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Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

Old Jan 25th 2006, 1:22 am
  #61  
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Default Re: Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

I've been away from Britain for so long now that I'm begining to forget what it's like .

I think I know what you mean about "attitude" though. It's a subtle thing, people in the UK have to be more more pushy, assertive, "in your face" even. I felt a bit like that when I first got here and very quickly became a lot more relaxed and warmer with people.

Is that what they call taking-on the Kiwi's laid back attitude to life?
 
Old Jan 25th 2006, 7:15 am
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Default Re: Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

Lenmil, I hope it works out for you this time, but do you not think you are looking at the grass is greener syndrome the same as you did when in NZ about the UK.

We go through moments of missing NZ, especially the weather at this time of year, but we have to take a step back and think about the hard times, the cold mornings in the Winter, and all the wee niggly things.

You may be pissed at the Uk but the whole place aint like that...

TBH even if we wanted to go back we cant, no dosh so sometimes you have to look at your life and think can I change it or do I have to move countries to do that.

ps Lenmil remember you arent working this now plus its shity January things will look up once you start working and Spring arrives. Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Last edited by scottish; Jan 25th 2006 at 7:28 am.
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Old Jan 25th 2006, 1:57 pm
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Default Re: Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

Originally Posted by scottish
Lenmil, I hope it works out for you this time, but do you not think you are looking at the grass is greener syndrome the same as you did when in NZ about the UK.

We go through moments of missing NZ, especially the weather at this time of year, but we have to take a step back and think about the hard times, the cold mornings in the Winter, and all the wee niggly things.

You may be pissed at the Uk but the whole place aint like that...

TBH even if we wanted to go back we cant, no dosh so sometimes you have to look at your life and think can I change it or do I have to move countries to do that.

ps Lenmil remember you arent working this now plus its shity January things will look up once you start working and Spring arrives. Good luck whatever you decide to do.
Hi Scottish thanks for your reply and nice to hear from you too. I know what you are saying and we think that too. But things are just not getting any better for us at all. Family support has been nothing but a slap in the face. We seem to be punished for trying to get better lives for us and our 2 boys. I guess we do feel like we have no family (maybe we never did). And other family members are using our situation to their advantage, it's like watching those old black and white movies about the evil sister/brother trying to get you cut out of the will etc. Shocking is an understament, i could write a book on our experiences but most would probably not belive it. I guess we are at a very low ebb, in fact we are, but we still miss NZ and it won't go away. If we go back it will have to be this year otherwise that's it for good. Both my boys want to go back most of the time as the say they had more of a life there. True as that is i am also under no illusion that their futre there may not be for them. But there is also Oz for them i guess. Who knows? Any way thanks for your advice and thoughts ( always welcome from you ) keep in touch, Len.
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Old Jan 26th 2006, 7:40 am
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Default Re: Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

Families eh!! Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Are you going back to CHCH or perhaps try somewhere different.
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Old Jan 26th 2006, 9:42 am
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Default Re: Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

Originally Posted by scottish
Families eh!! Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Are you going back to CHCH or perhaps try somewhere different.
We keep looking at different possibilites. Canada or Australia and sometimes Spain. It's just we keep getting in a loop of what to do or not to do. Would you go back if you had the money? if you don't mind me asking that is. The only thing we have now is our house and that was one of the reasons we came back because it would not sell. But at the end of the day we are just not happy here at all. Guess we are going through the ping pong pom thing. Thinking of starting a business agian if i get no joy at a job. I ran my own business (Goldsmith) with the wife for nearly 20 years, so we may do that. Thing is our trade here is stuffed. Many friends i know in the trade have got out and are getting out and moving abroad. I found my skills are in more demand in Oz and NZ than here. Just another hand skilled trade that is dying out. Try this link to see the kind of stuff i can do. This is just some old pictures i played about with while bored, tell me what you think of it. Go to
http://www.photodex.com/sharing/memberbrowsego.html and type in lenmil. You do need too have broad band though. Oh and have the sound on as the music is done by a mate who is a fantasic musician.

