coudn't wait to leave as an adult like a lot of us (ahem ). NZ is so diverse. I know the UK is different, but one thing I didn't like about either Oz or North america is that you have to drive for days or fly to see something really different. Whereas in NZ, you might only have to drive 2 hours to see desert, beach, forest, mountains, etc.

dannigirl

Good points southerner and kiwilass. You just grow up with a different mindset - well you have to really don't you, can't just hop on a plane for a holiday!! ha ha....well you can to Oz. I think you also don't crave your holiday time like we do here. I think I used to only get about three weeks holiday in NZ but it always seemed enough to do what you wanted.
Kiwilass, you, Kiwi-Irish and I are all in the same boat...what a big dilemma we all have. I have a friend who has just moved to Vancouver (she is Canadian) with her partner who is British. It seems like a very cool city and Canada does sound amazing. Do you find it hard as I expect Canadian culture is very different?? I know what you mean about everyone thinking NZ is a tropical paradise, not sure where you are from but I spend about half an hour explaining to people that I come from Dunedin...and that some parts of NZ are hot but rain alot and some parts are cold yaddah yaddah yaddah!

Thanks kiwinow and catchafire, everything is hypothetical at the moment so it is handy to hear of people who work in the industry or in related fields. We figure if we can earn (together) $100,000ish net we should be okay (if we bring captial with us also).

Pixi-dust - you make me hanker for my own little piece of Northland

This really is an informative forum!! Thanks guys.

Off to enjoy the bank holiday Monday now...

Am Loolah

Dannigirl - your thread seems to have touched many people, all feeling the same mixed emotions - have some karma for your decision making!

dannigirl

YAY thanks Loolah!!

Kiwi-Irish

Its us again ... do you rent or own your own home?. If we go, we'd be hoping to gain with the equity in our home, and would be hoping to have around £100-150 after we sell our house. We hope to have savings as well, but its so hard to save. Thanks for the PM by the way ...

sr71

I was in a similar situation last year and came back to NZ last August (but ended up getting a job in Melbourne)

I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, my wife loves it, but the biggest thing is the difference and development in our 4 year old. He's just taken to the lifestyle like a duck to water.

We actually got out of London earlier on and lived in Hove and even then the lifestyle change was fantastic (but then East Sussex is by far one of the best places to live in the UK)

London is just a horrible place to bring up kids IMO. We lived in a very affuent area and once you got past the false mothers, the Bugaboos, the cafes etc there just isn't much substance there.

My opinion of Cardiff and the general area is that it's not a place I'd like to live after havingto spend some time down there in Bridgend and Newport.

ExKiwilass

Enjoy your holiday!

Van is a very cool city and I'm mostly happy with bringing my kid up here. I do love it here. The climate is quite similar to the lower North island where I'm from (Palmy North), maybe a little colder but without the wind so it's a wash. It's stunningly beautiful. The public school system is great too - BC is up there with NZ. I don't know if you know this, but NZ's public school system is envied by teachers in the US. I have a US-trained teacher friend who said NZ's system is very highly regarded there in terms of results. Maybe another thing to add to the plus column?

I've been here 7 years now so I'm finding it less hard, but it was a big culture shock in the beginning. North american culture is very different, but in many ways it's better, there's less of that parochial attitude. In other ways it's worse, i.e. treatment of the indigenous people, shallowness, etc. However, if you're in the arts, the opportunities are great here.

There are a few things I miss. I miss the laid back attitude to child rearing and I miss the kiwi sense of humour. I find Canadians take themselves quite seriously. I miss that feeling of just 'getting it' - I don't know if anyone else has felt that way, but sometimes I struggle to understand why things are the way they are or how to work the system. It's more materialistic here. I feel sad that my child is not growing up knowing a large part of her history, she thinks she's all Canadian, when I say no you're half kiwi, she says no I'm not! Ha. I hope that we'll get to spend a year or 6 months there one day soonish and she'll get to know more about it, see her where her ancestors came from. Like the Treaty, etc.

Indigenous people here just don't really count, it's very different. I loved what you said Dannigirl about how studying the Treaty made it easier for you to understand people's cultural differences.

Palmy is warmer than Dunedin but a paradise of the tropics it ain'. (I love Dunedin btw.). Where is? Maybe the BOP or Northland, but most people don't live there. I say Palmy is the real NZ, it's not beautiful and beachy and postcardish but it's where real industry etc. happens. It's more what people should expect from living there imo.

So yes, I'm a tiny bit homesick. Always will be I expect. It would be easier if we lived somewhere like London to just say "let's go" but realistically, the advantages of here outweigh the advantages of going home.

ExKiwilass

Sounds like parts of Vancouver...

ExKiwilass

Hi kiwi-irish, we're the same age. I know what you mean.

OH would not move to NZ long term. Flat out no. career-wise, there's just nothing there that even remotely compared to Van. Plus, Van is very close to LA, the centre of the entertainment world. I also think he'd struggle. As it happens, my inlaws are from the UK (OH has a UK passport) and I know because we've talked about it, that my mother in law misses Ireland desperately, even after 30 years. I think you're wise to think it through from OH's point of view.

And that last point is why I think we'll stick around here. More opportunities in Canada, unfortunately. Having said that, you never know do you? My sister is a british citizen and has never had any desire to leave NZ, she's still happily working in Wellington. Maybe the kid will shock us and decide to move to NZ