3 months in NZ.....
Mar 29th 2010, 9:20 pm
#1
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 93
3 months in NZ.....
Our family (13 and 11year old) arrived in January this year to North Shore City, Auckland and having read loads of helpful threads while I was processing things I thought I would post how we have found things out here!
We came form Shropshire UK which is a beautiful rural area and have settled in a lovely suburb just north of Auckland. A bit of a change for sure but as cities go the whole coastal thing and greater sense of space means we have settled into city life fine. I made sure we kept coastal, out of the hub and in a quiet spot so all good!
I felt that to settle we needed to have roots so I was lucky enough to sell in the UK and decided to buy rather than rent here. I know it goes against a lot of advice but it has been right for us and gives us a permenant base to make our own. We had never been to NZ before but I did fly out in June for three days to sort schools and a location....mad I know but it worked fine! The children have decorated their rooms and we have done things like the garden and stuff that you wouldn't do in a rental maybe. We feel it is home for sure.
We gave up two long standing secure teaching jobs in the UK and came out without job offers. I have to say this is not for the faint hearted. It does depend on your vocation or in teaching your subject area...along with location but job hunting from the UK is difficult. I cannot blame employers for wanting to "see" you before employing you. We tried agencies but none would take us on as our teaching area is PE which is not actually in short supply like IT, science, maths primary. There are jobs but they do like you to have NZ experience so be prepared to work really hard to worm your way in! We found that the tactic is to physically go to places...not email or send stuff in initially. Put a pack together with references for instances and be forward, enthusiastic and flexible!
Having spent a well prepared day visiting all 22 local schools with our CVs, intro letters and references both my husband and I got relief teaching fairly regularly which pays the bills...make sure you get your salary assessed before leaving or you get paid at unqualified rates (this is separate to NZQA qualification assessement).
From working hard on relief teaching and maybe going beyond the usual strole in supply approach we have both been offered permanent jobs for
term 2. The system here is very much word of mouth and we found lots of jobs were offered whilst being advertising in the Ed Gazette so relying on this can be demoralising...get out there is all I can suggest!
The schools are generally good and the children have found pupils much friendlier...as we have too. If you have the option go up a year not down a year if you are starting mid way (their school year starts in Jan) From a teachers point of view we came from pleasant rural to city school and the behaviour is loads better although teaching practises are behind the UK.The class are smaller, facilities better and they seem to have broader opportunities.
I read loads of posts on cost of living before coming out and had a few wobbles as a consequence....no bad thing to have a reality check though! I tread carefully here but I haven't found it too bad. If I am honest and I can only speak as I have found it.... some things like petrol are much cheaper and some things like Sky is more. In the supermarket NZ fruit/veg is cheaper (loads better quiality) and meat is more...overall I find the bill similar as long as I don't buy familiar stuff brought in from the UK. Move to NZ you should do the NZ way maybe! Household costs and bills are very similar.....some more and some cheaper...Eating out is high but we don't do that!
I tentively suggest that to date we have found "life" overall cheaper. Although we are by Auckland we have found daily "doing" costs less. Entry to some family attractions like the Auckalnd Botanic gardens are all free or to Divisional League sports matches are tiny.....£5/£10 instead of £30++. There have been no or low entry charges to anything we have been to and no parking charges. Nothing for beach parking and so it goes on. The UK has become so expensive in the last few years we have not found the outlay here certainly any worse.
The move is long winded and traumatic in many ways but if you have sensibly thought it through and have been realisitc, prepared well and are a tight family unit...we think it is the best thing we could have done! Our quality of life is certainly better...we were in need of a change and had got into a "chasing your tail" rut. The kids are getting out and about more than the IT apathetic mind set we found in teenagers in th UK...harsh! Life and expectations are less commercial. The enviroment is fantastic and we have to pinch ourselves that we actaully live here now!
We came form Shropshire UK which is a beautiful rural area and have settled in a lovely suburb just north of Auckland. A bit of a change for sure but as cities go the whole coastal thing and greater sense of space means we have settled into city life fine. I made sure we kept coastal, out of the hub and in a quiet spot so all good!
