Brits thinking of moving from New Zealand to Sarasota

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Apr 22nd 2020, 11:51 pm

#31

carcajou

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Joined: Jan 2017

Posts: 2,900

Re: Brits thinking of moving from New Zealand to Sarasota

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mozi123

Thanks for your reply. Some really interesting points. We are happy to swap the mountains for the beach (hence Florida) but after further investigation am really put off with the US looking at crime statistics. We are also looking at Perth (WA) & Brisbane Australia. Queenstown is amazingly beautiful, but cold & isolated & yes the tourist town is also very expensive to live. Uk would make more sense but the lifestyle is poor compared to what we have got used to her win New Zealand.

While I agree with the others that the US crime statistics are markedly overblown, I think your decision to give Queensland or WA a go makes perfect sense. Both will provide you with a very different change of pace and landscape, and as (presumably) New Zealand Citizens you can just pick up and go there whenever you feel like, with no visas or paperwork, once the borders open.

Should be fairly simple to do a recce there as well. Who knows what will happen to flight schedules when things get back to normal but Air New Zealand does a daily non-stop Christchurch to Perth flight in the summer, and they also fly to four different cities in Queensland from Auckland.

I am in country WA - not an expert on Perth but if you have general WA questions feel free to PM me. Also it might be worth heading over to the Aus forum and posting there.

Good luck.

Last edited by carcajou; Apr 23rd 2020 at 12:18 am.

Apr 23rd 2020, 3:50 am

#32

retzie

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Re: Brits thinking of moving from New Zealand to Sarasota

There's a direct flight PER-LHR, if you're wanting to shave as much off the long haul as you can. It is NOT short (~18 hours), but eliminating the connection does reduce various headaches.

Apr 23rd 2020, 4:26 am

#33

carcajou

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Joined: Jan 2017

Posts: 2,900

Re: Brits thinking of moving from New Zealand to Sarasota

Quote:

Originally Posted by retzie

There's a direct flight PER-LHR, if you're wanting to shave as much off the long haul as you can. It is NOT short (~18 hours), but eliminating the connection does reduce various headaches.

Yes . . . and for what it's worth, though it's long, we don't hear a lot of people complaining about it and wishing they had connected in the Middle East or Singapore instead.

I have only been to Brisbane once, for one day, quite a long time ago - but from memory, I am recalling that Brisbane is known a lot more for the river and water taxis than the quality of beaches near the CBD, and OP may need to head north or south of the city for the beach experience. Perth does have multiple beaches in the metro area and there's also two wine regions in the metro area, one in the Perth Hills (east) and the Swan Valley (north). The Aus forum does have active Brisbane- and Perth-based members who can add more.

Apr 27th 2020, 4:39 am

#34

zzrmark

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Location: Lauren's Co. SC by way of Palmetto, Florida

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Re: Brits thinking of moving from New Zealand to Sarasota

I am going to agree with most things said about Sarasota, although I am quite surprised that petepete99 omitted to mention the burgeoning Lakewood Ranch area, which is an ever expanding area of professional/small commercial type enterprises/residences and is most definitely not part of God's Waiting Room. Business opportunities are not limited to servicing the elderly or the snowbirds.
Direct flights between Tampa and Gatwick or Heathrow are far easier than having to deal with (a) getting to Miami and (b) using the airport there.