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

AngryBeaver - NZ Immigration do not ring you up. They email or write IME.

That was one of the many agencies that try and charge you a fee for doing what you can do yourself.

whatshesaid..Thanks for the info,we don't want to live in Aukland,probably Tauranga..or outskirts of that.Dh says we'll have to rent first and then work out where we like.
We're in a semi-rural village near Preston.
dh says we can't spend all the money on a new house.
(This is the killer,I actually inherited a substantial amount of land that I could sell for ££££££,but its green belt,there's nothing I can do with it ie sell it to property developers until it's gone through all the channels that be,and you can only apply once every several years..have applied once and been denied.Have to wait another few years to try again.If it sold we could get a lovely house in nz!hey ho)

beenbeta yes,dh was on to them straight away,I'm known for being gullable and probably would have answered all his questions and then hyperventilated when he started talking about payment!
I always believe people are who they say they are and trust far too easily.It's a character flaw,that gets me teased mercilessly!

Well as long as you/dh can get a journalism job in/near Tauranga. It's not commutable from there to any major city - it's about a 2 and a half hour drive to Auckland. Tauranga is very nice though and growing quite fast I believe.

Apparantly there is a major journalism hub in Touranga..didn't realise it was so far from Aukland but thay doesn't bother me.We're not city people,we would like to live semi-ruraly,but we would have to suss out the areas when we got there and see where we tink we could settle.
Had a look at a video of Tauranga on youtube earlier,it looks like Briatain on a sunny day in the 50's!

Sounds very positive for you AngryBeaver.

DH has just accepted a job, aargh! Feel all scared now! We need to crack on with things... Am feeling rather wobbly but have had a bad day, DS isn't well and I'm very tired. Still feeling positive overall, I think. I feel as though we've been talking about it for weeks and now all hell is about to break loose!

Must write some lists...

sounds good Angry I wouldn't use an agency of you can fill in the orms yourself TBH you either will or will not meet the criteria IYSWIM

I looked in the library and the book has gone it was a good job I went we have an overdue book and the fines (even for dcs) add up! I will see if I can find it online
It was a bit relentlessly cheerful IYSWIM but worth considering

I would forget about selling the land to buy a house if it happens great and you can clear some mortgage but green belt land isn't the obvious building site

great news Thwop

AAAAAAAAAAArggghhh,thwop!how fantastic,congratulations!!im very excited for you..yes,get your lists started, you have a lot to organise.
Did you say you were hiring a container?

not1not2 no we wouldn't use an agency,dh will do them and call me when he needs my input.
I'm afraid you have lost me,what book?!
I'm not pinning all my hopes on the land,dh is very pesimistic about it all and says it will never happen.I think it will be will and it will be lovely when it does,but we have to get on with life(and struggle finacially) until then

Does anyone know about salaries? We have been considering a move for some time but I have started researching my earning potential. I am a social worker and understand it is on both lists for Australia but not sure about nz. I also did a salary comparison and it came out at £20,000 - which is alot less than I currently earn and with talk of the cost of living I am concerned!!

weird angrybeaver I thought I typed a really long post last night and now it's gone!!!!

there was a book for sale about starting a new life in Tauranga based on the TV programme, I will see if I can find the author.

I wonder which thread I posted that on I can remember typing out that he is a bit overcheerful [weird]!

Hi slipperandpjsmum I am a kiwi trained social worker but live and work in London at the moment.

I am really out of touch with salaries in NZ but I think you could expect anywhere from $40,000 - $45,000 as a starting wage (so yes, close to £20,000) but I think as an experienced social worker you would be pretty unlucky to go in on that pay. I think top level social work posts are paid about $60,000, then next level is management or supervisor roles with bigger salaries. What I do know is that voluntary sector is VERY badly paid - horrendously underpaid. Hospital roles well paid.

Probation is quite well paid and much more manageable to do in NZ compared to UK.

Here are a couple of links to have a look at (if you haven't already)

www.cyf.govt.nz/

jobs.govt.nz/

www.madefromnewzealand.com/businesses/new-zealand-social-work-recruitment

I wouldn't usually recommend using any sort of agency but this above link is for a local agency (who I have no connection to but have heard they are very good)in NZ who advise and recruit overseas social workers (don't think they do visa stuff). Unfortunately I think the link is not working at the moment but you may be able to see if it works in a few days??

Any idea where you would like to live in NZ?

slipper I was going to post that on 40k you'd be surviving on parcels from the Salvation Army!!
what do the others think?

I think it would be a struggle, but depends if you are on your own or not. 40k in Auckland or Welly - no way! Some places in South Island would be easier to manage.

that made to laugh not1not2...were you on the vino last night?!

I've been trying to check out some areas,but having limited success..anyone give me an info or advice on these?

Te Puna
Papamoa
Bethlehem (did I hear this was dodgey?)
Katikati
Te Puke (am sure it's nicer than it sounds!)
Omokoroa

I looked at a school in Omokoroa (no1 school!) but couldn't find out if it was state,or what decile it is.
If they are decile 10,are they more likely to be private? I read they had a playgroup in the town as well,are these as here ie a pound or 2 enrty?
I think i read Katikati (What a cool name,I'd love to say I lived in KatiKati!!! )was pretty small,but does anyone know the distance from there to a bigger town with school/playgroup/beach etc?

AngryBeaver - here is a link to a downloadable Excel spreadsheet that contains every school in New Zealand.

Directory of Schools - as at 01/12/2010

The web page it comes from is here.

Its gives you the data on the school name, region, town, address, size, decile, state/private, gender of students, age group and much much more.

