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Why did you move to New Zealand?

Why did you move to New Zealand?

Old Apr 15th 2019, 5:15 pm
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Default Why did you move to New Zealand?

I've read some interesting posts on this forum; in particular the 'negative side of making the move' to NZ (which has all been very helpful by the way). I know I can't speak on behalf of every would be Brit ready to take the plunge, but I thought it might help others (myself included) to understand a little more about the reasons people make the move and also whether it met expectations?

For me, I'm looking for change, life experience, milder climate and a slower pace of life... ( I understand I don't need to travel half way around the world to obtain these objectives but these are my top reasons for considering the move).
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Old Apr 15th 2019, 8:46 pm
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Default Re: Why did you move to New Zealand?

I came because unknown to me at the time my wife was running away from problems. she is now an ex wife and living back in the UK. I chose to stay. NZ is beautiful and my home. The people who complain about life here would complain about life anywhere and my response is always the same, if you don't like it here, go home.
I don't notice the high cost of living, I earn an average wage and manage to save and travel and have all the toys I need, why others on higher salaries than me can't manage is beyond me. People grumble about poor housing, the answer is simple, don't buy a shitty house without insulation. If you do, don't start moaning to the rest of us about being cold, the choice was yours. My advice is don't let the miserable sods put you off coming . NZ is a great place to live and work.

Last edited by Justcol; Apr 15th 2019 at 8:58 pm.
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Old Apr 15th 2019, 9:42 pm
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Default Re: Why did you move to New Zealand?

Actually, I thought I was giving you good all round quality info about the Nelson/Tasman area. I don't see what is negative at all about that.

Others people's reasons and their own expectations will not be your own. You can gain nothing from that at all.
What you need to decide is what you want from your mid life change of location & where might be the best fit. Then we can help you by giving of our own experiences , opinions and points of view.
For example, you have now learnt that temperatures around NZ are not what you thought and will likely be too hot for you come summer. JustCol should be able to help you with further South and the Dunedin area. He moved from up north to down south.

Not that it in any way helps you or anyone else at all but we emigrated because we could. To try something new and different. My husband is severely dyslexic so being able to communicate and communicate well came into consideration. We both wanted to work and for husband to work in his trade, which he still does, it would be paramount that he could speak and write reasonably comfortably. We had already been to New Zealand - twice. It looked and is as we expected. How could it not be. However, as I have already written, over a long period of time something which may have seemed a good enough fit may no longer be what one wants overall. No different to your pull to move elsewhere.

So. Your go now.
Will you be seeking employment? You may need to go where the work is.
JustCol and I would agree that one needs a bit of care over housing stock and also affordable cost of living to be comfy . Getting that right helps someone settle. What is your budget?
Have you hopes to still travel overseas for holidays? Are you happy enough camping? Do you like hiking ? Do you enjoy small community activities. Are you into conservation?

That sort of stuff really.
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Old Apr 15th 2019, 10:02 pm
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Default Re: Why did you move to New Zealand?

Originally Posted by Justcol
I came because unknown to me at the time my wife was running away from problems. she is now an ex wife and living back in the UK. I chose to stay. NZ is beautiful and my home. The people who complain about life here would complain about life anywhere and my response is always the same, if you don't like it here, go home.
I don't notice the high cost of living, I earn an average wage and manage to save and travel and have all the toys I need, why others on higher salaries than me can't manage is beyond me. People grumble about poor housing, the answer is simple, don't buy a shitty house without insulation. If you do, don't start moaning to the rest of us about being cold, the choice was yours. My advice is don't let the miserable sods put you off coming . NZ is a great place to live and work.
Thank you - appreciate your response. 🙂
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Old Apr 15th 2019, 10:31 pm
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Default Re: Why did you move to New Zealand?

Originally Posted by BEVS
Actually, I thought I was giving you good all round quality info about the Nelson/Tasman area. I don't see what is negative at all about that.

Others people's reasons and their own expectations will not be your own. You can gain nothing from that at all.
What you need to decide is what you want from your mid life change of location & where might be the best fit. Then we can help you by giving of our own experiences , opinions and points of view.
For example, you have now learnt that temperatures around NZ are not what you thought and will likely be too hot for you come summer. JustCol should be able to help you with further South and the Dunedin area. He moved from up north to down south.

Not that it in any way helps you or anyone else at all but we emigrated because we could. To try something new and different. My husband is severely dyslexic so being able to communicate and communicate well came into consideration. We both wanted to work and for husband to work in his trade, which he still does, it would be paramount that he could speak and write reasonably comfortably. We had already been to New Zealand - twice. It looked and is as we expected. How could it not be. However, as I have already written, over a long period of time something which may have seemed a good enough fit may no longer be what one wants overall. No different to your pull to move elsewhere.

