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

interesting.So how much is central heating to put in then? and i'm assuming since nobody has it,that it's astronomical to run.
Are the heatpumps aesthetically pleasing,or a bit of an eyesore??

Dh didn't get the job he was hoping for so is a bit crestfallen.Another one has come up near Whangerei..does anyone know the area? The housing looks cheaper and I wondering if the reason for that

Sorry to hear about that AB. Fingers crossed for the Whangerei job. Personally, I think it's much nicer than Auckland - smaller, quieter and warmer too. But then wild horses wouldn't drag me to Auckland so I am a teeny bit biased. Just make sure your DH pronounces it correctly at interview! (sort of, fong-er-ray)

Unusually, I do have gas central heating but I don't use it. To operate it for 3 or 4 hours a day last winter cost me $900 a month - and with no insulation or double glazing, the temperature plummeted the moment I switched it off anyway. This winter, I've decided not to use it and stick to fin and air heaters. Really, it's just not an economic option out here for most housing. Far better to spend your cash on insulation, carpets and a heat pump.

Heatpumps aren't really an eyesore, just a rectangular box, usually mounted high on the wall of a room, they make them quite slimline and compact.

Yes, Whangerei is much smaller and less busy than Auckland. Property is so much cheaper as it's so much smaller, fewer jobs so less demand for housing I guess. Warmer - you don't get much of a winter up there. Don't know the town that well but like anywhere I guess it has good and not-so-good areas. It has some lovely beaches to the north and south and good snorkelling and diving to the north too.

I think you were initially after a quieter, more rural lifestyle weren't you? Whangerei would offer you that far more then Auckland would.

I think it's population is about 50,000, compared to Auckland's 1.4 million.

I'm in whangarei AB! Been here since January, really nice place. It's technically a city, but wouldn't pass muster for a city in the UK. It feels more like a large market town like Newark or King's Lynn. Fab beaches about 20 mins drive from where we are, lots of stuff for kids to do. We got a decent 3 bed rental house for $350 a week. It's still warm enough for shorts and sandals at the moment. Schools are OK too. Best of luckfor DH and getting a job, where is the job going to be?

No winter sounds good..might save on heating?! Dh is suggesting that we could buy there and live mortgage free, but the houses don't look great. Small isn't what I'm envisaging in my new life! Also,we'd like another child in the future so that wouldn't work.
Lower wages in Whangerai too. hmmm
Aukland never really called to me.I' m not a city girl at all,otherwise we could move to London and things would be ok. NEVER gonna happen.
I got cornered by a relative who had toured nz for a few months.He was very derrogatory about it. "Very backward,no public transport system, racist/sexist and no 5 star hotels!!!" They said they kept saying "I could live here because it's so beautiful ,but I couldn't because it doesn't have if only they had A, B and C"
Dh is coming over on wed and can't wait. He is going to record and picture everything.He's really excited (but not about the flight..i think he's going to take sleepig tabs and booze..v.healthy)I doubt very much he'll come back and decide the move is off!

Ha, just read your post shelscrape! That's a coincedence isn't it?! What decile scholls are there around there, and what type of things for the children? I'm not sure where the job is. The problem is that it's a lower wage than we agreed he'd accept. But he reasons that the housing is much cheaper so it would balance out. I am not convinced by this arguement.

Thanks for the Find-A -Job- good karma you guys

I think your relative is right to some degree, just like you could say those things about the UK too. There is very little public transport, some areas are a bit 'behind', hotels probably aren't as good and it can be racist.

But I can live without the latest laptop, ipod etc. Actually, why does it matter? You focus on different things- spend time doing stuff rather than getting kicks out of buying stuff.

The sexism drives me bonkers. I've been tempted to lamp a few guys who assume OH will be doing the DIY (if only!) or excused themselves while they explain how a microwave works to OH.

Racism can be an issue. But I think it is changing very fast- look at how far the Uk has come in the last decade. We find there is a less of an 'old boys network' here which makes up for it. My OH is mixed race which he felt held him back in the UK. Here people assume he is European so it works for us.

These things may be reasons that Auckland might actually work for you to start with. I hate London and hard, concrete cities too. I expected to hate Auckland. But I LOVE it. There is green and blue everywhere and I can drive most places in under 30 mins. You can also park most places other than the city centre for free and easily. It may be a good stepping stone to somewhere more rural in a few years when you have acclimatised.

