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

Thanks littleskiwi yes I have looked into the permit thing. My notice is two months and we've decided it would be helpful if I am not working for a month at least before we go to get everything sorted (only work two days a week as it is). DH has a job offer from an accredited employer so it should be quick-ish and if need be DS and I can travel on tourist visas and apply in NZ. We do need to crack on with the medicals and things though... DS has had health problems in the past so am a little nervous about him.

Maybe I should leave it til next week just to be sure.

Yes pickled beetroot.

Tinned pineapple rings

...

And tinned asparagus in white bread.

Hi everyone,sorry about the delay..things bit hectic at the mo and I haven't much time,both the lo's are clingy and the baby is ill,so i'm a bit stretched!
Have scanned most of the posts and will answer what I can now.
thwop no new developments today.That is fabulous for you though!how long will they hold the job while you try and sort things?
not1not2 I know,I'm probably worrying about stuff that's really inconsequential and going meh to the important stuff...i might have a bit of bury-my-head-in-the-sand-itis! (hope there's no dog shit on it )
sibble that's really grim isn't it?like you say though,arse-holes everywhere,eh?
sailorsgal thanks very much,I'll watch it on the i player tonight.

Thanks everyone for your responses,lke someone else said ,thank god for mn!how reassuring it is to be able to seek advice from like minded mners and get the low down.

So it rains more in aukland than wellington does it?interesting.
I def think it will have to be somewhere near Tauranga initially anyway,seems to be where he would find work,but he can't start applying yet til he has the visa sorted [i think]
Am still worrying about money,but am quite used to budgeting and being tight frugal
ZZZen Im hoping that if we love it in nz,my mum and her partner would consider buying out there too,maybe she'd retire over there..they do say Tauranga used to be called Gods Waiting Room! I wont tell her that bit,it might put her off!!

We'd like to have another child or maybe 2 in the future,I'd like to think it was possible.

Do nz'ers uasually have small families?only ask because i read that an expat family had had a few comments re having 3 kids.
I'll be back later

DO you work as a journo in Europe weta? I am easily impressed by people who speak other languages especially to the level needed to work!

interesting about admission to Uni there's another good thing

Angry I think he can get the job offer first then the visa based on that, if it's an area of need I don't think it's too hard (I'm no expert though)

guys you've gotta stop all this beetroot talk it will be Canada before we know it
(funnily enough I'm not tempted to try tinned asparagus on white bread )

Thwop if I can I will PM you

5 would be a pretty large family from what I've seen

No not as a journalist - only did that in NZ and now work as a translator.

Lots of journos I know in NZ have given it up and gone into PR instead as the money is much better... may be an option for OP or her DH (or maybe a part-time option once the children are older)?

Most of my friends in NZ only have 2 children, 3 seems quite a big family and I have one friend with 4 kids but that's very unusual! but I wouldn't worry about it...

Wellington is fab if you want a city.

If you want something smaller Nelson or Napier are both great.

Dunedin and Christchurch are also fab cities.

My sister says that 3 is the new 2 in Wellington!

weta I'll go into anything if the money's better..i am tres fickle (see,I'm good at languages too!)

not1not2 why my friend only moved over for 3 years - I think she knew she didn't want to be away from her family for ever - but it was a fantastic career opportunity for her dh - something that will look great on his CV - so she agreed to come out on the understandign it would not be for ever. They had one small baby so it was a good time to do it in terms of no kids in school yet. They didn't get residency, just a work visa as they knew it was not a long-term thing for them.

Beenbeta re health insurance, yep if you have 2 yr work vsa or residnecy you are entitled to all healthcare here, in theory it is all free except for some things like drs visits (between $16-55 ime), prescriptions and some things like scans e.g my pregnancy scans I paid a small surcharge for ($25). There are private clincs (some 24 hour) where you can go for treatment and be seen pretty much straight away, to avoid waiting in an A+E for example. Some Kiwis also have private health insurance to avoid waiting lists and reimburse drs fees. I think I read the number who have health insurance is about 30% so obviously 70% get by without it. You could google Tower insurance, Southern Cross and Accuro and they will give you online quotes I think, or google new zealand health insurers to find other ones.

