# Hello *wave* Just starting our potential journey :-)



## jellybe4n

Hi there

I'm a midwife in the UK, and am looking at moving to New Zealand after my eldest has finished his GCSEs, June 2016.

I am just looking into things, like Visas, and jobs, and where to live etc etc, so any help would be much appreciated.

I am also considering doing my Health Visitor training this year, is this a good thing for New Zealand? Do they have Health Visitors or equivalent?

I have figured I can likely get a visa if I have a job to go to (skilled migrant worker), but I can't find any information on bringing my family with me. I have two boys and a long-term boyfriend. So any pointers for that would be great too.

I think we want to live in the North Island, maybe, perhaps Wellington or there abouts. But to be honest we are very flexible. Is there a big difference between the two islands?

We would need to rent somewhere to live, but were thinking it would be easier to just sell everything this end and start afresh over there, furniture wise. Rather than bother with the whole shipping thing. Or is shipping fairly cheap? Thoughts on this would also be much appreciated.

I have read a lot saying that there is a lack of insulation and heating in homes over there, I'm not sure that's hugely different to here in Cornwall. I don't suppose anyone is able to make a direct comparison at all??

Lots and lots of questions! Sorry!

TIA


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## inhamilton

jellybe4n said:


> I have figured I can likely get a visa if I have a job to go to (skilled migrant worker), but I can't find any information on bringing my family with me. I have two boys and a long-term boyfriend. So any pointers for that would be great too.


Hi there!!
Can't help with the midwife thing. But with your partner, you may need to show you are in a de facto relationship ... shared electricity bills, photos from a few years back of the two of you in an embrace or something etc. Otherwise NZ immigration have no way of knowing whether he is someone just trying to get in on your coattails.




jellybe4n said:


> I think we want to live in the North Island, maybe, perhaps Wellington or there abouts. But to be honest we are very flexible. Is there a big difference between the two islands?


Yes. There are a lot of differences. NZ has a wide range of different types of weather. The North Island is warmer. The North of the North is officially sub-tropical. Warm and temperate with highish rainfall. Auckland has the four seasons in one day syndrome. Bay Of Plenty and Hawkes Bay has high sunshine hours. Wellington is windy. The further south you go, the cooler it generally is. Central Otago can get bitterly cold (-5 or -6 on mid winter mornings). Southland gets polar blasts from the Antarctic. In fact, so does Christchurch occasionally.
Also, the further south you go, the less multi cultural and cosmopolitan the population is. It's quite hard to sum up really here. Each city/town has its differences. Wellington and Dunedin, for example are quite hilly. Christchurch is flat. Hamilton is inland, the others are by the sea ... etc etc.



jellybe4n said:


> We would need to rent somewhere to live, but were thinking it would be easier to just sell everything this end and start afresh over there, furniture wise. Rather than bother with the whole shipping thing. Or is shipping fairly cheap? Thoughts on this would also be much appreciated.
> 
> I have read a lot saying that there is a lack of insulation and heating in homes over there, I'm not sure that's hugely different to here in Cornwall. I don't suppose anyone is able to make a direct comparison at all??
> 
> Lots and lots of questions! Sorry!
> 
> TIA


Yes, a lot of people say there is a lack of insulation etc. Personally, I believe, that is a bit overblown. But I'm a kiwi. All the houses I've lived in have had insulation and I was always warm as a kid. And all houses built in the last 20 years or so (perhaps longer?) have insulation. There is a building code, although I have heard some say it is not up to the standard of say the UK code. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. Also, because this is an island nation in the middle of a wide open ocean, it has relatively high humidity. This means that houses can get damp if not properly heated, insulated and/or ventilated.

Good luck with deciding whether to move, but just be wary of dotting the i's and crossing the t's with your partner.


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## Mark D

Hi, speak to mike at BritsNZ he will be able to help you out. I didn't bring anything just clothes and memories. It depends what you have tho. If you have collected furniture for a few years then Kimberly ( if I remember correctly) made a good point that its worth spending around 3k to get it here. I was £1800 just for small boxes so my price is an estimation. I brought my car to. £1300 go figure that one out lol. It's due here on the 14th happy love day for me. Ok I know what it's called but yes I do live and cherish my car.

There is loads of places here, NZ is slightly bigger than the uk but with less population. Wellington is the capital and has recently been hit with a couple of big quakes so work is aplenty there, Christchurch is the main city of the South Island there is plenty work here for trades as we are under a big rebuild. Auckland is the London of the north island very busy and very popular. There is also loads of smaller towns and city's that are all beautiful. I have only been here a short time so I a just learning myself. 

