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

The impression I get from reading this thread and other threads like it about NZ that the experience of living in a town or small city in NZ is that things are a lot less developed than an average town/small city in the UK. Likewise, the major cities in NZ are more like small cities in the UK.

If your experience of living in the UK is of say living in London nearly everywhere including other cities in the UK feels parochial and under developed. On the other hand if you lived in a village in the UK and went to live in Auckland or Wellington you would feel it was very developed.

Althrawes - I also would like to hear more about what you think about the education system. My impression from international comparison league tables is that on average the NZ system produces better literacy and numeracy than the UK.I also read that NZ sees eductaion as an export and man aAsin parents send their DCs to NZ to live with guardians to be educated there. Within that average though there are outstanding schools and dreadful sink schools just like the UK. I also know that in Auckland if you want to get in to the better state schools you have to buy a house in the expensive catchment areas. The Govt had tried to offset that with the Decile system of allocating funding but its clear if you are well off and can afford an expensive house your DCs wil be eligible for a better school than someone with no money living in a deproed area. The Decile grading system seems to confirm that.

Finally, my impression is that the NZ senior scool exam system is felt by some to be being dumbed down and that the more academic schools are refusing to go along with it and offering iGCSE instead. A similar arguement to that in the UK.

Is that way of the mark?

EDIT: I also read that NZ sees education as an export and many Asian parents send their DCs to NZ to live with guardians to be educated there.

Im glad to hear that everyone has been friendly lavender,I do worry about that. I read on another forum a post from an expat who said everyone was disinterested at best mean at worst,and looked at him like an idiot if he tried to smile.He also said he was encouraged by new colleagues to have a house warming party,then when he annpunced it they all went quiet and noone came !!
He said there were boy racers tearing up his road and he hadn't found one expat who liked it there .
Maybe he was just a grumpy bastard?

I didn't realise you had to make donations to the school,is this just at private schools?

Wellington does look great-I've watched a tour on youtube- it's just that we wanted a warmer climate year round,and less rain.

I think it will have to be somewhere near Tauranga,that seems to be where the work is and the weathers warmer and drier.

We did want a good bit of land though,and I think you're more likely to et that on the South Island!

some really polarised experiences here, which just goes to show that a lot depends on what you are used to.

For example lavender says people are nice and friendly I would say exactly the opposite one of the things I miss the most is my network of friends etc at home. I agree much more with the poster who said people made all the right noises but when push came to shove.....(the housewarming party comment) the other thing is that I struggle with the lack of 'social' manners among adults, I'm talking about the wave of a hand in thanks when someone lets you out when driving the not choosing the exact spot where someone is sitting next to a 100m fence for you and your family to climb over, that kind of behaviour is not what I'm used to!
Worth pointing out since we mentioned driving that it's really bad here indicating is viewed as the actions of a scaredy cat or a madman, people just turn at random or pull out in front (no I'm not talking about the give way to right turning traffic thing)

Interesting about the competative materialism, I didn't really move in the Boden set at home but the streets here are still awash with mountain buggies and Phil and Teds (fewer bugaboos though but I expect that's the cost) the other major trend where i am seems to be useing stuff from the UK (tesco ladybird bags, M&S free picnic bags)

I do think the OP should not underestimate the cost of living here Trade me is really good for property prices sure there will always be someone who comes on and says you can get $9 leggings but there just aren't shops like Primark, Ikea etc here so no competition and things are very expensive. Weirdly I find property cheap (very poor quality not being built from wood that's cute the lack of heating and insulation (getting better now), the poor identikit fit in my friends houses the flimsy walls made of MDF stud inside that kind of stuff)
Again I was struck by how little NZ had changed over the last 10 yrs compared to the UK also by how much of a food snob I am, Edam, Colby, Mild or Tasty just don't cut it as cheese choices in my book and of course you can get lovely cheeses here but I find you need to seek them out then there is the cost thing
Again whether you find the schools good or the towns provincial will depend on what you are used to in the UK.
I wondered about Blenheim too?
the other thing I hesitate to post but here goes is that IMHO the quality of journalism (TV and papers) here is really low.
Sorry

Anyway I see you are heading more to Tauranga which I've allready said I don't know well sorry.
I wouldn't overestimate the cost of schools it is for state schools not private the costs are I think slightly higher at Catholic schools.
The fees are about $500 per year slight reduction for each child after the irst adding computer levies etc etc however uniform if needed is expensive $18 for one pair of socks again you need to provide your pens writing books etc (but I have now found a cheap shop so we will see how that adds up)

My final bit is to say I wouldn't underestimate the cost of living (or moving for that matter), I wouldn't underestimate that you might need or want to go home (people with good jobs seem to manage it about once every 5 yrs on average) my Oz rellies havn't managed to afford to go back yet at all.
You also mention the good health and education systems as an attraction yet posters have said that in their experience it is not so, perhaps try and think what you define as good and look into it a bit more.

however the fact that people can post exactly opposite opinions (eg house prices but so many others) suggests that what you are used to will determine what you think.
let us know where you end up!