So. Your go now.
Will you be seeking employment? You may need to go where the work is.
JustCol and I would agree that one needs a bit of care over housing stock and also affordable cost of living to be comfy . Getting that right helps someone settle. What is your budget?
Have you hopes to still travel overseas for holidays? Are you happy enough camping? Do you like hiking ? Do you enjoy small community activities. Are you into conservation?

That sort of stuff really.
Hiya, I think ours wires are crossed. I didnt mean your reply re Nelson. I was merely highlighting how helpful the contributions were (even ones that don't affect me) apologies if my message seemed that way.

I currently work for the Welsh Government at senior (ish) level so good pay and excellent benefits, i.e 6 weeks leave, Flexi etc. I am also studying part time to become a professional counsellor because whatever path I choose, I don't want to remain as a civil servant for the next 20 years. I also envisaged working less days when the mortgage is paid (house worth approx £250k). My intentions would be rent for a while or until at least we decide the move was right for us. So in essence the rent we gain from our property will contribute to the rent we will pay in NZ.

Not bothered about travelling overseas, if the weather was better here I would happily spend time walking etc in the lakes or Scotland. Love Cornwall too so our holidays would probably consist of exploring NZ or just taking outdoor activity breaks. I grew up in the South Wales valleys where everyone knew everyone. A proper community, however, although we have only moved 15 miles out onto a lovely estate. The friendly community isn't here. We have the odd neighbour who will say hello but everyone keeps themselves private. There isn't a high street as such or options to eat out in nice restaurants unless we drive and I would ideally like to be somewhere where we could walk to such amenities.

We enjoy walking, cycling and he lives for fly fishing... We also enjoy taking the dogs on walks, Brecon Canals etc. I am a proper people's person and love getting involved in activities or helping out those who are in need so would like to meet people most definitely.

​​​​

We have a comfortable lifestyle with no financial worries (not loaded by any means) but have savings etc.

With regards to the weather 😊 Christchurch downwards seem more suited in terms of climate. Although, if my husband couldn't secure a job in the areas mentioned then I guess the move wouldn't happen.

​​​​​​
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Old Apr 15th 2019, 10:47 pm
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Default Re: Why did you move to New Zealand?

You will never find a job down here with anything like the benefits of being a British servant. That level of self preservation and inequality doesn't exist here until you reach government level.
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Old Apr 15th 2019, 11:05 pm
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Default Re: Why did you move to New Zealand?

Originally Posted by Justcol
You will never find a job down here with anything like the benefits of being a British servant. That level of self preservation and inequality doesn't exist here until you reach government level.
Oo. I dunno Col. We know quite a few in the councils up here and they have rather good benefits, rates of pay and the like. Mind you we have heard that civil servant job contracts are changing. Departments are being downsized and streamlined. A job for life may not be so with folks having to re-interview every year - as per DoC staff and some teaching staff. Dept heads are being asked to make cuts. Some staff are being asked to job share and/or go part-time.

What is good though is that many of the district councils are NZ immigration accredited employers. That would mean that they would be fine to offer Rainbow74 employment and something she may wish to explore by cold calling and contact direct. A job offer is a golden egg in NZ immigration terms.
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Old Apr 16th 2019, 7:21 am
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Default Re: Why did you move to New Zealand?

Originally Posted by BEVS
Oo. I dunno Col. We know quite a few in the councils up here and they have rather good benefits, rates of pay and the like. Mind you we have heard that civil servant job contracts are changing. Departments are being downsized and streamlined. A job for life may not be so with folks having to re-interview every year - as per DoC staff and some teaching staff. Dept heads are being asked to make cuts. Some staff are being asked to job share and/or go part-time.

What is good though is that many of the district councils are NZ immigration accredited employers. That would mean that they would be fine to offer Rainbow74 employment and something she may wish to explore by cold calling and contact direct. A job offer is a golden egg in NZ immigration terms.
That's good to know! I hope to get into counselling though, but if the offer is there, I'd be silly not to accept! I have experience in policy development and I note there are a quite a few vacancies around that area. I guess it's something you learn along the way as it isn't exactly the most riveting role, but has its benefits when moving around within public sector (it's all about policy development wherever you live at the end of the day).
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Old Apr 17th 2019, 12:19 am
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Default Re: Why did you move to New Zealand?

We came here on holiday, liked what we saw then decided to give it a go. Fancied an adventure so thought why not? We were young (still are hopefully!) with not much to lose. Happy here, not remotely interested in what the UK has to offer.
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Old Apr 17th 2019, 1:27 am
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Default Re: Why did you move to New Zealand?

