where's best to live in nz,and what do we need to know?

[AngryBeaver]

My dh has been on at me for a year to move from the uk.He wanted Quebec,which looked gorgeous and romantic,but i wasn't sold on the winters and coudn't leave my mum.
He recentley said he wanted to move to NZ and i thought ,yeah if it's warm and a better life than here,let's do it.
So we've got fuck all money and 3 kids under 4.5 ...but we want to do it.
I don't know what's changed in me for me to agree ,but I hear th schools and hospitals are fab,and just want the best life for my lovely children.
I'm worrying though because I've read the houses are crap and cold.
We want sun,space and not too expensive (don't we all!)
We thought Tauranga,but that seems quite busy and we've read about boy racers.
We don't want Wellington as we've heard it's windy and weather not great.
Does anyone know about Nelson?Heard it's nice weather,but what's the reality?
We are going to put the house on the market this week,I am shitting myself,but I feel it's now or never.
Any help or advice,gratefully recieved

A new development..dh has a phone interview tonight.If they like him and vice versa we could alter our status and be picked from the pool tomorrow..and be moving in a few months

Hi AngryBeaver, sounds like things are moving on for you, how exciting. I haven't been on for a while so just catching up with this thread.

Since DH accepted a job we have had our midicals, police checks etc and sent off for his 'talent visa'. DH and I are fine (except that more evidence is required of our strong and stable partnership- married with a baby not enough!). DS's application has been referred to the medical panel for review so we can't really do anything until that comes back. It's frustrating, because we haven't got that long of all goes to plan, and I just want to crack on!

Also, I am due to finish work next week and am a bit doubtful as to whether to stick at it for a couple more weeks just in case, since if DS is refused noone is going anywhere! Aargh! At the moment I am feeling quite gung ho and leaning towards just leaving work. I really hope that DS won't be turned down flat.

I am excited still, but am fed up of things being on hold. I want a date!

Good luck with your DH's interview. Hope it goes well. My DH found the interview process he went through very informal and more like a chat.

That all sounds really positive thwop,I can understand your frustration with all the stalling in the process...especially when you just want to get there!!Hopefully everything will just slot into place and you'll have your date and be off.You must let us know what it's like as soon as you get there,though!!deal?? (have forgotten where it was you were heading?)
There seems to be some misunderstanding re this interview,there has been no word since,which is really odd. This is the problem with the time difference and the distance.
Hopefully something will come up soon

Cost of living is pretty high, but the biggest difference are the deals and offers available here that just dont happen in NZ i guess because of the population differences - for example a 2ltr of milk is $4NZD and in tesco I can get two bottles of 2.3 ltrs for the same price at the moment (£2 = $4)
but that is a special offer, normally £1.50 ish I think which is still cheaper at around $3 NZD at the moment with the crappy exchange rate. Clothes and toys are more expensive too on a day to day basis but if you take advantage of the sales and put things aside for Xmas / birthdays etc then it's more manageable.

DH and I have always said we'll return to NZ but it's a matter of the heart over the pocket!!

I think i would defo miss the bogof's and the 2 4 1's, kiwi! i love a bargain. Have seen a gorgeous house in Torbay though,that could twist my arm.
Dh had the interview and it went really well.He has since contacted them to say the salary would be too low for a family of 5 to live on (62,000 nzd)we would need more like 80 i think.Going off what the kiwi mners say.Tell me if Im wrong though and he'll take it and we can leave in a few months!
Also spoke to mum again.She is now worried not only about earthquakes in nz,but about tsunami's/nuclear leakage from japan.I tried to tell her that japn to nz,is like uk to new york.But because nz was put on alert,she isn't having it.
She said "everything is happening in that part of the worls and that's where you want to go,I don't understand it"
She now sees nz as an "earthquake zone" therefore not safe.
I 've read up on it and informed her we had a bigger quake in Wales than last hit Aukland,but she doesn't want to know

When I lived in the UK, I had tons of NZ friends and family aghast that I would want to live 'under the threat of terrorist attacks'. Of course when you're living there you just get on with life and hope it doesn't happen to you.
These things are rare. I can understand your mum being a bit freaked out but I think what I'm trying to say is that people from other parts of the world think its totally nuts to live somewhere where terrorist threats or knife and drug crime are routine etc. (parts of the UK) but I suspect that hasn't impacted on your life much where you are. Same with natural disasters here.

Well said Shells, every place on earth is going to have its good and bad points and goodness knows the UK isnt an exception its just that the 'risks' are different.

AngryBeaver I think you are right in your salary estimation, I left NZ 8 yrs ago as a fresh 27yr old on a good salary of $45k (account manager for health insurance company) and knowing how cost of living has increased and having to support a family I'd say $80k is much more realistic but there must be ways to check the average wage for a particular industry which will give you a better idea of what your hubby might realistically earn.

Maybe you could shush your Mum by telling her you are trying to decide between NZ and the Middle East... I'm thinking NZ will look like paradise in comparison LOL maybe try and reassure her about how well the NZ govt were prepared for the earthquake, that there is an earthquake commission set up especially to help, social services are giving emergency benefits to those in need, how amazing the affected communities have been in pulling together and that you promise to buy an emergency survival kit and a porta loo thingy in your first week there!!