I felt that to settle we needed to have roots so I was lucky enough to sell in the UK and decided to buy rather than rent here. I know it goes against a lot of advice but it has been right for us and gives us a permenant base to make our own. We had never been to NZ before but I did fly out in June for three days to sort schools and a location....mad I know but it worked fine! The children have decorated their rooms and we have done things like the garden and stuff that you wouldn't do in a rental maybe. We feel it is home for sure.
We gave up two long standing secure teaching jobs in the UK and came out without job offers. I have to say this is not for the faint hearted. It does depend on your vocation or in teaching your subject area...along with location but job hunting from the UK is difficult. I cannot blame employers for wanting to "see" you before employing you. We tried agencies but none would take us on as our teaching area is PE which is not actually in short supply like IT, science, maths primary. There are jobs but they do like you to have NZ experience so be prepared to work really hard to worm your way in! We found that the tactic is to physically go to places...not email or send stuff in initially. Put a pack together with references for instances and be forward, enthusiastic and flexible!
Having spent a well prepared day visiting all 22 local schools with our CVs, intro letters and references both my husband and I got relief teaching fairly regularly which pays the bills...make sure you get your salary assessed before leaving or you get paid at unqualified rates (this is separate to NZQA qualification assessement).
From working hard on relief teaching and maybe going beyond the usual strole in supply approach we have both been offered permanent jobs for
term 2. The system here is very much word of mouth and we found lots of jobs were offered whilst being advertising in the Ed Gazette so relying on this can be demoralising...get out there is all I can suggest!
The schools are generally good and the children have found pupils much friendlier...as we have too. If you have the option go up a year not down a year if you are starting mid way (their school year starts in Jan) From a teachers point of view we came from pleasant rural to city school and the behaviour is loads better although teaching practises are behind the UK.The class are smaller, facilities better and they seem to have broader opportunities.
I read loads of posts on cost of living before coming out and had a few wobbles as a consequence....no bad thing to have a reality check though! I tread carefully here but I haven't found it too bad. If I am honest and I can only speak as I have found it.... some things like petrol are much cheaper and some things like Sky is more. In the supermarket NZ fruit/veg is cheaper (loads better quiality) and meat is more...overall I find the bill similar as long as I don't buy familiar stuff brought in from the UK. Move to NZ you should do the NZ way maybe! Household costs and bills are very similar.....some more and some cheaper...Eating out is high but we don't do that!
I tentively suggest that to date we have found "life" overall cheaper. Although we are by Auckland we have found daily "doing" costs less. Entry to some family attractions like the Auckalnd Botanic gardens are all free or to Divisional League sports matches are tiny.....£5/£10 instead of £30++. There have been no or low entry charges to anything we have been to and no parking charges. Nothing for beach parking and so it goes on. The UK has become so expensive in the last few years we have not found the outlay here certainly any worse.
The move is long winded and traumatic in many ways but if you have sensibly thought it through and have been realisitc, prepared well and are a tight family unit...we think it is the best thing we could have done! Our quality of life is certainly better...we were in need of a change and had got into a "chasing your tail" rut. The kids are getting out and about more than the IT apathetic mind set we found in teenagers in th UK...harsh! Life and expectations are less commercial. The enviroment is fantastic and we have to pinch ourselves that we actaully live here now!
Mar 29th 2010, 9:30 pm
#2
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Mar 2009
Location: Rotorua
Posts: 1,627
Re: 3 months in NZ.....
Excellent well balanced and honest post. 
Agree with almost everything you say, we have found that we are better off here than in the UK, no council tax, tv licence, water rates etc....
We have been here 8 months and although we know NZ is not perfect, it very much is for us at the moment!
Agree with almost everything you say, we have found that we are better off here than in the UK, no council tax, tv licence, water rates etc....
We have been here 8 months and although we know NZ is not perfect, it very much is for us at the moment!
Mar 29th 2010, 10:06 pm
#3
Scorchy legs
Joined: Jul 2009
Location: Kapiti coast
Posts: 2,069
Re: 3 months in NZ.....
great post thank you. Always good to read how people are settling in.Dewb
Mar 29th 2010, 10:42 pm
#4
`
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 38,613
Re: 3 months in NZ.....
