NZ- we are really going!!

[ThwopGoesTheMooncup]

Hello kiwi and expat mumsnetters,

I posted a should we or shouldn't we message a few weeks ago... Well we are! Eeeeek! DH has been offered a job and has a second interview for another, so whatever happens we're moving.

I don't know where to start... I have seen a couple of letting agents about letting our house, and got some quotes for exporting the cat, and that's it. It depends what job DH takes whether or not we get much help with relocation.

So... any tips on the practical stuff? I feel like a fish out of water.

[buzzybee]

Where will you be living?

Some websites you might find useful are www.trademe.co.nz NZ equivalent of eBay also has property and car listings.

Also www.realestate.co.nz and //[www.open2view.com

Also www.ero.govt.nz for OFSTED type reports on all schools including childcare centres. Low decile rating means the school draws from a poorer area, not that the school is a bad one.

www.metservice.com for local weather reports!

www.grabaseat.co.nz for cheap domestic flights

ummm that's all I can think of right now but just ask!

[thelittlestkiwi]

congratulations!

bring a stock of mooncups though, you can't get them here ;-)

what is your timescale?

[ThwopGoesTheMooncup]

Thanks guys. Three months-ish, and we are going to New Plymouth. Am already looking at houses to let on Trademe!

We are undecided about whether to take all the furniture, but leaning towards doing it, as I think it will help us settle and it looks like it is expensive to buy furniture in NZ.

Just trying to work through all the practicalities in my mind... I will be writing a lot of lists I think. I have started DS's passport application today.

DH seems to think cars are expensive to buy in NZ. Has anyone imported a car? Could it possibly be worth it? Maybe not, just trying to think through the possibilities.

Will add a spare mooncup to the list...

[slug]

Because New Plymouth is the epicentre of the NZ oil trade (such as it is) you will find it quite an 'international' place to live.

[Kiwinyc]

European car brands are expensive, Japanese car brands less so. YOu'd probably be nailed for import/customs duty if you imported a european car, I doubt that its worth it. (We briefly investigated importing a BMW to Australia) BUT - i'm not au fait with current customs fees there.

New Plymouth is fairly small town NZ, get used to the black volcanic sand beaches, its a bit of a surprise initially. But its a great place for kids to grow up... Well anywhere in NZ is a great place to grow up.

[WhatSheSaid]

Yay! I don't know New Plymouth at all but if you have any general questions fire away.

(Apparently you can buy mooncups here - I googled and found lots of sites selling them here is one of them.)

Might be cheaper to ship all you furniture over than replace it all, shipping gets cheaper (per sq metre or whatever) the more you ship.

[WhatSheSaid]

Oh and cars, I bought a 9 year old Japanese Toyota import in very good condition for 5000 dollars, with 66000 kms on the clock, but I have no idea how that compares to UK prices as I have never owned a car in the UK!

[ThisIsYourSong]

New Plymouth is lovely but it rains A LOT. But we have friends who live there and love it. Its a bit isolated from any big cities too.

It is worth importing a car, there are lots of Japanese cars and imports but it will be cheaper to bring yours than buying the equivalent new. Although do be aware that getting European cars repaired in NZ is expensive too. You don't need to pay import duties as long as you've had it for longer than a year. Although there are rules about the age of vehicle and emissions as well, which will need looking into.

Its also worth taking your furniture rather than buying there, pretty much buying anything in NZ is expensive compared to the UK (even when you take into account shipping costs).

[Athrawes]

Hi. Welcome to NZ. We came two years ago.
Don't import a car, it's a total nightmare. Car compliance are particularly hysterical about cars from the UK as they are convinced they are full of rust.
Do ship furniture etc as poor quality choice and expensive. Even bring your white goods.
Don't bring smart clothes, people here are very casual.
Do shop till you drop in the UK before you come. M&S will seem like manna from heaven when you meet the shops and prices here. I long even for Tescos clothes!

[Horopu]

Ship everything, even treasury tags, they don't have then here!

[TennisFan]

Don't take your washing machine as you can get those brilliant top-loaders in NZl which although expensive are really worth it.

I enby your position, I am just back from a long holiday in NZ, visiting my brother.

I would love to move there, but I just can't see how it will ever me more than a dream.

[shelscrape]

Well, our container left for Felixstowe dock about an hour ago. We are taking everything we could fit in! No Ikea in NZ so take everything! No car though, as you need one as soon as you get there, you may need to modify your car to make it legal in NZ plus you ahve to keep it for at least 2 years to avoid paying duty on it.