I don't think it's that sexist. Yes, there are some very "blokey" Kiwi blokes but I experienced just as many of those types of blokes in northern English towns. And I saw FAR worse racism in the UK - I was in Oldham when they had race riots in 2001. There is NOTHING like that here.

NZ actually just topped a poll of the best Commonwealth country in which to be born a girl today - in terms of stuff like equal education/opportunities and pay equality, stuff like that.

Surely not all the houses in Whangerei are small ? There must be some bigger ones.

i think most are 3 beds. He wants to find a do'er-upper (sp) but although labour seems to be cheap,i wonder, how much would the fittings be. Is there a b&q stylee shop where you could pick up a standard white bathroom for £200?!We have seen a few houses we could buy outright,but I'm suspicious of the low prices! It makes me think there's a reason.Set me straight shelscrape!
Dh encountered rascism whilst we where at uni in yorkshire.And my first job was stuffed full of rascist/sexist/old boys networky types. So could happen anywhere i spose.

Most houses in NZ are 3 bedroom, it's the standard. Have you searched on the property websites (Trade Me and Realestate.co.nz) for 4+ bedrooms? I don't know anything about the property market in Whangerei - except a friend of mine sold a very ordinary small 2-bed townhouse with a tiny courtyard in an OK-ish area of Auckland and got a rural 3 bed big house with loads of land on which to keep chickens etc, just south of Whangerei. Shelscrape will prob know more about prices up there.

Whangarei is a nice town .... obviously a few not so good areas , steer clear of otangerei probably. My DS is at Whangarei Primary School, Decile 5 I think. A nice school with a good mix of children from all backgrounds. All the primary schools here work on very strict catchment areas so you need to pick where you rent very carefully. maunu primary and whau valley primary have a good reputation too. There is also a Catholic primary school - Francis Xavier - almost impossible to get into unless at least one parent is Catholic.

have a real good look at real estate on trade me. There are a number of do up type houses about at the moment. To get an idea of diy costs have a look at the websites for Bunnings and also Mitre 10 - both have branches in Whangarei. Property prices are relatively low up here - well compared to auckland and wellington. I would really reccoment renting for at least 6 months though as the property market is very slow here. Good if you really know what you want to buy, but hard to get out of a mistake once you buy it IYKWIM. Northland is also the part of NZ with the lowest risk of earthquake and volcano eruption!

To get an idea what is going on have a look at the local paper - The Northern Advocate - on line.

The thing I like about Whangarei is that you can get most of the stuff you need at shops here - the usual food, furniture, clothes etc. but you are not too far from Auckland. Nice beaches, outside town is very rural, fab growers market every saturday morning, Rugby stadium, endless sports clubs for kids and adults.

I do find it quite sexist here. I've found that a lot of kiwi men will not have a conversation with a woman, particularly at social events. We have a neighbour who will ignore me while I stand next to my husband. I wonder when he will realise that he needs to talk to me if he wants anything done.

Re racism, we have had a number of uncomfortable experiences and I have heard a few worrying stories. Not more than the UK, but something to be aware of. This was an issue for us when we first arrived and we did wonder if it would be a reason to leave. This is my experience, please don't dismiss it.

Thanks for the info shels. How far away from Aukland is Whangarei then?I thought it was about 3 hours? What are prices like where you are? Can you get cheaper food etc at the market? Questions questions! The job that dh wasconsidering was only 60k salary. We had decided before then that he should only take 80k as we couldn't get by on any less. He thought maybe as the house prices/rentals are less expensive we could afford the drop until he finds something else. Just to get a foot in the door,so to speak. But that really would worry me,from what everyone was saying earlier on in the thread about nz being so expensive.

Whangerei to Auckland is about 2 hours drive.

AB - some things are more expesnive, some things are cheaper. Swings and roundabouts. What has really made a difference for us is only running one car. Huge savings made! My DH is a teacher, he earns less than $80K, but we get by, but is just me, DH and DS. I know parents of children at DS's school who earn less than us, but they still seem to be OK.

If it's something you really want to do, you've just got to make a leap of faith, but still be aware of what the pitfalls may be.

