# the big welly move



## pete5290 (Feb 20, 2016)

Hi
I have just been offered a 85k public service job in wellington and very tempted to take it. My wife and two daughters (10 and 12) will come over after my 3 month trial period so it will be tight to support me and them in two different countries. I will most likely stay in cheap hostel and live like a church mouse for a bit.

I hope 85k is enough for us when we all get over but I am sure my wife can find a bit of work if she needs to. She is a counsellor but is also happy to just to work 15 hrs a week in cafe or with tourism operator.

my 2 questions are - how is it going for other Aust. families who have moved to Wellington. Do you love it? regrets? pros and cons.

And, we currently live on small acerage with ducks, chooks, big veggie garden in a rural area not far from my main city. Where do you suggest to rent/buy (if we want to stay long term) where we can have a bit of land for that type of stuff. We are a family who likes to grow our own food/kill our our meat from time to time and have a bit of space. I am happy to train it into welly for work.


we are not moving for the money - though it is more than I earn in Aust. but kinda balances out with cost of living.

we are moving for a better lifestyle and to have a little adventure for 3-5 years. We love the outdoors but we cant do this much at home due to snakes, fires, sharks, stiffling heat, UV index etc.

We also feel Aust is kinda going backwards and govt certainly dont seem to care about the environment.

sorry for the rant - I just want to see if this adventure is the right one for us and how others have found it who have moved over to welly in the past 1 - 5 years
thanks


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

pete5290 said:


> Hi
> I have just been offered a 85k public service job in wellington and very tempted to take it. My wife and two daughters (10 and 12) will come over after my 3 month trial period so it will be tight to support me and them in two different countries. I will most likely stay in cheap hostel and live like a church mouse for a bit.
> 
> I hope 85k is enough for us when we all get over but I am sure my wife can find a bit of work if she needs to. She is a counsellor but is also happy to just to work 15 hrs a week in cafe or with tourism operator.
> ...


Hi,

You'll be able to survive on 85k initially for a family of 4 but you'll have to watch the pennies, especially when considering your weekly rent and maybe commuting costs etc. Your wife may struggle to find a counselling job but if she's as happy working part-time in a cafe or whatever then that'll be fine.
Can't help with what it's like moving over from Aus as we moved to Wellington from the UK in 2012 and left after 2.5 years moving up to Tauranga. Wellington was fine but just didn't settle there and wanted much nicer weather and much nicer beaches and many more options for places to visit yada yada!
So, you want rural. You'll not find much with a big section near the city as it's all built up and hilly. You need to be looking at Makara, Makara Beach, Ohariu Valley, Horokiwi, Takapu Valley, Judgeford, Pauatahanui, Paekakariki Hill Road out of Pauatahanui, Blue Mountains, Whitemans Valley, Coast Road Wainuiomata.
You'll need a car for certain as they're all a good way out down windy windy roads and public transport will be scarce to non-existent.
If you want to be near a train and have the ability to commute in to the city then look at the option of living up the Kapiti Coast so the likes of Raumati, Paraparaumu, Waikanae, or the other option is in the Wairarapa region so places like Fetherston, Carterton and Masterton etc as it's very flat (ish) and rural out that way...wine growing country.


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## pete5290 (Feb 20, 2016)

thanks for this. yeah we certainly dont expect to be rich or live like kings but if 85k can give us an existence then that is good. We currently live on 75 combined in aust. Good to know that rural places means we need to weigh up transport and possibly commuting to work by car. Though we'd prefer rural-ish, we are thinking that since it is a 2-3 year adventure, we might have to give up the rural lifestyle and try suburbia for a bit.


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## escapedtonz (Apr 6, 2012)

pete5290 said:


> thanks for this. yeah we certainly dont expect to be rich or live like kings but if 85k can give us an existence then that is good. We currently live on 75 combined in aust. Good to know that rural places means we need to weigh up transport and possibly commuting to work by car. Though we'd prefer rural-ish, we are thinking that since it is a 2-3 year adventure, we might have to give up the rural lifestyle and try suburbia for a bit.


Unless you have other funds to get by or should I say set yourself up, you definitely won't be rich or live like kings, however you will survive. There's a darn site more people who are OK on a lot less. There's always others worse off.
AU$75k is around NZ$81k and I expect the cost of living is higher in Aus than it is in NZ although I suppose swings and roundabouts ?
Maybe not with groceries and goods/services but in terms of deductions from pay so the likes of income tax, other taxes, insurance etc ??? I expect you'd be better off in NZ so if you watch your outgoings you'd be able to make NZ work better.

Yeah you'll defo need transport if you want to live rurally. There aren't many places at all in Wellington where you can live rurally on a large section big enough for animals and in the bush but be in walking distance of a bus or train. There just isn't the demand so the services just aren't there. 
There are 5 train lines out of Wellington and all head North :-
(1) Kapiti Line heads out of Wellington and travels up the Tawa Valley and up to the Kapiti Coast terminating in Waikanae. It's only when you get past Plimmerton do you get into the fields, hills and rural living but you'd have to drive home from the station as walking too far and no buses.
(2) Johnsonville line is Suburbia all the way.
(3) Hutt Valley line terminates in Upper Hutt. There are some rural areas to the North of Upper Hutt like Te Marua and Akatarawa then further in to the Rimutaka's but you are heading into deep bush and mountains and heading for the Wairarapa.
It also allows access to a train line for people living Blue Mountains and Whiteman's Valley which is a nice rural area close to Silverstream Train Station but it's a very dizzy windy road up the hill and one that would drive me nuts if I had to do it every day 
(4) Melling line terminates at Melling which is suburbia. Basically there to service the suburban subdivisions of Harbour View, Tirohanga, Belmont and Maungaraki on the West side of the Hutt River.
(5) Wairarapa line follows the route of the Upper Hutt line but then continues through the Rimutaka's and the tunnel in to the Wairarapa and serves the towns of Fetherston, Carterton and Masterton. The line does continue North to Woodville where it then splits off to Palmy to the West and continues North but unsure if there's a passenger service past Masterton....doubtful. The Wairarapa is very rural outside of the three main towns I've mentioned. Spent many an hour mullering the motorbike round the countryside there.
From Wellington, there are only buses and trolley-buses that head South of the city and nothing rural other than when you head down the Makara Road through the back of Karori.

If you change your mind and decide on suburban living then Wellington is your oyster!


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## pete5290 (Feb 20, 2016)

great info - thanks for this. I think we will be ok financially. We dont smoke, rarely drink and usually eat out once a fortnight or a month. Plus my wife is happy to work in needed. But it is all the other little things like sports fees, utilities, school camps etc. But I am sure once we settle into a financial routine we will be ok. Thanks again.


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