Considering moving to New Zealand

[madasabeach]

I wonder if anyone out there has emigrated to New Zealand or lived there for a long period and could help me weigh up the pros and cons of moving from the UK to NZ.
In terms of jobs, we have been told that it should be straightforward to find jobs for both of us (healthcare). We have two children, both of who are in school. We would like to live in a city of large town where this plenty going on and good schools for the children. We love the beach and none of us are keen on cold, wet weather.

Can anyone talk me through the pros and cons of life in NZ vs the UK and help me weigh up the different cities/ large towns?

I loved New Zealand when I lived there for a while and much preferred it to Australia, but winter time isn’t dissimilar to the UK although I didn’t find it as cold. I felt it was freezing in the morning but much warmer in the afternoons.

Absolutely loved it, it’s got such a special place in my heart ♥️

Yeah, you can keep your 1 in 4 chance of a megaquake over the next 50 years. I was in the 2011 ChCh quake and that was bad enough.

My family are medics, trained in UK, dual nationality, and now live in Nelson. They like it. The weird thing is though they return to the UK from time to time to keep up their "overseas" experience in UK hospitals.

We were there for just under a year as Dh was doing a locum Consultant post (it was a sabbatical from NHS). He worked in Waikato hospital, lovely hospital but miserable city (Hamilton).

We felt quite well off financially. Tax was lower and his wages definitely higher! He was leaving work by 5:30pm every day, couldn’t quite believe it. Yes prices in shops are high, and choice is poor, we are both foodies and love cooking, the lack of choice was a bit frustrating.

Summer was very hot and sunny, we found winter was cold but not particularly wet 🤔

Quite honestly if we had our time over we would go to South Island, it’s much nicer! Dh could have gone to Nelson hospital, we regretted not going there.

We are in the South island and having a great summer, the North Island has had it pretty bad this year though. However, that can certainly happen in the UK, I've lived through many miserable summers there.
Whilst we are not near the sea, we do have lakes here and they are beautiful and crystal clear. Perfect for swimming, kayaking, paddle boarding etc. In the winter there is snow if you enjoy winter sports. The winters get cold but down here we have far more blue sky days than gray rainy ones.
We are both in hospitality and earn far far more than we did in the UK. We have gone from surviving to having enough for a house deposit in 3 years. Saying that, house prices are horrendous here and old properties are not insulated very well.
A lot of the doctors at my local surgery are British and seem very happy. There is not too long a wait for appointments although I've noticed it's harder than a few years back. I am 3.5 hours from the nearest hospital though which has been tough sometimes. Saying that, my partner had an ongoing hip injury and his equivalent of national insurance (ACC) paid for him and me to fly to Auckland, put us up in a hotel, covered the cost of surgery and paid for taxis whist we were there.
I think as long as you enjoy a healthy outdoors lifestyle then you will have a great time.
If you prefer culture then it's probably not the best place for you.
I find if I can't get back to Europe at least once a year for an extended period then I start to get a little suffocated. The covid period was particularly hard!

And yes groceries are horrendously expensive but you adapt and buy seasonal produce. This was hard after living in the UK for so long and getting used to everything being available year around.
There are also a lot of mental health problems and drinks and drugs with younger people but to balance it out there are also scores of young people who are sporty and healthy and don't spend hours in their rooms playing computer games. I work with a lot of teens and they are generally extremely polite and confident.
There is also a lot less anti social behaviour, at least where we are. Streets are clean and crime is minimal.

That is mad! It sounds as if you need to eat seasonal. It's odd the food prices are so high when NZ produces so much food.

Noone else seems to have mentioned the racism towards maori people which seems to be endemic according to my friend sadly.

We have friends in Taurunga and they adore living there.

Thank you so much for all the replies. It's very helpful to hear about different experiences.

@AliceMcK -when you say Kapiti coast, do you mean the coast opposite Kapiti Island?

@MissyB1 -what made you prefer the S Island? I didn't spend much time in the N Island when I lived there but friends have recommended some areas.