Last edited by Lenmil; Jan 26th 2006 at 9:48 am.
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Old Jan 28th 2006, 4:09 pm
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Default Re: Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

Hi Len, not had a chance to look at your link yet but wil have a look on Monday when I get back to work.

In answer to your question if we had the money would we go back......... The answer would be NO. We have thought about the what ifs etc and tbh what we miss we may never get back again. Also teh line of work I am in I would struggle to get into in NZ. i ended up packing shelves for a living just to make ends meet. Totally brain dead. Met some nice folk mind you.

I also wouldnt put my dog through the flight again and we wouldnt leave him.

NZ was never our first choice but it was easy to get into and we fell for the stories re cheap living etc. If I had to go back to 2 yrs ago, knowing what I know now, I would have went for Canada.

What we miss about NZ: Kiwi mates, living at the beach, ex social life and long hot summer days.

What I dont miss: poor wages, being short of money, hubby having to forget his skills adn work teh Kiwi way and we met alot of users. I think when you are so far away from home you will put yourself out more for people and unforuntaly some folks are only out for themselves.
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Old Jan 28th 2006, 5:31 pm
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Default Re: Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

Originally Posted by scottish
Hi Len, not had a chance to look at your link yet but wil have a look on Monday when I get back to work.

In answer to your question if we had the money would we go back......... The answer would be NO. We have thought about the what ifs etc and tbh what we miss we may never get back again. Also teh line of work I am in I would struggle to get into in NZ. i ended up packing shelves for a living just to make ends meet. Totally brain dead. Met some nice folk mind you.

I also wouldnt put my dog through the flight again and we wouldnt leave him.

NZ was never our first choice but it was easy to get into and we fell for the stories re cheap living etc. If I had to go back to 2 yrs ago, knowing what I know now, I would have went for Canada.

What we miss about NZ: Kiwi mates, living at the beach, ex social life and long hot summer days.

What I dont miss: poor wages, being short of money, hubby having to forget his skills adn work teh Kiwi way and we met alot of users. I think when you are so far away from home you will put yourself out more for people and unforuntaly some folks are only out for themselves.
Hey thanks for your reply. Funnily enough most of wht you say is the same for us too. We did want to try Cananda as i have family there and lived there as a kid. But i had too many bad experiences with Canadian jewellers who were just trying to rip you off or scared of your abilities. Jewellers/goldsmiths (i am both) do tend to have the "i am the best in the world" mentality and if you are more experienced then its your bad luck as i found out. The best treatment to date i have had from a prospective employer was froma small company in Anchorage, Alaska. They offered to pay for my flight (we settled for accomodation as the family all came too) and they treated us like film stars and offered me the job after i had to sit a bench test (to see how good or bad you are) and said, "what will it take to get ya" i can offer you this that etc etc. Even sponsored me. Gobsmacked to say the least. but alas it all whent pear shaped due to the 9/11. My visa application was turned down, then we got a Californian lawer to help. I managed to get a BFA in jewellery design accredited in New York, but still no good. Denied, a word that will never leave me. It cost us and the company a few thousand dollars, but they thought i was worth it. Now try and get the same in Canada, no way.
I still like Canada though, and if i had the chance i may go for it, but that will be another day. On another note have you not considered Oz? All i heard at work was how good Oz is etc. People seem to struggle there but not as bad as NZ. Anyway thanks for taking the time to type. Best of luck to you all. Len.
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Old Jan 28th 2006, 7:37 pm
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Wink Re: Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

Originally Posted by Albion
The roads are terrible in some places and road signing is pretty absymal.
Have you been back to the UK lately? I keep reading the kiwi motorcycle magazine's bleating about the condition of the roads out here. Yes there's gravel and overbanding but nothing like the pot-holed oil covered congested excuse for roads back in Britain.

Anyway, I love this country. It's still a land of opportunity. I arrived 4 months ago with nothing (actually, less than nothing if I count the student loan and credit cards). There's no way I could have opened a business and have a high street shop in the UK for a mere 2500 GBP.