All fully searchable and sortable by clicking on the arrow tabs at the top of each column. We have found this invaluable on deciding the school for our children.

Many of the Decile 10 schools are private but it more properly defines the schools that are either in or populated by children from wealthier catchment areas and receive less Govt subsidy. I am given to understand that Decile 1 schools are generally in socially deprived areas and receive more direct Govt support.

well a little bit but really not that much, I'm worried as to where I posted it now, maybe I e-mailed it to someone random

don't know any of those places sorry
loads of decile 10s are state (I'm not even sure whether private schools are deciled surely they would all have to be 10? it is used to decide how much gov money is given to schools ie 10 hte least 1 the most maybe other things too I don't know enough sorry

there are education reports you can read for each school
www.ero.govt.nz

it looks to me that they are a bit like Ofsted so make of them what you will

playgroups are usually gold coin donation $1 or 2

then there are playcentres......

I will leave the Kiwis to explain those to you they can also let you know where Plunket come into things, I'm still not sure if I should be visiting Plunket are they health visitors?

Thanks beenbeta,I'll have a look.

not1not2 what are plunket?!

Angrybeaver the only one of those places I know a bit is Papamoa as my friend's mum lives there and I have stayed at her house. It's got a lovely beach, I don't remember much else it's kind of like an outer suburb of Tauranga I think - seemed to be a perfectly nice place.

Te Puke (it's pronounced Tay Pu-kay ) - someone I know at playgorup has just moved from there to Auckland so I could ask her. Our playgroup is closed for summmer holidays at mo though. And yes, playgroups are usually 1 or 2 dollars.

I'm not a Kiwi but I'll try to explain playcentres . They are kind of like nurseries/playgroups that parents run, it's a national organisation so they have them all over the country. You can leave your child there some sessions as long as at other sessions you stay and help with all the kids. Not sure if it costs.

Omokoroa is state and decile 9. If you are looking on the Ero website you search for the school, once you have it, on the right of the page it says "About the school", if you click on this it gives you info about state/private, decile, number of kids at schol etc. Behtlehem school is decile 10 so prob not dodgy.

Plunket is kind of like health visitors but moore wide ranging, they have little clinics in the community where you go to get your baby weighed and checked etc, they have visits when your child is older too (up to school age). They sometimes run playgroups and will know about all the local stuff to do with kids. All the Plunket nurses I've seen have been fab.

Not1not2 depends how old your kids are whether you should be seeing Plunket, I think the last visit with them is a pre-school hearing and vision check at about 4?

kiwifarfromhome Thanks. Which areas do you think have the most potential for social work jobs? I work in an inner city child proection team with alot of gang experience and would be keen to do similar but I am open to anything really!!

angrybeaver - sorry coming to this rather late as I've been recovering from surgery this week but for what it's worth my pick of places to live in New Zealand is the Hawkes Bay where there are two main centres - Napier and Hastings - and also a smaller town called Havelock North. I've just spent my Christmas break up there with friends who are relocating from Wellington and I could very much "get" why they are going there. Climate is great, schools pretty good, they've bought a 40 acre block 10 mins from Napier near a lovely little country primary school, good beaches not far away, its a big wine and food growing area so fresh food on demand. What's not to like? Well it's 3.5 hours drive to WEllington and 4.5 hours to Auckland so a little isolated, and probably feels very provincial to those used to living in larger UK centres. But it does have regular flights to both Akld and Wgtn with Air NZ and a big enough population base to have a fair number of job opportunities - my friends are both going to continue their current (IT based) jobs, but working from the local offices rather than head office.
I'm a born and bred Wellingtonian (who has lived in Geneva and London) so its a bit shocking for me to be raving about somewhere other than Wellington!

Oh and as for G&T stuff, my DD1 attends something called One Day School for G&T kids every Wed and she loves it. It's private but because only 1 day per week (and supported by the state primary she attends the other 4 days) the cost is manageable. Google NZ Gifted Children Association or One Day School NZ.

I agree with buzzy that Hawkes Bay is lovely - they usually have great weather too. Coastal, great vineyards, some lovely restaurants, nice shops. The motorway means it takes you hardly any time to get around. I used to go there with work, pick up a hire car from the airport and be in Havelock North in no time.

I think Papamoa used to be full of retired couples - I've visited friends parents there but that may have changed.

I think 40,000 as a sole wage would be very tough. After tax it would around $625 a week. Most folk I know pay at least $350 a week rent for a 3 bed house. So add other bills and food and you would really struggle. In Auckland I would say most people pay more rent than that.

If 40000 was the sole income you would get stuff like Working For Families (like tax credits) and Accommodation supplemenet. I don't know if the poster would be the only earner in the family though.

Yes agree $40k is very low end as a single income although there are a wide range of income support measures available - you'd effectively pay no tax, be eligible for childcare subsidies, community services card (so cheaper healthcare) etc. However at $60k I'd say it would just about become manageable and if there were 2 incomes then $80k is enough, not great, but enough to have all the basics covered.

Hi 40,000 is not the sole wage, as my dp would also be working so it would be two full time wages. But the wage for social workers appears to be alot lower than Australia. Where would people say the highest levels of social deprevation are in nz?

I'm going to steal the dredit for suggestion Napier first!! (unless I did that in my dreams too)

what she said I do, do I just rock up to the office (no GP yet and no plans to register kids currently do I need to?)
Isn't playcentre a little lentilweavery?

buzzy I hope you feel better soon, are you in Napier yourself or Wellington?

slipper prob S Auckland would be my guess