Thats a very good point (about the terrorist threats) that I have yet to raise with her.And the crime here is part of the reason we want to leave.She just keeps saying she finds it all very hurtful,but i don't knnow what i can say to that really..apart from,ok i'll stay.
Yup,we were pretty certain re the salary.That would be about what he's getting here and we struggle on that.He needs to be earning quite a bit more for me to cause all this upset and upheaval.Am not sitting on the other side of the world with no friends or family AND struggling financially!

does anyone know if Torbay area is one of those plagued by boy racers/gangs?!
has any of you seen the "what are you waiting for"? nz "advert" on youtube??I assume it's a piss take !!

Re. the salary. We live on a bit more than $80k for 5 of us and we struggle to save or do anything extra that's nice. (We're renting). I would go for more than that if I could.
Don't know Torbay sorry.

I'm not an expert but I think Torbay is highly unlikely to have gangs. Don't know about boy racers I'm afraid.

Bit of info here

According to that page, the most prominent gangs you will encounter will be the Senior Citizens group and the local Dramatic Society

Well,they're my type of gangs right there
Torbay sounds lovely.

ok,something new to worry myself with.
I have an unnaturally intense fear of sharks ..blame Jaws.I even panic in swimming pools!
For this reason,I do not swim in the sea,even on my honeymoon in the Maldives,where it looked heavenly,and as transparant as glass,I couldn't bring myself to go in further than my knees.
So my (neurotic)question is...are shark attacks common in nz??

Ps the concern is not for me,as I mentioned,I will not be in the sea...but I don't want to project my fear onto the kids and obviously living in nz they will want to join little nippers etc

You do get shark sightings but it's not like Australia. I've been here over 8 years and only been on the beach once when a shark was sighted and the beach closed. Apparently it was a small one and a type that's highly unlikely to attack??

TBH you are more likely to encounter whales or sea lions. A few weeks ago we had an amazing day few days, helped 'rescue' stranded whales (sadly some died), saw sea horses and sea lions and was surfing amongst fish. It was like being up close in an aquarium - very cool.

AAAARRRGH,one sighting? beach closed? am staying here!
Your trip sounds very cool.I wish I could say I will look forward to doing stuff like that,but never gonna happen.I will enjoy watching the others from the boat though

We've had a pod of orca in Wellington Harbour this week.

They probably won't kill you though.

How beautiful,did you see them zacharyQuack?

dh says that there are fewer people in the pool than there has been for years.Obviously people are put off by the earthquake.
Must say,it does make you think.But I think living in the North would marginalise the risk.Apparantly there was a bigger one in Wales than last happened in Aukland( in the 70's)
My friend is a dr looking for work,and I suggested nz.Her immediate response was "er,no thanks!earthquakes?
Like kiwi said though.. nowhere is completely safe,we just live with different threats.Wise words,kiwi.
I totally agree with that.My mum is in Lndon at the mo,and I mst say I'll be glad when she is back.Terrorism, is a very real concern.

dh has had a few iv's that have gone well.
We are hearing a bit about elecricity being really expensive. How commom is solar panelling/geo thermal heating etc?
Does anyone know?

Geothermal heating depends where in the country you are i.e. not in Auckland. I think a few people have solar heating but it's not widespread.

Our electricity bill averages out over the year to about $170 a month (there are 4 of us and I am a SAHM so using stuff during the day). We have no gas at all so that's everything - heating, cooking etc etc. We could have got a slightly cheaper deal with a different company but when we said we were going to change our old company gave us a $200 credit to stay with them (which was about the amount we would have saved over a year with the new company, so we didn't bother changing).

Prob is a good time to apply if applications are down because of the earthquake, if you're going to do it now could be the best time.

I don't think electricity here is particularly expensive compared to the UK, unlike gas which is costly. About 70% of electricity here is renewable (geothermal or hydro) so the costs are more infrastructure costs, rather than just the cost of coal.

The main drawback is that houses are often poorly insulated so heating can be ineffective. Best to look for a house with good insulation and a heat pump (not common in the UK where gas central heating is cheaper but by far the best option here). They're not common on the rental market but are becoming more so because of the govt grants available. Ideally you only want gas for cooking - for anything else it is too expensive (as I found out via a $900 heating bill one winter ).

Right,thanks for that. I have relayed the information to dh who was suprised. He read posts on an expat site that were saying it was horrendusly expensive.
We pay around £1000 a year for oil here which I think is expensive. I like the idea of geothermal heating over there,but would have to factor in the set up costs. We will be paupers initially!

I think it may vary. Our power bills are around $400 - $450 per month . We are semi rural though so everything uses a pump from running taps, flushing toilets and opening garage door. I don't think we waste power, turn everything off at wall when not in use, rarely use dyer (only have one as ds2 has asthma and drying clothes inside is not good for him due to the damp it generates.) We don't have a heat pump but do have a pool and spa.