Considering a move to New Zealand, info appreciated [Archive]

Abyss

28-03-2006, 00:51

Hi all

Me and my Girlfriend are relatively young, me 24, her 22, and we have both recently started our careers after Uni, and we are both suffering a anti climax.

I have left my job in IT as it was terrible, 40hours a week of borrring. My missus feels the same in her job.

We have concluded it could be us fitting into life but at the same time get so annoyed with this place, i mean its my home i will always love it, but we want something else.

I have travelled extensively and my missus hasnt really, but we have both decided to go and work away for a while.

we came up with New Zealand, Auckland to be exact, purely on the Geography, maybe its warmer up on north island?!.

But what i am asking you lot for is, what do u think of our situation and any help and info on working and living in New Zealand would be grateful, maybe you have done this? :confused:

Thanks in advance.

Sunray

28-03-2006, 06:47

You can work there for a couple of years and yes Auckland is warmer.

Go there, its very beautiful place, figure the rest out when your there, no time like the present. Obviously save some cash before you go incase you hate it.

rubbershoes

28-03-2006, 08:00

have you been to NZ?

auckland is relatively big and sprawling. wellington is smaller and a bit more funky. maybe spend a couple of weeks out there getting a feel of the cities before you make your choice

Abyss

28-03-2006, 11:56

no not been to NZ, if i go i would stay for the duration, though obviously it is a option if i/we didnt like it to come back..

I was just wondering the main diferences in lifestyle, how much u get taxed, how much more money/less money would an average one bed flat be, car prices, other systems and dues to pay etc,,, things like everyday life, etc, how does it compare?

thanx for previous response..

Fuzzy

28-03-2006, 14:10

have a look on www.britishexpats.com

they have a lively bulletin board mainly frequented by 30/40 something women who are moving to oz for a better life but who have never been further than europe before. can be quite useful but be prepared for some shockingly blinkered views on various subjects. sayign that though there is some very good advice on there about the actual mechanisms for getting there i.e. visas, tax, etc.

maisy

29-03-2006, 00:30

Hi there,

I made the move 3 years ago and I dont regret it for a minute! It is a great place to live, work etc.
I am also in Auckland, yes it is sprawling, but it is split into various regions. I am on the North Shore (lovely place, full of ex-pats!)
The city itself is quite small, most of Auckland is rural.

Wages are lower than UK, sorry I dont have much info on this as I dont pay attention to this side of things too much! But I have a friend who works in the CBD who earns about $65,000 (just over 22k)a year who is in IT related position, but he had no previous experience - before getting this job he worked in a call centre - and is just working his way up. I would expect to earn more than that with your qualifications and experience.

Interest rates on mortgages are higher than UK, currently at around 7.8%. Expect to pay anywhere from $200,000 for a one bed flat depending on where you want to settle in Auckland. Have a look at www.realenz.co.nz for a guide to both buying and renting.

Cars are OK, not cheap if you want a European car. Most people I know have Jap imports! My first car here, a 1996 Mazda, cost $5000, and I traded it in for $3500 last year. Petrol is cheaper than UK, under half the price I think.
A few people buy cars on trade me (our ebay) so you could have a look there for prices, www.trademe.co.nz

The lifestyle is the best thing about living here. When the sun shines, this place is awesome, and in general people who live here know it. Recently on a trip to the Coromandel as we walked past a local just geting in his boat, he said 'hiya guys, another day in paradise' and how right he was :D
I have just had my parents and my sister and her family here for the summer and taking them round parts of the country just made me fall in love with it all over again.
My sis and her hubby now want to come and live here, I hope they can.

It doesn't suit everyone, but those that I know that have made it their home wouldn't be anywhere else :cool:

I am happy to get further info for you, just let me know :)

Julie

29-03-2006, 01:50

New Zealand..... New Zealand?? :confused:

Go for it; it's a lovely country and the people aren't too bad :D

Spion

31-03-2006, 14:41

Go for it; it's a lovely country and the people aren't too bad :D

Apart from all the racist Brit white flight types who are there to 'get away from the pakis and asylum seekers' (I quote from a recent visit, btw)

What's funny tho is these types have chosen to live in a country where they are considered unwelcome intruders by the longest established part of the population, the maoris.

The scenery is no better than Scotland and not a patch on parts of the US and Canada.