Thank you for taking the time to make an update. It's always good to know how people are getting on once they have arrived & then once they have been here a fair old while.
.
It's always good to know how people are getting on once they have arrived & then once they have been here a fair old while..
Mar 29th 2010, 11:09 pm
#5
Joined: May 2009
Location: Welly UK to Welly NZ to Welly UK
Posts: 2,227
Re: 3 months in NZ.....
Thank you! its good to hear you are embracing kiwi life and things are working out for you.....best wishes
B x
B x
Mar 30th 2010, 1:07 pm
#6
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 696
Re: 3 months in NZ.....
Great update. I think it is so true about the job situation, but a catch 22 for most people who would not make the move without a job (understandably). Well done you guys for being so brave, sounds like all your hard work and tenacity has paid off.
Mar 30th 2010, 1:27 pm
#7
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2010
Location: Manchester-Auckland-Anglesey- soon to be Manchester. yay.
Posts: 99
Re: 3 months in NZ.....
lovely thread, so nice to read, and wishing you well. sue x
Mar 30th 2010, 1:39 pm
#8
BE Enthusiast
Joined: May 2009
Location: Scotland
Posts: 483
Re: 3 months in NZ.....
Glad things are working out for you and you are happy with your new life
Angela
Angela
Mar 30th 2010, 3:41 pm
#9
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2010
Location: Manchester UK
Posts: 15
Re: 3 months in NZ.....
Great to hear your update and it is very helpful... we are looking to move to NZ maybe for the same reasons as you... better environment for our boys now and in the future... it was encouraging to hear how they have settled and to hear that there are places in the world where children are friendly and not connected to some electronic gadget 24/7!! Thank you
Mar 30th 2010, 4:18 pm
#10
Just Joined
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 18
Re: 3 months in NZ.....
Sounds wonderful Just makes us sad that were still waiting for job related paperwork. But confident our day will come , Just not soon enough Good Luck Mx
Just makes us sad that were still waiting for job related paperwork. But confident our day will come , Just not soon enough Good Luck Mx
Apr 1st 2010, 9:26 am
#11
appreciate life
Joined: Jul 2009
Location: Papamoa New Zealand and loving it so far.
Posts: 678
Re: 3 months in NZ.....
long may the happy days continue 
Tina. x
Apr 2nd 2010, 8:33 pm
#12
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2008
Location: New Plymouth
Posts: 344
Re: 3 months in NZ.....
What a great thread, its so nice to see a postive thread here on BE! We have been here for 5 months and are loving it. We are finding it the same as you, cheaper on the whole and when food shopping hunt out the bargins!
Wishing you all the best here in NZ
Wishing you all the best here in NZ
Apr 2nd 2010, 9:25 pm
#13
Democracy advocate
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 12,460
Re: 3 months in NZ.....
Our family (13 and 11year old) arrived in January this year to North Shore City, Auckland and having read loads of helpful threads while I was processing things I thought I would post how we have found things out here!
We came form Shropshire UK which is a beautiful rural area and have settled in a lovely suburb just north of Auckland. A bit of a change for sure but as cities go the whole coastal thing and greater sense of space means we have settled into city life fine. I made sure we kept coastal, out of the hub and in a quiet spot so all good!
I felt that to settle we needed to have roots so I was lucky enough to sell in the UK and decided to buy rather than rent here. I know it goes against a lot of advice but it has been right for us and gives us a permenant base to make our own. We had never been to NZ before but I did fly out in June for three days to sort schools and a location....mad I know but it worked fine! The children have decorated their rooms and we have done things like the garden and stuff that you wouldn't do in a rental maybe. We feel it is home for sure.
We gave up two long standing secure teaching jobs in the UK and came out without job offers. I have to say this is not for the faint hearted. It does depend on your vocation or in teaching your subject area...along with location but job hunting from the UK is difficult. I cannot blame employers for wanting to "see" you before employing you. We tried agencies but none would take us on as our teaching area is PE which is not actually in short supply like IT, science, maths primary. There are jobs but they do like you to have NZ experience so be prepared to work really hard to worm your way in! We found that the tactic is to physically go to places...not email or send stuff in initially. Put a pack together with references for instances and be forward, enthusiastic and flexible!
