triskel

I am starting paperwork to accept a job in Christchurch and am hoping to get a better picture of what I'm walking into.

I have just spent 2 years in Nova Scotia and although I made some brilliant friends and the job was very well paid on paper, the reality of living there was far from ideal for many reasons that seem to be common issues among many of the expats. If I'd been given the full picture, I'm not sure I'd have done things the same way.

The positives and the negatives have to be weighed up so I would appreciate opinions from anyone living or who has lived in Christchurch about the reality of living there.

I would like to know about:
What annual salary would suffice
Availability of organic and non-GM food
Quality of water
Cost of living
Rental availability
General attitude of the locals towards non-locals
Public transport
Crime
Areas to look for property and where to avoid

Many thanks.

chippy64

Hi and welcome.

Firstly, have you looked through the Christchurch thread on here. It has lots of useful information http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...tchurch+thread.
Re water quality - http://www.ccc.govt.nz/homeliving/wa...ter/index.aspx.
For cost of living look at this one http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=772830
Rental availability look at trademe.co.nz
Public transport is very good - www.metroinfo.co.nz will show you a map and give you details on the metrocard.
Areas to avoid - Aranui, Woolston, Richmond, Bromley, Hornby, Linwood are the ones that spring to mind, although most of those places would also have good streets as well.
This link http://www.police.govt.nz/sites/defa...stats_2011.pdf will show crime statistics for last year.
Liberty Market is a good place for organic/wholefoods etc -http://sevenfieldsorganic.com/
With regards to locals attitues, all I can say is that none of our family have had any problems. Our sons (19 and 21) have made good friends. It is harder to make friends as you get older but you can do it. We have found the people of ChCh to be friendly and helpful.
Hope the above helps - happy reading

awolkiwi

Traditionally, ChCh has been the "British" town of NZ. Ideally, it helps if your ancestors came across on one of the first four boats , but latecomers are accepted. A UK accent will actually work in your favour at times. The majority of ChCH folk can still trace their families back to the UK.

Basically, NZ folk base their relationships on common interests, rather than on schools, incomes etc. So, if you join the local whatever-you-are-interested-in club, you are sure to find lots of friendly folk with the same interests as you. YOu have lots of coices to pick fro in the ChCH area.

mikesurf

Sorry but can't agree with this if you talk to most kiwis they will say it depends on which school you go to or went to as to which friends you make. I had this from the horses mouth on several occasions.

awolkiwi

Okay, straight from the mare's mouth:
For children yes - children do most of their sports, for example, through school, not through outside clubs, so are obviously going to be mixing mostly with those they see every day. However, even there, there are activities that children do, where the mixup occurs - eg: music school, dance classes, scouts, gym etc

But for adults, the pot mixes up considerably. Memberships for most sports and interest clubs are not prohibitive for the average salary, so people are rarely exclude through lack of funds ( okay, exceptions of course - the average person probably can't afford three polo ponies..) At that point, the common interest and common sense definitely prevails.

The supposed slinging matches about schools, tends to come from a very small mionrity of folk who are just nooot quiiiite comfortable with where they are in life yet, or alternatively have a chip on their shoulder that is going to make things harder no matter what.

Soe kids can also be hard on "townies" or "country bumpkins" that move into their school, depending on their own perspectives.

theghostofdustybin

I'd look at it the other way, what don't you like about where you are now. I'm guessing here will have the same issues.

triskel

Thanks for the replies, this is helping.

It is a good point as I believe if you're not happy in one place, it's unlikely the move alone will make you happy. I was happy in Canada and I am happy in Scotland, they just don't feel like my final stop.
What I don't like about Scotland is that my profession is overcrowded. There are far more than the country can support but it is a key skill in other parts of the world. I grew up on a farm which was sold many years ago and that was my 'home'. I haven't really been anywhere that feels like home since so I'm still looking.

What I didn't like about Nova Scotia was it is a dumping ground for all the weather systems making the air quality very poor and the water mostly undrinkable. There is very little access to properly organic food as biosolids from the schools and hospitals are used as 'organic' fetilizer. We pay through the nose for bargain basement clothing, resteraunts, services and as a collective, very unwelcoming to 'CFAs' (come from aways), including canadians from 5km+ away from any given area being classes as CFAs.

The job I was promised included lecturing, international travel, tutoring and being taught a wide range of new skills. The reality was the boss was a fantasist who gave one lecture abroad some 8 years previously and done nothing since. It was a dead end job making him money. I have since found out this is no surprise and it quite a common occurrence for foreign workers in Canada to be blatently lied to about their job. There is no trading standards or legislation protecting foreign workers that holds weight so they are often considered to be and treated as a lesser forms of human.

