Originally Posted by Amanda

We are selling with First National. Friends of mine actually. Probably a bad idea, mixing business with pleasure!!

Originally Posted by Brianbrain

Hi All!

I am a new comer to all of this in so many senses so please be gentle!! My husband and I are in the very early stages of considering imigration to New Zealand and we are still at the stage of feeling rather overwhelmed by it all. We are both 39 and hubby is an HGV1 driver and I am a school business manager. We currently live in a small market town in Gloucestershire and we just feel the time has come in our lives to make a change. We have two children (girls of 12 & 6). If I outline some of our reasons for consideing this move and what we hope to gain from it then maybe some of you could offer me some advice as to how realistic we are being. We would greatly appreciate any thoughts based on your personal experiences.

Reasons for considering change:

• The continuing prospect of raising our children in the UK doesn't thrill us, we would hope that a life in New Zealand could offer children so much more.

Your children might love it here but it's not now that matters it's their future. Most kiwi's escape to NZ or UK, and don't come back.

• Most important to us is a general better quality of life. By this I don't mean financially or in a materialistic sense but we would like to feel less stress and be able to start really enjoying life without everything being a struggle to maintain a certain posession-based lifestyle (not that I feel we are particularly materialistic at present, it just seems we are ready to focus on us and our life quality).

You might not think you are materialistic until you come here and see the staggering lack of choice and quality of items in the shops!

• Also, to be frank, and I hope this doesn't offend anyone, we are sick of so many things in the UK. From increasing crime rates, to the unfair nature of the benefits system, the dreary and unpredictable weather and the ever rising cost of living.

It's no more honest here and healthcare and school fees are demanding too.
The winters are nearly as dreary and the cost of living is about teh same as the UK but on lower salaries (in general).

• We have a lovely house but it leaves us with little spare cash to spend on ourselves. We feel we would benefit greatly from downsizing our mortgage to enable us to live a little (I know we could do this in the UK but somehow we feel we need a bigger change)
Tread carefully. Houses may seem cheaper here but in the UK they are mostly built properly with the winters in mind. Also, remember they seem cheaper maybe because of bad areas


I should say that neither my husband or I have been to NZ and we are basing our thoughts on the country on information from friends who live there or have visited and some very thorough internet research. If anyone has an opinion about whether or not they would advise a visit prior to us packing up or leaving then I would love to hear it. I do however sense that I know the answer to this!

I recommend you do a reccy while you have UK pounds.

I would just add though that we are so determined to make a change in our lives and we feel ready to get out there into the world and offer our kids more opportunities than in UK. We intend to leave with enough money in our pockets to last a year without work if we had to and enough left in the UK to get us back to the lifestyle we lead now if it had to come to that!

Obviously the more you can bring the better. Don't sell up in the UK - rent out then decide after 2 yrs or so but give yourself time to settle properly.

Anyway if you have successfully got through my ramblings I would very much appreciate your thoughts and would love to hear about your personal experiences, both positive and negative equally.

Thanks for your time!

Originally Posted by mumomonty

I'm sure I will get slated for this but I tell it like it can be for some folk.

Originally Posted by beaudixon

Hi,

There is lots of info on the forum but we found very little regarding HGV driving.
Hubby has HGV class 1 and we move in 4 weeks!!! Can't wait - all very excited (2 children 4 & 2).
Not sure if you would get residency with your job but there are ways with HGV if you know how. PM me for more info!
Hope all goes well - trip would be good in advance but we only had 2 week holiday touring South Island which doesn't give you fill insight.

Good luck, Judy

Originally Posted by Amanda

Hi There,

I would definitely recommend a trip out here beforehand. We emigrated 4 years ago without having been here. We always knew that if thing did not work out we could always return. We are in the process of returning to the Uk and it is a logistical nightmare!!

NZ is a great country and especially for children.The education is fairly good (although I don't think the cirricurriculum is broad enough). At my husband's company, the trainees which they employ seem to have less knowledge than our 11 year old son (these are trainees that went to Macleans College, one of the best schools in NZ) and these are not isolated incidents.

I just find NZ so isolated from the rest of the world ( lots of people probably like that aspect). I don't think until you live here, you quite realise how far it is.

Crime does happen here. I have seen more crime here than I ever did back in the UK. Statistics show that per 1000 people, more crimes are commitedcommitted the UK!

Still the winters here are much better (in Auckland), the sun seems to shine more and the beaches/sea are wonderful.

I hope this has been of some help. Lots of people on this forum do not like negative comments on NZ, but everyone has there own individual opinion and experiences of living in a different country. Looking back to our lifestyle in the Uk we had a very good one. We came here knowing that we could always return if it wasn't for us and to look upon it as an experience, which it certainly has been.

Good Luck.

Originally Posted by Amanda

You are quite right nowhere is perfect! We all have different perspectives on what we want. I just hope we are not making a mistake by returning to the UK :scared: If it does not work out we can always come back (Not sure my husband would agree to this. He has said once we go back that is it).

Once we sell our house, all the fun begins. Does anyone need a large house in Cockle Bay, Auckland?

Originally Posted by Brianbrain

Hi Judy
Just wanted to say GOOD LUCK!!
Thanks for the reply - as you say very little info re HGV. Have contacts with agency who specifically deal with drivers - so fingers crossed...
Take care

amanda

Originally Posted by beaudixon

Hi,

There is lots of info on the forum but we found very little regarding HGV driving.
Hubby has HGV class 1 and we move in 4 weeks!!! Can't wait - all very excited (2 children 4 & 2).
Not sure if you would get residency with your job but there are ways with HGV if you know how. PM me for more info!
Hope all goes well - trip would be good in advance but we only had 2 week holiday touring South Island which doesn't give you fill insight.