Just got a quote for me, DW, DS1 and DS2 for a health policy covering us for 15 months from Soutern Cross - just under NZ$ 1700.

That does not seem too bad.

That seems like a great quote. Is that for full cover? I think some Southern Cross policies only cover for 80% of costs.

Right I demand you all stop at once....you are all making me miss home terribly.

I am not 100% sure but I think NZ ranks highly in the OECD rankings in terms of education.

Obviously it is important to worry about education and want the best for your child, however, I don't think there is as much pressure for kids in NZ. Education is important, but so is getting out and experiencing the world...and doing a vocational job or a trade is considered valuable too.

My husband is in legal recruitment and he has no issue with recruiting kiwis, they are always well thought of, hard working and their skills on a par with British colleagues. He certainly does not feel any kiwis would be held back by being educated in New Zealand.

Pineapple and beetroot in burgers rock! Yummeee and I really miss pineapple rings, fish burgers, goody goody gumdrop ice cream...the list goes on and on.

Off now to watch Wanted Down Under!!

We came on a 12 month work permit and paid about $1000 for 12 months health insurance for DH and I. Southern Cross do special working in NZ policies. It didn't cover pregnancy/birth though.

Thwop - glad you are on top of visa stuff. Ours took longer than we had hoped and OH had to go out an temp to keep us in baked beans. We also got stuffed by the police certificates as OH needed one from overseas and it was going to take 6 months so we had to go for a 12 month work permit. I agree that having some time to coordinate the move is a good plan. It is bloody hard work.

Lots of people in Auckland have 3 kids. It rains here but is normally warmer and less windy. It's been 30C all week and it's been too hot for jeans for a month. I think Auckland Rocks. Wellington is cool but the weather wins it for me.

Yes it was the Working in NZ policy I was looking at and for 2 Adults and 2 DCs for 15 months it sounds about the right price given your 12 month one was for 2 adults.

Absolute zero probability of a birth from us.

lol beenbeta, you sound like my dh...I think different!
that's a good price for insurance,and surely worth it?
I've been at the docs three times with my 8 month old in the last 3 weeks,thats gonna add up if we had to pay $50 dollars each time.
Just watched episode s 9 and 13 of Wanted Down Under,neither really filled me with joy.
They both focused on bloody Christchurch. you would think they'd do a couple of different places!
Was hoping they'd show some areas/housing in and around Aukland eg The Bay Of Plenty...bum
Feel abit less bouyant again

Hi angry. We have never had health insurance. Currently we don't have to pay for doctor's visits for the under 5s. I didn't have to pay for any of my maternity care (although I'm a resident - so may be different?). Similarly trips to A&E for kids accidents etc. have been free.

Pay $35 for an adult visit - which is a pain and I miss the NHS. But cross fingers none of us have been very ill and we've not had to spend too much so far.

Lots of employers include it as part of the package. You may get lucky.

I had to prove I was eligible for free maternity care last year with dd2 (though I didn't have to provide proof when I had dd1 here in 2007, weirdly enough) and I think if you were on a 2 year work visa it was all free. Not 100% on that but about 95% sure. Was def free if you were a resident or a citizen.

Yes my understanding is if you are on a 2 year or longer permit/visa you are treated as a NZ resident as far as healthcare goes. UK citizens get some reciprocal arrangements for critical care and accidents but I am not sure I want to rely on that.

We fall between two stools though as we are on a 4 year visa but that only starts after we have met certain critera and we have to meet those criteria by September 2012 or leave the country. Until then we are pretty much treated as tourists.

not1not2 you asked about having a month off and affording a bach - we have been here 8 years so are very lucky. We struck lucky in the property boom in the UK, moved here when it was 3 $/ pound and bought 11 acres South of AUckland when it was considered the middle of nowhere (40 mins tops commute at the time) so nothing compared to London. We bought our first bach about 4 years ago and the place is still relatively undiscovered although close to Auckland - our friends say to us 'ohhh, why did you buy there ' but $200-$300 will buy you a decent house within easy walk to the beach and in a great community (gangs and day tripper excluded).