Sorry my writing in this post is so hard to read, I'm tired!

Oh what I have been told about Tauranga is that it is sunny, peole like living there, and Nelson seems to be big for retirement whereas Tauranga has more young people

The school donations are technically optional but everyone seems to pay them, at least in better-off areas. They are not all the same amount though - $500 a year is quite high. The lowest I have heard of is $90 a year.

Basically, schools have a decile rating which indicates how rich or poor the area is. Lower decile schools (i.e. ones in poorer areas) get more goverment funding. Richer schools get less. So the "donation" amount asked for tends to be higher at the higher decile schools as they get less from the gvt. This is my understanding of it too - though I don't have dcs at school yet.

Also, I have got a really good group of friends here now and have found most people very friendly and easy to get to know.

You will get different points of view, imagine if you asked what life is like in the UK - very different for different people depending on their social and financial circumstances.

I'd agree with WhatSheSaid. School donations are totally voluntary. In our (quite well off) area lots of families don't pay - particularly those on one income.

I'm not a teacher but I can't praise the primary school system here enough. We are in a big school and its just fantastic. A world away from our primary experience at a (quite good) school in central London.

Also agree with Not1Not2 that drivers are crap and media is just awful. But you can go round in circles for ever comparing it with the UK and its just NOT the UK. You have to think carefully about why you are here and what for. If you just wanted a cheaper, hotter UK then its pointless.

Seems to me Angrybeaver that you're quite clear about what you want and that NZ would be a good fit for you. Good luck for job hunting.

And I don't notice the print media being particularly bad because of course with the internet I can (and do) read online newspapers from the UK, Australia and the US. Plus we have 4 or 5 international news channels (BBC WOrld, Cnn etc) as Sky Channels (actually, one of those channels is Fox so I can't really count that as proper "news" ). I also listen to Radios 4 and 5 on the Iplayer sometimes.

The radio's not generally brilliant but National Radio is good sometimes (kind of like Radio 4)

I like National Radio too! Very middle aged of me....

Oh good, it's not just me then...

sorry, dealing with sick baby all day.
No,I don't want a version of the uk,i've never been particularly patriotic and I don't think I'll miss it at all,just the family/friends.
I want to immerse myself in nz culture and I don't think I'll be overly arsed if we can't afford to fly back..i know the important people will visit us.
I worry about the driving thing,I'm not an overly confident driver (and the not thanking you thing would hack me off manners cost nothing,as my mum would say)
But I could live with it.
I just want space,a better lifestlye for us and the children (oh,and a beach nearby without broken glass and dogshit would be nice)

I think that SEN students (either low ability or G&T) are much underserved, poorly identified and not well provided for. The NCEA exam system (I am a marker) is norm referenced rather than a pass mark - that means that the papers get marked and the powers that be then decide what the pass mark will be - some years you might need 50% some years only 30%. The questions are startlingly simple compared to GCSE and most students gain at least half of their credits via internal exams which are very easily "coached". I have some very un-able students who have gained all their credits via internal assessment, giving the impression that they are far more able than they are and ultimately giving that pupil the idea that they too can be a vet, doctor etc.
If you have very bright kids they will succeed on an international scale anyway and if yours are not so smart (but not SEN) then the exam system will suit them.
Teaching practices are far less innovative than the UK. Teaching to different learning styles, using group learning and inquiry and pupil centred activities seems far less common than the UK. When I take my maths class outside or do a team based inquiry that ends with no notes in a book I am seen as radical!
Other teachers may have other experiences and maybe I need to move schools.
Yes, it does takes 6 weeks to see a doctor.
To have my baby I had to go to stay in Christchurch, six hours from my home, and wait for two weeks before my due date...and wait, and wait...and when he arrived we had to drive back over the snow bound mountains for another six hours, bleeding, with a newborn just two days later.
But I still don't regret leaving the UK. We went back last Xmas and were overwhelmed by traffic, queues, complaining Brits and "must have the latest" materialism. I live five minutes from the beach and work and no longer have to commute! Internet radio even gives me radio 4 on demand.