Good luck, Judy

Originally Posted by annaerb

Hi Amanda,

Sorry to hear that your heading back to UK, hope it all works out well for you.

Do you have a link to your House? I have a friend looking for a HOuse around yr area, maybe too big out of price range etc but you never know.

Thanks
Carol

Originally Posted by Amanda

Hello Carol,

It is on OPEN2VIEW. Property ID is 135725.

Thanks Mandy.

PS. We have had Over 40 families/couples view over the past two weekends. The tender closes on Monday and we shall see if we have any tenders. I don't think we have found the right family for the house yet. We have had so many time wasters! Couples on there own, who just want a small house and then say it is too big. Why look at a 6 bedroom house?!!

Originally Posted by Brianbrain

Hi All!

I am a new comer to all of this in so many senses so please be gentle!! My husband and I are in the very early stages of considering imigration to New Zealand and we are still at the stage of feeling rather overwhelmed by it all. We are both 39 and hubby is an HGV1 driver and I am a school business manager. We currently live in a small market town in Gloucestershire and we just feel the time has come in our lives to make a change. We have two children (girls of 12 & 6). If I outline some of our reasons for consideing this move and what we hope to gain from it then maybe some of you could offer me some advice as to how realistic we are being. We would greatly appreciate any thoughts based on your personal experiences.

Reasons for considering change:

• The continuing prospect of raising our children in the UK doesn't thrill us, we would hope that a life in New Zealand could offer children so much more.
• Most important to us is a general better quality of life. By this I don't mean financially or in a materialistic sense but we would like to feel less stress and be able to start really enjoying life without everything being a struggle to maintain a certain posession-based lifestyle (not that I feel we are particularly materialistic at present, it just seems we are ready to focus on us and our life quality).
• Also, to be frank, and I hope this doesn't offend anyone, we are sick of so many things in the UK. From increasing crime rates, to the unfair nature of the benefits system, the dreary and unpredictable weather and the ever rising cost of living.
• We have a lovely house but it leaves us with little spare cash to spend on ourselves. We feel we would benefit greatly from downsizing our mortgage to enable us to live a little (I know we could do this in the UK but somehow we feel we need a bigger change)

I should say that neither my husband or I have been to NZ and we are basing our thoughts on the country on information from friends who live there or have visited and some very thorough internet research. If anyone has an opinion about whether or not they would advise a visit prior to us packing up or leaving then I would love to hear it. I do however sense that I know the answer to this!

I would just add though that we are so determined to make a change in our lives and we feel ready to get out there into the world and offer our kids more opportunities than in UK. We intend to leave with enough money in our pockets to last a year without work if we had to and enough left in the UK to get us back to the lifestyle we lead now if it had to come to that!

Anyway if you have successfully got through my ramblings I would very much appreciate your thoughts and would love to hear about your personal experiences, both positive and negative equally.

Thanks for your time!

Originally Posted by Budowsky

If you can afford it, holiday first. If not, find out as much as possible from books, the net, message boards etc and then make an informed decision.

I have found NZ on the whole a lot better than the UK. No frickin' way would I return to England permanently. I've been back three times to visit, and each time am very very glad to be on my way back 'home'.

Im actually moving to Brisbane next week! Another advantage of living here, once you get your citizenship you can move to OZ and work, which gives you even more options.

Originally Posted by Brianbrain

Hi All!

I am a new comer to all of this in so many senses so please be gentle!! My husband and I are in the very early stages of considering imigration to New Zealand and we are still at the stage of feeling rather overwhelmed by it all. We are both 39 and hubby is an HGV1 driver and I am a school business manager. We currently live in a small market town in Gloucestershire and we just feel the time has come in our lives to make a change. We have two children (girls of 12 & 6). If I outline some of our reasons for consideing this move and what we hope to gain from it then maybe some of you could offer me some advice as to how realistic we are being. We would greatly appreciate any thoughts based on your personal experiences.

Reasons for considering change:

• The continuing prospect of raising our children in the UK doesn't thrill us, we would hope that a life in New Zealand could offer children so much more.
• Most important to us is a general better quality of life. By this I don't mean financially or in a materialistic sense but we would like to feel less stress and be able to start really enjoying life without everything being a struggle to maintain a certain posession-based lifestyle (not that I feel we are particularly materialistic at present, it just seems we are ready to focus on us and our life quality).
• Also, to be frank, and I hope this doesn't offend anyone, we are sick of so many things in the UK. From increasing crime rates, to the unfair nature of the benefits system, the dreary and unpredictable weather and the ever rising cost of living.
• We have a lovely house but it leaves us with little spare cash to spend on ourselves. We feel we would benefit greatly from downsizing our mortgage to enable us to live a little (I know we could do this in the UK but somehow we feel we need a bigger change)

I should say that neither my husband or I have been to NZ and we are basing our thoughts on the country on information from friends who live there or have visited and some very thorough internet research. If anyone has an opinion about whether or not they would advise a visit prior to us packing up or leaving then I would love to hear it. I do however sense that I know the answer to this!

I would just add though that we are so determined to make a change in our lives and we feel ready to get out there into the world and offer our kids more opportunities than in UK. We intend to leave with enough money in our pockets to last a year without work if we had to and enough left in the UK to get us back to the lifestyle we lead now if it had to come to that!

Anyway if you have successfully got through my ramblings I would very much appreciate your thoughts and would love to hear about your personal experiences, both positive and negative equally.

Thanks for your time!