With the exchange rate being abysmal and house prices yet to fall (I'm sure they will ) I guess it's not all rosy for ex-pats expecting to sell their council house in Essex for a 10 acre lifestyle block in Auckland overlooking the Pacific.
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Old Jan 28th 2006, 8:41 pm
  #69  
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Default Re: Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

Originally Posted by scracha
Have you been back to the UK lately? I keep reading the kiwi motorcycle magazine's bleating about the condition of the roads out here. Yes there's gravel and overbanding but nothing like the pot-holed oil covered congested excuse for roads back in Britain.

Anyway, I love this country. It's still a land of opportunity. I arrived 4 months ago with nothing (actually, less than nothing if I count the student loan and credit cards). There's no way I could have opened a business and have a high street shop in the UK for a mere 2500 GBP.

With the exchange rate being abysmal and house prices yet to fall (I'm sure they will ) I guess it's not all rosy for ex-pats expecting to sell their council house in Essex for a 10 acre lifestyle block in Auckland overlooking the Pacific.
What business have you got Scracha?
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Old Jan 29th 2006, 2:21 pm
  #70  
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Default Re: Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

Originally Posted by shortfatbloke
Firstly, let me explain that the following post is my own opinion (humble or otherwise) and follows a three week trip to New Zealand between the 25th December 2005 and 13th January this year.

I am a project manager and my wife is a health professional. We live with our two young sons in Gloucestershire and are comfortably off (but by no means well off). We visited NZ with the express purpose of seeing what NZ had to offer us and the boys with a view to getting away from our stressful lives in this country and creating a new life for ourselves.

We landed on Christmas day and spent the first two days in Akl and then toured over North Island in a motorhome for three weeks – we visited the Coromandel, Rotorua, Taupo, Napier, Wellington, Whangerei, Doubtless Bay, Paihia, Russell and Orewa pretty much in that order. As I went round I made some notes, kept the receipts and tried to keep and open mind.

Auckland
Thought we had a hotel in the Chinese quarter of Akl but discovered later that the whole of central Akl is like that. Hotel in the CBD (The New President) was scruffy but had all the amenities that we needed (kitchen c/w microwave and washing machine and tumble dryer) and was well located, 100m from the Sky Tower. Had the worst ever Caesar salad in the café at the base of the Sky Tower. Had quite a nice meal in the rotating restaurant but was faced with a $190 bill (including 15% surcharge for bank holidays). Did the tourist thing and went on the bus through Ponsonby, Newmarket and Parnell and did some shopping in the Boxing Day sales.

Cars and Roads
Roads in NZ at their best are the equivalent to a UK single lane A road. NZers love their cars, there are so many examples of souped up cars on the road, from lovingly done up Ford Anglias and Cortinas, complete with chrome wheels, to full blown WRC touring car replicas. NZ has probably cornered the market in 2” exhaust pipes as every other car has one. Given the road conditions and the powerful cars it is a sad but unsurprising statistic that 19 people died on NZ’s roads during the holiday period.

Campsites
The most disappointing thing for a country that relies so heavily on tourism was the standards of the campsites that we visited. Most of the sites seemed to be located in he worst areas of town – Napier had to be the worst example with one site advertised as for motorhomes only being no more than a set up in a field, another being between the main road and the railway line and the last one (where we had booked into as it was next to the ‘beach’) was just full of NZ’s answer to trailer trash. Consequently, we had filled up, dumped and left within a couple of hours and spent New Year 2006 in a picnic area on the 40th degree of latitude.

Countryside
Beautiful, absolutely stunning mountains, hills, coast, the works. The fields and meadows were absolutely lush and green. Varies from rolling Devon hills to moon surface to alpine mountains in a very short space.

Towns
Interior – The majority of the towns we passed through were 1950’s bible-belt USA in style and architecture - not particularly attractive but probably very functional.

Coast – Lots of fairly small lots with little or no garden built on top of each other. No consideration to planning, style or architecture.