Very interesting Athrawes. I am nervous of the secondary system here. My oldest is 9 so its not that far off.
But our primary school do inquiry learning every afternoon and the whole curriculum seems based around it - so not that radical here.

It all goes to show that its variable around the country doesn't it.
See the doctor same day here (Wellington).

Where did you say you were Athrawes?That sounds a bit worrying tbh,my dd is bright and although she only started school in sept,her teacher has already spoken to me regarding her ability -am not saying she is g&t,just bright- I would hate to put her in a school that didn't support her.
Is it a very small town you're in?
The baby drama didn't sound great either,we'd like a little kiwi!
I can't abide the 'must have materialism' either,how refreshing it would be not to have to listen to it.
My 'friend' showed me a house she was considering buying the other day on heriphine...hmmm,what do you think of this one?she says showing me the picture (at top of pic had £1,000,000 ish) or maybe this one? (showing me another more expensive house) I just can't decide!

You've got to laugh.
I can't say I'll miss that kind of attitude though

sorry..showed me a house on her iphone

ha ha I was wondering how I'd never heard of the heriphine property website
I had no idea it was routine not to pay the school levies, the $500 was a rough all in figure, including the fees IT levy trips levy swimming and something else I think? When we get next years I'll let you know the exact amount. Ours is decile 10.

I wouldn't worry about the driving you just have to recognise that it is awful and shrug your shoulders when someone pulls out in front (funny all the things you seem a bit about I say not to worry and all the things I would be more worried about you go hey that doesn't bother me.

Our school was fairly average in London (ofsted outstanding!!) we think our school here is still pretty average TBH but it think's it isn't IYSWIM, therefore lots of people have said to me oh that's a really good school blah blah blah, prompting me to think really why do you say that what's good about it blah blah blah.

I've heard school are not good for G&T and SEN, I've just remembered my dc is quite a little teacher pleaser, likes to sit down with a good worksheat, colours within the lines etc etc anyway when he started school here the teachers were frankly impressed with his knowledge and ability, kept talking about it, talked to each other, asking me just how long he'd been at school!! His reading was off the scale for everyone else in the room by that I mean they had neither the materials or books in that room for him to read he had to go and get them from elsewhere make of that what you will. Although I expect I would think more of the school if everyone hadn't old me it was so special IYSWIM

I like concert does that make me even more fogeyey?

Shells what is it about your school that's fantastic.?

I see the Doc the same day too (but she was really shit I will be changing Docs I think)

If your in Tauranga you'll have no problem giving birth the only issue will be affording to feed and cloth your children there is a bit of a tendency to send everyone to the paed hospital in Auckland if there are possible (serious) problems (very unlikely)

I think you'll like Tauranga we're off on holiday soon if we go there I'll put up some speciic stuff.

Oh and sorry dogs shit in NZ too

This is a really interesting discussion. I think it must depend on personal experiences and perhapes where in NZ you move to. There are hundreds on expats on the area we moved to and the majority end up staying for the long term.
I can ring up the doctor in the morning and get an appointment that day. But I am in Wellington so I guess the more rural areas are different.
I am a secondary teacher and my experience of the secondary schools so far is not great but then i have only taught in the lower decile schools (ones with an intake from the lower income areas). My dds primary is fab. It has a very open door policy and you can walk into the classrooms in the morning and have a nose around and chat with the teachers. (I must be a very annoying Mum but everyone does it!)My fees (voluntary donation) for the year are $175 so not that much.
I would never move back to the UK unless I had no other choice. We spend our weekend on the beach, walking through forests, picnicing by the rivers, cycling and going camping. My DH has a 25 min commute on train (as opposed to 2hrs in the UK) and we live in a leafy village type location with a view of the sea. As you can tell I love it here!

Agree school more open you can't get beyond the office door of the one in London

how long have you been here lavender? did you live in London
what will you do for secondary?

Glad you're enjoying it so much lavenderbongo, I remember your posts when you were moving here.

Just spent afternoon with a friend who is moving back to UK soon (both she and her dh are English, only ever planned to be here for 3 years). She is excited to be going back to her family but is now remembering that in order to live near her family her dh used to commute 2-3 hours each way to work every day . Here he has a 10 minute drive. Some commutes in Auckland are in pretty horrible traffic but not 2-3 hours!

