Nelson, New Zealand or somewhere else ? The Middle East

[adventurewonderlands]

Hi,
We have decided to the leave the UK as a family and have been looking at potential options. We are both medical doctors, fed up with the NHS and other aspects of living in the UK. Two children in school.
We are quite drawn to NZ and should be able to find jobs there. I worked there previously for a year although this was a long time ago. We have some old acquaintances living in Nelson so are considering there or possibly Christchurch, Wellington ( a bit too cold/ windy maybe) and Tauranga so far. I haven't actually been to Nelson but it sounds lovely and I hear the weather is pretty good compared to some other parts of NZ. Can anyone tell me more about it?
The Middle East is also a potential option, albeit a very different one. I can't see us staying there forever but perhaps for a few years if we like it. Possible jobs in UAE. Has anyone lived in Dubai/ Abu Dhabi in particular?
Any insights/ pre and cons/ suggestions would be amazing.

Hello!
I can't give you any advice, but I know that there is an Australia and New Zealand-section on Mumsnet.
Maybe ask there too, about New Zealand?
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/aussie-nz-mumsnetters

Good Luck!

Thank you. I'll try asking for NZ info over there.
This board seems v quiet.

I've not spent much time in Nelson, but remember it being very small and a long way from anywhere bigger and more cosmopolitan. Beautiful part of the world though.

If it were just the two of you and you loved the outdoors, and weren't too fussed about being away from big town/city amenities and culture, I would say go for it. But with kids (who will be teenagers in the not-to-distant future), I would recommend being closer to one of the larger NZ towns/cities.

I love Wellington as a city, it has a very chilled, indy, hipster vibe. But I prefer South Island to North Island in general, so Christchurch would be another potential. I haven't been there for five+ years now, and on my last visit it was already well on its way to being back to the vibrant city it was pre-earthquake, so I imagine it it doing pretty well now.

Have you ever been to NZ? Sounds like a good excuse for a family holiday to check it out!

I believe Nelson has the most sunshine in NZ. But I'd struggle with the remoteness with kids. What do your family like to do with your spare time? Are you city or country folk?

We have a Dr shortage so you should be able to pick and choose over locations.

Dubai and NZ are about as far apart as you can get in terms of lifestyle so I guess it would be good to think about your priorities- ie what is it that you’re looking for in terms of lifestyle. One obvious difference is that in Dubai/UAE you’ll have school fees to deal with. It’s a v expensive place to live, although depending on your specialities you can make v good money. If you’re thinking long term it’s also one of those weird places where it may be hard for your dc to settle as adults because it’s such a temporary place and you never really have a stake in it, however long you stay. People do retire there but they’re hugely in the minority so if you’re looking somewhere to move permanently I’m not sure I’d consider the ME.

NZ is fantastic. I lived in Wellington for about 6 years and didn’t find the weather as bad as many people seem to think. I feel like it’s sunnier than most of the UK. It has beautiful coastal scenery, a mix of different cultures, and things to do like theatres, hiking, and stuff for kids. Nelson is pretty quiet, although I haven’t spent much time there

The weather in Auckland is usually amazing btw. Just not this year which has sucked. House prices have dropped a lot but have a good look on trademe. Renting in NZ sucks and I'd avoid it long term.

I love Tauranga/Bay of plenty region. It's really grown over the last 10years. It's close enough to Auckland and Hamilton to get to quickly by car and has an airport. Good range of industries and a fair bit of innovation. Still a lot of lovely properties and a good choice between rural/city/fringe.
We're from NZ, I've lived there several times over the years and if we move back that's where I'll be looking.
I find the Nelson region beautiful but just a bit too removed for convenience when traveling in/out.

*lived in Tauranga several times

Christchurch has really come back to life after the earthquake. The council have really invested in facilities and infrastructure and it’s a pretty cool city. I don’t live there but visit frequently and we were going to move back there but covid put the stamp on that and we missed the window where it would have made sense for our kids.

The thing I like about it is you can drive everywhere pretty easily (public transport is crap) so getting the kids to activities is easy and there’s lots of variety of sports and clubs etc. you can ski easily all winter in Mount Hutt but also lots of cool club fields (if that’s your thing)

Housing in NZ was crazy but I think it’s dropped back a bit (haven’t been keeping an eye on it recently). We were going to move to Sumner as we wanted to be at the beach but sheltered from the easterly, but it is a bit of drive to the city and expensive, but we liked it was a little compact community, and has a nice beachy vibe.

My SIL has moved from Chch to Tauranga, the weather is a lot warmer but I just didn’t love it there. It’s expensive and doesn’t have a city centre, the traffic is quite bad and it’s a bit sprawling and disconnected. Mount maunganui is nice but eye wateringly expensive and full of twats driving their loud cars up and down in the summer and that would do my head in. They see very happy though and their kids go to a nice school and seem very settled (horses for courses).

Can’t say much about Wellington or Nelson as just have visited for trips and holidays. Nelson is very sunny but a very small place and is quite transient I think due to it being a holiday spot.