Poi E

05-04-2006, 21:59

the longest established part of the population, the maoris.

The scenery is no better than Scotland and not a patch on parts of the US and Canada.

Yeah. Not just about the scenery.

nick1181

05-04-2006, 22:36

I'm moving back in about six months I think - probably Wellington. It is funkier, artier and more going on etc... and more concentrated space-wise... in fact it is probably better in every concievable way but one, and that is the wind. It never stops.

So um... yea, go for it. If I were you I'd spend a little bit of time in AK or Wgtn - see if you can cope with the wind etc.

IT rates used to be fairly low but they've inproved dramatically in the last couple of years. Mind you, house prices have increased dramatically as well.

re: "The scenery is no better than Scotland..."

http://203.86.194.7/Images/craigPotton/205.jpg
http://www.intoadventure.com/Photos/Travel/Milford%20Track/Milford01.JPG
http://www.gorzow.mm.pl/~bebelebe/Bay%20of%20Islands,%20New%20Zealand.jpg

The South Island is more scenic than the North - but a lot fewer people live there. Possibly on account of the mosquitos. The scenery is also pretty diverse.

The culture is pretty diverse as well - a large and growing Asian population - especially in Auckland. Thriving gay scene - also in Auckland. It's quite an arty place really. Auckland is a little more money-obsessed. I find Wellington easier to get on with.

Spion

06-04-2006, 09:35

See, it is just like the Scottish Highlands

And NZ only looks like it does in these pics on the 50 days a year it's not pissing down in these places.

Come on! NZ is just Wales stuck on the other side of the world, thousands of miles from any appreciable centre of culture

nick1181

06-04-2006, 10:32

See, it is just like the Scottish Highlands
So you went to NZ, and all you could come back with is "Oh, it's not any better than Scotland"?

Sad. Did you leave your hotel?

And NZ only looks like it does in these pics on the 50 days a year it's not pissing down in these places.
As opposed to Scotland say, where it's positively sub-tropical.

Come on! NZ is just Wales stuck on the other side of the world, thousands of miles from any appreciable centre of culture
Yea. Best stay in Wales or wherever it is you are then.

Fruitloop

06-04-2006, 10:35

http://www.richard-seaman.com/Wallpaper/NewZealand/Cities/SkyTowerAndAucklandSkylineThumbnail.jpg http://www.richard-seaman.com/Wallpaper/NewZealand/Cities/AucklandHarbourBridgeThumbnail.jpg http://www.richard-seaman.com/Wallpaper/NewZealand/Cities/WellingtonHarbourAndTararuaRangesThumbnail.jpg

Just like Wales :rolleyes:

Spion

06-04-2006, 12:58

Sad. Did you leave your hotel?

Did 2,400 miles in 5 weeks from Christchurch to Auckland stopping in all sorts of places from middle of nowhere campgrounds through family motor camps to very maori towns.

There's some good things down there for sure, but the place is hyped up beyond reality by the NZ tourist board.

Good: fishing, fresh food, superb coastline, weather (some times), empty roads

Bad: processed food (like 30 years ago in UK), too many racist Brit expats, cost of living, hardly any decent beer, very prevalent anti-east-Asian racism, lack of walking tracks with right of way adn overcrowded 'great walks', weather (often), scenery just isn't all that

Altogether, our experience was that we got used to the place rather than fell in love with it

have you been to the Scottish Highlands, btw?

Spion

06-04-2006, 12:59

As opposed to Scotland say, where it's positively sub-tropical.

the vast bulk of NZ is not subtropical either. And most of the S Island is a very similar climate to the UK (without the drying influence of a continent close by)

Poi E

07-04-2006, 12:46

, thousands of miles from any appreciable centre of culture

So you didn't stay very long in the Maori parts of the country then.

Spion

07-04-2006, 12:50

So you didn't stay very long in the Maori parts of the country then.

i meant in the world/urban/cosmopolitan sense rather than specific local cultures. You really feel a long way from 'the centre of things' there.

The divide between whites and maori had the feel of something quite deep and nasty to it, now you mention it

nick1181

07-04-2006, 13:06

have you been to the Scottish Highlands, btw?

I was born in Scotland.

<kiwi-aussie accent>

Q : How can you tell if an aeroplane has a load of poms in it?

