sirplug

Morning All

Currently in the UK

We have just been sent an ITA having being selected without a job offer but 140 points. I have been researching where to live but can find no 'real' info, just various council websites claiming their area is the best. I have a HGV class 1 UK licence, as well as being a fully qualified motor engineer and also I am currently working as a Transport Planning Manager with DHL. As such I can turn to any of these for a job but don't know where the best area to move to ,for this, is. We don't want to live in a city but prefer the suburbs or rural. We want somewhere to let the kids out in the morning and not have to worry about them through out the day. Basically how it was when I was a kid. So, hence the posting here, with the experience you, obviously, all have.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The other question is, how long does the ITA take, as I would like to apply for jobs ASAP and need some idea of how soon I would get there??

Thanks

Paul

Wiz'n'Ton

First off - welcome to the forum!

Secondly - sounds like you could move pretty much anywhere that there is a large enough population to warrant a distribution network. So, that's pretty much all of NZ then!

I'd say, get your top 5 priorities together, and then post them up here nd see what folk suggest.

I'm in ChCh, and would happily recommend it to family and friends. If your top 5 are:

City close by
Good schools
Beaches
Ski Fields
Easy to get around

Then I'd say here is as good a choice as any. Not as warm as Auckland tho'.

Good luck with it all!!

sirplug

Thanks for the ideas.

We definitely need good schools and somewhere safe for the kids, so here goes

1. Good schools (for 5 and 8 yr old)
2. safe family orientated area
3. Job opportunities for Mechanic, Driver, Transport Planning Manager, boat mechanic
4. Near the coast
5. AFFORDABLE!!!

All ideas greatly received.....

We just want out of this place to provide the kids somewhere safe, healthy and less 'playstion orientated' and more adventurous!


Paul

Wiz'n'Ton

So! when you coming to ChCh then?! Seriously though, there are good schools near all major connurbations - and also out in the countryside too. Safe areas? Well, that's a tricky one and very much depends on your measurement of 'safe'. I used to live in an area of the UK where stabbings were standard evening newspaper fare, and burglaries got just 2 lines each such were there number. In central ChCh I can't say that this doesn't happen, but a stabbing here is BIG news, not daily news. A good thing in our book.

ChCh is certainly a family orientated area - soccer and rugby clubs are mad on parental involvement, as is pretty much all of NZ. Get your kids into a school and if you are 10% interested in becoming a part of it then there's a 90% chance that you will be!

Loads of job ops here - sepecially in distribution as it's the key dist. location in the S Island.

Near the coast? - yup!

Affordable? Another question of what you consider to be affordable. ChCh is more afordable than some areas, but that said, a 4 bed house here will cost you 2 x the amount of a 4 bed house in a more county biased town. A google for Ray White (national Real Estate agent) should be able to give you a few ideas of area affordability.

Other areas that might suit are Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Nelson and Wellington. Would anyone else like to suggest other areas that could be suitable?

Best of luck!

happynz

Sirplug -- it looks to me like you are in an enviable position. If was me I'd go to Otago or Southland. The weather in winter can be coolish ( ) but there are opportunities for people in your profession and I think it would fairly tick the boxes that you want ticked.

Of course others might have different ideas. Seeing as how you are coming over without a job it would seem you could do it like an Australian three course breakfast. An Aussie three course breakfast? Yeah, a cup of tea, a cigarette and a good look around.



Good luck.

74NZ

My husband had various job offers around NZ and we plumped for Hawkes Bay.

The weather is very mild, its where they grow the grapes for the wine industry and a large portion of the fruits too.

It's great for younger children, lots of beaches with surfing waves and plenty of rivers for swimming in. However once the teenagers reach school leaving age they mostly leave to the big cities for uni, work etc.

So I guess in a nut shell, great for the young 'uns, but a little quiet for the school leavers.

Hope that helps.

sirplug

So Far

Thanks all for the info.

What would I get in the various parts of the country with $400k. How much would I save having a house built? Also, are there the same kind of 'no go' areas in New Zealand, as there are in the UK. Where I live, there are several estates, one of which is a definite no go area, the rest in need of investment but generally safe. I'm sure most of you have experienced these in the UK. Does NZ have these? If these areas exist, do they have an effect on the local schooling? Does the Burberry mentality only exist in good old Blighty!?! As most of you are probably aware, if you want good schooling in the UK, you either pay for it or move to a decent catchment area, where house prices are expensive, is this the same?

A lot of questions, I know, but hey... I want to get this one right!

Paul

dubstar

Hi,

Can't speak for all NZ but there are areas in christchurch that you perhaps might not want to live

There arnt any chavs over here, there are a few wannabe homies if u know what i mean.

Christchurch house prices are mainly based on the schools in that particular area,

Gosh I am trying to be so PC and not offend anyone who may live in the areas i might think are rough,

Come on people own up to the rough areas.

I think one thing to keep in mind, when an area is classed as rural, it probably does mean rural, which means no shops, neighbours, buses etc = isolation, when you have moved to another country, isolation is the last thing you need.

Hope this helps

Hang11

They're not that rough, you always know when you're in the dodgier bits, because all the bus stops have got "East Side" sprayed on them

dubstar

personally i am often reminded of home when I look up and see a pair of trainers from the warehouse hanging off the phone lines

sirplug

I thought you were all trying to give me a good view of NZ!!

Sounds like home so far.....!!!!!

Hang11

At least it's easy to know where to pick up a tinnie

sirplug

What's Palmerston North like???

karonious

Check each and every post by Genesis . He lives there and seems to absolutely love it He is a tourist information site all to himself
(Good work incidentally Genesis, great to hear how much you love it there)

uk+kiwi

A tinnie? I always thought that was a beer/lager and I do know that trainers hanging from high wires are for something entirely different and illegal. The only time I've seen it was surprisingly outside a nice beachfront house in Waiake on the North Shore, last time we were in NZ.

What I didn't know was that it was a universal symbol used in the UK too.

What a fabulous thing to have learnt today.