# Help/Advice - Any young families recently emigrated from UK to NZ?



## AFK

Default Help/Advice - Any young families recently emigrated from UK to NZ?
Hi UK Expats in NZ! 

I am 36 (London born), married (to a New Zealander) with a 26month old daughter. We live in London and are considering a move to New Zealand for that cliched 'new start' as we feel like we are just 'surviving' in London (despite earning £100k between us) and not 'living' if that makes sense.

My wife works as a business manager in the NHS and I run my own promotional gifts company. We are considering areas such as Christchurch or Auckland (Wife's hometown) but leaning more towards Christchurch at the moment mostly based on the housing market prices. 

Having read a million forums/threads (that are quite dated, which is frustrating) I flit between wanting to get on a plane tomorrow and thinking I am going to hate it and want to move back quickly. 

I am looking for some honest feedback/advice on life in NZ for a young family (anything specific to Christchurch would be useful) and recommendations for potential areas to live based on the following: 

Young family with 2 yr old daughter (education, lifestyle etc)
Any pro's, con's and expectation-setting would be great
Job market/salary expectations for my wife in the healthcare sector 
Job market/salary opportunities for myself as a generalist business manage/director. I am worried about finding work seeing as I am not a "skilled worker" 

Anyone who has been in our position or has a young family recently emigrated to NZ from UK it would be great to hear from you.

Cheers. 

A.


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## escapedtonz

AFK said:


> Default Help/Advice - Any young families recently emigrated from UK to NZ?
> Hi UK Expats in NZ!
> 
> I am 36 (London born), married (to a New Zealander) with a 26month old daughter. We live in London and are considering a move to New Zealand for that cliched 'new start' as we feel like we are just 'surviving' in London (despite earning £100k between us) and not 'living' if that makes sense.
> 
> My wife works as a business manager in the NHS and I run my own promotional gifts company. We are considering areas such as Christchurch or Auckland (Wife's hometown) but leaning more towards Christchurch at the moment mostly based on the housing market prices.
> 
> Having read a million forums/threads (that are quite dated, which is frustrating) I flit between wanting to get on a plane tomorrow and thinking I am going to hate it and want to move back quickly.
> 
> I am looking for some honest feedback/advice on life in NZ for a young family (anything specific to Christchurch would be useful) and recommendations for potential areas to live based on the following:
> 
> Young family with 2 yr old daughter (education, lifestyle etc)
> Any pro's, con's and expectation-setting would be great
> Job market/salary expectations for my wife in the healthcare sector
> Job market/salary opportunities for myself as a generalist business manage/director. I am worried about finding work seeing as I am not a "skilled worker"
> 
> Anyone who has been in our position or has a young family recently emigrated to NZ from UK it would be great to hear from you.
> 
> Cheers.
> 
> A.


Hi,
We migrated to NZ March 2012 from NW England. At that time we were 2 adults and a 1 year old. We earned £100k, we had everything we needed, huge house and a medium mortgage, no other finance, could always save, always newish cars, lots of holidays, weekends away, eating out etc but we yearned for adventure and to try something totally different.
Luckily at that time you only needed enough points on the EOI to get through. You didn't need job offers and all that malarkey like you do now. You'll be good as you can go the Partnership Residency route and your daughter will get Kiwi citizenship by descent.
We originally landed in Wellington with me having a single job and even though I took a step up job and company wise we started off on half the money $100k as in general salaries here are much less - depending on the industry. That was a shocker but the better lifestyle made up for it a bit. Luckily we had around £40k to use to set ourselves up. It was tough for a year or so until the Mrs went back part time - she's a practice nurse here and it is surprising how quickly the savings diminish when you need to buy cars, rent a house, new furniture pieces and a bit of whiteware.
From around 18 months - 2 years on I'd got a few pay rises and the wife permanent part time so all sweet again but we yearned for a nicer place to live so moved up to Tauranga after I managed to get a transfer doing the same job.
Since then we have bought our own section, built our own property and had boy No 2 who is now 2.5 years.
Life in NZ for us is awesome. Yeah its expensive (quite a bit more so than in the UK with less salary) but it is an awesome place to bring up kids. When you've been here a while you learn to adapt and do without things that you may have had in the UK. Much less people, much less traffic, much less serious crime, better climate, better weather.....winter has been a joke this year. We've only had maybe half a dozen morning frosts and a couple of days where the temp has stayed in single figures. It has been a very short winter and even though it isn't officially Spring till the beginning of September the last couple of weeks have been very Spring like.
NZ does have its problems - high number of families living in poverty and on the breadline, poor housing quality, illicit drug problems like P, biker gang problems etc not that you'll ever experience any of this as we haven't but just be aware it is there. 
We have been to Christchurch a couple of times as we have friends there but don't know what it's like to live there. It is a really nice place and has a very English feel to it. If we had to move elsewhere I'd say the only place we would move to would be Christchurch. Maybe that is a possibility one day ?
I doubt your Mrs will have problems finding work, however she may have to start at a lower level until she has proved herself and has got some NZ experience behind her. If she already has NZ experience then it should work out better.
You may struggle to find work in your field ? There are jobs for business managers but I suppose it comes down to your experience and industry. You may just have to set up your own business here.