Having spent a well prepared day visiting all 22 local schools with our CVs, intro letters and references both my husband and I got relief teaching fairly regularly which pays the bills...make sure you get your salary assessed before leaving or you get paid at unqualified rates (this is separate to NZQA qualification assessement).
From working hard on relief teaching and maybe going beyond the usual strole in supply approach we have both been offered permanent jobs for
term 2. The system here is very much word of mouth and we found lots of jobs were offered whilst being advertising in the Ed Gazette so relying on this can be demoralising...get out there is all I can suggest!
The schools are generally good and the children have found pupils much friendlier...as we have too. If you have the option go up a year not down a year if you are starting mid way (their school year starts in Jan) From a teachers point of view we came from pleasant rural to city school and the behaviour is loads better although teaching practises are behind the UK.The class are smaller, facilities better and they seem to have broader opportunities.
I read loads of posts on cost of living before coming out and had a few wobbles as a consequence....no bad thing to have a reality check though! I tread carefully here but I haven't found it too bad. If I am honest and I can only speak as I have found it.... some things like petrol are much cheaper and some things like Sky is more. In the supermarket NZ fruit/veg is cheaper (loads better quiality) and meat is more...overall I find the bill similar as long as I don't buy familiar stuff brought in from the UK. Move to NZ you should do the NZ way maybe! Household costs and bills are very similar.....some more and some cheaper...Eating out is high but we don't do that!
I tentively suggest that to date we have found "life" overall cheaper. Although we are by Auckland we have found daily "doing" costs less. Entry to some family attractions like the Auckalnd Botanic gardens are all free or to Divisional League sports matches are tiny.....£5/£10 instead of £30++. There have been no or low entry charges to anything we have been to and no parking charges. Nothing for beach parking and so it goes on. The UK has become so expensive in the last few years we have not found the outlay here certainly any worse.
The move is long winded and traumatic in many ways but if you have sensibly thought it through and have been realisitc, prepared well and are a tight family unit...we think it is the best thing we could have done! Our quality of life is certainly better...we were in need of a change and had got into a "chasing your tail" rut. The kids are getting out and about more than the IT apathetic mind set we found in teenagers in th UK...harsh! Life and expectations are less commercial. The enviroment is fantastic and we have to pinch ourselves that we actaully live here now!
We came form Shropshire UK which is a beautiful rural area and have settled in a lovely suburb just north of Auckland. A bit of a change for sure but as cities go the whole coastal thing and greater sense of space means we have settled into city life fine. I made sure we kept coastal, out of the hub and in a quiet spot so all good!
I felt that to settle we needed to have roots so I was lucky enough to sell in the UK and decided to buy rather than rent here. I know it goes against a lot of advice but it has been right for us and gives us a permenant base to make our own. We had never been to NZ before but I did fly out in June for three days to sort schools and a location....mad I know but it worked fine! The children have decorated their rooms and we have done things like the garden and stuff that you wouldn't do in a rental maybe. We feel it is home for sure.
We gave up two long standing secure teaching jobs in the UK and came out without job offers. I have to say this is not for the faint hearted. It does depend on your vocation or in teaching your subject area...along with location but job hunting from the UK is difficult. I cannot blame employers for wanting to "see" you before employing you. We tried agencies but none would take us on as our teaching area is PE which is not actually in short supply like IT, science, maths primary. There are jobs but they do like you to have NZ experience so be prepared to work really hard to worm your way in! We found that the tactic is to physically go to places...not email or send stuff in initially. Put a pack together with references for instances and be forward, enthusiastic and flexible!
Having spent a well prepared day visiting all 22 local schools with our CVs, intro letters and references both my husband and I got relief teaching fairly regularly which pays the bills...make sure you get your salary assessed before leaving or you get paid at unqualified rates (this is separate to NZQA qualification assessement).
From working hard on relief teaching and maybe going beyond the usual strole in supply approach we have both been offered permanent jobs for
term 2. The system here is very much word of mouth and we found lots of jobs were offered whilst being advertising in the Ed Gazette so relying on this can be demoralising...get out there is all I can suggest!