I knew nothing about NZ but wanted to move out of Londonas I was ready to start thinking about settling down, and buying a house etc and it seemed impossible in London. My Kiwi partner didn’t want to move to a smaller UK city as he had lived in London for so long. I suggested we try Auckland, his hometown for a year to see how it went. I’d lived in other European countries for short periods so was happy to try . I wasn’t prepared for just how far away it is. ( 18 years later still here)
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Old Apr 17th 2019, 1:30 am
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Default Re: Why did you move to New Zealand?

I had wanted to emigrate for years well about 4 years.
Since I got out the army I got bored of the UK and fancied a adventure if I'm honest.
My wife was proper against moving for years. Then one day I said I'm going.
Started looking at places and choose NZ.
I enjoy NZ but im happy with my own company and not a social person, so it suits me.
I haven't really been round my family since I was 17 and joined the Army. So it was just normal been away for me. If I had children then it would have defo been alot more to consider. But I just got offered a job sorted visas then a few weeks later jumped on a plane with a bag of clothes each for me and my wife.
Done some number crunching and it worked out we were better off living in NZ compared to Essex.
It's very very hard to compare stuff because everything you can think of is different. there is a different way todo everything. people moan about every little thing. It's just NZ has a totally different way of doing everything. you got to embrace the differnce and roll with it or it would drive you nuts. That's why most people will probs end up back in the UK they fight it instead of rolling with it.

Me my wife both enjoy it out here. At the moment there is no plans to go back.
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Old Apr 17th 2019, 9:29 am
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Default Re: Why did you move to New Zealand?

Heard the RNZAF was doing overseas recruiting... said why not... hubby sent the application... here we are. We actually put next to no thought into what we were doing, ha ha!

But we wouldn’t change it! This is home, we have our own house again, second dog, good jobs, amazing friends.

We had had to start again from scratch but it was more than worth it!
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Old Apr 17th 2019, 10:19 am
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Smile Re: Why did you move to New Zealand?

Originally Posted by nikkijane88
Heard the RNZAF was doing overseas recruiting... said why not... hubby sent the application... here we are. We actually put next to no thought into what we were doing, ha ha!

But we wouldn’t change it! This is home, we have our own house again, second dog, good jobs, amazing friends.

We had had to start again from scratch but it was more than worth it!
That's the thing though and starting from scratch when you're in your twenties is very different and you were basically just starting life:-). Different locations can work at different times and every life is different too.
Even people who move within Europe or same country can struggle and then moving to a country with visa requirements in your 40s is a complete different story, especially if you wanted security in life. When you're older it might be the healthcare and then others who moved for better weather suddenly realise they can't get the curtains they want and everything is double the price, or moan about other things.
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Old Apr 17th 2019, 6:29 pm
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Default Re: Why did you move to New Zealand?

Originally Posted by Moses2013
That's the thing though and starting from scratch when you're in your twenties is very different and you were basically just starting life:-). Different locations can work at different times and every life is different too.
Even people who move within Europe or same country can struggle and then moving to a country with visa requirements in your 40s is a complete different story, especially if you wanted security in life. When you're older it might be the healthcare and then others who moved for better weather suddenly realise they can't get the curtains they want and everything is double the price, or moan about other things.
I wouldn’t say we weren’t secure in the UK, I come from an incredibly close family, we owned a house with a dog, had two very secure jobs with a good income. We made a loss on the house, thanks to the government doing the first time buyer scheme, fund our move with one job secured. We knew nobody... well expect some school friends but they are all in Timaru and further south. Easiest bit was one of us moving three months before the other.

I’m not saying we had it hard, but it certainly wasn’t simple... It’s just that it worked for us, probably a big part that helps was the visa we had. We’ve just been very fortunate that our experience has been great and we won’t move back to the UK. I surprised myself the fact I’ve never been home sick, and I guess part of it is just jumping into the culture. What’s the point in moaning? There’s always something that may not be great, but that’s any place or country.

Last edited by nikkijane88; Apr 17th 2019 at 6:32 pm.
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Old Apr 20th 2019, 6:47 am
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Default Re: Why did you move to New Zealand?

Because I love it

Originally moved in 2009 with my then husband and two young girls, he was from Christchurch and after a few holidays there we both decided we'd had enough of Sydney (I'm an aussie and still hate Sydney!!).

We ended up back in oz for reasons I won't go into at the momentbut have wanted to go back for years. I've been back three times to visit since we came back.

Myselfand my younger dsughter (miss 17) movedback earlier this year. She announcedto me sbe wanted to go back, finish school there and go to uni there. You couldn't get me there fast enough

I'm 51 in June, I'm happy here, still love it and no regrets. Stayimg put now!

Michelle
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