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## James Alex

Great post escapedtoNZ... agree with many points. We migrated Aug 2012 after deciding in 2008. Arrived on residency visa thanks to wifes job as midwife / job offer in place. At the time it seemed to be major cities Ak / Wellington etc or smaller regions for remote job offers. We ended up in Gisborne...great place for the first few years but in the end after 5 we relocated more central to Cambridge.All 3 of our kids were born here and this was the grand plan really. Major major pull is the low population and bloody awesome environment to bring up kids. Yes there are flaws but think amazing places to visit and predictable good weather. In Gisborne, winter while quiet passed with daily sunshine...great compared to 3pm darkness in the UK. Crime is real low level stuff and friends who are cops say its still the minority for break ins to take place with occupants in the house! I think a few years back laughing when the front page of the main national newspaper had a story about an Audi R8 getting stolen...lol. Cars - the national fleet age is 1997 or something so you dont need to worry keeping up with the Jones. You can still buy decent Audis'VW's around 20k but you can also embrace the 'NZ Bomb' mentality if you wish as ive often seen top end professionals such as Dr's, Lawyers etc driving 30 year old $500 motors and proud of it.
If you want to set up on your own the barriers are low/non existant and many UK expats run successful operations. Think - idea from UK that works and apply to NZ job done. When looking for work tbh all you need to do is actually get stuck in.
As a NZ employer i have now dealt with over 400 job applications and i can tell you now i think ive only had one single person in all that time actually ring me! Aim high, your skills from Euroland are very well regarded in NZ and many switched on Kiwis will have done the 5-10 year OE to London ha ha. Decide on your area and when you have realistic time frame get in contact for roles you think you are suited to.
Chrtistchurch not really got a clue as ive only been once but think its bloody cold in winter.. lots of places nearby for outdoor fun, mountains, beaches etc. Potentially some historic issues resulting from from earthquake and undesirables in the city. Id make sure to visit for 2-3 weeks before fixing moving there. Otherwise pick a safer bet, Hamilton gets mocked but is great location for anywhere AK airport, Raglan, Mt Maunganui, Rotorua and Taupo.


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## CharcoalMW

James Alex said:


> Great post escapedtoNZ... agree with many points. We migrated Aug 2012 after deciding in 2008. Arrived on residency visa thanks to wifes job as midwife / job offer in place. At the time it seemed to be major cities Ak / Wellington etc or smaller regions for remote job offers. We ended up in Gisborne...great place for the first few years but in the end after 5 we relocated more central to Cambridge.All 3 of our kids were born here and this was the grand plan really. Major major pull is the low population and bloody awesome environment to bring up kids. Yes there are flaws but think amazing places to visit and predictable good weather. In Gisborne, winter while quiet passed with daily sunshine...great compared to 3pm darkness in the UK. Crime is real low level stuff and friends who are cops say its still the minority for break ins to take place with occupants in the house! I think a few years back laughing when the front page of the main national newspaper had a story about an Audi R8 getting stolen...lol. Cars - the national fleet age is 1997 or something so you dont need to worry keeping up with the Jones. You can still buy decent Audis'VW's around 20k but you can also embrace the 'NZ Bomb' mentality if you wish as ive often seen top end professionals such as Dr's, Lawyers etc driving 30 year old $500 motors and proud of it.
> If you want to set up on your own the barriers are low/non existant and many UK expats run successful operations. Think - idea from UK that works and apply to NZ job done. When looking for work tbh all you need to do is actually get stuck in.
> As a NZ employer i have now dealt with over 400 job applications and i can tell you now i think ive only had one single person in all that time actually ring me! Aim high, your skills from Euroland are very well regarded in NZ and many switched on Kiwis will have done the 5-10 year OE to London ha ha. Decide on your area and when you have realistic time frame get in contact for roles you think you are suited to.
> Chrtistchurch not really got a clue as ive only been once but think its bloody cold in winter.. lots of places nearby for outdoor fun, mountains, beaches etc. Potentially some historic issues resulting from from earthquake and undesirables in the city. Id make sure to visit for 2-3 weeks before fixing moving there. Otherwise pick a safer bet, Hamilton gets mocked but is great location for anywhere AK airport, Raglan, Mt Maunganui, Rotorua and Taupo.


