Good Evening/Morning

I have posted a few posts on here but now our house is going up for sale after Easter, and we have to make a decision with the hope of either a new life in NZ or staying in the UK (albeit in a different area). If we come to NZ it will be v much dependant on a job offer for either myself or my partner. Could I kindly ask a few questions to the helpful people on here.

We have a 4 year old daughter. I am a legal secretary in the City which I love, my partner is a HGV driver and trainer. We are hoping to come to Wellington (I have a niece there). We will both work as we do now in the UK.

Are the schools good? Is there a lot to do for children i.e. Playcentres, climbing clubs, gymnastics clubs, adventure parks? Is it easy to make friends? Are the after school clubs/holiday clubs enjoyable for children. My reason for asking is that our little one is very active and doesn't like being couped up indoors, and a good education is paramount.

Are warm homes easy to rent with two cats.

Do most of you feel life is better in NZ for children, and as a family. If we stay in the UK it will be either the south coast/Norfolk. I can see that a couple of people are returning to the UK from NZ. I know no one can make the decision for us, but this forum is both honest and helpful. Sorry for the 101 questions. I am literally driving myself mad and my partner coming to a decision. Thanks in advance

The first question will be - do you qualify for any of the available visas? The rest is moot without this. I'm sure other good folks here on BE will pop along with advice on your questions.

If you do a search on education etc you will find a lot of recent threads, some saying the education system sucks, the other half saying overall it is the best country in the world to bring up kids, mainly dependent on their personal experience with individual schools.

As you said no one can decide for you (or guarantee 'happiness'), if you aren't ready for the 'risks' of migration you might be happier staying in a system you know.

This stupid education question goes round and round and round

Of course the schools are ok, the standard of education is very very good
Kiwis are not dribbling idiots unable to form proper sentences

Your kids will go to school, be taught everything they need to know
to enable them to grow into, in my opinion, far more independent and rounded people
than they would be if you send them to the over protective, under staffed
and underachieving British equivalent
Your kid is 4 for Christ's sake, I'm sure he/she is very advanced for his/her age, aren't they all.
Just pick a school and send them, they'll be fine

Have you looked at all on NZ immigration site to see if either of your occupations are listed.http://skillshortages.immigration.govt.nz/ Having done so have you estimated how many points you might achieve as very unlikely, not impossible, but unlikely to get a job offer in advance I would think for either occupation.https://www.immigration.govt.nz/pointsindicator/ Add to all that the not so small financial outlay to even make the move.

As Kotare said, only you can decide, but if you are already questioning a move, don't even bother. Ask yourself what you really want and why you actually want to move to Wellington? Most people move for a better job, maybe family and when they are young the adventure, or it could be something else.






Quality of life is also different for all of us and we have different budgets, hobbies etc. New Zealand has pros and cons like any other country and you could end up with more, or less. It just depends how you live now and what you have in the UK. New Zealand was always a place I fancied, but for me it made far more sense to move to Ireland instead, however for others it might be different.

legal secretary is on the skills list so an accredited company could offer you a job. Lorry driver is only on the Canterbury skills list so that is only a temp visa for the length of the contract.

so the best option is for you to apply through your legal secretary role. also please don't think it is that easy to have both adults working in one household as it is the same as the UK, not many jobs for to many people here.

Warm decently built homes are now part of the new build criteria but that has only just recently been picked up by the building trade. You would be able to find something in the right place but you will pay for it.

Education is different here than in the UK but as your child has not started in the UK system they should have no worries.

For me my life was much better in the UK on a day to day basis. We are worse off monetarily here, always having to count the pennies. I find the "she'll be right" attitude is across the board and frustrates the hell out of me. If you are used to policies and procedures being in place then you possibly, like me, find it very difficult.
The weather is more extreme here, more hot and more rain. Which obviously can be seen in the scenery.
The earthquakes are frightening and you have to think about it any time you are not with other members of the family. Do the children know the drill, do they know what to do, where to go if they are not with either of us adults. Do we have our emergency box up to date, do we have plans to let relatives know we are ok if we god forbid in a large one. etc

We live nearer the sea than in the UK which is good for dog walks and a taking the kids down to have a dip. We also have hills and reserves to walk around locally.

