Mrsbrightside7

So I'm hoping to make the big move to Wellington in August if my house sells by then. I've been religiously reading the posts on this forum for months and it has been invaluable so thank you all! The forum pretty much covers everything but is there anything you wished someone had told you before you moved to New Zealand???

TheCockneyKiwi

For me it would be four things.

1) Groceries are definitely more expensive. The day you are at ease with this (because of the quality of life you get in return) you start enjoying NZ.
2) You will burn money in the first few months 'setting up' home. (Cleaning products, Condiments etc. Remember when you first had your own place?)
3) NO matter how you try and budget you need to add a 10% contingency buffer to whatever you think you are going to spend.
4) Don't believe too much what you read on forums. These are all peoples oppinions at the end of the day. Based on my readings, I thought i was moving to a 3rd world country, which could not be further from the truth. In many ways, the Kiwi's are leaps ahead of UK (EPOS, red tape etc)

Mrsbrightside7

Ok thanks, re cleaning products I could maybe stock up on lots from places like poundland to stick in my container?
What is red tape? Haha

BEVS

That it is a very, very long way from anywhere and very expensive to go off shore.

MrsFychan

when they say windy wellington they actually mean WINDY Wellington.

TheCockneyKiwi

Oh yeah.... That is very true. We took the concept of cheap package holiday very much fro granted

marooned5

Don't sell your house before you've been here for a year or two and are sure it's right for you- you don't want to find you are trapped here

Mrsbrightside7

I've visited for long periods of time in the past as my sister lives there. It's been my dream to live there for many years now so I don't think I will feel trapped. If things get really tough I'm determined to make it work. I need to sell the house to be able to afford to move.
I'm trying to fit in lots of mini trips before we leave, for example Paris in June as I know I probably won't get the chance again. I will definitely miss the bargain package deals we get over here!
Is it very expensive even to visit places like Australia too?

Mrsbrightside7

Very windy?! Oh dear lots of bad hair days then! Haha

BEVS

Depends where you live and what your earning power is.

For us the answer is a resounding yes. Expensive.

Another:-

That of the 4 weeks of paid annual leave a year, you will be told to take 2 to 3 of those weeks at the Christmas/New Year shut down period regardless of whether you want to or not. *


* building trade.



ps. If you have close family here, you'll know all the advantages and pitfalls already, so maybe you have some of your own to suggest.

Justcol

Yes, the fact that my ex would find kiwi men irresistible, might have saved me quite a lot of bother

sorry, I couldn't resist. Back to topic

Mrsbrightside7

BEVS my sister has lived in NZ all her life so cannot compare to living in the UK as she has never lived here. Long story! So I don't really have any of my own to suggest...
One thing I was going to do though was buy a new bike here to ship to NZ. But I actually found the same bike in NZ for £100 cheaper! Very surprising, it's being delivered to my sisters house to await my arrival. So if anyone is planning on bringing a new bike, it may be worth looking at NZ prices first

Oh no, sorry to hear that justcol

Snap Shot

It's a much shorter, cheaper flight from Wellington to Sydney than from London. Statement of the blindingly obvious. Just thought I'd get that in before anyone else.

There's sometimes good offers on flights to Sydney from the main cities of NZ. We did it last year, stayed for two nights at the IBIS in Pitt Street, Sydney 'cause it was cheap and included breakfast. However, other centres in Australia will not be cheap to get to. Then there's cost of accommodation, meals, car rental etc etc. Just 'cause the flight was a good deal, everything else will probably be expensive when the Aussie dollar is strong.

I couldn't believe how much it was to get to Tasmania from Wellington. We would have had to fly via Melbourne. The costs of flights alone was prohibitive. (As well as the flight times being brutal i.e. insanely early flight from Wellington which is two and a half hours drive from where we live.) Just for a one week holiday. Add on accommodation, car rental, spending money etc, it was just not worth it.

Wellington Airport IMO is more like a regional airport like Birmingham or Edinburgh is with few international departures/arrivals. Which for a capital city, IMO, is an embarrassment. NZ's real international airport is Auckland, unfortunately.

So, cheaper to get to Aus, from NZ ? Maybe, dependent on one's income and outgoings.

I would have liked to visit Perth, just for look-see, but, it seemed a long way to go with no real motivation to go there. Again, the cost of flights seemed a lot of money and no direct flight to Perth from Wellington.

I'd like to go to Melbourne for 3 nights, then fly to Darwin, then get the Ghan Train to Alice Springs for a couple of nights then continue on the Ghan to Adelaide, stay in Adelaide for a couple of nights then make our way back to NZ. On one income, so won't be doing this trip anytime soon. My husband has remarked that it might be cheaper to do this from the UK. I won't be holding my breath.

No direct flights from Adelaide to Wellington. So even to get out of Australia would be depart Adelaide to get to Melbourne to then depart Melbourne to get to Wellington. What a palaver to get to a country's capital city ! Wellington is not a, 'hub' airport.

It's not that I wish someone had told me this. I'm just responding the remark regarding flights from NZ to OZ.

BEVS

...and also location.
From Nelson , we need to either pay for internal flights. Pay for a ferry crossing + accom or do the 4/5 hr drive + accom . That's to get to the international airport in the first place. Pain in the bum and wallet.

Anyway.

I'll have a bit more thinks . 10/12 years algo there was so much less candid info out there than there is today.

I do think the idea of having a slush fund to make a return to whichever country you came from is a good , practical idea. One just can't know how a new life might pan out. A safety net like that could be worth it's weight in gold. If not , then years later it could come in handy.

barnsleymat

To not listen to the happy clappy expats telling you how wonderful everything is and not to listen to the grumpy expats telling you how bad everything is. Both these kinds of expats are absolutely no use whatsoever.

The truth lies somewhere inbetween.