Cal B

Hi everyone!
Would appreciate any info on what it is really like to live in New Zealand.
Cheers!
Cal
XXX

Sandra

Cannot answer your question as such.....but can give you pointers about asking a more specific question.....

What are your professions? Have you specific needs to get employment - eg built up areas, cities etc.
Have you got family going with you? kids? what are your eductation needs?
Have you loads of money and just need to find a place to relax?

I worked in Auckland for three months consulting and really had a great time as I was technically single living in an apartment, but would not have liked to try and live/work in Auckland with my family. Was glad to get back to Sydney!

But obviously this is just my opinion for my needs.

Anyway......ask a few more specific questions on living in NZ....South/North Island etc and you may get more help from those with more experience than me.

Cheers

Fooferfish

Hi Cal,
We are in the process of applying for NZ and are EOI was selected on the 21st July and the NZIS will let us know by the end of Aug/sep and we hope we will be asked to aplly for res viasas!! how far have you got with the process ??My Brother in law are off to Dunedin on the south island for 4 weeks to see friends and they come form devon and are out there for 2 years but they are already going to apply to stay, but if you want more info on NZ there is a NZ expo at Earls court this Oct in London 16th-17th and Employers and NZIS and people from diferent regions will be there to answer any questions you have, we went to Emigration 2004 and it was great , so i would advise you go there .

wombat42

l don't think most New Zealanders really know what it is like to live in New Zealand as most of them have moved to Australia and lived most of their lives there.

scottish

try this site www.*****.co.uk

Pollster

How is that helpful? If you can't say anything a)nice or b)valid shut the f up would you?

Anyway, Cal B, I live in Taranaki and I think it is great.

It is one of those things where of course not everything is perfect and there are things that could be construed as bad but for me the not so good things don't come anywhere close to outweighing the absolutely brilliant things.
However, there are some poms here I know for whom the not so good things (and I talking about things like not having a Next in the main street or that paint is really expensive) are the end of the world as far as they are concerned .

If you need to know specifics, please post some specific questions and I will do my best to answer them.

The main queries seem to be....

Wages - yes they are pretty low for your average bodney which means that the cost of living works out to be relatively expensive (no, suppermarket prices are NOT dirt cheap when your are buying with NZ dollars)

Houses - yes you can buy a sooper dooper ginormous house with a paddock with the proceeds from your house sale in the UK (on the whole unless you are in Wellington or Auckland)

Range of goods - is poor and prices not cheap for things like clothes, furniture and household items. The whole bigger the population the better deal you get on things like phone costs, mobile deals, electrical deals etc etc applies. Mind you saying that, there is ALWAYS a sale on somewhere and there are a lot of discount places.

Lifestyle - great - hubby is actually working more hours here than he was in London but gets home earlier each night and leaves home later each morning than he did in the UK. The beach is down the road, the mountain is a 15 minute drive away - there are great bush walks about the place. New Plymouth has plenty going on. The scenery is great. The weather is either - crap ie chucking it down with gale force winds to boot or great - sunshine and blue skies, gentle warm breezes (and this is just in winter - I'll get back to you about summer when we have one here!) It is great for kids here.

Schooling - don't know anything about that not having kids.

Anyway, hope that helps a bit.

Gill and Rob

I can totally agree with the post by Pollster. We live in Rotorua and love it. Been here 13 months and haven't regretted a minute of it. Took at while to develop a social life, but it is "doable". Sometimes feel guilty that we don't feel home sick.

Any specific questions, feel free to ask.

Gill and Rob

NZtoUK

It TOTALLY depends what you're giving up and what it is you're expecting to find. NZ is a long way from anywhere and mistakes can cost you dear.

renth

True,

Do a search for posts by The Guitar Doctor. They make very sad reading.

Don

We know the Dunedin area well.

I would say that living there could be compared to living in a cross between the Highlands of Scotland and Cornwall. Dunedin is quite a big place - 120,000 - but feels isolated (because it is 5 hours south of the next big place, Christchurch) yet self sufficient, with NZ's best university (20,000 students) and all you need in terms of facilities. It is right on the coast so often damp, sometimes breezy (like all of NZ), nearly always mild and on average has better weather than Cornwall. Full of beautiful beaches and coastline, wildlife, outdoorsy sort of place. Dunedin is also the most historic in feel of NZ's cities with lots of oldish stone buildings, cathedrals etc and not difficult to find brick & tile houses which are popular there (unlike a lot of NZ).

Elsewhere in NZ: yep, still a bit Scottish in feel - vast landscapes, few people, lots of bits seem relatively isolated once you get away from AKL, Wellington, Christchurch. Weather deep Mediterranean along Hawkes Bay, Bay of Plenty. Sub-tropical north of AKL. Tuscan around Christchurch.

Living in NZ? Very pleasant, (don't know about living in the three big cities though), people seem extremely pleasant and relaxed with a good sense of humour. A bit like living in the UK 25 years ago in the nicest possible way, ie slower pace of life. However, NZ is a thoroughly modern country in all important aspects (healthcare, education, infrastructures, demos).

One significant downside: poor wages and the consequences this may entail.

NZtoUK

"Living in NZ? Very pleasant, (don't know about living in the three big cities though), people seem extremely pleasant and relaxed with a good sense of humour. A bit like living in the UK 25 years ago in the nicest possible way, ie slower pace of life. However, NZ is a thoroughly modern country in all important aspects (healthcare, education, infrastructures, demos)."

Whilst this verges on fiction....ie 'thoroughly modern' LOL!!!...it is also nothing but opinion.

Peter

So is your answer; nothing but opinion.

Gill and Rob

OK, so NZ wasn't for you NZtoUK, but it is for many of us. These past 13 months have probably been one of the happiest periods of our life as a family.
As for posts by the Guitardoctor, sad as they are, their problems were around their relationship and the fact they had not sorted appropriate visas.
"NZ" didn't personally cause their situation.

Gill

We love NZ, Off Kayaking this weekend

NZtoUK

Naturally!

Don

Of course it's opinion: based on our knowledge & experience.

NZ is as modern a country in most respects as any you can name in the Western world. However, it would be true to say NZ is historically not a rich country amongst the OECD nations. Therefore it does not have the accumulated results of many years of wealth creation.

But when it comes to (say) healthcare, you won't get particularly better care in (say) UK.