A: When the engines stop, you can still hear this whining sound

</kiwi-aussie accent>

Spion

07-04-2006, 13:14

I was born in Scotland.

That's not an answer to the question. Half my relatives were born in Scotland but the time they've spent in the Highlands is staggeringly low, as with many people who don't visit the great places on their doorstep

<kiwi-aussie accent>

Q : How can you tell if an aeroplane has a load of poms in it?

A: When the engines stop, you can still hear this whining sound

</kiwi-aussie accent>

Must be an Aussie. Your sense of humour is years behind. Not a Kiwi either cos they're as grim and moany as Brits. I would have thought your sense of humour would have improved serving behind a bar here all this time.

nick1181

07-04-2006, 13:30

That's not an answer to the question
Yes, I went to Scotland twice last year - based in Findhorn and making various forays inland.

Obviously I wandered about with a look of ashen betrayal on my face... I mean it's possibly beautiful and sometimes spectacular to some people - but what's the point? It's just like New Zealand.

I was utterly dismayed.

I would have thought your sense of humour would have improved if you've been serving behind a bar here for a while now
Oh, that's not my sense of humour. That's more of a comment on you.

Still, no worries eh.

So tell me, where else have you been that's disappointed you because it's like somewhere else?

(even though it isn't)

Spion

07-04-2006, 13:51

Yes, I went to Scotland twice last year - based in Findhorn and making various forays inland.

Obviously I wandered about with a look of ashen betrayal on my face... I mean it's possibly beautiful and sometimes spectacular to some people - but what's the point? It's just like New Zealand.

You're making a valid stab at trying to invalidate my point of view by presenting twisted caricatures of my argument, but at the end of that day, it's an opinion. I went to New Zealand, I liked some things, I didn't like others and made the not exactly earth shattering conclusion that their tourist board massively overhypes it.

You should go back and look at what I say rather than engage me with such low down tactics. I said a lot more than 'it's no better than the Highlands'. Why don't you deal with some of those points?

nick1181

07-04-2006, 14:30

You're making a valid stab at trying to invalidate my point of view by presenting twisted caricatures of my argument, but at the end of that day, it's an opinion. I went to New Zealand, I liked some things, I didn't like others and made the not exactly earth shattering conclusion that their tourist board massively overhypes it.

You should go back and look at what I say rather than engage me with such low down tactics. I said a lot more than 'it's no better than the Highlands'. Why don't you deal with some of those points?

Because to to take the piss is mildly entertaining. To engage with you as if you're opinions have any interest or validity is frankly boring.

So anyway, what did you do? Did you go to the NZ tourist board and demand your money back? (standing there in your Hawiian shirt with spindley white legs sticking out of your socks and sandles)

Did you sit down in the middle of Milford Track and refuse to move until they changed it for you?

Were you utterly unconsobable that you didn't see any kangaroos - and kicked up a massive fuss which went on and on until someone had the bright idea of giving you a curly-wurly bar that effectively welded your jaw shut?

Was the TV rubbish as well?

So where are you going on holiday next year? Anywhere nice?

Spion

07-04-2006, 14:45

Because to to take the piss is mildly entertaining. To engage with you as if you're opinions have any interest or validity is frankly boring.

So anyway, what did you do? Did you go to the NZ tourist board and demand your money back? (standing there in your Hawiian shirt with spindley white legs sticking out of your socks and sandles)

Did you sit down in the middle of Milford Track and refuse to move until they changed it for you?

Were you utterly unconsobable that you didn't see any kangaroos - and kicked up a massive fuss which went on and on until someone had the bright idea of giving you a curly-wurly bar that effectively welded your jaw shut?

Was the TV rubbish as well?

So where are you going on holiday next year? Anywhere nice?

If you enjoy winding people up on the internet you need to get a lot better at it than you are right now. This is schoolboy stuff. Are you 15?

nick1181

07-04-2006, 16:21

Errr...

Sorry people, particularly Abyss - I seem to have got side-tracked.

If you're interested, here are a some photos of my home-town.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/18081108@N00/sets/72057594101134445/

Victoria Ave is the main-drag. When I was a kid people used to cruise up and down it on friday night in mean looking cars. Now it seems to have turned into some sort of massive garden centre. I think my favorite pic is the Sparrow. I'm not sure why. Maybe it reminds me of the ones you get in Scotland.