In this house we have piped gas which heats the water and we have one gas fire in the living room, in the previous house no one in the area had piped gas so it was all refillable tanked gas or just use electric for everything and a log fire/ heat pumps for heating.

I have found that lots of sports over here are seasonal which is annoying and has meant my kids have dropped some of the sports they used to do in the UK. Other sports are just to far away to get to. But my daughter has joined the Air Training Corp which she possibly would not of done in the UK, which is a great youth experience.

Moving would depend on how you live now and what you are prepared to compromise on. I have found it hard to settle as my standard of living is less that I had in the UK, others have settled well as their standard of living has increased/suits them better.

Of course being a New Zealand shepherd boy beats being a British chimney sweep apprentice or pickpocket.

Thank you, we will qualify albeit not an easy path .

I did not mean to offend anyone re the education - but it's very important to me that the education is as good/better than the UK. We currently live in an area with excellent schools not too far from London (but that has to change as we have to move) to a cheaper area as our daughter was v unexpected but v wanted and we took on a humongous mortgage beforehand. .

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Thank you, we know it will be v hard and know it will be costly too (we also have two cats to bring to add to the cost!!), but a "better" life for our daughter is paramount to us.

Thank you - I have a niece in Wellington and my sister will be going to Australia in the next 3 years. To be close to my family is important to me. Like you say, it may make sense for us to stay here (or Ireland as my partner is half Irish!!). We don't have many hobbies ourselves although we'd like to, as we both work a lot of hours and concentrate on enjoyment for our daughter at weekends.

Thank you - I saw both our area of work was on the skills list - but would like to be near Wellington as I have a niece there who would come and live with us if we could go.

That is my worry, thank you for being honest - working is v important to me as I'd go insane without a job and social interaction

This is one of my main concerns we have a 10 year old house here in the UK -,all insulated - I'd want a warm home I'm a chilly bean even in the summer sounds expensive - although it's v expensive living near to London (commutable). Being warm and cosy is a must for me. Do you keep warm in the other rooms with one gas fire?

That's comforting.

That is my major worry. We've had a tough time for five years as you say, always having to count the pennies, as our mortgage is v big and a child wasn't in our plan - but it happened and she's our whole world and more. Changes now have to be made, that phrase would frustrate me too. Yes I am used to policies and procedures, so I would find that part hard too.

That is a major point and I would imagine a big worry.

That sounds beautiful. Our daughter loves the outdoors.

That is frustrating - our daughter always wants to be out doing something so hobbies would be very important to us. That's a shame that some sports are seasonal but the Air Training Corp sounds v good.

We have quite a tough time monetarily here, we know it will be hard and have had to compromise. I can understand how you feel, as that would be very hard to accept.

Thank you for the info it's much appreciated. It's going to be very hard making a decision

You cannot dictate outcomes for a 4 year old child, all you can do is provide motivation and opportunities.

My children had nearly identical input and opportunities. Both are reliable, independent and probably viewed as successful (Corporate lawyer and Army Major). My daughter is a very high achieving pain in the ass, my son is more relaxed and less academic. Guess who I would rather spend time with :-) but I couldn't forecast it.

To give them the educational opportunities etc they had probably cost me circa £500k in UK at todays prices. You could pay the same, or buy a really expensive house in UK near a good Grammar School or migrate to NZ :-) but no guarantees with any of them, you could still get a 'drop out'. You could live the next 16 years totally centred on your daughter and then they go and live in Nepal! So I would do what suits you now.

I will say outside Auckland you are unlikely to be driving them everywhere, better and cheaper sports opportunities, better climate and a social atmosphere not mostly driven by class and income.

Semi-rant over

Peter