POSITIVES NEEDED
 

Been doubting ourselves recently over the decission to relocate, so asking everyone out there already if you have to sell your life in nz what would you say......

Re: POSITIVES NEEDED
 

I have never been so content in 45 years of life. I live the life in NZ that I could only dream of in the UK. We swapped simply with the equity in our house (admittedly 20 years worth..but very, very average homes price wise) a life in the UK that was barely average for a life in NZ that after 5 years I still find exciting...and I have not been anywhere. Just being here fills me with wonder..even in lowly..oh soooo lowly Palmy. But than agin I have always said its about frames of reference. I left such a crime ravaged ward of Northants Kabul may have seemed a better place to be.

Kate has the career of her dreams in nursing..she would not have found that in the Uk such is the HUGE competition our kids have so much more than we could have given them in the UK..a pool a huge trampoline that would not fit into a UK garden, forest for a back yard, mountain views and wonderful modern child friendly home.

I DO consider myself lucky, lucky NZ took us, lucky we found this neighbourhood and for the fact that my children are healthy and happy. But we have all worked really hard to get here and to make the last 5 years work soooooo well. Nothing comes that easy in life aye? Well certainly not for me. I am one of those who has to work hard at most things given I am not the most talented person nor the sharpest tool in the box!!!!

We ALL adore our lives in NZ. Is that enough??

Re: POSITIVES NEEDED
 

We also have worked hard to be here and are thankful that we managed to get into the country, we left Kent and have not regretted the move, we have a life sentence (sorry lifestyle) block which we could never have achieved back in blighty.
It has not been an easy transition but with determination and meeting good people we have made NZ our home and have a good circle of support people around us (both Kiwi's and Ex pats).
We are able to indulge in hobbies which were inaccessable in the UK or too expensive.
As far as we are concered it is the best move we have made and have no intention of relocating back to the UK.
:thumbsup:

Re: POSITIVES NEEDED
 

I don't regret moving to New Zealand one bit. We have a great life living on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula. We have a great social life, grow citrus fruits as well as other fruit & veg. Have 14 beaches we can choose from within easy distance to go swimming or kayaking from. We have a hot tub & a trampoline.

Moving to NZ has given us a new lease of life. Having been back to the UK a couple of months back, I'm so glad we made this move. I felt so depressed there & couldn't wait to return home.

Life here isn't perfect but nowhere is. Questionning big decisions is absolutely normal, it is a huge life-change to emigrate. The move doesn't have to be forever, none of us know what the future holds. Ask yourself how you will feel in twenty or thirty years time if you DON'T give it a go.

Good luck with whatever you decide Mudplug :thumbsup:

Re: POSITIVES NEEDED
 

No real regrets as such, maybe could have approached some things a little differently but being in NZ if far better in most respects than being in the UK.

The small stuff like shopping, driving, being a little colder in the winter and the kids not being able to speak "proper" is nothing compared with having more time, more space and more fun!

There are a few more serious disadvantages (remoteness and some "backwardness" in the workplace) but these are outweighed by the positives.

It's all a balance, as others have said no place is perfect, but keep pushing on and make the best of it and it should reward you!

Chin up - Onward and Upward - ....... :thumbup:

Re: POSITIVES NEEDED
 

Hi there,
We are going through exactly the same thing. We are at the stage where we need to send in all our documents this week to make our application. My hubby is the main applicant. He is an electrician and we have e-mailed his CV to so many companies and haven't had any real positive response due to the recession. The exchange rate has also dropped from 2.6 to 2.2 in 3 months which has got us thinking. We have done a pros a cons list and it comes out about 50:50 which is making the decision worse. We have a good life here and live in a nice area and have good jobs but what about our childrens future. It is a really tough choice. I think we all become complacent with what we have and don't realise how lucky we are.
Good luck with your decision making
Love VicVic

Re: POSITIVES NEEDED
 

On what you have described...I say seriously consider staying put....the moving across the world 'for a better life for the kids' thing is a bit of a misnomer...most Kiwis have at least some of their adult kids over in Europe....if you have to sell up a nice house in a school catchment area you like..then seriously why NZ for the kids..in general NZ state education is pretty underfunded in my view.

The Exchange rate is against you as well as you say although that could change....if you were a brain surgeon/cancer specialist it would be different maybe....they'd welcome you with open arms...pom or not.

Re: POSITIVES NEEDED
 

I would not recommend moving in this current time without certainty of work -unless you have a large fund to fall back on. in Western Australia, even nursing jobs are drying up and that is unheard of! the West Australian dept of health has gone as far as to release a statement saying they will not offer jobs to recently qualified international students of nursing as they are struggling to employ all the australian nurses. I also know someone who is a nurse manager and she has gone from not being able to recruit last year to getting 50 applicants per job! because a lot of men are being made redundant, many wives who were part time are seeking full time/more hours. Obviously i cant speak for NZ an you are not nurses but I use this as an example of the world wide recession biting everywhere.

could you afford to at least get a visa and validate it, giving you options for the future when things start to pick up? But i would also caution against thinking your kids will automatically have a better future out of the UK - the same crap about crime, drugs, binge drinking, gangs, teenage sex, old ladies being robbed etc etc and the general demise of society is what fills the papers here just the same as the UK. I worry more about my kids in WA than i did when we were in the UK. but i wish you well as I can understand how you feel - good luck with your decision.