I work approx 30 hours wk but again am lucky in that I can work from home, I project manage in health care field so as long as targets are met they don't mind where I'm working from. It means I work 1 day/week in the office during school hols but boys and I have to be flexible - yesterday I got up at 5 worked til 9, took them out til 11, worked til 2 played til 6 then spent the evening together. I took 2 weeks hols and did the same at the beach for the remainder. Today they went to a holiday progamme 8-5 but took them from a swim as soon as I picked them up, onto a walk on the beach and dinner at a beachside cafe. Home about 1/2 hour ago.

It's not ideal but compared to London where ds1 was in day care 8-6 every day and it was too hard and we were too tired to go anywhere and do anything outside those hours it's great.

Dh joins us when he can........

lol thanks Sibble unfortunately I have to be 'at' work when I'm working so I'm always interested to hear how others do it, as a result I think I can find it difficult to concentrate at home sometimes and difficult to switch between work and non work modes!
Your bach/summer life does sound lovely.

Angry it is free at the vast majority of GPs for the under 6's I think, we recently went through loads of GPs looking for one to register with and I'd say over 90% were free for under 6.
The one we are with is about $45 for adults I think

that's weird whatshesaid (because you would have had records going back at least a few years) we were in A&E for stitches with our 3 yr old so got picked up because we had no records IYSWIM, the A&E bit was free we just couldn't find anyone to take the stitches out when we did they all wanted to charge us (a few got involved because of a bit of hysterical running from the room) the stitches were I think cut and had to fall out of their own accord so in the end we weren't charged because they didn't remove them
Angry I'm sure there is a Tauranga one can you look back at old programmes and see if it shows up

agree sibble,that sounds perfect.
Oooh not1not2,do you think so?I'll have to hunt,would really be helpful to see that.
Thought the houses we saw were pretty crappy,I know some posters on here have said as much,but i was a bit suprised.
Also,when I first started thinking about moving to nz,one of the first things i read was a woman that said "we moved from a culde-sac in manchester with a postage stamp sized garden etc.."
We are in Lancs and also have a postage stamp sized garden,so this struck a chord.
she went on, " we now have 5 acres and a cool house,which is a 'do-er upper',but we'll get there..."
I thougth ,oh yes please to the five acres and the cool house that needs work (dh dead handy&loves a projest do no probs) but I have seen hardly any big gardens and no cool houses under $9000,000.
Think ours is worth about £230,000,so whatever the equivalant is in nz$.
dh doesn't mind up to an hours commute and we would both like a warmer climate which we know is either the South of the South Island,or N.E of the North Island (plus more work Aukland/tauranga way...but haven't seen any 5 acre gardens and cool houses...am i being unrealistic?

excuse typos..balancing kids

someone rang before and when I answered,all i heard was nz/ozzie accent and 'visa'...he started saying how it all looked really good on paper,both had degrees etc and we would almost be certain to gain a visa/residency in nz and we could move things on to the next stage..i was panicking because this was 3pm and I had to get dd at 3.25..I had to say I couldn't speak to him and gave him dh's number.
I was sooooooo excited though,thinking things were moving on.
Anyway,got back and rang dh asking what was happening.
He told me the guy had more or less been a cold caller for a private immagration agency.
Am all disappointed!
I thought things were happening!

You won't get 5 acres of land around Auckland unless you've get a lot of money and you'd have to go semi-rural so it could be quite a long commute if one of you was working in the city. Don't know about Tauranga.

Generally houses in Auckland are detached and originally built on plot sizes of a quarter of an acre. Lots of people have subdivided their land to build a new house on and sold it to pay off mortgages quicker, so many houses and gardens are now on about an eighth of an acre. Rural and semi-rural areas you can get more land.

230 000 GBP is about 450-500 thousand Kiwi dollars and in Auckland that would get you a reasonable house in a reasonable area, it would not get you a lot of land.

Whereabouts in Lancs are you, if you don't mind me asking - general area if you don't want to be specific. I'm from just north of Manchester myself.

Actually I think I read the other day that $450 000 is the average property price in Auckland.