jamie83

hi, sorry for another post like this. Guess we all have different circumstances so answers might be a bit different.

So after years of wanting to emigrate and the wife point blankly refusing, she has finally said she would consider a move. We are both in our early 30's and have a 3 year old. I'm currently in the fire service however I'm a time served electrician with over 10 years experience, I would be going back on the tools and using my skills for a possible visa. My wife is a secondary school teacher.

The outdoor lifestyle is the most appealing thing for me and learning and growing in a different culture also appeals. I've been doing some research and looking into where might be a good place to lay our foundations, New Plymouth (vacinity) and Christchurch (vicinity) seem to look like the most appealing, most cost effective and plenty to do. If anyone thinks otherwise then please share as we need the complete picture before deciding what to do. I don't wear rose tinted glasses so opinions on the cons of life in NZ would be appreciated, I'm not expecting to double my wage and have a lower cost of living. The wages for a spark do seem to be higher than the UK, from what I have seen around £10-15k. I've noticed cost of living I.e food shopping looks to be roughly the same, maybe £20 a week more but not extortionate. How does the rest of life compare both monetary and quality?

Once again sorry for probably sounding very similar to other posts, I just want as full a picture as possible so that we can make an informed decision as you all know to well that emigrating is possibly the biggest and most unsettling thing you will ever do.

Jamie

MrsFychan

looks like you been looking at a fair amount of countries to move to over the last couple of years.

you first port of call would be to see if you could actually pick up a visa to any of the countries you have looked at and then come back with the questions as to whether it is worth it, and you have enough money to make any move

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/

jamie83

Yeah, it's always been Australia or New Zealand to be honest though. It was always a fantasy dream but now the OH has said ok let's have a look, it's become a bit more of a reality. I've had an initial visa assessment and it looks like I qualify for the skilled migrant route. Money wise, we have enough to proceed and then if we moved there would be the money from our house sale as we have a lot of equity.

Orange pony

hi , areas of choice are good , we live in Oxford which is a small rural town 45 mins north west of Christchurch. be warned Chch is still very much in the process of a rebuild following the earth quakes it is going o take a while but if you don't mind living in a commuter town then its not so bad . be a little wary of cost comparisons when it comes to cost of living . yes you are right the average grocery shop may be just 20% more there are many other costs . ie . a lot of /most nz houses have wood burners to heat their home and a heat pump , no central heating , so you have to factor in buying wood this costs us about 750 british pounds per winter then you have the power cost of also running your heat pump , our power bill is around 150pounds a month for an average sized family home (the water is electricly heated) rates are about 1500 pounds per year average home and you need to pay around 20 pounds every time you visit the doctors . schooling is also not totally free like the uk you have a school donation and expenses that varies hugely from school to school . we as a family earn around 100kNZ dollars so about 50k pounds and we struggle to make ends meet often . also the petrol is marginally cheaper here but the distances travelled are huge in comparison to most uk lives , we spend 250 pounds a month on average for fuel . older cars need MOT here every 6 months . Also clothes are much much more expensive, you are talking Matalan quality for next prices , shoes are ridiculous . we have just been over to uk for a holiday and stocked up on primark pjs for the kids and shoes etc this stuff is god quality in comparison , you can buy nice stuff out here but you'll pay though the nose for it .
Your job as a sparky would be great in Christchurch due to the rebuild, im sure you'd get plenty of work. teaching should also be good although teachers are not well paid out here.

Im not trying to be negative but when we tell our uk family our expenditures they are really surprised how much we have to pay .heating your house over here is always the tricky part as even the new builds with double glazing have just one heat pump in the house and as most places are bungalows that can leave some mighty chilly rooms that you need to heat with electric wall heaters . when we first came over we tried to be warm in every room like at home by using heaters and had an electic bill of 400 pounds ! we are wiser now . and wear jumpers !
If you can get jobs the bay of islands kerikeri is a beautiful place and has mild winters . although the climate in chch is fabulous , coldish winters but dry and with plenty of blue skys even when its chilly and long dry warm summers.it is a lovely place to raise children they are much more free especially in rural suburbs . it really depends on the area of uk you are moving from as the the benefits of the move. you may gain just as much form moving to Cornwall, Devon or even Ireland , but if you just want and adventure then go for it , you can always move back .... if you can afford to and guard your equity with your life ! hope that's not too much negative info ..the scenery is gfabulous in the south island , stunning !

jamie83

Orangepony thanks, that is the sort of advice I'm after, honest and fair. Very insightful thanks. We live in the NE, Middlesbrough. Part of me wanting to move is the adventure, you get one crack at this life. Nothing ventured, nothing gained

Orange pony

Yes that's exactly right life is an adventure but always nice if there are something's you can make informed decisions about things . We don't regret any of it! And we moved from Devon !Go for it and good luck ! Always happy to answer a question if we can 😁