Re: POSITIVES NEEDED
 

Being devil's advocate now if you are looking for people to 'sell' NZ to you just how much do you really want to do it?? The desire to leave the UK and to come to NZ (or one or 2 other choices was burning in me..just like the passion when I joined the police) was HUGE.

I think your mind needs to be in the right place to have the best chance of success regarding immigration......people have talked about unemployment..yes its a big issue, our local hospital CANNOT afford to employ new nurses...morale is going down the pan on the general wards so I understand.

People who do not like Oz, NZ the US etc etc all say I didn't know how good it was back home, that their lives weren't that bad etc, etc, if you are like that maybe its best to stay?

Re: POSITIVES NEEDED
 

some good points in here. the problem is (and I am not just referring to the OP) that we are all a bit guilty of thinking the grass is greener etc (I know I used to be like that but not so much now) and if a person gets an urge to try living in Oz/Canada/NZ etc, it can be very compelling. its easy for me to know now that its not for me (ie Australia) and that i want to live forever in england and just visit other places, but i didnt know that until I had experienced actually LIVING in other places, not just temporary episodes of being there.

I also still deep down believe that living in another country enriches your life (unless of course your marriage breaks down and you lose a whack of dosh etc) and that people should have the experience if they can. But please just dont do it because they think the UK sucks - do it for the experience of something else, the pull of something else - not the push of getting out of the UK because sh*t happens everywhere and you will worry about your kids no matter where you live.

Re: POSITIVES NEEDED
 

I have loads of areas to improve on..thinking the grass is greener ain't one of them. When I moved from east London to Northampton it had nothing to do with greener grass...nor the next move to another house in Northamton and certainly not the move to NZ. I just don't do the green grass bit. I do something because of a compelling urge and I have never ever regreted such a move. Strangely I also left the UK mainly for the reason that I felt is 'sucked'..just like some people think about NZ, Oz and certainly Palmerston North where I now live. What better reason to go??? I left London cos I was sick of it..ditto Northants and the UK. I also factored in that we would be much better off and that I wanted to bring my kids up somewhere more rural that middle england. Fortunatly when I make these big moves it always works out for me..maybe its my mind set on the move. I make loads of mistakes elsewhere in my life!!

Re: POSITIVES NEEDED
 

we will need to agree to differ. I still think wanting to be somewhere is a better reason than wanting to leave somewhere - particularly because many of the reasons people cite for leaving also exist in the other place eg crime, MPs you cant trust, society is going down the drain etc - people may then be disappointed to land in the new place and find its the same issues they left behind.

i rarely read a post on any website where people give the reasons they want to live in a particular place (other than the weather) - its always about leaving the one they are in. you get posts like "Perth or Adelaide, where should we go?" , "fed up of the UK" sort of thing - its as if people would live ANYWHERE but where they are. however I also appreciate that if you live in some hellhole in the UK then anywhere may seem a better option.

i do agree about the mind set though - some people are better at adjusting to circumstances and making the most of them than others - just the way we are made i suppose.

Re: POSITIVES NEEDED
 

I agree with you that the SOLE reason for leaving somewhere because you don't like it is not wise. There were other reasons for me going to all the places I moved to other than my dislike for the previous place. I had visited NZ and knew in my heart it was a place I would be happy to live in. That couple with an irksome UK and the fact that we would be better off here kind of makes it a dead cert that it will work for us. And I did live in said hellhole!!!

We did put some thought into the move in that we knew we did not want to live in Oz or France or the US for manifold reasons. That said we did not chose Palmy..I guess I just wanted to live in NZ..anywhere would have done, the job just happened to be here.

Re: POSITIVES NEEDED
 

Genesis,
We hope to move to NZ mid 2011. We have been and seen liked and can see no decent future for the UK...we both dislike traffic jams and crowds and 65 million people tend to cause both. I have been reading intently for 18 months all posts regarding happy immigrants into NZ and the 'Boomerangs' back in the UK. Your mindset that comes through your posts is positive and certain to be a winner in any relocation especially one you want. Some of(if not all) of the posts composed by the UK returns are a bit scary as I cannot understand why they left in the first instance. However I can see why their negative reports put others pondering. When they write up regarding their UK return they tend to wax lyrical about the beauties of England...lovely misty mornings with the leaves turning autumnal colours......you get the picture! You have made the big move and stayed positive with your decision and make good vibes for us wanting the same. Somewhere along the process you must have felt the pangs and small doubts that these UK returns must have succumbed to and may help me see what they did wrong, i.e leaving family, not both committed, insufficient funds, looking for the pot of gold and not realising it was all around them! Views much appreciated.

Re: POSITIVES NEEDED
 

hi we moved to tauranga in jan 07, with a job moved into a rental on the 12jan, stayed for seven months really loved it but could not sell house , wrong estate agent ect ect, so came back late sep 07 started old business said we would have a look again within two years, well we are talking about going back, it is different from UK, but like any thing you have to work at it
even in recession there is no place i would like to be more than NZ

cost £30,000 round trip first time, going back again would say at least £15,000, you are only on this plannet once go for it, you cant take it with you:thumbsup: