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

'mage' = mega

I agree BeenBeta - I lived in Auckland for many years and do think it offers a great springboard to the world. The many advantages of what it offers, including its major corporations, make it worth the financial cost.
I do, however, know many people who have moved here, thinking it's an easy and relatively inexpensive option - and they are then, well, angry to find that's not the case. In many cases they have so overstretched to get here, and struggling to make ends meet, that they can't afford to go back to the UK (or elsewhere).
I think your plans seem extremely well thought out and very sensible. It's not always the case, and the NZ tourism board is partially responsible for this, I believe.

Thwop re heating, if you are searching for rental properties on Trade Me, put "heat pump" into the keywords search box. Houses don't ahve central heating but some have heat pumps which are wall-mounted boxes that produce a lot of heat for quite low cots, they are apparently about 4 times more efficient than regular plug-in electric heaters which many people use.

One won't heat a whole house btu if there is one in a living/kitchen/dining area (many houses open plan) it will at least heat all that area well and you may need little heaters in bedrooms.

We don't have a heat pump, so this is not from personal experience but have heard great things about them. Not too cold in Auckland where I am so we get away with oil fin heaters for a couple of months and being a bit chilly in the mornings.

My other tip is to look for a house facing north, gets lots of sun. DOn't get one where most windowa are facing south.

Also some houses have woodburners in main living area, again this will keep that area warm though takes a while to heat up in morning whilst heat pumps almost instant heat apparently.

Excuse typos. Cost not cots etc

BeenBeta, agree with much of your post. But, I'd query the last sentence:

'In the long term, if we stay, our hope is that our children will have greater opportunities than if they only had UK passports and UK outlook.'

There are lots of reasons for coming out to NZ but I'm not sure this is a great one. Unlike the UK, where the cultures and languages of Europe are just a cheap flight away, NZ is pretty isolated culture-wise. Yes, Auckland is reasonably multi-cultural and Maori culture is fascinating to learn about, but it's not comparable to the sheer range of opportunities available to children in the UK. It's a longhaul flight to pretty much anywhere apart from Oz (4 hrs). I think that's why many Kiwis still do their OE in London when they hit their twenties.

Also, while uni here used to be available to all, that has changed in the last year or two so some children will no longer get a place. The range of courses is also inevitably less extensive with a population of 4m than 70m (or whatever it is in the UK today). There are some great unis and some great courses but if your child wants to study something unusual, they may need to go overseas or do a general under-graduate degree and specialize abroad afterwards.

That's not to say there isn't a different lifestyle available to children out here - personally, I think it's a great place for children to grow up, especially outdoorsy types. But I don't think I am expanding DS's horizons by being here or giving him the same range of opportunities he would have had back in the UK.

Great post ScroobiousPip. It's an aspect not talked about much, but I agree 100%. We returned here because it was easier. My children have a nice life. But it is sheltered, monolinguistic, isolated, parochial and culturally and historically limited. NZ also has very limited econ

Sorry - didn't quite finish my post.
NZ also has a very limited economic future due mainly to its size, reliance on primary exports and geographical isolation. I guess I regret taking the easy option for myself by returning.

I'd also agree with scroob

Scroobious - yes you make a good point about the relative physical and cultural isolation of NZ and the point is well taken.

We fully expect at our DSs will want to leave NZ and perhaps return to the UK or go to Aus or US for their higher education and future careers. Although they are only young(age 8 and 10) we have talked in these terms to them and tried to explain to them as best we can why we are doing what we are doing. For us and them this is a long term investment in future options.

As UK passport holders but with permanent right of entry to NZ and perhaps even holding a dual NZ/UK citizenship we hope that will give them greater flexibility about where they want to work and live and be taxed in future. We also hope their mindset will not be of being 'Brits' but as being just world citizens.

The language issue is an interesting one as the future language of business and the internet will clearly be English - but the schools we have chosen in NZ teach English, Japanese and French as standard. I suspect it will matter less and less each year what your native language is but what national or international mindset you have.

it sounds like you know what you want. I hope it works out for you and the family.

I just wondered if you wanted to widen your dc's world view etc a bit by living abroad whether you had ever considered living in a totally different culture/linguistic environment - Argentina maybe somewhere like that? It's just that although NZ is not the UK and has something special of its own, IME it is not such a hugely different culture etc

This has indeed been something of a long term project for us.

In the early days we did look very closely at mainland Europe but we did not feel that the education systems there were what we wanted. Interestingly, we did also visit Argentina several times. It is a wonderful country and might well be a place we might consider for ourselves in future but there are significant personal security issues. We also seriously considered US and Canada.

DW and I have always worked in international business and acadmia and travelled widely but faced significant legal barriers to being able to live and work freely outside the UK (except Europe). It is these legal barriers we want our DCs to be able to avoid more than anything.

I really hope you find timeto set up a blog or somehow keep us updated on a thread when you do get to NZ. It would be so interesting to hear how things work out.