So yea - give it a go. There are a lots of employment agencies in AK who will be able to tell you what the market's like jobs-wise. The people I talked to seemed to think IT was pretty "up" at the moment. There's also the factor that as soon as people graduate they tend to go overseas, so there's probably a bit of a shortage of IT graduates.

Despite what our learned friend says, culturally New Zealand is very rich - there's lots of arty / music stuff going on all the time. Enough to keep you busy anyway. There's actually a lot more going on in Wellington now than there was even a couple of years ago. Musically I think a lot of this is down to Student Radio - every university has one.

I'm not sure where you'd start with all this - The NZ embassy is that tall glass thing just off Trafalgar Square - they're generally nice friendly helpful people. Tell them that you've heard there's an IT skills shortage in NZ and that you'd like to help out.

Idaho

09-04-2006, 13:32

I don't get the draw to NZ at all. Seems like a white flight idyll to me.

Bored with having to work after finishing uni. Well you are still going to be doing 9-5 in NZ too I'm afraid.

Also you will have to put up with the accent - which is like nails down a blackboard to me.

nick1181

09-04-2006, 18:06

I don't get the draw to NZ at all. Seems like a white flight idyll to me.

Eh?

Bored with having to work after finishing uni. Well you are still going to be doing 9-5 in NZ too I'm afraid.

There's something about doing it in another country that makes it a bit special though - something Aussies and Kiwis have always done. The Big OE they call it. When people finish Uni, they go and work overseas for a couple of years. That's one of the things that makes NZ such a cool place - there's this continual cross-pollination of ideas bought back by people returning from overseas. That and a strong Maori/Pacific island cultural presence, and a massively, rapidly growing asian population makes for quite an interesting mix.

I was born on my parents Big OE, which is why I've got a UK passport - although having lived here for 18 years would kindof make me eligable in any case.

Spion

10-04-2006, 12:32

That's one of the things that makes NZ such a cool place - there's this continual cross-pollination of ideas bought back by people returning from overseas. That and a strong Maori/Pacific island cultural presence, and a massively, rapidly growing asian population makes for quite an interesting mix.

If it's that cool what are you and the other X hundred thousand Kiwis doing here? What's the pull? And what pushes so many away from NZ?

nick1181

10-04-2006, 13:14

Yawn. I've put you on ignore by the way.

Idaho

10-04-2006, 13:29

If it's that cool what are you and the other X hundred thousand Kiwis doing here? What's the pull? And what pushes so many away from NZ?

Poi E

10-04-2006, 14:14

If it's that cool what are you and the other X hundred thousand Kiwis doing here? What's the pull? And what pushes so many away from NZ?

1. Excitement. Not a lot of that stuff for young people in NZ. But you soon grow tired of partying and travel a bit less and then there is

2. a Career. Great job opportunities outside of NZ.

3. It aint the weed. It's

4. The beer. And other goodies.

5. Feeling of less of a threat of violence on a night out.

6. The filth in NZ are pricks.

7. Lots of different ladies to try overseas.

8. And then you look at quarter acre plots in some corners of NZ, loads of sunshine, 5 minutes from a river, half hour from a surf beach and fantastic fishing and boating, where pakeha are in the minority, and you figure that £4000 for nice chunk of land aint bad and you start to plan your return.

Fruitloop

10-04-2006, 14:23

I'm at stage 7.5 I reckon.

Idaho

10-04-2006, 14:27

where pakeha are in the minority

What are pakeha?

Fruitloop

10-04-2006, 14:31

White people.

Idaho

10-04-2006, 14:36

Hmmm... that doesn't really sound like a reccommendation to the OP, who is odds on likely to be a Pakee.

zoltan

10-04-2006, 14:51

Sample life in NZ without leaving London ?Just follow these simple steps for a perfect taster:

1) reduce your salary by 50%
2)Imagine that everyone around you averages about 5ft 2 inches in height
3) hang around Sheperds Bush/ Action town
4) Compress your words so that every vowel is distorted, eg Sex shoudl be prononcced as "Six"
5)Limit yourself to drinking Steinlager Only all the fuckin time
6) refuse to go to bars that dont play crowded house fuckin 24/7
7) go to the church at KingsX on sunday mornings & cop off with short wide girls with fuckin herpes
8) Refuse to talk about anything that doesnt involve a) what a great place NZ is & b) How great Rugby is
9) develop an intense jealousy/ hatred of laid back Australians
10) try to spend as much time as you can away from NZ.