But as I said speak to mike at BritsNZ he will point you in the right direction. Very honest guy unlike a few employers over here and recruitment agency's.


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## escapedtonz

jellybe4n said:


> Hi there
> 
> I'm a midwife in the UK, and am looking at moving to New Zealand after my eldest has finished his GCSEs, June 2016.
> 
> I am just looking into things, like Visas, and jobs, and where to live etc etc, so any help would be much appreciated.
> 
> I am also considering doing my Health Visitor training this year, is this a good thing for New Zealand? Do they have Health Visitors or equivalent?
> 
> I have figured I can likely get a visa if I have a job to go to (skilled migrant worker), but I can't find any information on bringing my family with me. I have two boys and a long-term boyfriend. So any pointers for that would be great too.
> 
> I think we want to live in the North Island, maybe, perhaps Wellington or there abouts. But to be honest we are very flexible. Is there a big difference between the two islands?
> 
> We would need to rent somewhere to live, but were thinking it would be easier to just sell everything this end and start afresh over there, furniture wise. Rather than bother with the whole shipping thing. Or is shipping fairly cheap? Thoughts on this would also be much appreciated.
> 
> I have read a lot saying that there is a lack of insulation and heating in homes over there, I'm not sure that's hugely different to here in Cornwall. I don't suppose anyone is able to make a direct comparison at all??
> 
> Lots and lots of questions! Sorry!
> 
> TIA


Hey,
Welcome to the forum.
Nothing like getting the ball rolling early eh! 

In all honesty I wouldn't set your heart on a place to live initially. 
If you do come here, the place you live will be dictated by the job location. After having experience here you may look at other options from then on.

We initially looked at going to Christchurch back in 2009, then the earthquake struck which put us off the South Island.
We then only considered the North Island and initially had flights etc booked to come to Auckland for 3-6 months as a long holiday and in that time hope to find a job and stay.
We luckily had enough points on the EOI to be granted Residency visas without a job offer so we secured them first then just decided to come out on a particular date in the future - booked the flights, shipping etc.
Luckily I landed 2 jobs in Wellington 3 months before we were due to fly out so we just changed all our plans to Wellington instead and it worked out well.

Wellington is fine, but it is very windy. Didn't seem to bother me at first until I bought a motorbike then you notice it a heck of a lot more. The wind is what has made us look elsewhere. It's just that quite often it is really warm during the summer but you can't sit outside in the garden or on the deck looking at the view as it's too darn windy which sometimes makes it cold as well.
I put in for a work transfer a year ago and we have had it approved for the end of this year so we're off living in the Bay Of Plenty (Tauranga) in November 
Much better weather. At least 3-5 degrees warmer, much more sun, much more "warm" rain, more humid, but not very much wind if you discount the odd tropical cyclone that sometimes comes through!!!
Cheaper housing and cost of living. Less traffic, people etc. The beaches are so much better up there also. The Wellington ones are just so windswept. Good for walking the dog and that's about it. There are a couple of decent ones - like scorching bay but they are few.
Don't let me put you off though as it's just things that we have found are important for us NOT to have in our life, so we are changing it.

So. You are a midwife.
My wife was a Sister off Intensive Care / HDU unit before we came here and has landed a job as a practice nurse now cos she wanted a change of career.
You shouldn't have any problem getting a job as a midwife here. I'm sure that occupation is on the LTSSL.
Be aware though that midwifery care here is completely different to the UK. 
A midwife isn't necessarily based at the maternity hospital. It's like they can be private or part of the DHB (District Health Board).
When a lady confirms she is pregnant with her GP it is her responsibility to find her own midwife unless she is considered high risk where she will then be placed under the maternity hospital midwifery care.
It's all a bit strange to be honest. 
You would contact them directly to ask if they would be your midwife, they ask you loads of questions then make a decision if they want to look after you and can fit you in to their schedule!!!
Please have a good read up on the internet.

My sister in law is a health visitor in the UK and again it's a totally different ball game here. There aren't the regular checks where they come to your home etc. They are available for you, but it is your responsibility to contact them and ask for help. I also don't think there are groups of them serving one particular area. They may be members of Plunket which is the organisation that offers assistance for children - something else you need to research.

