# Four Months Later...



## ferretpossum (Jul 12, 2014)

I moved to Wellington in September of last year. My transition was eased by the fact that my wife is a Kiwi (from the Bay of Plenty).

Here are my observations so far:

1. Kiwis are OBSESSED by aioli. Every single restaurant offers you aioli with everything and it seems to come in several varieties in the stores. Yet I struggle to find guacamole. 

2. We're living in a weatherboard house at present (renting). These suckers retain the heat when it is hot and don't protect you from the cold when it is cold. If you're living in a weatherboard house, ensure you have a heat-pump to help regulate the temperature! Our house doesn't have one and we were living under blankets up to October and now are melting in the exceptionally hot Wellington summer.

3. People tell you Wellington is hilly. It is not. If is blooming MOUNTAINOUS. The first time I climbed the hill up to my house I was seeing stars and sucking on my blue inhaler for 10 minutes.

4. I don't miss M&S like I thought I would. In fact, although food costs are higher here I'm probably spending less because I'm not coming home with M&S ready meals and desserts. 

5. But food is really much more seasonal here in the UK. I find my local supermarket has courgettes now, but not 2 months ago. Same with blueberries. It's not a problem, just a shift in thinking from having everything available all the time.

6. My missus REALLY misses Boots the Chemist though. Farmers is probably the closest equivalent, but apparently not as good.

7. Kiwi TV is AWFUL. We got Sky and it's still pretty bad. If tv is important to you, get Netflix. I wouldn't bother with Sky unless you love 1980's re-runs.

8. People do seem much friendlier and happier here though. Part of the reason we escaped the UK was to get away from the country-wide bad mood that seemed to accompany the Brexit vote (with Remainers grumpy because we're leaving and Leavers grumpy because we're not leaving fast enough). Here, there seems to be a much more positive mood.

9. We also don't have screamingly rabid political newspapers here. It's a relief to experience civilised political discourse like the UK used to have.

10. I found getting a job relatively painless (I'm in IT). I didn't need to reformat my CV. 

11. Getting an NZ inland revenue number (IRD number) was also pretty easy. 

12. I set up a limited company (I work as a contractor). You don't have to do that here, but it means you can claim more tax back. For contractors, the tax/expenses situation is similar to the UK pre-IR35 in that you can claim back part of the rental for your home (as it's your office) also your phone, heating etc.

13. I'd recommend getting something called the Hospitality 18+ card when you get here as a form of ID in addition to your driving licence.

14. The post office here seems much more efficient and there are more of them than in the UK. It is kind of amazing for someone used to queues right out the door.

15. It's true. Wellingtonians are OBSESSED by coffee. They will ask you where you got yours and which brand you prefer. It is sort of weird.

16. Taxi drivers are pretty bad compared to UK ones. They don't know street names and will ask you to direct them which is not easy if you've just moved here yourself.

17. There are ALWAYS sales/special offers in the stores. Assistants will announce them to you on your way in, like specials in a restaurant. And even if they don't you should definitely ASK. We've noticed that some Kiwis walk around with big wads of cash on them and ask questions like "How much for cash?" Also if you're buying in bulk ask what the store can do for you. It seemed almost rude to us at first, but my sister in law managed to save us over $500 in one hardware store by being cheeky.

18. Wellington is a very multicultural place, but the strongest influence is Asian. So many Chinese/Japanese/Vietnamese restaurants. There are at least 2 or 3 noodle places on every block all along Lambton Quay.

19. Earthquakes. We've had about half a dozen tremors in our 4 months here. You'll find offices provide emergency water under desks and we're all encouraged to have emergency earthquake kits at home. 

20. Wildlife. People here tend to let their cats out - but I'd recommend keeping them in. There's a concerted effort to encourage native birds and lizards to recover their numbers. Birds compete with introduced species like blackbirds, thrushes, sparrows and finches. Possums (introduced from Australia) and rats also affect their numbers. I haven't seen a possum yet, but apparently they are a major problem, killing native trees by stripping bark and suchlike. We are lucky to have a lot of tuis around where I live. These birds are NOISY but lovely to look at. They drink the nectar of the pohutukawa tree. And incidentally pohutukawa is EVERYWHERE. We also hear the song of the grey warbler all the time although I haven't seen ONE yet. We also heard a morpork (owl) the other night. Oh, and a stick insect came in the other day. It was very cute.

21. Maori language (te reo). I'm planning to learn a little bit. It tends to get dropped into conversation here (like French phrases/words in the UK). I think it will be useful. To get the background, I found a documentary movie called "Poi E" really helpful (and fun). Seek it out if you can.

22. Which reminds me - Taika Waititi is a superstar here. I'd try to watch ALL his movies before you get here!

23. The choice of sausage is disappointing here compared to the UK. Ask for pork & apple and Kiwis will look at you like you are weird. They insert CHEESE into sausages here. I'm also having issues locating haggis and a decent steak. I know there are specialty butchers here and they deliver. That could be an option.

24. There are sites like "Poms Away" for other food items you miss. I just ordered HP sauce and Paxo. But if you are really stuck the NZ Post Office has a service called YouShop which allows you to get parcels from the UK or elsewhere delivered to a depot and then redirected here. 

That was a bit of a brain-dump. Sorry about that. They are my main impressions/lessons learned from our time here.


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## AmazingTiger (Feb 17, 2017)

ferretpossum said:


> I moved to Wellington in September of last year. My transition was eased by the fact that my wife is a Kiwi (from the Bay of Plenty).
> 
> Here are my observations so far:
> 
> ...


Nice, interesting and insightful.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk


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## thecornflake (Aug 8, 2008)

That’s some really useful observations. Do you find you worry about the earthquakes or is it something you get used to fairly easily?


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## ferretpossum (Jul 12, 2014)

So far, the earthquakes have been more a subject of interest than anything to worry about. Never having experienced one before, the first one took me by surprise. It felt like the house had been hit by a gust of strong wind, followed by that sensation you get on a sharp bend of a rollercoaster. To be honest it was over before I knew what it was.

The second one was more prolonged. I think it went on for about 3 or 4 seconds. My bedroom shook like a heavy lorry was passing. When my bed started shaking my first thought was "demonic possession!" I probably watch too many horror movies.

We've had another couple of short ones since then, but nothing that has panicked me too much. But having said that, we have invested in an earthquake kit (about $600 NZ). It has glow-sticks, water purification tablets, rope, a first aid kit, a billy can & gas and a hand-powered radio/usb charger. Well, you never know.

The other thing worth thinking about is that the earthquakes I described were not that alarming but someone pointed out to me that if we lived on the 8th floor of an apartment block they would probably knock me off my feet. I suppose it is obvious but I'd never thought about the fact that the higher you go, the more powerful they feel.


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