New Zealand Hype
 

Me and my partner are moving to New Zealand next March, i have spoke to many people who know someone that has moved there and saying how much they love it!!! Is it really that much better than the UK??
Is the the New Zealand Hype real?

dont get you me wrong i am very excited about moving there and it looks an amazing country, i guess i just dont want to get carried away.

any feed back would be great

Matt & Kay

Re: New Zealand Hype
 

Better? ... Worse?... That's all a matter of opinion.

It is different!

Re: New Zealand Hype
 

As Robbie2010 posts it is entirely up to the individual and your opinion of life here. NZ life works for many people and then it doesn't work for others.
There's no black and white right answer.


We've been here over 5.5 years and out of maybe 8 ex pat families we've got to know, 4 of them have hoofed it on back to the UK as life here just didn't work for them or it didn't meet their expectations ?
So there's a 50% success rate in that example.




It is very different here and no amount of research can prepare you enough for what it is like to live here in reality unless you experience it for yourself. It took me a matter of moments to know that we'd made the right choice in coming to NZ and I could have easily settled in Wellington, but for the wife it has been a much more difficult journey.....glad to say she's all for it now but it's taken a few years for her to be fully committed.


Don't believe all the hype you read about how clean and green it is here and take off the rose tinted glasses. Yes it is awesome here (in my opinion) but NZ has lots of problems, but they are different to those in the UK....probably due to the differences in where the countries are located, economy size, population size etc etc.
Big topic issues here are child poverty/low income families living below the poverty line, production and use of methamphetamine (P), poor standard of housing, adult gangs (although nowhere near as much of a problem as we expected), difficulty of the younger generation getting on the property ladder, getting on the property ladder at all in Auckland, high interest rates, charges on everything from a normal bank account to visiting the GP, plus many more.
One thing you need to understand is NZ is NOT the UK or a mini UK. It is more expensive to live here....period. There's nowhere near as much choice in the supermarket or online in anything you are interested in. Has been very frustrating at times but you can adapt and live with it. You can't get a washing machine or a DVD player or a huge range of clothing/toys in the supermarket here....all you'll get is groceries. If you want electricals and clothing and other things you'll need to visit a different store that sells those things. You have to shop seasonally, you may start visiting a few different shops to do the groceries just like in the olden days back in England.....butcher, baker, candlestick maker, fruit&veg shop etc!!! Even occupations are different....e.g. a tiler here does waterproofing and lays the screed and has to be registered here, a builder here is more or less much more of a carpenter than a brickie or a blockie as houses are built out of wood.
So long as you don't have mountains of expectations and can keep an open mind you'll be fine (or I should say 'sweet as bro').

Re: New Zealand Hype
 

Our mantra is, lower your expectations it's New Zealand. Depends on what you come from, personally we are worse off in all aspects of day to day living. Can't even afford to go back. Our health has suffered and working hours are longer with more expectations to do more unpaid, with the feeling your are new to country so have to prove yourself very much taken advantage of. Been here 5 and a half years and not a week goes by where I don't hacker after my life in UK.

Re: New Zealand Hype
 

I am really sorry to hear that. What is it you do over there? I guess you can only try it and see how it goes. Why we are going on a holiday visa.

Matt and Kayleigh

Re: New Zealand Hype
 

My OH is a CTO and expected to do what you would expect supporting staff to do in the UK, but if they want him to change plugs and sort the server connections out on his wage then fine but then don't complain when SLA's are not met.
I am employed as an Office Administrator, but have to cover operations manager, HR person, maintenance, fleet regs so shove a broom up my butt and I'll sweep the floor whilst I'm at it. Example I was covering my job and someone else whilst they were on holiday, them on higher pay range, and yet doing more than 60 hours a week at my own pay range I was told I could not claim all those hours, despite actually doing more. So now I do my allotted hours and things just don't get done as the need for staff and time is unrealistic for the amount of work but they just won't be told and expect everyone just to get on with it, which I am afraid is not on as I feel its taking the pee, don't get me wrong I will do what I can when I can and still go above and beyond but not the extent I was as I do not think covering the problem is a good way to work. But it all comes to down to cost and in our experience the Kiwi way seems to be stretch the staff to cover more aspects than you would expect a role to cover and with no extra pay.

Re: New Zealand Hype
 

As other people have pointed out, it depends. Not only on your personal outlook, but what circumstances you end up living in, after you arrive.

Are you heading to Auckland or somewhere rural? What are your expectations?

What one person would like as being "much better than the UK", could be another person's idea of hell.

For what its worth, we are super happy here, but that is more to do what we have as a family, rather than some super career or being able to pop down to Tescos to grab some cheap cucumbers.

Re: New Zealand Hype
 

I love it here but its different to the UK, in almost every regard. Whether you like it or not will depend on what the differences mean to you. Very difficult to get a view on prior to you coming out and seeing for yourself.

The only regret I have is not moving out earlier.

Re: New Zealand Hype
 

It depends what part of the UK you are in, what part of New Zealand you move to and what lifestyle activities you value the most!

Some people love it here, some people hate it here. There are things to love and there are things to hate. I am sure that is the same wherever you are.

Re: New Zealand Hype
 

thank you for coming back to me, yeah i know what you mean its all different for every individual. well i love my outdoor activities, one of the biggest things that is attracting me to this beautiful Country. We there a really bad cyclone there this year?

Re: New Zealand Hype
 

Yes NZ does sometimes suffer from the tail end of tropical storms/cyclones. They are generally the ones that cause havoc across the Southern Pacific Islands like Fiji / Samoa etc but every now and then they do creep more Southerly and affect NZ. A recent one came through the Bay of Plenty where we are but there wasn't any damage. It was milder than a normal stormy night in Wellington. Worst we endured in Wellington was 210 kph gusts on top of Mt. Kaukau when we lived high up in Churton Park.....now that was a scary experience.

Re: New Zealand Hype
 

ah right, something to see i guess. Is it true about the Kiwis.. that they are really friendly and more laid back approach.

Re: New Zealand Hype
 

We are Prison officer and nurse
have never had so much expendable income
homes have more space and bigger gardens than my UK home
I dont have traffic or congestion problems
love my job
love where I live
love NZ

come and embrace the difference dont come and compare it

Re: New Zealand Hype
 

ah thats great news, well i am Quantity Surveyor and my partner is a nurse.
Where abouts do you live?

Re: New Zealand Hype
 

Being a QS, you should well and the pay should be good. I was a QS when I went to NZ in 1999 (left in 2001, but have been back for holidays many times since), but since returning to the UK, have re-qualified as a lawyer!

Why did I leave? Cost of living in NZ and a glass ceiling career wise - and could not stand working for those NZ employers!