to just not understand 'Wanted Down Under'

[AtYourCervix]

All these people wanting to move 'To improve the quality of life'

but every one has older children refusing to go, partners with 'major concerns' and extended families devastated at the thought of families so far away.

Why? I don't get how this could Improve their lives.

Enlighten me.....

Anyway we shall land in NZ with no home, no job and no friends and never having been there. The DSs do have a school to go to - allegedly.

That would make a TV programme.

I rather enjoy watching it,though it's not exactly realistic,and I've read posts from families who have been on the show, who said that they were scripted for much of the programme.
One family said they were taken on the recreation/lifestyle trip immediately after a 27 hour flight,with young children. They had no time to rest.

The part I really hate is when they have the children watch the family video. They usually end up in tears or hysterics. It seems incredibly cruel.

I didn't find NZ particularly 1950s although people were saying that when we went in the early 90s, so it's probably one of those sayings that have stuck, much like 1 sibling being the clever one and another the bubbly one.
The rural area we were in wasn't very fashion conscious, but then neither is rural Scotland, the media wasn't as good. The houses had strange heating systems. in our area it was wooden houses with 1 central wood fire with back boiler heating the house, and new houses were still being built like that.
The scenery was beautiful (ditto Scotland) and the standard of living a bit less than here.
I loved my year there though, but it wasn't sufficiently better than the UK to uproot myself for good. I wonder if alot of folk who emigrate would be as well just looking at a different area of the UK. I burn in the sun so the sun facter of Oz wouldn't be a big plus for me, and I hated the flies present in many areas of Oz.

BeenBeta: Why NZ then?

You need to blog it! If nothing else to keep you sane while it all sinks in!

The whole thing started about a year ago when me and DW talked about taking DSs on a round the world tour while they were young enough to want to be with us but old enough to enjoy it and it woudl be someting we would remember all doing together in later life. DS1 is leaving Primary school so it was a good time to go in July.

Anyway, one thing led to another and we decided we might not jut go round the world but stop half way and then travel a bit in NZ/Aus and maybe Japan. Then we thought why not stop for a few years in NZ and see how it goes.

Sounds fab. Are you staying in NZ as tourists or going to settle and work etc? It's something I've tentatively investigated but just that...dh can't see the appeal (yet )

DW has a long term business visa and I go as her spouse on a full work permit. The NZ immigration people have been very helpful.

We have until September 2012 to decide if we want to stay. I may work but our real purpose is to look for investment opportunities and of course we will enjoy our time there.

I was mainly on the South Island and loved it. If you like sport then the opportunities for walking, skiing, fishing, bunji jumping are excellent. Queensland is a wonderful place summer or winter. The west coast of the south island is beautiful but you get bitten to death by sand flies.
I loved Stewart Island, the first place I saw the aurora.

Queenstown not Queensland.

I haven't seen this program but surely people must talk about these things as a couple first? If one person has always dreamed of moving then it seems unfair that he can't because of his partner but surely that is the kind of thing you discuss when a relationship starts to get serious! Certain things are dealbreakers and for some people I can imagine moving abroad could be one.

For whoever asked: In general I would say once the child is in high school they should get a say, it would be quite traumatic for a lot of teens to have to leave their whole life behind - not to mention that their exams could get messed up depending on where you are going.

BeenBeta, Briliant, what an adventure anyway! We'll look forward to having you on the MN nightshift then!!

BeenBeta, I am a Spaniard who lived in the UK for 2.5 years, and then moved to New Zealand. I am living in Christchurch at the moment. If you need any info or help, feel free to PM me :)

An Australian friend of mine has moved over the the UK with her family for 'a better life'

Now that I don't understand. But they are loving it!

Lower cost of living, perhaps.

Austrlia is so urbanised that it's almost better to compare it with London than with the UK as a whole. There isn't really that layer of secondary cities like Manchester, Leeds, Oxford etc where you might find satisfying white-collar work - it's a case of live in a capital city or work in the agricultural or mining sectors.

It's easy to live a very nice life if you earn absolutely loads of money. But if you earn only average money or less than average, you will be living in a hot, nasty suburb miles and miles from anything pleasant like a beach. Infrastructure hasn't kept pace with immigration, so commuting times are diabolical (unless you can afford the premium to live in the inner city).

The tea lady at my office leaves home at 4.45 each morning to get to work. DD's favourite daycare teacher has just quit becuase she could no longer handle four hours a day commuting.

I hated that programme when we were still at home. As a couple/then family who took 6 years for various reasons to make it out here it was really annoying to see people going out there and then moaning about it!

We moved to Australia about 5 years ago, having never ever been there. DH was head-hunted for a job and we moved out here about 8 weeks after the idea was first suggested. It was damned hard, I can tell you!

