Option to move to NZ for 2 years

[travailtotravel]

Exciting potential option to move to NZ for a max of 2 years. I am 50 this year, DH is 60 and would be retired by the time this came about. My work permit would be sorted out and I assume but don't know at this point that DH would get a spouse visa. No DC to consider. Both sets of parents moved along to the other side. So, if there was ever a time to do something like this, right, this would be it, no?

Of course, I'll go through all this but I am hoping for some top line exciting headlines from MNetters who have wise words of wisdom as I start to look at whether this is viable or not.

My salary would be NZ $110k. Role-based in central Aukland
We'd need to pay rent - 2 bed unit would be fine (we would have visitors)
what kind of deposit is needed?
What kind of bills and utilities costs would I need to factor in?
What is public transport like?
Areas you'd look for or avoid?
Cost of living - weekly food shop for 2 (we spend £100 pw in Sainsburys just the two of us, lots of fresh fruit and veggies, a bit of meat some veggie, couple of bottles of wine etc)
how easy is it to integrate if I am working FT and DH retired?
healthcare?
I am so excited at the very idea!

There's a new Aus/NZ MN board somewhere in case you want to repost there.

Would your DH have any pension? It’s a fab opportunity but, being realistic, Auckland isnt cheap at all and rentals are very competitive. I’ve recently come back from a month there and groceries are definitely more expensive than here (although Costco has finally opened which might help).

Honestly, unless you can top up your income, I think you’d be on the breadline hence it wouldn’t be a ton of fun. However, this is my my view and I don’t live there.

As soon as I saw the title I thought 'hope you aren't going to be in Auckland'. Just because of cost of living. That salary is not huge for Auckland prices. Not to say don't go as it's a great opportunity but you are right to do your homework first. As for settling in, so long as you join groups for hobbies, and make an effort to immerse yourself, you'll make friends. It's very outdoorsy and loads to do. Husband could perhaps do some volunteering if not working.

Auckland (and much of NZ now) has a housing shortage and in Auckland especially it's hard to get good rentals in nice locations. Look on TradeMe for rentals and see what comes up just to get an idea. Like any big city the cheaper areas won't be the nicest or most convenient ones. Also, as a tip - unlike the UK a lot of NZ rentals are not furnished and some won't even have fridges or washing machines, that's pretty normal. However as a result there is a thriving 2nd hand market for those sorts of things - also on TradeMe!

There are specific expat boards and government sites that can answer some of your cost of living questions but I can say that accommodation aside it's also pretty expensive. Family & friends in various parts of the country are finding food prices have really gone up - partly due to bad weather affecting crop production. NZ has always had to import stuff it can't grow or make, or at least not in quantity. Add a smaller population and some items are expensive compared to the UK simply because of supply & demand. You'd think wine would be cheap but it isn't compared to UK as here we have access to all the cheaper European stuff. NZ wine is generally not cheap to produce or certainly not in large quantities and so skews to the higher end of the market, so the cheaper stuff is often Australian imports.

To compare food prices look at the supermarkets on line. Pak N Save is one of the cheaper ones, then Countdown and New World is more expensive. Kmart & The Warehouse can give an idea of prices for household items.

There's not much in the way of public transport in Auckland (mainly buses) and you definitely can't rely on it as a main way to get around or out of the city for exploring. You need a car in NZ or you won't be doing very much. Try to live close to work for both commuting time and cost reduction, so long as it's not in a crappy area of course.

Healthcare is not totally free at point of delivery like NHS but is subsidised. For example you pay for GP appointments and some outpatient & hospital treatments too. I had to pay $40 to see a GP in 2019 as I'm no longer a resident. There are reciprocal arrangements with the UK for non-resident visitors but you need to check what is or isn't covered.

There is loads of information on various New Zealand government websites (Immigration has a moving to NZ section) so much of this you can find from the source rather than anecdotally from random internet people. Hope it all works out for you!

Watching with interest as NZ is somewhere I'd like to live, what an amazing opportunity OP. It's an experience I would welcome, too!

There are always reasons not to move abroad because it's a challenge but you should do it for the fun factor. That's what life is all about.

Thanks guys - this is exactly the sort of thing I was hoping for as answers. DH isn't an issue - he has a UK pension and we have a house in the UK we'd probably rent out temporarily to our friend's kids who can't afford to move out but need to move out!

There's some real pause for thought here about the Aukland thing. So, so useful to get some cost calculators and locations to check it out. But way to many reasons to say no, you're quite right @MisschiefMaker so I will go and google and see if we can have a reason to say yes.

There are not many opportunities in life

I would go for it !

Visit parts of NZ while you are there

I have only been on holiday, it is expensive

It’s worth living in Auckland just to get able to visit the South Island easily. It’s gorgeous, and Queenstown has loads of stuff to do. It’s my favourite place in the world.

The first thing we did after arriving was go up the Sky Tower, it was a good day weather-wise so the views were unreal. I would say it’s worth visiting NZ just for that too.

We were very lucky to get our apartment. It was a flat share but the landlord reached out to us after we posted online to say we were looking.

When you get your Auckland address, apply for a museum pass for the War museum. You’ll be able to get in free then.

Downsides:
I lived in the CBD but worked outside it. Buses were so bad, it took 45 minutes to travel about 3 miles to and from work.

Book appointments to set up your bank account a week before you go (if you can). All the backpackers land in Auckland so they banks are very busy. Most ATMs charge for cash withdrawals too, so get comfortable with Contactless/Paywave if you aren’t already.

Phone contracts are expensive. Food is too. I can’t speak for other bills as that was all included in our rent.

There isn’t much to do in Auckland really. You’ll probably spend a lot of time travelling out of it tbh. I was quite ready to leave it after a year.

Absolutely do it. Even if you don't love it, it's only two years - but imagine if you don't go for it, you'll always wonder 'what if'.

I moved abroad with minimal enthusiasm 10 years ago, just so I could say 'well at least I gave it a try' and not have any regrets. Still here, very happy