Dezza

Just wondered if anyone had some thoughts
We are thinking of emigrating to NZ later this year and want to go and have a look around to see if we like it and look at different areas etc.
Do we all go ie take kids age 9 and 1 or just send my hubbie to have a look around. We thought it would be good if we all had a look around but wonder just how much we can achieve with baby in tow especially as hubbie will have to be attending some interviews.
Any thoughts appreciated!
Many thanks

Maryanne_Tga

I never did a reccie, so I am sure the real experts will add to this thread later. But personally I would see a reccie as vital for the whole family. Its a massive decision (well dah!) and needs buy in from everyone. Maybe do some pre reccie reccie.. and narrow down your trip to just a couple of places, get a little apartment, there are some in Tga which will feel like a home away from home.

Rather than adjusting the amount of people going, adjust the amount yiou want to accomplish.

simonmarkellis

I'd recommend that you come, you all need to decide whether NZ is right for you, I don't think it would be fair to just let your husband decide even if he is right. We all cameand hit Auckland august 2006 for our recce and thought what the hell were we thinking of emigrating here for - Auckland wasn't for us from the start and though this might be indicative of all of NZ. WE then left Auckland and had a fantastic time round the rest of the north island and then fell in love with the place. One thing you'll need to take into consideraton is your husbands line of work as this could seriously affect where you end up living or maybe where you should concentrate on looking.

littleal

I think you need to involve your 9 year old. We have a 9 year old who didn't want to go on our reccie, but found NZ "magical". She still doesn't want to emigrate, but we would be having far more problems if she hadn't seen NZ for herself.

Alison

dreamfish

I would suggest all of you came - not just hubby.

It would be good for you to decide whether the children woud settle, and what facilities are available for small children and discover how much things cost.

For instance bring minimal nappies and wipes - and buy them from the shops here so you get an idea of what your shopping bills would be like.

You would have to make the trip longer than a couple weeks - it is hard work with two tired littles on plane. We were fortunate to get babysitters for our recce. I always said i would do that journey just once with the children!

If you are around Welly at all there's a lot of us here to help you with the kiddies if you need a break or babysitter or what have you


We decided early on that the job would dictate where we would be living for the first couple years. We would use this time to get to know the rest of the country and then decide where we want to settle.

We chose wellington it being a prosperous place and not quite as high costs of living as, say, Auckland. We knew housing, shopping, transport and jobs would be easy to come by. This is where we will stay for now and so we just concentrated on the one city for our entire recce,

Towards the end of our last week we did some touristy stuff and travelled up to Rotorua. Make sure you meet up with some expats when you come over - get to hear their stories too.

How exciting!!

carriem41

We were in a simlar position a couple of years ago, baby and older child, husband came out for 2 weeks, we had already submitted application but didnt know where to live, he travelled from Auckland down to Christchurch, rang most days and took loads of pics. The trip reassured us that yes we were doing the right thing and because we werent with him he wasnt in holiday mode...spent a lot of time with recruitment and real estate people and talking to the locals, if we had come it wouldnt have been a sightseeing trip i feel. However the final decision for where we were going to live was based on job offers.
Good luck!

Maz

OK I'll be the voice is dissent (surprise! ). I would bring your 9-year old, but leave your 1-year old with relatives (grandparents handy nearby?). That way you are more free to travel instead of having to focus on the daily grind of caring for a one-year old. I say that not to demean your youngest in the slightest but for purely practical reasons, it would free up your time one heck of a lot! Plus it's an extra seat on the plane, and that's a very long way for such a wee bairn to travel.

Anyway, just my $0.02 worth.

And to echo dreamfish, yes do call on us in the Welly area! We're a lively bunch (most of the time ) and love to meet up and have a good old chinwag, while letting the littl'uns all run around together.

Dezza

Many thanks for the comments - hopefully we can all go as I agree that we all need to see and experience the place if poss. I think that once we have gone down the road of flying over there then we have committed to a certain extent that we are going permanently unless we absolutely hate it which isn't likely (hopefully!!!). It is just going to be a case of where and that is tied to where there is work but we will be concentrating on Welly and Chch probably.
I just can't wait to get there one way or another!

Dezza

I agree about the one year old but unfortunately we don't have anyone to leave him with - my mum is living in Spain and having far too much fun!!
Would love to meet up with everyone in Welly when we get there.

dave.and.lisa

We had the same thoughts I have 3 children 4 and under and did not know if to all go or hubby on his own as we were concerned it would be a hol rather than a recce. So off he went to OZ and Nz on his own. Altough he came back with loads of info he left me asking lots of ?????'s. He fell in love with NZ but I like the look of Melbourne and although he did too not as much as NZ. So I am trusting his decision a going with NZ. I think now it would have been better to have gone as a family so I could of seen it myself, It has been a joint decision but based on his findings and although we are very similar in our preferences men have a different slant on things!!! Although I am ok with giving it a go, I am not as ok as I thought I would be and know I would be much more enthusiatic about the move after seeing it myself just going through a doubting phase where he is 100% committed to it all. Just a few of my observations know its not exactly the same situation yours so good luck....Lisa

Maz

Absolutely not allowed!

Cool post. Gosh I'm not sure I would have been mentally able to move with only one of us seeing the place, yikes! You're very brave, and I hope you love it here.