Saw a few nice towns, Taupo, Cambridge and Russell spring to mind. Russell is very much Key West meets Cowes type of place and is very pretty. Although I did not expect all of NZ to look like Russell, I did expect some of it to.

Housing
A lot of the houses have a very temporary look to them. We did some price comparisons and decided that any idea of moving out to NZ and getting rid of the mortgage would be a pipe dream. House prices in NZ are getting close to those in the UK.

Cost of Living
Fuel (diesel) is very cheap (99c per litre). Didn’t find any supermarkets to match up to the UK ones (Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s etc.) for quality and range but New World and Woolworths were the closest. Cost of groceries is comparable to UK – which was a real disappointment. Meat and veg are cheaper but toiletries etc are more expensive.

Whilst New Zealand is an indescribably beautiful country, we both felt that there was not enough to tempt us away from the UK. The lack of decent restaurants and culture left us feeling that there is no real depth to the country and the state of the towns and inhabited areas left us feeling that is a great shame that things are in the shape they're in.

It was disappointing to leave the country with a feeling that we had spent an awful lot of money on a wasted trip but we came away knowing that NZ is not for us.
Good call.... i share a lot of your observations.... i would add that you might find the cost of the supermarkets unrealistically low because you were travelling on your £s..... if you are earning $s its much more expensive (comparatively)...

Ive had 6 months in NZ and am now booking our flights back to the uk... i could never live in NZ again....for the same reasons you mentioned.
 
Old Jan 29th 2006, 2:23 pm
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Default Re: Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

Originally Posted by scracha
Have you been back to the UK lately? I keep reading the kiwi motorcycle magazine's bleating about the condition of the roads out here. Yes there's gravel and overbanding but nothing like the pot-holed oil covered congested excuse for roads back in Britain.

Anyway, I love this country. It's still a land of opportunity. I arrived 4 months ago with nothing (actually, less than nothing if I count the student loan and credit cards). There's no way I could have opened a business and have a high street shop in the UK for a mere 2500 GBP.

With the exchange rate being abysmal and house prices yet to fall (I'm sure they will ) I guess it's not all rosy for ex-pats expecting to sell their council house in Essex for a 10 acre lifestyle block in Auckland overlooking the Pacific.
cheap retail units are normally cheap for a reason. footfall? most high streets in nz are moribund due to the subarban mall trend.
 
Old Jan 29th 2006, 8:07 pm
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Default Re: Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

Originally Posted by sky
What business have you got Scracha?
Computer repairs and training, only been doing it for a couple of months and the actual "shop front" open next week. I had no intention of doing so but I've gotta earn a living. Girlfriend and I like living in the sticks but the downside is that for decent programming work I'd have to go to Hamilton or further afield. I couldn't go teaching in the local high schools either as NZQA [1] are seriously dragging their heals getting my qualifications certified. I find this hilarious when there's adverts all over the TV implicating that they're crying out for teachers.

[1] They must be THE most pedantic bunch of @#nkers I've ever dealt with. NZIS are superb by comparison.
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Old Jan 31st 2006, 7:41 am
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Question Re: Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

I was interested in your observations as I am also a project manager currently in South Africa busy with the process of trying to get out of South Africa and gain entry into New Zealand due to the prevailing legal discrimation in SA . Having been abroad for sometime I think as a Brit you become actimatised to different standards and therefore become more tolerant of the differences. Any how I would be interested to know in what field of work you are in . My speciality is Information and communications Technology where I am both a Professional Engineer and project manager. Were you able to assess the job situation first hand or was it just a holiday? What was your impression of the PM opportunities?

Originally Posted by shortfatbloke
Firstly, let me explain that the following post is my own opinion (humble or otherwise) and follows a three week trip to New Zealand between the 25th December 2005 and 13th January this year.

I am a project manager and my wife is a health professional. We live with our two young sons in Gloucestershire and are comfortably off (but by no means well off). We visited NZ with the express purpose of seeing what NZ had to offer us and the boys with a view to getting away from our stressful lives in this country and creating a new life for ourselves.