To be able to work here in that industry you must be registered of course - similar to the UK. You can work towards registratiuon whilst still in the UK. Lots of red tape to get through. You will also need to do the IELTS test. You probably won't need this for Immigration as your nurse training will be sufficient to prove you have the necessary English language standard, but for any job here you must prove to the employer that you have the necessary English language standard. Doesn't matter that you are English born n bred or from parent who were both English born n bred. You still need to prove it by completing the IELTS Academic test.

I'd say you should probably have enough points to go for Residency without a job offer due to your skills, experience and qualifications in an area of skill shortage off the LTSSL.
You can place children and your partner on the application.
If your partner has a skill himself and qualifications you could also get 20 points extra for him.
Change the way your relationship is NOW!
From now on do everything as a couple - joint bank accounts, joint mortgage/rent/bills.
Take photos wherever you go of you together. Keep travel tickets, show tickets. Go to lots of friends weddings and parties and keep the invites to both of you as a couple etc. It's all good evidence of your relationship. You must prove at least 12 months worth but in our experience the more the better. You can never have too much evidence for this.

Massive difference between the islands as previously stated. The main one is population. There is around 4.5 M people live in NZ.
There are approx 1 M living in the South Island as a whole.
There are approx 1.2 M living in Auckland and surrounds. The other 2.3 M live all over the North Island with around 0.5 M in Wellington.
Climate wise they are very much different. Weather wise they are very much different. Traffic/Cars/People wise they are obviously very different.
South Island has many mor eopen spaces, mountains, lakes, ski resorts. Much more of a holiday destination in my opinion although there are many places on the NI for that also.

Rent is expensive because interest rates are high meaning mortgages are expensive.
The industry is expecting interest rates to reach 8% by year end so martgage wise the best a person is gonna get is a 2 year fixed rate at 6% and rising.
If you borrow $425k here over 30 years it's gonna cost you $590 a WEEK or $2560 a MONTH. For every $10k more its another $15 a WEEK.
A decent 4 bed detached house is gonna cost you $500-$600 a week to rent and if you're looking in a big city there will be lots of competition for it. They don't last long on the market and it isn't first come first served. The landlord will more than likely go for the least risk for the longest contract he can get. Kids and pets can go against you.

Yes housing quality is poor in my opinion and I even mean the housing built to the latest NZ code. It is nowhere near the quality of a UK home.
All homes here are generally timber or steel framed then just clad in weatherboards, brick or monolithic board.
There are very few homes built of brick & block. There's maybe a few that people have had built at high cost themselves ?
UPVC double glazing doesn't get used much here due to the intensity of the sun. Double glazing is aluminium framed and built to run wet which doesn't help the damp issues. In my experience totally awful and useless.

It's a fine line between selling up and buying furniture etc here. The cost of goods here is high. Many people only shop in the sales which are on constantly. The standard price of equivalent goods here is high compared to UK.
If you have a house full of stuff in the UK it's only gonna cost you around GBP 4k to get it all shipped over. You'd easily spend $8000 on furnishings for just a few rooms in a house here. Same also applies with cars but you can get some really good bargains. Forget Ford/Audi/VW/Vauxhall/Citroen/Renault etc it's all Japanese here unless you of course want European but you'll pay for it and spares / repairs of them can be expensive.

Sorry, not trying to put a downer on everything 
Just trying to paint a realistic picture of life here without the rose tinted glasses on. In general you will earn less and pay out more here, but it is all doable if you change your lifestyle, shop in the sales, shop seasonally and do lots outdoors which is free Yay!!!


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## inhamilton

escapedtonz said:


> Just trying to paint a realistic picture of life here without the rose tinted glasses on. In general you will earn less and pay out more here, but it is all doable if you change your lifestyle, shop in the sales, shop seasonally and do lots outdoors which is free Yay!!!


Feel awful disagreeing with you escapedtonz because you're such a font of knowledge. But I'm not sure about this earn less thing, to be honest? If you google average salaries in the respective countries they come out roughly similar. New Midwives starting out in NZ, for example, earn NZ $47,000 

Midwife - About the job

and in the UK they earn 21,000 pounds ($42,000). 

Midwife: Salary and conditions | Prospects.ac.uk

Plus, income tax is lower in NZ. 

So at least as far as midwife goes, you should be on a higher salary here. And I think it is the same for general nursing, if I'm not mistaken.