@onelostsoulswimminginafishbowl interesting that you get so much better paid in NZ in hospitality. The medical insurance sounds amazing!

@Shampern I think your relatives are doing a bit of UK work to keep their options open and don't have to undergo additional training if they do decide to return to the UK.

Does anyone have experience of the schooling in NZ?

Love New Zealand. Much prefer it to Australia (but have only visited).Good luck, sounds very exciting.

Well we travelled a lot whilst we lived there, yes some nice beaches on North Island, but actually South Island is much prettier.

We put our ds in private school whilst we there, but honestly education was one of the reasons we didn’t stay. I was uncomfortable with the gender stereotyping. it’s hard to explain but I didn’t like the macho culture among boys and men.
We might have just not found the right schools though.

Ok so there's plenty of places that might suit. I wouldn't even consider Auckland though. Tauranga is nice, although it's become super-popular as there has been a big influx of Aucklanders looking to leave the city. Napier's a good option, but the hospital is in Hastings, although you could probably still get there within 30 minutes depending on where in Napier you lived. Wellington's an awesome city but crazy weather and expensive. Nelson would work for you. Christchurch you already know about. Timaru is not the most interesting place but proximity to the Southern Alps would make it attractive if you're into skiing etc.

Schooling - I can't speak for secondary but primary standards/achievement is lower than the UK. Most schools are zoned so most children go to their local school. Private schooling varies quite a bit (like the UK) and tends to be faith-based (state schools are secular).

Other posters have already mentioned how expensive NZ is - and it really is. Housing standards have improved for new builds and better rental standards have come in, but houses tend to be cold (single glazing, poor insulation, non-existent heating etc.). Food is stupidly expensive and there's a lack of competition to keep prices down.

Weather is very hit and miss. We get a lot of storms/cyclones - it's the middle of summer and over the past couple of days the country has been hit hard by a cyclone, causing flooding across the country. And earthquakes are a very real risk.

I think it's also worth mentioning that NZ is a bicultural country and Maori have traditionally been underserved when it comes to healthcare and have had poorer heath outcomes. If you're working in the public health system I imagine that upholding the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi will be a significant part of your work and will likely require you to engage with learning/professional development around this.

I don't know much about work-life balance for healthcare workers but I do know that there's been both nurse and junior doctor strikes in the past few years.

Could you take a sabbatical first to really get to know it? I know 3 couples that moved there plus us, and no one lasted longer than 3 years.

I love NZ for lots of reasons, particularly outdoor activities, but it's not the paradise people think. You need to choose location very carefully because weather and culture vary massively between regions. It could be amazing but go in with your eyes wide open.

Food is so expensive and choices really limited. Its not just a case of eating seasonal you have to get used to boring and out of date too. Crap bread, crap cheese, crap restaurants, much harder if you have any kind of dietry requirement.

Culture in some areas is more comparable to rural america, gun culture and conspirisy theories. Drugs, MH, homelessness as people have mentioned too.

Overt racism, particularly towards Chinese and Asian people.

Everything much more isolated so there's no nipping to another city for a gig unless you take a flight. Every other country is far away.

Animal welfare is quite shocking in some sectors and poorly policed. And despite the clean green image its ecologically devastated.

Collective delusion over how amazing the country is. That's one of the weirdest things!

I lived in NZ and I loved it but no it’s not a paradise. The South Island is amazing but you may find it parochial. I agree with a lot of what the above poster has said. Your wages are fine in NZ but they don’t go far beyond it. The country is much bigger than people can assume and it’s not like living in Manchester and nipping down to London in 2 and a bit hours. I have a lot of kiwi friends but I moved there with a kiwi. I don’t know how you would integrate in to the society when you don’t know any one there. Food is expensive and a lot is exported, you won’t be dining on lamb every night and you will become familiar with mutton and hoggett! The country has a lot to offer but I think people from the UK particularly find it a bit of a culture shock. I have to say I heard a lot of kiwis calling English people ‘whingeing poms’ because they didn’t agree the place was absolutely amazing at all times (I’m not English). I would say if you have the opportunity to go for a couple of years absolutely do it. If you want to make your life there permanently that’s a different thing. It’s so far away and I don’t know that you can understand that until faced with the fact it’s a 4 hour flight from Queenstown to Sydney and any time you want to come back to the UK it’s more than one day on a plane.