Not sure my random stream of consciousness has helped you 😂

I'm not a doctor but used to live in the Middle East. When I was having one of my babies in the UK, I mentioned to my consultant that I had lived in the ME previously, justbin conversation. He told me that he had been offered jobs there but 'valued his career too much'. The country that I was in had a lot of practises which were very outdated and not in line with current approaches (certainly in terms of obstetric care). I gave birth in a brand new hospital that had every new fangled machine and shiny glass exterior but I felt like I'd been transported to the 70s.

Hi , we have lived in the Middle East for the past 8 years and DH works in construction. The only aspect of being in the Middle East that needs to be considered carefully in my opinion are schools. school fees are expensive and normally school fees are covered by the employer or part of it is depending on how expensive the schools are. Another aspect to consider is that Middle East living is very hard to leave once you are here , most expats I know haven't left on their own accord. Children tend to normally fit in to the lifestyle and sometimes they would find it hard to uproot or live in a different country once they are adults, maybe this is an extreme example.
Out of interest , we are looking to move back to the UK as children are going to secondary within 2 years. Just wondering how bad things are in the UK especially in terms of schools. We haven't been back to the UK much in the past 8 years so trying to get as much info as possible before making the plunge to return.
Good luck with your move.

I'm in AD and used to live in Dubai, happy to answer any questions, although I don't work in the same field as you.

Nelson is lovely, I spent some time there during my NZ years as we had friends there. It is very small and pretty quiet, and it feels quite remote, however if you’re outdoorsy and not really into city life anyway, it’s the dream.
I’m a South Island girl through and through, so Christchurch would also be a good option imo, it took a good while to bounce back from the earthquake (which it would, of course!!) but I would say is firmly out the other side by now… plus that’s within reach of the Akaroa peninsula which is just so, so beautiful.
I can’t help but feel Dubai and, say, Nelson are about as different as two places can be… what sort of lifestyle do you actually want?

Thank you so much for all the replies. So useful and have given me lots of food for thought.
Totally agree that Nelson, NZ and The ME are totally different in terms of lifestyle. I would see ME as probably more of a temporary option (no idea how temporary) in order to save money and experience a different culture. My heart is drawn much more to NZ but it has it's problems, not dissimilar to the UK's. I'm not sure if Nelson would be too small for us. I don't mind living in a small town at all, more than happy but it's the remoteness that slightly concerns me. I think at outdoor lifestyle, lots of beaches and walking sounds great. My husband is quite specialised so not that many potential jobs for him and, of course, Kiwi applicants take precedence, I believe. Easier in my specialty. We need to find out more about salaries and the jobs in general to make sure that the sums add up and that we could afford a better quality of life before making a big move.

@expatinmys are you talking about UK state schools or private options? Obviously, if you can afford private, you will have far more choice. The UK has deteriorated considerably in more recent years, imo so you need to visit and think carefully.

@useitorlose do you mind if I PM you?

Hi I'm a occupational therapist who has lived and worked in abu dhabi. As a OT we where expected to do things we would do in the uk, we were expected to act more like nurses. I didn't stay in a hospital setting very long (I was on my husband's visa). I guess it depends what area you work of medicine you work in, I would go and do it for a few years.
School fees are generally covered by employer our kids went to a decent one, when we came back to the UK one was ahead and one behind (but I think it's due to natural abilities as the younger one was struggling before we left the uk).
We stayed 5 years. I really enjoyed it but it's not a place for settling, no one I knew still lives there except for people married to locals. We would consider going back when the kids have left school/uni.

@aadventurewonderlands Happy to help

Hi @expatinmys could I ask why/what makes it so hard to leave the UAE? How is it for families living there, do you find enough to do with yourselves on weekends? We mainly spend wknds going for long walks, bike rides etc so it is hard to imagine. We are in a slightly different boat, have lived in the UK for a couple of years now (with young primary age kids) and would really like to move back to NZ where we are originally from in the near future. However as the pay is not great there and living is expensive, so we are seriously thinking of stopping in the UAE for a year or 2 to save as much as we can and have a bit of an adventure on the way. I don’t know if this would be unfair on the kids though, having already been uprooted once! Just to answer your question, from a kiwi perspective anyway, our experience of the UK schooling system (public not private) is they have been fantastic :) The speed which my son learnt to read in his first year blew my socks off! We take it at a much more leisurely pace back in little old NZ ;)

Lots of people get stuck because they get stuck in the lifestyle, new cars, maids, they don't save. I know a family that had the best villa, cars, maid, ate out almost every night, they came back to England lived with his mum and got a council house. However 10 years after leaving I only know one expat family(its two adults whose kids left home a long time ago) who are still there, they are just waiting 2 more years till he came retire.
When our kids leave home we plan on going back-up we loved it but having boys when they got to 18 they would have to leave.

Reasons that @newnametoday11 mention are absolutely correct. After some time , work offers from other locations will never give the same value for money. Also the lifestyle gets too addictive. If you can save a good amount every month after all expenditure , then this would also be an added advantage.
Schools are generally very good but fees are expensive. Normally if you are British all packages would include schools fees and a generous pay packet.
In terms of outdoor adventure , the sun is very agrressive for 4 to 5 months. Apart from that the weather is good and pleasant.
As far as I know , having been here for 8 years , no one I know has left on their own accord. Quite a number of families are reaching the 15 to 20 year mark of being here. one or two have invested in properties which gives them residency status.