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## escapedtonz

inhamilton said:


> Feel awful disagreeing with you escapedtonz because you're such a font of knowledge. But I'm not sure about this earn less thing, to be honest? If you google average salaries in the respective countries they come out roughly similar. New Midwives starting out in NZ, for example, earn NZ $47,000
> 
> Midwife - About the job
> 
> and in the UK they earn 21,000 pounds ($42,000).
> 
> Midwife: Salary and conditions | Prospects.ac.uk
> 
> Plus, income tax is lower in NZ.
> 
> So at least as far as midwife goes, you should be on a higher salary here. And I think it is the same for general nursing, if I'm not mistaken.


Hey don't feel awful being in disagreement. If we all thought the same and just nodded our heads life would be pretty boring 

In all honesty it depends on the job.
In the UK, I was paid very well. I was at the top of my game but didnt have any staff as I wasn't a manager. I had responsibilities but no-one answered to me and the only person I answered to was my mate who was my boss.
I knew that job inside out / upside down and after 13 years doing it I had it nurtured into the ideal position, but adventure beconed.
I looked at doing the same job here - it didn't exist. I was in a Senior position, but here they didn't do senior.
The pay cut I would have had to take was massive - near 45%
Couldn't afford that so I looked at the biggest company in NZ in my industry and found out the job I needed to do to get the best pay. I had to take a totally different role, re-train at 40 years old and start at the bottom. I'm in a job with way more responsibility but get paid 30% less than I did in the UK. Ce La Vie. That's just the way it goes.

For my wife, she looked at similar jobs and the pay was approx the same. Just a little under, but the conditions not as good. Only 4 weeks holiday for a full time shift working nurse whereas she got 8 weeks in the UK and could more or less specify what shifts she wanted to work. Here she would have to do nights which is a no no with me doing them also.
So the same money for worse shifts and way less time off in a country with a higher cost of living.
It is the same with practice nursing. She is paid less per hour here than she would be if she was a practice nurse in the UK, gets less time off and has a contract with so many caveats its a bit of a joke really.

Google is a wonderful thing when comparing but only works when you are comparing apples with apples.

There are very few jobs here that will pay more than in the UK.

The income tax thing is also a bit of a grey area. Yes the income tax here is cheaper as there are more bands and the lowest one starts at 10% and the higher one is 33%, BUT you are taxed on every cent you earn here. In the UK you aren't. You get a tax free allowance of around GBP 8000 so approx equivalent NZ $16 000 before you even start paying tax.
Then when you consider the high cost of living here - paying to see a doctor, paying a mortgage just to see a dentist 

We also have a good friend here in Wellington who has come over as a nurse from Special Care Baby Unit. She to has experienced the same. Slightly less salary but worse work conditions. Nowhere near as much time off, longer shifts and stupid shifts - for instance doing a late shift and finishing at 11pm but then on a morning shift the next day - quick turn around.....wouldn't happen back home.


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## inhamilton

escapedtonz said:


> The income tax thing is also a bit of a grey area. Yes the income tax here is cheaper as there are more bands and the lowest one starts at 10% and the higher one is 33%, BUT you are taxed on every cent you earn here. In the UK you aren't. You get a tax free allowance of around GBP 8000 so approx equivalent NZ $16 000 before you even start paying tax.


Fair enough re your personal circumstances. That's a big drop in income.
Though re the income tax. Even with the no tax regime on the first $16,000 in UK, the average income earners still end up paying less income tax in NZ overall. You can work it out on the income tax calculators in the respective countries. But that's by the by ... back to topic.


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## jellybe4n

Interesting. Shift wise as a midwife I have to work them all and we often have a late shift followed by an early one the next day. I guess it's different in the area yoir wife worked.


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## escapedtonz

inhamilton said:


> Fair enough re your personal circumstances. That's a big drop in income. Though re the income tax. Even with the no tax regime on the first $16,000 in UK, the average income earners still end up paying less income tax in NZ overall. You can work it out on the income tax calculators in the respective countries. But that's by the by ... back to topic.


Hi,
Having spent 24 years of my working life ensuring I paid the right UK tax and NI, I don't need online calculators 

If you just consider a regular single person on no benefits and without masses of savings etc in the UK, they would have a tax code of 944L meaning they can earn a total of £9440 before they pay income tax.
On an income of £21000 / year they would only pay tax on £11555 of it and pay out £2310 over the year.

In NZ, the same person on $42000 / year would pay tax on the whole income to the tune of $6370 a year which is around £3182 English equivalent, so around £800 / $1600 worse off and just in terms of hard cash.