One thing to be aware of is that it will be almost impossible to get credit when you first arrive - other than a credit card from your bank - as you will have no credit history here so you won't be able to get interest free credit on large items like fridgefreezers.

yes, WSS is correct about 2 hours to Auckland from Whangarei.

variably cold here recently dh put the heat (pump) on which took the edge off but didn't really warm it up but we've not done flannalette, socks dressing gowns etc
(although I did say to dh we should get some and look in bed bath and beyond the other day....)

it is pretty sexist since I have children everyone assumes I didn't work before we came here can't be arsed to tell them that I was the equivalent of a partner in a city law firm (not putting my real job on here, sadly I had similar responsibility but nowhere near similar pay )

don't know much about Whangerai sorry
Beaver you've said a couple of times your dh isn't British etc whereabouts is he from? I'm just wondering if he might find it easier if he is in a bigger place? I'm sure he'll come up with some leads when he visits.

kiwi I thought your partner was a kiwi have I got the wrong end of the stick?

not1not2 - my partner isn't kiwi. He has rather unusual (and identifiable) heritage. Most kiwi's think he is European though so we've had a few racist things said to us. Usually it's not of the 'keep them immigrants out' style that was common in the UK in the past. It's more things like 'this house is a mess cos the owner in a Chinese man'. Err, no, this house is a mess cos the owner is a slob. So it is hard to tackle the way I would have in the UK. Which is also part being outside your comfort zone.

Where are you notnot?

I do love NZ btw. And am happy to raise my DD here. I feel it is more meritocratic than the UK. With hard work and some smarts you can really improve your lot in life. But it is not perfect.

Right ,I think Whangarei is off the table!There is limited work there and it's too long a commute to Aukland. I was starting to really fancy it as well..could see myself down the growers market on a Saturday!
Dh is from Ireland and has had quite a few things said to him...when we where standing waiting for a level crossing to lift, some idiot started ranting that he was here to bomb them all wanker.

Think it depends where in NZ you live - I'm in Wellington and work in a corporate environment and have never experienced sexism inside or outside work.

Re racism, again, probably depends where you are. Where it does exist (sadly), it isn't necessarily against the same races as in the UK - for example, I'd be surprised if there is much (if any) anti-Irish racism because there isn't an historical relationship between NZ and Ireland which would give rise to the sort of prejudice you mention in your post. Again, it's not something I've ever experienced in Wellington so perhaps I'm not best qualified to comment.

On salaries, I think tbh you need to be prepared to take what you can get if you really do want to move out here. The economy here is shaky - not as bad as in the UK but not great - the govt is threatening wholesale cuts to the public service which will have an impact on jobs and, at the end of the day, your dh is competing against people with citizenship and residency. You may need to accept short term economic hardship in order to get your foot in the door for the long term.

Angry why would he be commuting to Auckland? I thought the job was in Whangerei?

Oh, I thin I see what you mean, there's not many jobs in Whangerei and commuting to Auckland isn't an option. OK, with you now.

That's it whatshesaid

scroobious That is what dh is trying to convince me of too,but, I have huge reservations about going to a foreign country where we no NOONE...and being skint.It's bad enough here! I know it's something we have to decide ourselves but I doubt i'd agree to go unless it's more money. We'll see what this trip brings.i t's weird knowing he's going to be sooo far away.We've never been apart before (sniff) ..still all for the best,hopefully

kiwi-Welly

Angry, scroob makes a very valid point about Ireland, I'm pretty sure your dh would be fine although bizarrely when you said that I realised I'd come accross very few Irish accents here

every second person I hear is British though.
There was a bizarre (funny is the wrong word but hear me out) article interviewing people from Christchurch in the paper after the earthquate, I think only 1 of them was not a fairly recent immigrant from the UK, most were saying they were heading back (as a complete aside I'm looking for a couple of things on Trade me and it looks like lots of people in Christchurch are packing up and heading off (Australia, UK NZ) it's really quite sad to see people put massive lots of baby gear, clothes etc up for auction)

scroob I'm sure there are subtle barriers to career progression and wage differences in NZ for women just as the UK?

scroob also makes a very valid point about needing to take a financial hit if you want to more here you might be able to make it up on house prices?

There are a few cheaper, more rural places around Auckland that are commutable. Have a look at Titirangi, Waiuku, perhaps Warkworth- anyone up in North Auckland that can suggest anywhere in that direction?

Check out this house:

www.trademe.co.nz/property/lifestyle-property/auction-283957933.htm

I think the Earthquake is going to have a long lasting impact on the NZ economy. OH was at a meeting yesterday where he was told there will be no mew money for anything for a few years and to expect cuts. I also think John Key is Likely to get another term. I've always been very left wing but have been amazed at some of the tax breaks for property owners that were introduced under labour. I get to vote this time and even I am tempted.