Are we crazy to relocate to Christchurch?
 

My husband and I are currently considering moving to Christchurch. We have three primary school aged children. This move will see us realise a good bit of equity in our current home which should allow for a small mortgage and bigger house in ChCh.

My husband is a professional in construction. The ChCh rebuild offers him a huge opportunity to get unprecedented experience in his field.

We are both cautious given that ChCh is understandably still recovering from the earthquakes. I am concerned that we will regret this move. Are we crazy fore even considering this move more than half way around the world?

I'd love to hear from other expats who've made the move to help with the rebuild.

Thanks. Xx

We are also extremely excited at the prospect of settling in such a beautiful country and providing our kids with new experiences and exploration of a part of the world we could never afford to holiday in.

Re: Are we crazy to relocate to Christchurch?
 

Hi Larryloo!

I don't think you are crazy! Many people in different situations move to New Zealand - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I read an article written by a British expat in Canada but the same applies for emigrating anywhere really. It's like a tick list for people looking at leaving the UK and some general advice. It was posted by one of the moderators Sherlock Homes this morning:

http://britishexpats.com/articles/ca...il-to-prepare/

Re: Are we crazy to relocate to Christchurch?
 

Thanks for your reply! I suppose that I'm concerned our families and friends will think we're crazy to move to an earthquake stricken region. In terms of what the move offers us, i.e. Bigger house, new experiences, comfortable lifestyle; all the boxes are ticked.

The link you posted didn't work but I'll try to find the post manually!

X

Re: Are we crazy to relocate to Christchurch?
 

Oops, here it is again: http://britishexpats.com/articles/ca...il-to-prepare/
Hopefully that will work. If not it's a post called "Food for thought" in the immigration section.

Perhaps your friends and family will think you are crazy but they may also understand. I think once people find out your reasons behind moving somewhere it helps them to understand. My OH's mother is a person who cannot understand moving that far away but when we explain that work opportunities are better for us, we'll be able to get on the property ladder (which we can't in the UK as first time buyers due to such high deposits) and it's a place that suits our needs better. Once we explained that we aren't running away from the UK and we aren't going just to get a bit more sunshine then she began to understand better and now she is (almost) on board with it.

Christchurch did/does have earthquakes, which is part of the reason why so many job opportunities are available. How cool would it be to tell your kids/grandkids that your were involved in helping the Christchurch re-build?! That'll be a great story to tell them!

Also make sure you do lots and lots of research just to help figure out if it's really for you. I'm not sure how much you have done but things like cost of living, how much will you be earning, schools for the kids etc. Would it be a possibility for one of your to go out on a reccie? For the whole family it would be a huge cost but one of you could take a holiday out there and look into jobs, schools, houses etc and then report back?

Re: Are we crazy to relocate to Christchurch?
 

Just to let you know that New Zealand is on the same tectonic plate as Japan so basically there's always going to be seismic activity

Saturday just gone, there was an earthquake in the North Island that was felt throughout most of the country. I even felt it down Christchurch yet was hundreds of kilometres away

I don't want to sound nasty but just like with some previous posters who are concerned because of earthquakes -I ask why New Zealand? I don't think there's many places in the country where you won't be at risk of experiencing ground movement or volcanic activity.

Anyway in Christchurch, we haven't had a decent shake for a while now. I think the last time we had a 4 pointer was the day the young one and mummy left the hospital (mid October sometime). I'm not saying that's it and there's going to be no more movement, but it does seem that it's quieting down. Perhaps we'll only have five good shakes a year now instead of two or three a month as it was.

Re: Are we crazy to relocate to Christchurch?
 

:DWe felt our first shake in Christchurch the other night 2.9 - scared me abit because i was asleep at the time and it woke me up. Only lasted a short while though.
We havent come here to be any richer financially. The quality of life and beautiful scenery, unpopulated, unpoluted and clean means more to us. If we didnt do this now - we would always wonder how/what it would've been was like. 2 weeks in and we are happy.:D :D

Re: Are we crazy to relocate to Christchurch?
 

The clean and unpopulated image of NZ is a bit wrong. Yes, you have great clean nature in some pockets of the country which you won't find in Europe, however big parts of NZ are populated by cows and sheep. They all shit and pee and there are no toilets or sewage treatment system for them. Their shit ends up in the water. That is why you have to be careful where you swim if agriculture is nearby or located somewhere upstream (or cities). That is also the reason why NZ has such a high number of waterborne diseases. Much higher than the rest of the developed world.

Re: Are we crazy to relocate to Christchurch?
 

Oh im sorry Assanah - i didnt realise there were toilets and sewage treatments for sheep and cows in other parts of the world, how ignorant of me.

Re: Are we crazy to relocate to Christchurch?
 

http://wake-up.acordem.com/blog/26017

All of a sudden cow pee seems a better option........:eek:

Re: Are we crazy to relocate to Christchurch?
 

My understanding is that there is at least a suitable bovine equivalent in places like the UK. That it to say, farmers can't get away with the amount of - let's say - run-off that they do here. Various scientists here have noted that New Zealand's waterways are actually pretty polluted. The government's response has been sclerotic - either claiming there is no problem, or accusing them of spoiling New Zealand's "brand image". This is probably because they don't want to lose votes in National-voting rural New Zealand.

Re: Are we crazy to relocate to Christchurch?
 

:rofl::rofl:

Re: Are we crazy to relocate to Christchurch?
 

:goodpost::goodpost:

Re: Are we crazy to relocate to Christchurch?
 

WARNING: DO NOT MOVE TO NEW ZEALAND, THERE IS TOO MUCH COW PEE AND POO!

Re: Are we crazy to relocate to Christchurch?
 

Thanks for being honest! I'm learning more everyday about earthquakes, their frequency and location! I'm beginning to reason that there's a risk wherever you live. If we stay where we are, we'll struggle to get through the drawn out recession and may end up out of pocket in terms of equity. Just hoping that my husband can get a job and we can get moving before too long!

Re: Are we crazy to relocate to Christchurch?
 

I know I wouldn't have moved if I had known that!!!

Far too many flies too :rofl: