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

Actually have just remembered when ds1 threw a hissy fit when he was about 4 when we went back as the train into London didn't have a TV like the one in Hong Kong - people were staring at this precocious child ranting and raving about the 'stupid train' get me one with a TV in the seats like they usually have.....

London Zoo was fab the last time I went (about 3 years ago). The rainforest enclosure with the sloath is great. I definitely recommend it but try and find an online voucher cos it is expensive!

Wow, sounds like it's going to be an awesome trip. Love your DS wanting TV in the seats.

We'll be gone for 5 weeks. I know it'll pass in a flash - and at the end there'll be the usual mix of wanting to stay longer plus being desperate to get home. So strange. A bit like having my heart torn permanently in two.

Sibble and scroobius have you seen this article in the Herald about volcanic ash from Chile potentially disrupting flights over the next week...could just be the Herald being a bit scaremonger-y though...

hmmm saw that volcanic ash article on line a minute ago. Am hoping all vocanos, chilean and norwegian calm down. A friend just managed to get there with the norwegian one the other week and is about to leave to come back now the chilean one is threatening flights.

Ho hum what will be I guess, although if the trip has to be postponed my sis and sis in law are now both pregnant so could push it back and go when both babies are here. Sad thing about living so far unlikely we will all be able to go back next year to see them

Although dh did buy lotto for the first time ever last night

Dh flying out to Nz next Friday night for his mid life crisis tattoo and ten days of drinking with his mates (when did I agree to this - sure it was before I had 3 kids age 4 and under, one in the oven and a job!). Told him about the ash this am - he's devasted - been online day reading up on it. I'm urging him to call his Nz contact whilst there to get job issue put to bed but he thinks he'll not be impressed by a trip to Nz for a tattoo.

They do tatoos in the UK too lolly!!

Scroob thanks for the sympathetic thoughts re washing

I'm sure all those heading over will be fine with flights, you've got a couple of weeks to go yes? all the wind around Wellington I'm sure it will blow over quickly

whoever said it it's not a case of kids getting dirty or wearing grotty clothes to get dirty in it's a case of washing not coming clean believe it or not my dcs got just as dirty in the UK but THEIR CLOTHES WERE CLEAN AFTER BEING WASHED

Interestingly though the tomato did come out after the clothes had sat around for a while waiting to go in the dryer, I did hang them out in desperate hope of sun but after a day they came in wetter

Sibble and scroob it is worth looking online for discount vouchers everyone uses them for everything in the UK, also if you have orange don't forget 241 cinema tickets on Wed and their pizza express offer (if it is still running) also Wed just google discount vouchers UK or similar there are lots of sites pretty similar stuff on all of them if I remember correctly

Jesus - it's just gone 7am and he's back on stressing about his flight. Quatas cancelled the same version of it yesterday. Not1 - I pointed out the uk has tattoo artists too but dh is a total snob. Wants a Maori to do it cos he wants a Maori design so some boy in Auckland has been identified- this is turning out to be the most expensive tattoo on record.

Just to put a spanner in the flight works a good friend of mine from melbourne has just had her flight to Wellington cancelled, she's been told she might be able to land at Auckland, but not confirmed yet ....

I really hope everyone gets to where they want to go!
I was thinking,would you NZ lot not consider a mums net meet up?
They seem to have a ball at the London one..
You could have a barbie! and bring your own plates...(mmight be getting carried away!)

My OH is supposed to be going to work on an island next week. There is only one flight in and one flight out a week. Part of me wants it all cancelled cos of the ash but it'd just end up postponed. :-( I hate doing a full week on my own. Particularly cos I know he can't get off if I/DD need him.

A meet up sounds like fun but I think we are all quite spread out. Perhaps when our first MNer makes it out here?

lol at the plates

I went out on Sat and this morning and every single person there was from the UK!!

Yes, a fair amount of people from the UK here too. The vicar is from the UK, half of DH's department from work are from the UK, DS's two best friends at school have parents from the UK. I went out for a lunch meeting on Saturday and lots of UK people there too .....

Makes me laugh that DS is a repeat winner of the citizenship award at school .... he's not a blooming citizen and half the staff can't understand his little country yokel UK accent.

I know horopu is not too far from me, anyone else in Northland?

We did have a 'roll call' on a NZ thread at some stage where we all listed which area we were in etc.....

We also had a meet up years ago in Auckland - met with the littlies at Cornwall Park although I think many of us have now gone back to work and the littles are now older. A few of us have also caught up in Wellington once or twice (I think the wellie lot may be in touch). Maybe we should start a NZ roll call thread again and see what happens.......

When I was having an emergency c section with dd1 every single member of staff in the theatre was British.

I remember saying "You all sound British, are you, or is it just the drugs I'm on?"

lol we had the same. 1st emergency caesarian in UK - all staff antipodean. 2nd here - all British....

I have my fingers in my ears and am singing loudly as far as the ash cloud is concerned!

A NZMN meet-up would be great if travel wasn't sooooo expensive. Although if anyone fancies a Wellington meet-up one day I have plenty of space to put up a few MNetters. Maybe when you get here Angry!

Hope the ash clouds starts behaving soon for you Scroobious! I'm planning on going down to Wellington with DH and DS during the July school hols ... never been that far south before. What would you recommend for a 6 year old boy?

Ooh, you'll have loads of fun, Shelscrape, even if it is wet and windy! What's your DS interested in?

Stuff that he might enjoy:

• an afternoon at Te Papa. Lots of interactive stuff for children whatever their interests (you can excavate a dinosaur, walk through a glowworm cave, see base isolators at work and various other interactive rides etc).

• take the cable car up to the Botanic Gardens and catch a show at the Carter Observatory, then lunch in the rose garden cafe

• on a good day, take the ferry over to Matiu/Somes island to see birds/giant weta/tuatara and take some awesome harbour shots of the city. If you're feeling adventurous, they have cabins on the island that you can rent overnight.

• take a walk along the waterfront and visit the Hikitea, thought to be the oldest working crane ship in the world.

• I've not been yet but the Weta Cave might be interesting - Peter Jackson's Weta film museum

Don't forget to do some fun stuff for you too - again, depending on what you are interested in there's shopping at Kirkaldie and Stains, lots of great designers on and around Customhouse Quay, the Writer's Walk, Zealandia, some great cinemas, the theatre etc.

Do you have somewhere good to stay? There are loads of nice hotels (the Bolton's one of my favourites but the James Cook, Rydges etc are all nice and v central, or Copthorne down by Te Papa) but serviced apartments (eg Citylife) might be worth looking at too.

Also, there is a hop on hop off bus which will get you round most sights but, tbh, it's a bit of a rip off. You're better off waiting til 9.30 then buying a day pass for 9 bucks and using the normal buses.

I thought the Te Papa was amazing. Went pre kids and if we do manage to emmigrate it'll be top of the list for mr boys to see- I know my almost 5 year old would wet himself!

Hurrah - Nz just called but alas no job confirmation. Just said if we want to come December time then too early to say what they'll have. So glad they phoned cos dh imagining the worst but dh now losing patience with uncertainty and sitting in rented (saw mouse at 5am running between my boys' bedrooms - hate this place) for potentally another 6 months plus with no firm plans. However good news is contact will meet him in chch next week when (and if what with ash and quakes) he gets there. Face to face may be alot easier to get something resolved.

Ps ladies - it has taken me three hours to scroll down my I phone to post. Should we start a part II thread?

Shelscrape - some more Wellington ideas :

• The Maritime Museum on Queens Wharf is fab for small boys, and is very close to the city centre

• The whole waterfront is very accessable and good for walking, with lots of interesting nooks and sculptures, and with coffee shops and cafes along the way. Keep going and you get to the beach at Oriental bay and playgrounds at Waitangi Park and Oriental Bay.

• Captial E has a great kids school holiday program

The weather in July can be cold, windy and wet, so be prepared. Don't bother with umbrellas, they are useless in Wellington! Good raincoats, waterproof walking shoes, lots of merino.

Great news lollystix.

Annoying that it is a bit up in the air but I suspect you'll have a few things to keep you busy soon... Visas etc always take longer than you hope/plan so it'd be worth kicking all of that off. If you have a job offer you'd probably get PR quite easily. We've found it does make a difference. We couldn't get a credit card, loan or mortgage as easily on a work permit.

Thanks for the Wellington tips ... we'll be staying in a youth hostel probably. DH is a very typical Yorkshire tightwad bless him.

We have PR, and although we got a credit cardfrom the bank as we have no credit history here it is impossible so far to get a loan or interest free credit so we haven't tried to apply for a mortgage. We've been told after about 9 months you should have enough of a history through paying for electricity, phones etc. to get decent rates od loans.

If you stay in the Wellington YHA hostel you're just across the road from a supermarket, a block away from a great park and playground, another block to the waterfront and Te Papa, and in the other direction, one block away from Courtney Place with lots of cinemas, cafes, bars, and the main bus route.

Not a bad place to base yourselves.