We landed on Christmas day and spent the first two days in Akl and then toured over North Island in a motorhome for three weeks – we visited the Coromandel, Rotorua, Taupo, Napier, Wellington, Whangerei, Doubtless Bay, Paihia, Russell and Orewa pretty much in that order. As I went round I made some notes, kept the receipts and tried to keep and open mind.

Auckland
Thought we had a hotel in the Chinese quarter of Akl but discovered later that the whole of central Akl is like that. Hotel in the CBD (The New President) was scruffy but had all the amenities that we needed (kitchen c/w microwave and washing machine and tumble dryer) and was well located, 100m from the Sky Tower. Had the worst ever Caesar salad in the café at the base of the Sky Tower. Had quite a nice meal in the rotating restaurant but was faced with a $190 bill (including 15% surcharge for bank holidays). Did the tourist thing and went on the bus through Ponsonby, Newmarket and Parnell and did some shopping in the Boxing Day sales.

Cars and Roads
Roads in NZ at their best are the equivalent to a UK single lane A road. NZers love their cars, there are so many examples of souped up cars on the road, from lovingly done up Ford Anglias and Cortinas, complete with chrome wheels, to full blown WRC touring car replicas. NZ has probably cornered the market in 2” exhaust pipes as every other car has one. Given the road conditions and the powerful cars it is a sad but unsurprising statistic that 19 people died on NZ’s roads during the holiday period.

Campsites
The most disappointing thing for a country that relies so heavily on tourism was the standards of the campsites that we visited. Most of the sites seemed to be located in he worst areas of town – Napier had to be the worst example with one site advertised as for motorhomes only being no more than a set up in a field, another being between the main road and the railway line and the last one (where we had booked into as it was next to the ‘beach’) was just full of NZ’s answer to trailer trash. Consequently, we had filled up, dumped and left within a couple of hours and spent New Year 2006 in a picnic area on the 40th degree of latitude.

Countryside
Beautiful, absolutely stunning mountains, hills, coast, the works. The fields and meadows were absolutely lush and green. Varies from rolling Devon hills to moon surface to alpine mountains in a very short space.

Towns
Interior – The majority of the towns we passed through were 1950’s bible-belt USA in style and architecture - not particularly attractive but probably very functional.

Coast – Lots of fairly small lots with little or no garden built on top of each other. No consideration to planning, style or architecture.

Saw a few nice towns, Taupo, Cambridge and Russell spring to mind. Russell is very much Key West meets Cowes type of place and is very pretty. Although I did not expect all of NZ to look like Russell, I did expect some of it to.

Housing
A lot of the houses have a very temporary look to them. We did some price comparisons and decided that any idea of moving out to NZ and getting rid of the mortgage would be a pipe dream. House prices in NZ are getting close to those in the UK.

Cost of Living
Fuel (diesel) is very cheap (99c per litre). Didn’t find any supermarkets to match up to the UK ones (Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s etc.) for quality and range but New World and Woolworths were the closest. Cost of groceries is comparable to UK – which was a real disappointment. Meat and veg are cheaper but toiletries etc are more expensive.

Whilst New Zealand is an indescribably beautiful country, we both felt that there was not enough to tempt us away from the UK. The lack of decent restaurants and culture left us feeling that there is no real depth to the country and the state of the towns and inhabited areas left us feeling that is a great shame that things are in the shape they're in.

It was disappointing to leave the country with a feeling that we had spent an awful lot of money on a wasted trip but we came away knowing that NZ is not for us.
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Old Jan 31st 2006, 7:53 am
  #74  
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Default Re: Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

Was your question aimed at me or ShortFatBloke (whom you quoted at length again) ?
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Old Jan 31st 2006, 8:29 am
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Default Re: Why we won't be emigrating to New Zealand

Mainly the original author but if you have any comments I would be interested to hear them

Originally Posted by scracha
Was your question aimed at me or ShortFatBloke (whom you quoted at length again) ?
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