The schools are generally good and the children have found pupils much friendlier...as we have too. If you have the option go up a year not down a year if you are starting mid way (their school year starts in Jan) From a teachers point of view we came from pleasant rural to city school and the behaviour is loads better although teaching practises are behind the UK.The class are smaller, facilities better and they seem to have broader opportunities.
I read loads of posts on cost of living before coming out and had a few wobbles as a consequence....no bad thing to have a reality check though! I tread carefully here but I haven't found it too bad. If I am honest and I can only speak as I have found it.... some things like petrol are much cheaper and some things like Sky is more. In the supermarket NZ fruit/veg is cheaper (loads better quiality) and meat is more...overall I find the bill similar as long as I don't buy familiar stuff brought in from the UK. Move to NZ you should do the NZ way maybe! Household costs and bills are very similar.....some more and some cheaper...Eating out is high but we don't do that!
I tentively suggest that to date we have found "life" overall cheaper. Although we are by Auckland we have found daily "doing" costs less. Entry to some family attractions like the Auckalnd Botanic gardens are all free or to Divisional League sports matches are tiny.....£5/£10 instead of £30++. There have been no or low entry charges to anything we have been to and no parking charges. Nothing for beach parking and so it goes on. The UK has become so expensive in the last few years we have not found the outlay here certainly any worse.
The move is long winded and traumatic in many ways but if you have sensibly thought it through and have been realisitc, prepared well and are a tight family unit...we think it is the best thing we could have done! Our quality of life is certainly better...we were in need of a change and had got into a "chasing your tail" rut. The kids are getting out and about more than the IT apathetic mind set we found in teenagers in th UK...harsh! Life and expectations are less commercial. The enviroment is fantastic and we have to pinch ourselves that we actaully live here now!
This isn't a criticism by the way, I just find it interesting what motivates people to want to move somewhere they have never been and have no relationship with, when their situation in the UK seemed pretty perfectly good.
Apr 2nd 2010, 9:26 pm
#14
Forum Regular
Joined: Mar 2008
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 64
Re: 3 months in NZ.....
Excellent informative update. Thank you. Glad everything has worked out well for you.
Apr 2nd 2010, 10:16 pm
#15
Forum Regular
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 93
Re: 3 months in NZ.....
Hi Cape Blue...no quick answer I'm afraid but I will touch on the key things!
A fair question and one that I asked myself lots early on in discussions....that carried on in the back ground for several years if I am honest!! You are right we lived in a fantstic place scenically, schools pretty reasonable, secure jobs, kids seemed pretty happy......but we wern't REALLY happy and asked lots of questions, feeling there should be more than just existing in a routine way, in an enviroment we knew very well....same job for 20+ year etc. Fussy I know and a lot of people thought we were mad and that we should accept our lot in life.
I many ways I would say it was driven by our experiences as teachers of 11 to 19 year olds and therefore with society, our next generation and direction that the UK is going.
A feeling that there is more out there to life than the rut we had found ourselves in and we never wnated to grow old and say we should have tried another direction in life. To be honest we are one of those people that just says "give it a go" and I do believe that it does not have to be the final act. If it doesn't work for any of us after two years we move on. It is not the end. I know a lot of people thought it was irreversible. We don't see that. It may use up money etc but there is always alternatives if you are resourceful.
So therefore our attitude was to throw everything at it, be adaptable, work hard and be realistc....its an adventure!
We felt society is not supportive of children that want to achieve, excell maybe or just be proactive in life. We had seen a massive change over the last 20 years from teaching enthusiastic students, who if you put the effort in as a teacher, reposnded and went with you with keen participation. Now we have studnets who just can't be bothered. Want to just sit there and be talked at rather than contribute, question etc. It is not all studnets by any means as there are some real gems BUT it is the balance and majority of the class. This is combined with the drive for an education sytem that rewards children who just accept, reproduce knowledge rather than seek answers out and develop a genuine interest. It really is an exam factory of education rather than one that inspires the next generation. We saw our children excelling without actually being really engaged or realising their potental....not a good outlook for life skills. We found their friends, who were lovely in many ways, were happy to sit around surrounded by their IT gadgets. No real interest to do anything and if it did it involved large scale money!