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## sabey

*NZ nursing qualification*

Last year I have completed and got my NZ nursing license although am not actually going to NZ until 2015- it pays to plan ahead. The process wasn't too bad but I did have to sit the academic IELTS exam. The bit that takes the longest is getting the transcript of training from your school of nursing to NZ board, and of course, it all costs money. Your school of nursing will probably have one individual who deals with this request as mine did, but it takes a few phone calls to find this elusive person


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## euvochlo

This is very interesting read.


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## moggy

You need to think very carefully about emigrating before you do it. 
I can only tell you about our experience, and you will find a lot of new zealanders will not have anything bad said about the country.

Scenery is lovely here, lots of outdoor sports.
What most people wont tell you is the weather is unpredictable, it can be sunny 1 day and raining and blowing a gale the next, when it rains here, never seems to stop for days. Shopping is expensive, Renting is expensive, takes a big amount of your wages and the houses are cold and damp, new zealanders think we moan about cold houses too much, but they were born into them and are used to them, the first winter here the house was so bad we all ended up chest infections. and we were paying $400 per week.
You wont be able to buy a house unless you have a 20% deposit.
My husband earns a good wage by nz standards and I also work, but we still find it a struggle sometimes.
Making friends is hard here, we live in Nelson and they are very clicky, we have tried to mingle, but no joy.
Did think about moving to christchurch, but because of all the workforce there doing the rebuild, prostitution is high, you see them on the street corners at tea-time.

You say your eldest is finishing gcse's in the Uk, They would be on a student visa here, which entitles them to go to secondary school. not college.
We moved to Nz after our son finished his gcse's, His qualifications do not count for anything here, he still needed to go to school to get a nz level 2 qualification to be able to go to college, He was started off in level 1 classes, which he found upsetting and frustrating because he had already done this work in the UK.
We tried to get him on a course to do engineering and were told by immigration we would have to change his visa from a normal student visa, but then he would be classed as an international student and have to pay international fees, which could be $20,000.
The education system here is so far behind the uk.
Have had to send our son back to the Uk to live with grandparents so he can go to college for the course he wants to do,We are stuck here until my husbands work contract finishes, been here nearly 2 years now. This move nearly split our family apart and we have been married 20 years.
We moved here to get away from the drug culture in the uk, NZ promotes itself as being a healthy lifestyle country, but most of the students in the school he went to smoke, and synthetic drugs can actually be bought from shops here, which I find very disturbing.
some people do settle here,but sometimes the grass is not greener on the other side.
If you are thinking of emigrating look at australia, wages are good, lifestyle so much better.


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## inhamilton

moggy said:


> If you are thinking of emigrating look at australia, wages are good, lifestyle so much better.


Have you lived in Australia in order to make this conclusion? 

Of course, there's always a chance that a new immigrant will agree with this recently released survey :

New Zealand ranked first in the world for social and environmental progress | World news | theguardian.com

... which suggests NZ is the most advanced country (yes number 1 - according to international experts) in the world for social progress and wellbeing, which includes the health of the educational system, easily beating Australia (seeing as how you mentioned that country as better). 

You also might like to take note of this survey :

UK immigrants happier in NZ than Australia - National News | TVNZ

which suggests UK immigrants are pretty happy in NZ, although that was 2009.

Hey, there are always 2 sides to every story (and in this case, perhaps 3). Although I appreciate you don't like it here.

I would also like to hear more about the engineering course your son applied for. Where was it and what was it called? What were your son's marks? And what reason did the course give for not accepting his UK qualifications? I must admit, I'm not holding out much hope of hearing back on this though.


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## inhamilton

moggy said:


> the first winter here the house was so bad we all ended up chest infections. and we were paying $400 per week.


Could that not have been a virus? Given that NZ citizens have a comparatively high life expectancy, surely the houses can't be that dire in terms of healthiness.




moggy said:


> Did think about moving to christchurch, but because of all the workforce there doing the rebuild, prostitution is high, you see them on the street corners at tea-time.


Yes, we're an immoral lot aren't we


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## sabey

*Nurse registration*

Hi- just a small point. You do need to do the Acedemic IELTS to register with the NZ nursing council. I'm planning to move to NZ June 2015 and have already sat this and got my NZ licence. You also need to get a transcript of your training plus references. There is usually a point of contact at the Uni where you did your training that will supply this directly to NZ Council. The whole process isn't too onerous- just need to get things and of course pay!