The government tax is included on the product price tag but there is provincial tax added at 15%, so effectively there is provincial tax on the government tax, ie, paying tax on tax! I took home around 30cents in every dollar I earned because of tax. This is on foods, educational supplies, children's clothing, SECOND HAND goods. When I sold the car, the government claimed it's 5th lump of tax on that one car. Then there's the fracking, raw sewage, Harper government, the sell out to the Chinese and the fact that noone is making any effort to stop them ripping up the planet. The country is far more like the USA in attitude, paranoia and superficiality that I expected. The general work ethic is to do the bare minimum to get by and fill in the blanks with bull***t.

Final part of the rant - sorry for ranting- the country is massive! Drive for 8 hours and it's trees and lakes. Still trees and lakes. Very pretty but not much changes in a day's drive and it gets tedious.

On the flip side, there are truly amazing, hard working, honest, wonderful people that made the overall experience a good one. The tranquility and abundance of wild animals are good for the soul so I still would have done it, just wouldn't have done it as a permanent move. I'd not have bought furniture etc and tried to settle because the issues can't be changed with a shift in attitude.

I am definitely moving to Christchurch, guess I just want to be more aware this time of the bad as well as the good.

theghostofdustybin

Well much of what you state is also true here. Sorry.

awolkiwi

What? NZ does not have poor air. And the quality of the tap water is good. Also, if travelling for 8 hours there would be a huge change in the terrain. I think the OP may just like it. :-)

Caz8NZ

some of what you say is bad about Nova Scotia I think can be said the same for here...........

Clothing, restaurants, and other services can all be expensive. Smaller population means these things cost more. Depending on who you speak to, kiwis are unfriendly or very welcoming to foreigners. There are many variables to this I think depending on your attitude as much as the attitude of the locals.

There is massive debate going on in this country at the moment about asset sales including selling to the Chinese. There is a lot of foreign investment going on at the moment. Do some reading - here's to get you started:

http://aotearoaisnotforsale.com/
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/poli...or-asset-sales
http://www.nznotforsale.org/

I actually attended the K-Road protest and I learnt a lot of interesting information that made me wonder, is NZ a forever place to say - not sure where the country is going to end up in 10-20 years time - then again - no country has it 100% right.

The work ethic, for me, I find very different to what I am used to as well- I do find it a little more slacking - but maybe thats in part the kiwi laidback attitude.

driving for hours and hours to just see more trees and lakes - yup - that could also be considered NZ - but of course - it wouldn't be anywhere near on the same scale as where you are at the moment!


As for the rest:

What annual salary would suffice - Depends on what your life style is like and what your requirements are - type of car/house/holidays you like, social life, eating out, clothing allowance, beauty regime etc etc. I would say to live a 1/2 decent lifestyle you need at least $55K per year per person - $80K plus for a better one.

Availability of organic and non-GM food - hmmm i have to admit that its not something i'm particularly aware of - it is available - but I wouldn't really be able to give much advise if this is a really important thing for you
Quality of water - seems ok to me! Ok - well by that, in Auckland - you can drink the tap water and it tastes ok. However, I have seen reports on the news about waterways being polluted but its not publicized much - but if you were to test the water its actually very dangerous.
Cost of living - well see above depending on what your lifestyle is. some things are cheap - car insurance for example. some things aren't. I would actually say, and most people agree, that on average, the cost of living in NZ is higher than in the UK.
Rental availability - depends on where you want to live and what your requirements are.
General attitude of the locals towards non-locals - answered above above.
Public transport - depends on where you want to live I would imagine!
Crime - variable i'm sure depending on the location where you are living. Personally I find and feel its safer than the UK. Others have had difference experiences. I put it this way - I don't always lock the car when I go and pay for my petrol (although I don't leave anything valuable in it either!). I've also accidentally left my phone and sat nav in it on display - and its still there when i get back!
Areas to look for property and where to avoid - phew - again - you need to think about what you want in your local community and then can give a bit more advice. What is it that are making you definitively going to ChCh rather than anywhere else?

Robbie2010

It does come winter when all the log burners fire up!

theghostofdustybin

so why can't i get a new log burner then?
.
Have you ever been to Westport or indeed Darfield?
. Hills and lakes and hills and lakes
indeed you are right they might

Just saying..