Incidentally, one of the other things we notice about Auckland scools is that they have a high ethnic diversity. A lot of Asian pupils come there to be schooled. In that sense our children will not br taught with just white NZ children.

no idea what the school ethnic diversity make-up is likely to be but no, I cannot really imagine you'dbe likely to get a class with all the dc being pakeha and thoroughly kiwi already in outlook/background

unaffordable housing prices

sibble,Is your mum just angry with you for going and that's why she won't visit?That's awful!
Did you find it easy to make friends,and have you got quite a few now?
I can imagine myself getting there and feeling very needy!
I rang mum this am and she started crying and said she couldn't talk,and put the phoine down.
She rang back later and said she felt like there had been a death,that she couldn't breathe without the children,that they are her life and she can't even think about me taking them away.
I have been crying on and off all morning.This has really shaken me,I don't feel excited anymore,just a sense of dread and guilt.
I still don't want to stay in this country though.
As you said,Sibble,I would just miss the people,not the place.
I din't know if I can put my mother through this amount of pain

Thank you WSS. I was curious about heat pumps, I thought they were ground source pumps and have been trying to spot the heaters on pics of houses we are looking at! Your post is really helpful.

AngryBeaver I'm sorry you're having such a hard time, I hope your mum comes round.

ZZZ I am thinking of starting a blog about the move, I will post a link if I ever get round to it!

Thanks thwop,sorry about that,i feel like a bit of a twat now.
We're still going for it and I'm going to have a big talk with mum tomorrow.
We had estate agents round today and spoke to our mortage broker who said we could rent our place instead of sell.
I'm happier with that,at least if things dont pan out we've got something to fall back on.
We're looking at some lakeside rentals aroung Rotorua.
They look ok.
Also,we did a 'shop' of our usual groceries online in nz,and came out £30ish better off,so am wondering about everyone saying the food is expensive.Some things really were,nappies and formula were very pricy,but the everyday things were not as bad.
Insurance is half the price of here and tax and petrol are cheaper.

I have been reading the thread with interest. I am a NZer who has spent 10 years in the uk living in south west london. Meet my DH who is from SA and we had 2 DCs in the UK. We arrived back in NZ (Chch) 5 weeks ago.

Things I have noticed:
Food seems expensive and not as big a variety but tastes great. Its not more expensive than the UK but you have to shop around to get good specials here and food prices have gone up HEAPS in my time away.
Insurances (life, car, contents) are about half the price of the UK.
It only takes about 15 mins to get anywhere and you can park anywhere in the city.
The houses are so cold (and its the middle of summer) as they are poorly insulated.
It is so totally awesome to be near my Mum and dad and sister and brother etc again (sorry AngryB but I missed them terribly when I was away especially since I had children and you can't get the same support from friends).
The lifestyle is so much more relaxed and easy going here.
Banks and stuff are so much more friendly and easy to use.

Its a hard decision but I loved my years in the uk and wouldn't change them but I'm very happy to be back in more relaxed place bring up my kids.

Oh febes fascinating to see your post. I am a kiwi (living in SW London) going on 9 years now. DH is British and we have one DD,ttc #2.....but I am soooooooo homesick it is unreal and I want desperately want to go home.

We hope to return but will most likely head a bit further South than you (where my family are)...getting all giddy thinking about it, but I do worry if I will fit back in.

Tell me more good things, oh and I guess some bad things just to balance things out!

angrybeaver sorry to hammer the point again, but food on a like for like basis IS pretty much the same cost (I have done my UK shop on quite a few occasions to the same value or within a few £s) but what you have to remember is that the cost of living is high compared to wages. You may be able to live off the smell of an oily rag, just don't underestimate how difficult it would be to struggle financially 12,000 miles away from family support, friends, and your comfort zone.

highjacking this thread temporarily - ds1 started Intermediate today - He's fine I'm traumatised. Only 3 hours til I leave to pick him up. Tomorrow he's on the bus [freaked out emotion]. Supposed to be working but can't concentrate.

kiwi don't,I've had such a bad day,my mum came for a talk and she just hit meltdown.I've never seen her like that.It was so distressing.I think she is considering following us,but when I looked into it,it looked like you'd have practically be a millionaire to qualify at her age (just turned 60)I think ther's a way that we could move as a family,but she couldn't leave my gran here.
I'm emotionally drained.

sibble What's Intermediate?!Is it like primary?Hope he (and you!) are ok!

angrybeaver sorry things are so emotionally charged at the moment!!! It must be so hard and I cannot imagine the pressure you must feel with your mum being upset. No easy answer to that, but I do understand somewhat....my DH's family are all here - his mum is 83 and we face the prospect of leaving her (possibly for the last time). She would support us 100% but it makes me tear up even thinking about it!

Maybe she can spend summer in the UK and summer in NZ each year, that sounds like my kind of lifestyle.

I don't envy your decisions!

Intermediate School is a two year school in between Primary and Secondary School...brill idea IMHO, I was NOT ready for high school/Secondary school at 11!!!

How did his first day go Sibble?

Kiwi- I love it back here tbh. I loved my time in the UK but I was ready to come home. People pop in a drop us off beans and courgettes from their garden, say hello in the streets and rush to help you in a shop when you want to buy stuff. Its a bit disconcerting actually!!

I would reccommend sorting out your kid(s) NZ citizenship and your DHs work or residency visa before you come. We didn't and are now waiting till DH can work. It doesn't take too long though and all the officials are so nice and friendly.

My DD will start Kindy soon and that looks so good just 3 afternoons till she's 4. Over 3s get 20 hours free child care and you can use it anyway you want (kindy, preschool or nanny).

Ummmmm can't think of any bad points yet?? Not much in the way of shows or concerts???