Easy .

Spion

10-04-2006, 14:52

Yawn. I've put you on ignore by the way.

You're such a sensitive soul.

Poi E

10-04-2006, 15:02

[Sample life in NZ without leaving London ?Just follow these simple steps for a perfect taster:

1) reduce your salary by 50%. Yup.
2)Imagine that everyone around you averages about 5ft 2 inches in height. Kiwis tend to be a bit taller than most UKers I've seen.
3) hang around Sheperds Bush/ Action town. Yeah, ghettos suck.
4) Compress your words so that every vowel is distorted, eg Sex shoudl be prononcced as "Six". No funny accents in the UK then...
5)Limit yourself to drinking Steinlager Only all the fuckin time. All lager is shit, whatever its name. Give 'em time. If they can make one of the world's best vodkas there they'll get into real ale soon enough.
6) refuse to go to bars that dont play crowded house fuckin 24/7. Australian band, I think you'll find. ;)
7) go to the church at KingsX on sunday mornings & cop off with short wide girls with fuckin herpes. Looks like you attract the wrong sort of girl, my friend.
8) Refuse to talk about anything that doesnt involve a) what a great place NZ is & b) How great Rugby is. Kiwis are some of the biggest critics of their own country of all people I know. They just don't like to hear it from a non-Kiwi.
9) develop an intense jealousy/ hatred of laid back Australians. Nah, it's just that there isn't the love affair like between the English and Australia.
10) try to spend as much time as you can away from NZ. Yup. When you head 12,000 miles away you don't return too soon.

zoltan

10-04-2006, 15:06

Fruitloop

10-04-2006, 15:07

laid back Australians

ROFL :D

Spion

10-04-2006, 15:09

5. Feeling of less of a threat of violence on a night out.. I read that the murder rate over there is twice the UK. I've not seen that backed up but the NZ papers were full of grisly goings on when I was there

£4000 for nice chunk of land aint bad and you start to plan your return. Where you gonna land for that money in NZ? I'm sure we can check via t'internet, but off the top if my head I'd have said 100k an acre upwards

Poi E

10-04-2006, 15:10

maybe my experience of Kiwi culture is a little bit "twisted". ;)

small country, much, much poorer than the UK, miles from anywhere and living in some pretty inhospitable terrain (floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes...) and right next to the United States of Australia makes em jumpy.

Poi E

10-04-2006, 15:15

Where you gonna land for that money in NZ? I'm sure we can check via t'internet, but off the top if my head I'd have said 100k an acre upwards

You got to know where to look.

The murder rate is higher than the UK, for sure.

zoltan

10-04-2006, 15:15

having spent LONG years working & mixing with itinerant Kiwis, I once came across a lone Australian working in the fast moving world of banking ( Zzzzzzzzzzzzz).. I asked him how come that for such a small country, how come there were so many Kiwis working in the city.

he told me that that NZ produces a massive amunt of vocationally qualified professionals, but virtually nothing/ no one in terms of culture/Literature & whatever- He likened it them to the Irish - the good ones ( eg behan/ Shaw/bacon/ geldof ;) ) have to get out beacsue the crippling dullness & orthodoxy of their home country numbs the brain & produces automatons, whereas Australia nurtures originality & embraces the individual.

Was I getting a baised view ?

Fruitloop

10-04-2006, 15:18

Yep. That's what's known in NZ as 'fucking bullcrap, mate'.

zoltan

10-04-2006, 15:19

PS - I have never been there, so have to glean my information where I can.

Poi E

10-04-2006, 15:20

I dunno. I've noticed that Aussies tend to be a bit more flat-pack.

As for culture, well there goes another one who reckons that European culture is where it ends...

Funny place, Europe. Why so many Kiwis died for the place I don't know.

Fruitloop

10-04-2006, 15:32

I reckon conscription had a fair bit to do with it.

NZ has become a lot less provincial in the last 5-10 years, but it's still a population half the size of London's in an area larger than Britain, so if what you want is a bustling megalopolis then you might want to look elsewhere.