Angrybeaver, it's not perfect, but nowhere is and it has a lot going for it. It's hard to know what you will make of it until you're here really. I was lucky that I moved here single and before kids so it wouldn't have been that hard to go back to the UK again had I decided to.

Hi not1not2. We have been here almost two years. We lived near London/SE, but a year before we moved we ended up in Wiltshire and DH used to commute from there. We were in search of a bigger house and a rural lifestyle. Ended up with huge commute, huge mortgage and never having any family time. So happily ended up out here.

There are some good secondaries in the centre of Wellington and there is a very good private school near us (but also very expensive). We have about 7 years before we have to worry.

WhatSheSaid - Thank God for Mumsnet! It helped me through the move to Brussels and then to NZ plus many small bumps on the way. Thanks again if you were one of the people giving me advice back then.

not1not2 - are you in NZ - if so whereabouts?

I am on the West Coast, near where the Pike River disaster was. It's a mining town, one high school decile 3 with decile 1-4 feeders. I love it, the kids are great, the scenery is stunning and community supportive and welcoming. Just don't imagine that all of New Zealand has great decile 10 schools available or that you will be able to afford private schools on one salary. If you want the truely rural lifestyle you need to realise that unlike the UK that doesn't mean a motorway a mile away ready to whisk you to the delights of the city. Food and petrol costs more in the more remote/more stunningly gorgeous places too. When we moved here we knew we didn't want to live in Auckland or Wellington or Christchurch because frankly if I wanted city living I would have stayed in fabulous Brighton or London, world class cities. I wanted a change, To get to know New Zealanders and not be sucked into the ex-pat bubble out of ease and convenience, always complaining that things aren't as good as "at home", something to look back on and say "yay, we did it".
That said, I miss M&S something rotten! Thank god they do international delivery!

I went to an utterly crap underperforming secondary school in Wellington and it didn't hold me back internationally at all.

THats the advantage of lack of class system and small size I suppose - I went to Victoria uni and was treated same as anybody else who went there my secondary didn't matter.

Really interesting reading comments on this thread. I am a Kiwi but also don't think NZ is a utopia in lots of ways although all in all it is a nice place to live.

Comments about social network I think that can be more about being a foreigner in a strange land to be honest the inability to really "connect" beyond a certain level.

I've been following this with interest and am not surprised at the amount of different experiences and opinions. I think alot depends on what you are leaving, what you are looking for and your expectations before you arrive.

We live 30-40 mins south of Auckland off peak (1-1.5 hours peak traffic and more since they put the stupid airport motorway link onto SH1!!!) The ds's go to a rural school with 100 students, 5 classes so approx 20 students per class - decile 9 and approx $300/year although over 50% didn't pay last year! It's been great. However, ds1 will go to a private intermediate and high school (he starts next week). We are zoned for very dodgy south Auckland high schools (by a few hundred metres) and can't get into the decent ones for love nor money. Also not convinced by NCEA (controversial I know) and he'll do Cambridge exams.

I find food expensive but we grow as much as we can, have chooks and the poor lambs end up in the freezer. I also think housing can be expensive depending on where you choose to live - we are looking at moving further out.

We enjoy a great lifestyle but dh earns a good salary, we did very well with the exchange rate when we moved here 8 years ago and I work too but I am able to work around the boys, school and sport. We have a bach (beach house) in a small place on the west coast an hour away - it's like going back in time and it's great. We've just spent a month there over Christmas. If we didn't have to work we would just live there. There really is no local work and not in my field anyway.

I agree there is no keeping up the Jones' where I am, the ds's do not wear shoes to school, have hand me down uniforms (everybody just passes them on when the don't fit), don't have the latest gadgets etc... It is far easier to entertain them on a shoestring than in the UK - our swimming pools are free, sport registration $25 per season, beaches, parks etc all free - we get out the bikes, boogie boards and go.

I did however find it hard to make friends - not sure why - could be me

The downside - distance from family, the cost of international travel, lack of different cultures on your doorstep (I know NZ is bi-cultural/multicultural especially Auckland) but I mean being able to hop on a plane for an hour or two and be immersed in a completely different culture/language/architecture etc....(we have yet to be able to afford New Caledonia or Tahiti ).

Like everywhere and everything it will be what you make of it.

Tauranga is great btw.