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## sabey

*Education*

We are also planning to go to NZ once my daughter has completed her GCSE's in June 2015 and although in NZ they study a wider range of subjects for what would be our A level years the student can go directly into year 2 of this. I have got some info and a contact name if you want to PM me but this was my main concern, that she would have to repeat a year but it seems she may just fit into year 2.


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## mikesurf

First and foremost don't believe the hype that surrounds New Zealand. There are many surveys which state things like Auckland being one of the best cities in the world to live in. In my view things like this are total rubbish. How can a city that has a hugely over inflated housing market, relatively low wages terrible traffic congestion, very average weather and a P lab on every corner be top of such a survey?

I await a torrent of abuse for trolling and the like as this is the usual backlash from such statements.


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## inhamilton

mikesurf said:


> How can a city that has a hugely over inflated housing market


It's all to do with supply and demand. The biggest reason for the inflated house prices is that there are far more people wanting to live in Auckland than wanting to leave. If Auckland was a bit of a crappy place to live, then people would find it very hard to sell their houses and they would have to drop prices because they would be struggling to find buyers. As it is, they can't build houses fast enough to keep up with population growth and the number of people wanting to live there. 
Although, I prefer not to live in Aucks myself. Too many people for me.


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## moggy

No we have not lived in Australia but We have lots of friends in australia who we have spent considerable time with,
You mention surveys from 2009, it is now 2014, in them 5 years, prices have risen, and things do change. Surveys do not go into the full truth.
New zealand has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. how can that be healthy? High rates of child abuse. How many people leave nz to go to aussie or the uk, especially for education or work, just some of the things you dont mention.
yes you are going to be biased, you were born here, you do not have the experience of an immigrant and the problems they face.
I am only speaking from our experience, people need to hear the bad pionts as well as the good, I wish someone had told us the bad before we made the decision to come.
And my son has merits and distinctions on his gcse results, but he is not allowed to do tertiary education on a student visa, you have never had to deal with nz immigration and visas, so you would not know the problems we face as immigrants.
Yes new zealand is a beautiful country and there are good things about it, if we had come here when our son was younger, maybe we would have settled.
Until you have migrated to another country and faced the problems migrants face, how can you compare.
It is not fair on people to give them just the good pionts, As migrants it costs a lot of money for us to come here, we need to know the bad pionts as well, 
We are from the uk but would not just tell people how great it is, because we know it isnt.


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## inhamilton

moggy said:


> New zealand has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. how can that be healthy?


That's not healthy. Not healthy at all. But taking one statistic in isolation doesn't prove or disprove how healthy a nation is. If NZ has a high skin cancer rate, it obviously has lower rates of some other diseases (going by the life expectancy), but because you sound like a glass half empty sort of person, you highlight the skin cancer rate, without mentioning stuff along these lines that NZ might compare well in. The fact is, the average person living in NZ lives longer than the average person in most other countries. That's not to say there aren't health problems. There is an obesity and associated diabetes problem in the polynesian communtiy, for example. 

At the time you were thinking of moving to christchurch, could you have not taken up that opportunity to move back to the UK? You deserve to be happy and hanging around in a country you don't like can't be good.


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## moggy

i never said i didnt like the country, its a beautiful country, what i am saying is the country has its problems, and not letting people know about these is like looking through rose tinted glasses.
I am certainly not a glass half empty, have lived in spain for 3 years, while my husband was on a work contract and settled there well.
every country has its pros and cons and migrants need to know these.


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## inhamilton

moggy said:


> i never said i didnt like the country


Really? You do seem rather unhappy with it. You haven't made any friends, the weather sucks, the education system sucks, the house has made you sick, your marriage has nearly broken up, it's full of prostitutes, you are struggling financially (despite being able to afford large amounts of time with friends in Australia) and you are 'stuck' here. If it was me, I'd be speaking to the employer, explaining the families unhappiness and seeking a release from the contract. Employers don't want unhappy people working for them so I'm sure something can be worked out.



moggy said:


> I am certainly not a glass half empty


Then when talking about the weather, why only mention rain? Why not mention that Nelson is possibly the sunniest city in the country, which is why it has the nickname 'Sunny Nelson' and subsequently a renowned wine grape growing area. The Nelson climate is actually beautiful, in my opinion.