My gf is from NI, and it seems to me that the difference between the kiwi and Irish diasporas is that pretty much all kiwis go back eventually, whereas for the Irish it's usually a one-way ticket.

Poi E

10-04-2006, 15:36

I reckon conscription had a fair bit to do with it.
.

Yeah, come to think of it!

Seems the most vibrant art coming out of Aussie is Aboriginal, and the state has done little to nurture that culture.

Fruitloop

10-04-2006, 15:45

Idaho

10-04-2006, 15:45

Fruitloop

10-04-2006, 15:49

I have heard that the NZ state has all sorts of quotas and other positive descrimination stuff which is largely used by europeans with one maori great grandfather to get preferential access to college and state jobs. Any truth in that?

There's no actual positive discrimination that I'm aware of, but equal opportunities stuff is taken very seriously. The situation wrt race relations isn't really comparable to the UK, though, so there are a lot of differences around this kind of stuff.

Poi E

10-04-2006, 15:50

I have heard that the NZ state has all sorts of quotas and other positive descrimination stuff which is largely used by europeans with one maori great grandfather to get preferential access to college and state jobs. Any truth in that?

Would have to do some research. There are grants and places in Uni available for people of Maori descent, but the only people I've know who got those were Maori. There's not a huge amount of incentives offered as far as I know.

Spion

10-04-2006, 15:51

It's made sustained attempts to exterminate it, if you want to look at it that way. A quick comparison of race-relations in the two countries gives the lie to the image of all those laid-back aussie individualists and their uptight kiwi cousins, I reckon.

Race relations struck me as fairly grim when I was in NZ. The immigration officer who dealt with us off the plane went into a rant about the Chinese trying to take over (there were some behind us in the queue) and the next day in Christchurch city centre we came across the National Front having a little rally in a town square.

I guess like many places people just rub along, but the degree of alienation and in some cases barely concealed hostility from maori was pretty noticeable

Poi E

10-04-2006, 15:56

Race relations struck me as fairly grim when I was in NZ. The immigration officer who dealt with us off the plane went into a rant about the Chinese trying to take over (there were some behind us in the queue) and the next day in Christchurch city centre we came across the National Front having a little rally in a town square.

I guess like many places people just rub along, but the degree of alienation and in some cases barely concealed hostility from maori was pretty noticeable

Yeah, you'll get some pissed off Maori, but do you really wonder?

You get the fash, but they're not the organised, European style of fash. It's pretty damn hard to say anyone is a "real Kiwi" because it's very mixed. You don't get the ghettoes of people like you have in the UK with groups living side-by-side but knowing very little about each other.

Spion

10-04-2006, 16:03

Yeah, you'll get some pissed off Maori, but do you really wonder? No. I don't blame em at all

You get the fash, but they're not the organised, European style of fash. It's pretty damn hard to say anyone is a "real Kiwi" because it's very mixed. You don't get the ghettoes of people like you have in the UK with groups living side-by-side but knowing very little about each other.

These guys were old style fash - skins. I figured they could get away with that in Christchurch but wouldn't have lasted 2 mins in many other places

Fruitloop

10-04-2006, 16:05

Too right! A skinhead in mangere would last about as long as a snowball in hell.

Poi E

10-04-2006, 16:09

These guys were old style fash - skins. I figured they could get away with that in Christchurch but wouldn't have lasted 2 mins in many other places

I knew a guy who was head of a gang of skins but he was Maori. Didn't seem to bother them and he wore the swatika. I gues something was lost in the translation.

Kiwis do get quite fervant about things, though, like with the monetarist madness that went on there. Seemed like every prick was talking about the "maaarket" as the panacea to all ills a while back. I'd hate to see that turn into something extreme. Probabaly the most likely would be a nationalist movement of Maori and Pakeha against new immigration. As it stands with a centrist government the immigration is still tough, unless you can buy your way in.

Fruitloop

10-04-2006, 16:17

I was gonna say that a lot of this stuff that would have specific meanings elsewhere (like a skinhead) gets a bit 'lot in translation' in NZ, particularly in more rural areas. I reckon with a lot of people it would be as much a fashion statement or role that they're playing as much as anything else.

A maori skin would be a thing to see though. :eek: :D

Poi E

10-04-2006, 16:21