I would suggest you get your medicals sorted as soon as possible. I have a very very minor hearing defect - i work full time and it has no impact on my day to day life, but NZI can be very pendantic about the medical side and it took them just under a year to pass me as being medically fit for residency.

I hope it all works out for you!

[Horopu]

Good Luck Shelscape.

We have brought out washing machine. Top loads are not usually energy efficient and certainly not water efficient. Water is metered if you are on town water (i.e. mains). We have drought conditions up here in Northland and if you are on tank water ( i.e. the water collected from your roof in the rain) in a drought you would be much better off with a front loader. Your eyes do go funny though looking at all the packets of washing powder for the right stuff.

[shelscrape]

Excellent - we packed the washing machine too! And the bikes, the slide for garden, the toy kitchen, lego, trainset, shoes, shoes, shoes ...............

[Horopu]

I hope it was all well washed! One of our bikes had to be cleaned by them when our stuff arrived.

At the airport the boys' football boots were taken out for checking. Luckily they were new, as the old ones were so dirty I couldn't face cleaning them. I should not have bothered. They have not worn the once all year!

[thelittlestkiwi]

I'm not a fan of top loaders either. We got a front loader based on water consumption too. If I am remembering right the top loader used 10x the water. We also found they didn't wash as well. But all the ones we've used in our various rentals/short stay apartments have been Fischer and Paykel a brand I am very unimpressed with.

We also brought three bikes before we realised quite how hilly Auckland was. Hee hee.

[ThwopGoesTheMooncup]

Wow Shelscrape how exciting! Thanks for the tip about medicals. I'm not sure how much hand holding we will get through the immigration process, it depends which job DH takes as one of the companies will pretty much sort it for us. Hopefully we will know by next week what the situation is.

What company did you use for shipping and would you recommend them?

[ThisIsYourSong]

Anglo Pacific came and packed and took away our stuff yesterday. I thought they were excellent - but need to wait for the next stage to really find out!

[shelscrape]

Anglo Pacific took all our stuff too. DH is being a right geek and tracking the ship which has so far reached Rotterdam .... bet your stuff is on the ship as mine ThisIsYourSong.

Hopefully all the garden stuff will be OK Horopu, DH spent a day cleaning everything down with vile Jeyes fluid. Everything in the container is going to stink of it by the time it gets to NZ!

[thelittlestkiwi]

Most companies seem to contract out at the NZ end. Just don't choose one who use the Moving Company in NZ as they were careless with our stuff and caused a lot of damage.

When you get quotes make sure you ask about any fees at the NZ end and MAF charges as many people get stung on this.

[Horopu]

Anglo Pacific use NZ Van Lines at the other end, who were fine, although they did loose one piece of our flat pack furniture. We didn't have a full container though, so if you do have one of your own that houldn't be a problem.

[mumbee2]

We arrived her 4 months ago - do a search on emigration websites and you can get more specific help regarding immigration we used a couple of them and have made a couple of friends through them. As for your furniture bring everything - we wish we had also brought curtains and their poles as they are very expensive and do not move from house to house when you sell you usually leave them behind our house is a brand new one so we need these things and found that tab tops and ring curtain are consider very trendy here and so way out of most of our budgets. The only thing we are finding is they think that british people have loads of money so it is easy to be stung if you are not careful. Saying all of this we love NZ especially Upper Hutt where are going to be living!

[Athrawes]

Take care with buying loads of new stuff - take it out of original packing and repack so that you don't get stung for import taxes for importing new goods.
I wish I had brought bookshelves and ikea rugs etc, simple low cost stuff that you can easily get in the UK and which looks uber stylish here and costs a fortune here. It's a really really great country and fabulous for kids but by golly it is the land that style forgot!

[ThisIsYourSong]

mumbee2 - we are going back to Lower Hutt (we have a house there already, returning home), leave tomorrow!

[ThwopGoesTheMooncup]

Thanks for all the tips. I will keep you updated!

Feeling a bit wobbly about it today to be honest, just had a lovely lunch with friends who live close by and it is making me think about how much we will miss people. Still we are bound to have days like that, and I don't think I'm really doubting the decision.

Hopefully DH will get his second job response in the next day or so and then we can really start to crack on.

Athrawes I wonder if I will be at the cutting edge of fashion in New Zealand? That will be a new experience!