Im really intereste3d in your post as i am a midwife thinking of relocating to NZ with my husband (runs my family's business) and my 3 boys aged 9,11,13). I am educated to PhD standard, my husband is an entrepreneur and has a-levels but no higher qulaifiactions, will this go against him? Is it possible for my parents-in-law to come out with us to live too? Do they need a certain amount of equity? I only have 1 years experience as a mW so far, will this go aginst me? Thanks in advance


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## sarlyka

Hi, we have just had our visa application lodged so waiting for that to get sorted. Any idea how long it will take?
Husband has a job in Auckland so we will be living in that area to start with. We have two girls aged 3 and 4.
Interested to know best areas to live south of Auckland CBD. We have been looking at places around Mission Bay and Howick as we would like to be near the coast. We have relatives in the Hamilton area so will probably move there eventually.
I am very excited about the move. Main worry is packing up our stuff here in Cornwall and trying to decide what to take with us.


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## inhamilton

sarlyka said:


> Hi, we have just had our visa application lodged so waiting for that to get sorted. Any idea how long it will take?
> Husband has a job in Auckland so we will be living in that area to start with. We have two girls aged 3 and 4.
> Interested to know best areas to live south of Auckland CBD. We have been looking at places around Mission Bay and Howick as we would like to be near the coast. We have relatives in the Hamilton area so will probably move there eventually.
> I am very excited about the move. Main worry is packing up our stuff here in Cornwall and trying to decide what to take with us.


Well Mission Bay and Howick are certainly 2 good areas. Trouble is Mission Bay (stretching to St Heliers), in particular, is maybe the most pricey suburb in the whole of the country for housing. It has the most expensive street in NZ called Paratai Drive. Very nice place though, close to CBD and with views over the harbour, the city and Rangitoto Island. Generally the closer you are to the CBD, and/or the beach, the pricier the housing gets. Howick also has a beachy feel but further from the city. Peak traffic hours maybe 3/4 hr to an hour and a quarter to the city. Other times maybe 20 minutes to half hour by car. Howick has a sort of quaint village type shopping centre.

There are suburbs on the west coast like Green Bay and Titirangi, which are nice suburbs with good schools, but the beaches are almost non-existent, unless you go as far as Piha or Muriwai. There are plenty of choices really around the CBD ... Parnel, Ponsonby, St Marys Bay, Remuera. You're never far from the coast in any of those. And then theres slightly cheaper areas like Ellerslie or Mt Eden which you cant really go wrong with. 

And then there's Hamilton, which I'm sure your relatives will fill you in with. Good luck with your move, should you be successful with the visa.


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## escapedtonz

sarlyka said:


> Hi, we have just had our visa application lodged so waiting for that to get sorted. Any idea how long it will take?
> Husband has a job in Auckland so we will be living in that area to start with. We have two girls aged 3 and 4.
> Interested to know best areas to live south of Auckland CBD. We have been looking at places around Mission Bay and Howick as we would like to be near the coast. We have relatives in the Hamilton area so will probably move there eventually.
> I am very excited about the move. Main worry is packing up our stuff here in Cornwall and trying to decide what to take with us.


Depends on the visa type. Temporary work visas and associated temporary visas based on partnership usually pretty quick in a matter of days / weeks depends how ready you have the evidence documents. If its SMC Resident Visa then several months depending where you are up to in the process.

Don't really know Auckland that well other than Whangaparaoa / Gulf Harbour as have friends there. Avoid the place like the plague most of the time unless I have to go to the airport or whatevs. Not my cup of tea. Way too busy and too many cars for me nowadays and the cost of living stupid high. Was there Tuesday to drop Mum at the airport after her visit. $20 to park at Princess Wharf for 90 mins.......Whaaaat!!! Went in a little wharfside cafe for lunch $9 for a corner shop triangle sammie which was pretty loaded......Whaaaaat!!!
I'd choose the Tron (Hamilton) anytime over Aucks.
Wouldn't worry about packing up in Cornwall. Take it all. Wrap it up and put it in the container and sort it out this end. You can always sell it on here via Facebook or TradeMe if you want to offload some stuff. Only things I'd leave behind are vehicles (just too much red tape, stress with the process, fees to get it over and cleaning) and things well used in the garden like the mower etc (too much hassle cleaning them).
Cornwall a nice part of the world. Have great friends in Portreath who own North Coast Holiday Cottages


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