I’m from Auckland and I’m not sure you mean city in the UK or NZ sense. If you mean something as big as the UK, then you are only looking at Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch. If you do mean cities in the way kiwis mean, then there are a lot more places you can look at.

Auckland is on paper much warmer than the UK. We get very reliable summers. And there are many beaches in Auckland. I have fond memories of roller skating along Mission Bay. However, it’s very damp and cold in winter. Especially indoors. It felt colder than the south of England inside.

My house here won’t buy me the same living standards in central Auckland. I grew up in Epsom and Remuera area and I looked at house prices sometimes and am shocked how expensive it is.

Yes, it’s lovely. We were priced out of Auckland and I didn’t love Wellington, before we moved back to the UK we were looking at buying there.

As for racism, you get it everywhere. I don’t agree that it’s more prevalent in NZ, in fact I found it far more multicultural and accepting of different races and cultures than the UK.

NZ is cold. Often wet. Zero idea how anyone goes swimming there.

I think Auckland house prices are comparable with London these days but they have dropped quite a bit recently. Check out trademe.co.nz for prices. As medics, Auckland gives you a choice of several hospitals. There is a shortage across the country so you may be able to negotiate a relocation package.

Amazing advice. Thank you to everyone.
@SnowAndFrostOutside -I meant city in a Kiwi sense, doesn't have to be huge but enough going on for adults and children, decent schools, large hospital.
Perhaps better to avoid Auckland because of the prices although I think they will probably come down more, we'll see.
Will investigate several other suggestions here.
I think a sabbatical is a good idea and one that we are considering. Yes, I think we could get a relocation package.

Im not a kiwi but lived in NZ for a long time, 8 yrs in Chch and 6 yrs in Auckland. When I moved to the UK the biggest shock to me was how bad the weather was in the UK. We arrived in mid Aug and I only brought my usual summer dresses, but I remember me and hubby couldnt stay outside for a breakfast in the morning and had to buy a jacket to keep warm. Its not just the colder weather but also the grey sky, lack of sun, very long winter, barely any summer, sorry, the summer in the uk is hardly a summer compared with NZ or other countries I have lived.

Yes NZ can be wet but there is so much sun too! It can rain 5 times a day in Auckland but you still get to see the sun. Even in CHCH there are clear 4 seasons but winter can be sunny and not as long as in the UK.

Food was so much cheapper in the UK when I moved here and lot more choices due to being part of EU. Since brexit this has changed, i find less choices and more expensive, but i would say still cheaper than NZ.

NZ is clean, beautiful with amazing beaches, but it is far from the rest if the world. People are generally friendly and laid back, but one thing I personally find overwhelming is the kiwi pride I experienced on daily basis.

I also definitely prefer the medic system there than the NHS. I could get a GP oe Dentist appt so easily without costing a fortune. Here is such a pain to even get the the receptionist. I also gave birth in both countries, NZ was so much better experience.

Thanks to global warming I think we’ve had had some very reliable summers recently 🫤

Thank you @emituofo for your detailed reply!

When I emigrated to New Zealand (not from the UK) over 50 years ago there was a term in common currency at the time: 'Whinging Pom'. These were British expats who came to live here but then proceeded to whinge, whinge, whinge, about nearly everything. The price of this, the price of that, the weather, and the list goes on. Why they ever came here in the first place is a great mystery. New Zealand is a beautiful country, with beautiful people, and a caring culture. But if you want to come here to whinge like so many of your compatriots, then please stay in the UK. There you can whinge to your hearts content about the price of this, the price of that, the weather, without the bother of leaving home.