You mention that your house gave you chest infections. What potential migrant would move to a country where the houses are so unhealthy that they'll end up sick? I thought it wise to point out that this shouldn't be the case in order to reassure that the houses are not 'that bad'. If heated correctly, you'll be perfectly warm and living in a healthy environment. The unhealthiness comes if you are living in poverty and without jobs and too many people for the house etc.


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## mikesurf

inhamilton said:


> Really? You do seem rather unhappy with it. You haven't made any friends, the weather sucks, the education system sucks, the house has made you sick, your marriage has nearly broken up, it's full of prostitutes, you are struggling financially (despite being able to afford large amounts of time with friends in Australia) and you are 'stuck' here. If it was me, I'd be speaking to the employer, explaining the families unhappiness and seeking a release from the contract. Employers don't want unhappy people working for them so I'm sure something can be worked out.
> 
> 
> 
> Then when talking about the weather, why only mention rain? Why not mention that Nelson is possibly the sunniest city in the country, which is why it has the nickname 'Sunny Nelson' and subsequently a renowned wine grape growing area. The Nelson climate is actually beautiful, in my opinion.
> 
> You mention that your house gave you chest infections. What potential migrant would move to a country where the houses are so unhealthy that they'll end up sick? I thought it wise to point out that this shouldn't be the case in order to reassure that the houses are not 'that bad'. If heated correctly, you'll be perfectly warm and living in a healthy environment. The unhealthiness comes if you are living in poverty and without jobs and too many people for the house etc.



I think picking on somebody who is clearly having a bad time in New Zealand is rather childish. Why can't people accept that New Zealand is not for everyone? It seems to me that migrants are always looking for positive posts because it makes them feel better about their move, as though they need to hear good things in order to make themselves feel better. I think that the fact that Nelson has quite nice weather does not make utopia and as for the quality of housing not being that bad unless you are living in poverty is utter rubbish and to say otherwise is not helpfull to potential migrants looking for facts.


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## inhamilton

mikesurf said:


> I think picking on somebody who is clearly having a bad time in New Zealand is rather childish.


I apologise if I sound that way. It's just that I've seen that type of post (like the original one from Moggy), almost verbatim, before on different forums. So often has a person said they are posting from within NZ, where it has subsequently been proven they are posting from overseas that it has left me with a sceptical mind. Let's face it, a rather grim picture of NZ was painted.


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## sharbuck

There are many good points to this forum and it helped us greatly when we made the move from the US. We also heard a lot of the urban folklore about how miserable people were here. The wages, the unfriendliness of Kiwis, the horrible housing...it made us really question coming over. 

Two years later we have never been happier and call New Zealand home. Here some good pointers

1. This is not your home country, don't compare but embrace what is different.
2. Don't be the one that constantly says, " in the UK , we....."
3. It is the lifestyle not the $$$ that makes people happy here. 
4. Kiwis are quite friendly. You can be lonely in your home country.
5. It is society in general that can keep us feeling isolated. Join groups and give it time.
6. There are well built houses. Do your homework before you buy.
7. Take advantage of all the travel opportunities available from here.
8. This is a great country for entreprenuers...start a business

There are those who will be happy or unhappy here. Do what you feel is right, use others comments to help but not make your decision up to move. If ou don't like it, it doesn't have to be a forever move.


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## moggy

If you read the original post, the lady has a teenager the same age as mine, and I was only telling her our experience.
Do you actually watch tv, have you seen seven sharp tonight about the problems with drugs.

As for my Husbands work, He was brought here to sort out problems that they couldnt find a kiwi experienced enough to do, says a lot about the education system here doesnt it.
You are obviously a very narrowminded person, who only sees 1 side of the coin, and has nothing better to do than post on forums, and I have better things to do than get into an argument with you, so there wont be anymore replies.


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## sharbuck

Wow moggy, a bit negative. Dont think anything that was said was rude or offensive or aimed at you. Best of luck to tou


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## inhamilton

moggy said:


> You are obviously a very narrowminded person


Fair enough. I apologise. Hope your stay in NZ picks up and you can at least make something of the rest of your time here.
You actually raise a good point in that families need to be mindful if their kids are approaching adulthood. They cease to become part of your application and have to apply in their own right.


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## inhamilton

sharbuck said:


> Wow moggy, a bit negative. Dont think anything that was said was rude or offensive or aimed at you. Best of luck to tou


Don't worry sharbuck. I think her comments were aimed at me.


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## sharbuck

Oh I know, still no reason to be that way.


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