British Expats

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-   NZ Update (https://britishexpats.com/forum/nz-update-146/)
-   -   2 Years On! (https://britishexpats.com/forum/nz-update-146/2-years-921674/)

cornflakes_everywhere Feb 1st 2019 10:40 pm

2 Years On!
 
Hi all,

I haven’t posted here in a very long time but thought maybe our experience could help others!

My husband and I left the UK 2 years ago, newly married, with 1 suitcase each and a NZ work visa for one year, with only a hotel booked for 2 weeks.

I found us a modern* Auckland flat with decent rent (although rent prices are still ridiculous) and managed to find and start a job within 3 weeks of arriving. I work in contaminated land/asbestos removal so I didn’t have much an issue finding work. The job is far less stressful than the engineering one I had in the UK and the wages are slightly better. Certainly I’ve had a couple of pay rises whereas I would not have in the UK.

(*as in no damp, no leaks, no lead paint, no asbestos!)

Hubs has changed his job from the original one but still works for the Health Board in a position which would have taken him many years to get to in the NHS, with much less stress, far more wages and way more responsibility. He is much happier and more relaxed than he was in the NHS.

We managed to tour a fair bit of NZ and a few family members have been out to visit. We have really fallen in love with the country and laid-back lifestyle and don’t think we will return to the UK. We now have accredited employer talent work visas which mean we should be able to apply for permanent residency in August this year.

In September 2018 we had a baby girl and life has never been better. We were extremely well cared for by Auckland Hospital and there is loads of support for new parents and young kids here, even though we aren’t residents or citizens. We were entitled to free maternity care with a community midwife due to having work visas for at least 2 years, but we decided to pay for private obstetric care which was extremely reasonable.

Our friends are admittedly mostly British expats (two of my closest friends already lived in NZ before we came out here) but we are also friends with French, Italian, Brazilian and South African expats, as well as some kiwis.

Despite being paid more, money doesn’t go quite as far here, and we are very unable to buy a house despite owning property in the UK. We have it rented out but the rent falls short of our mortgage cost. Eventually we will sell it, I very much doubt we will be able to afford to buy in Auckland so it may be we have to pack up to another part of NZ, still early days yet. Since getting rid of most of our stuff and living with very little for 2 years we are quite minimalistic and enjoy living clutter-free.

We don’t consider ourselves that close to our family and so we haven’t really minded being half the world away. You get out what you put in, we’ve tried to embrace NZ ways as much as we can and we find ourselves very grateful to live in this quirky little country. We haven’t visited the UK the whole time we have been here, but we are planning our first trip back with our daughter in July this year. I’m sure we will enjoy seeing our friends and family for the first time in 2.5 years, but I’m also sure we will be breathing a sigh of relief boarding that Auckland-bound A380 at the end!

Churr NZ for being so good to us!

MrsFychan May 18th 2019 10:44 am

Re: 2 Years On!
 
sounds like you have found a life that works for you and yours.


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