It is hard to encourage values that we hold dear in this enviroment and we obviously want our children to be happy and fit in so we deceided on a whole sale change! It nothing else we thought it would open their eyes that there are options in life! They have been fantastic, we included them in all our plans and here we are.....
I did research things very well and sealed this with a 3 day flying visit without the family in June when our application went in to check the area and school we had chosen BUT we have been very lucky. I think a lot of it is attitude and perseverance ...you can't give up when things get tough. You have to expect that any other country is not going to be utopia but different. We have found this refreshing. NZ to us seems to have much more common sense, be less commercial, more family orinentated, cheaper with regard to doing family things, beautiful, less threatening although this depends were you are but I basing this on London and leafy rural teaching/living. They are more laid back in their approach, less demanding but there is a desire to do well...they are not lazy...there is a definite difference between relaxed and lazy. They are active, love their country and wish to experience it and FAR more friendly...without exception in our case.
The children were achieving before and I thought happy but it is only now I realise this was not really the case. They are SO much happier here and love the increased opportunities avaliable to them. Maybe it will not last but as yet things are improving as time goes on so I suspect we are here long term!
I listen to the news back in the UK and how things are panning out and I know we did the right thing...for now at least
A fair question and one that I asked myself lots early on in discussions....that carried on in the back ground for several years if I am honest!! You are right we lived in a fantstic place scenically, schools pretty reasonable, secure jobs, kids seemed pretty happy......but we wern't REALLY happy and asked lots of questions, feeling there should be more than just existing in a routine way, in an enviroment we knew very well....same job for 20+ year etc. Fussy I know and a lot of people thought we were mad and that we should accept our lot in life.
I many ways I would say it was driven by our experiences as teachers of 11 to 19 year olds and therefore with society, our next generation and direction that the UK is going.
A feeling that there is more out there to life than the rut we had found ourselves in and we never wnated to grow old and say we should have tried another direction in life. To be honest we are one of those people that just says "give it a go" and I do believe that it does not have to be the final act. If it doesn't work for any of us after two years we move on. It is not the end. I know a lot of people thought it was irreversible. We don't see that. It may use up money etc but there is always alternatives if you are resourceful.
So therefore our attitude was to throw everything at it, be adaptable, work hard and be realistc....its an adventure!
We felt society is not supportive of children that want to achieve, excell maybe or just be proactive in life. We had seen a massive change over the last 20 years from teaching enthusiastic students, who if you put the effort in as a teacher, reposnded and went with you with keen participation. Now we have studnets who just can't be bothered. Want to just sit there and be talked at rather than contribute, question etc. It is not all studnets by any means as there are some real gems BUT it is the balance and majority of the class. This is combined with the drive for an education sytem that rewards children who just accept, reproduce knowledge rather than seek answers out and develop a genuine interest. It really is an exam factory of education rather than one that inspires the next generation. We saw our children excelling without actually being really engaged or realising their potental....not a good outlook for life skills. We found their friends, who were lovely in many ways, were happy to sit around surrounded by their IT gadgets. No real interest to do anything and if it did it involved large scale money!
It is hard to encourage values that we hold dear in this enviroment and we obviously want our children to be happy and fit in so we deceided on a whole sale change! It nothing else we thought it would open their eyes that there are options in life! They have been fantastic, we included them in all our plans and here we are.....
I did research things very well and sealed this with a 3 day flying visit without the family in June when our application went in to check the area and school we had chosen BUT we have been very lucky. I think a lot of it is attitude and perseverance ...you can't give up when things get tough. You have to expect that any other country is not going to be utopia but different. We have found this refreshing. NZ to us seems to have much more common sense, be less commercial, more family orinentated, cheaper with regard to doing family things, beautiful, less threatening although this depends were you are but I basing this on London and leafy rural teaching/living. They are more laid back in their approach, less demanding but there is a desire to do well...they are not lazy...there is a definite difference between relaxed and lazy. They are active, love their country and wish to experience it and FAR more friendly...without exception in our case.
The children were achieving before and I thought happy but it is only now I realise this was not really the case. They are SO much happier here and love the increased opportunities avaliable to them. Maybe it will not last but as yet things are improving as time goes on so I suspect we are here long term!
I listen to the news back in the UK and how things are panning out and I know we did the right thing...for now at least