My parents & siblings have always been really supportive but DH's family are a different matter. They tried to lay the guilt on quite thickly initially.

As for quality of life? I wouldn't say it's better, it's just different. When we lived in the UK DH worked 1.5 hours away from where we lived and also regularly worked in different places around the country, going away for a week at a time. He hardly ever saw DD and me. It wasn't good for us as a couple or as a family.

Nowadays, we live in a really nice suburb - about a 10minute drive from his office (which is about 20mins on the bus), got a lovely beach about 5 minutes walk from our place, can catch the ferry across the harbour to the city (maybe 20mins away).

DH works quite long hours still, it's the nature of his job, but because we are able to live so close to his work, it's not too bad. Unless he has a 7.30am meeting (or a 6.30 flight to Melbourne like earlier this week LOL) the children see him in the mornings. And he is mostly home in time to see them in the evenings.

Most of all, come the weekend he isn't as knackered as he was when he had to drive so much so it's a better quality of life for all of us.

BUT I do hate those "wanted down under" shows - they are ridiculous. I think a lot of people forget that we still have to cook, clean, go shopping and pay bills over here. Life goes on.

As is often said on the British Expat forum - same shit, different bucket

I'm totally in agreement with "same shit, different bucket". Never heard it before.

We moved to NZ seven months ago. We had never been, there was no work in the UK so DH found a job here.

We did research it, but only enough to get the visas and make sure DS would get the right care.

Not sure that quality of life is better - and that's not what we moved for. We weren't under any illusions that it would be some kind of magic land where we would have loads of free time and corresponding money to spend doing stuff. I never watched Wanted Down Under but they must be idiots to do it if both of them don't want it. You're a long way from home with only your other half for support and if they are a nob then you will be one unhappy bunny.

Aurynne we're also in Christchurch. Its not too bad. What do you think of it? What made you choose Christchurch?

Rilly, I originally moved to Hamilton (North Island) because I was not happy with my job in the UK and I got a great offer there. Hamilton is a very boring city, but fairly close to a lot of nice places to go (Coromandel, Tongariro, Auckland, Raglan...). Then, 3 years after moving there, I met my partner, and some months later he got a great job offer in Christchurch. We decided to move together. It was a tough decision for me, because I was very happy with my job, but on the other hand I love the South Island, and Christchurch is much more vibrant and entertaining than Hamilton (not a very big city compared to European ones, but compared to Hamilton it's like Las Vegas!).

I like the proximity of the mountains and the Banks Peninsula, the cafe culture, the cinemas, theater, concerts and general cultural activities available, the fact that Christchurch is the ideal city to walk, the houses with gardens (like ours! :), the lower humidity in the air, the flatness (great to bike to work every day for a lazy bum like me)... In general I am very much enjoying it :)

What about you? PM me if you want to have a chat.

(sorry for thread hijacking, I though other people could find the info useful too)

What aussieng says is right on the money.

Sorry, I meant ninedragons.

Similar names, easy mishtake to make.:)

mishtake? have you had a few crisp sav blancs at lunch?

Now that I don't understand. But they are loving it!

Deciduous, I believe it. I love Australia, (been here 5yrs in June) and am reluctant to ever go back to the UK. But I can see where your friend is coming from.

The heat. Our proper summer hasn't hit yet, but we usually have temps of 40 for at least over a week & then several weeks of mid-high 30s. You can't take your kids to the park in that, any more than you can in the pissing rain.

There isn't a huge deal to do here, (South Australia) bar parks & beaches, which once you have spent one summer doing it, kinda loses it appeal.

There will never be a drought in the UK as there is in Australia.

I'm not bagging Australia. As I said, I love it...but there are downsides, just like anywhere else & I can see why people would leave for the UK & be happier. It would be interesting to know what your friends think/why they left etc.

Ninedragons , yep. :o

LittleMiss - yes I shall be on the nightsift. The internet will be a real lifeline for us when we get there. Not just to contact friends/relies back home but all our work is on the internet too as well as being our main source of info. Much of our personal data and documents are stored on internet servers too so we can access them without physically carrying them. In fact, without the internet we would never have considered going to NZ. Its also why we can never consider living anywhere rural. We absolutely need fast broadband.

aurynne - I would like to PM you on one particular aspect of Christchurch vs Auckland as you have experience of both.

What I don't understand about these programmes is how these people get through (or expect to get through) the immigration procedures to allow them to emigrate.

It is never explained what special skills they have that the country they want to emigrate to would want and, as many of you point out, they get no points for having family there either.

Disclaimer: I have to confess I have only ever watched about one of these programmes, so that my previous statement may be totally wrong.