Moving to NZ ..... what to take, what to leave behind?

[shelscrape]

Hi all! Me, husband and 5 year old son are moving to the North Island in a little over 3 months time and I have just started the mammoth taks of sorting out all our wordly goods. Is there anyone out there who has moved from UK to NZ recently? I don't want to waste container space and end up taking things that will be useless in NZ. Any top tips? What do you wish you had taken to NZ, but left behind?

Take everything. Shopping is limted and expensive.

And it can be very cold there in winter so don't throw out your warm stuff.

not a great help am i.....

NZ is fabulous though.

good luck with the move.

I agree, bring everything. Furniture for example, is either good quality but expensive or crappy MDF stuff (and still not that cheap). There is nothing like IKEA here.

Also, the difference in price between shipping smaller amounts and larger amounts may not be that much - it gets cheaper (per square metre) the more you ship.

Yes, bring all your clothes, for warm and cold weather. We still haven't put a heater on yet and it's the equivalent of November but that is unusual - the winters are cold-ish and lots of houses here are very poorly heated and insulated (central heating is a rarity). Before we put insulation in our house a winter morning temperature of 8 degrees in our kitchen was not unusual - and I live in one of the warmer parts of the country.

I honestly would bring everything that you would get a few more years use out of. The cost of replacing it when here is probably more than the cost of shipping it. Some expats feel the clothes shopping here is very lacking in choice - you may wish to stock up on clothes for yourselves. For example, supermarkets over here haven't twigged on to the idea of cheap but cheerful kids clothing basics. But several high st UK shops (M+S, Next, Top Shop, Boden) do deliver here now if you get really stuck.

It is lovely though - great sunny day here today.

I tool everything when I moved to Australia. Cling film, old baby clothes the lot as if you have a container you might as well. You can obviously buy cling film - but that's what I did. I wish I had bought sandals for my girls before we left as we couldn't get any when we got here as it was the end of the summer shopping but not the end of actual summer so we couldn't get any anywhere. Just crocs.

Just marking my place as we plan to move to NZ July 2011 and we had our first 'what shall we take to NZ' conversation last night.

Wondering whether to leave stuff in storage in the UK for a year before shipping just in case we hate it and want to come back.

Wondering if it possible to rent houses/apartments in Auckland/Wellington that are furnished so we can just go with suitcases of clothes.

Hello Beta - yes, you can get furnished places - its not as common as unfurnished - but not unheard of. if you look on www.trademe.co.nz then you can see rentals (most advertise on here) and get a feel for it.

Agree with others re. bring everything if you're here for the long haul. my kids got lots of kudos for having different toys too.

Shells - thanks.

I will become an avid fan of trademe.co.nz. and good tip on ringing kids toys.

We got our EOI accepted yesterday when we were picked out of the ballot. In the final part of the process of applying for residence now so it suddenly feels a bit more real. Exchange rate against the Pound Sterling is horrendous. Hoping Sterling strengthens.

Another one adding to the take it all - our stuff has been there and back and is possibly about to move again!
Furnished flats are very few and far between so it will need a lot of searching. Storage here is expensive if it's stored with a view to shipping it later due to the packing and insurance costs.

Yes, the pound/dollar thing is not in your favour at the moment is, but anything could change by this time next year. Good news you got your EOI.
Where are you off to Hairy?

I would go tomorrow in a heartbeat
If you can take one on the plane, (I don't think it counts as your luggage allowance) buy a secondhand farkaboo as they go for $$$$ from what I understand as it costs so much to import, but obv, check trademe.co.nz before hand.

I second bringing everything - white goods, furniture, clothes, cars EVERYTHING is more expensive and you what you don't need you can resell on trademe.co.nz - there is a huge 2nd hand market for just about everything, so what you don't use in your home you will be able to move on anyway

I would agree take everything you can reasonably afford to transport. Furniture can be fairly plain, there is not a huge amount of choice wrt things like that in NZ; although I have visited homes with lovely furniture, I don't know where they found it!

If you have never been to NZ and are not sure whether you will like it there, perhaps storage is a good idea for less essential things. You'd have to find out the relative costs of transporting everything back to the UK vs keeping things there in storage.

Thanks for the advice everyone. Husband thinks I am bonkers for wanting to take the range cooker - but I figured it will still get a lot of use out there! I had heard clothes were a bit limited, but I expect you get used to it ... or order off M&S. I would agree that you visit NZ first, beautiful place, but you need to think hard about if you could live there.
btw what's a farkaboo?

Firstly, good luck with your move!

We are moving to the South Island in exactly two weeks and we are taking everything apart from the cooker I think.

I am even taking my piano and OH is taking his motorbike.

I wasn't planning on taking clingfilm tho

ditto bring everything. Somebody I work with is moving back to the UK next week and has just sold all their IKEA stuff on trade me for heaps more than they paid for it years ago in the UK e.g. 50pound item for $300!

We left behind our front loader washing machine as dh (a kiwi) told me that everybody had top loaders and we wouldn't get parts etc.. What happened bought a house with a laundry designed for front loader and paid way over the odds for machine only a fraction as good as the one I'd given my brother!

Good luck with the move anyway.

When we moved to the UK from Canada we only moved part of our stuff (sold the rest) and it was a huge mistake! We thought we were saving money by only filling part of a container but it meant we had to wait for the rest to get filled and it took 15 weeks to arrive instead of 4-6, and we didn't save that much. I'd take a container full if I ever did it again and would fit in as much as I could into it!

I also tend to take everything but ould just say one thing about the cooker - most NZ houses will be rented and even sold with the cooker still in them, so you may not really have room for it. Most rentals will also have a fridge and possibly a washing machine.

Bring everything - but not the cooker! All NZ houses are sold or rented with cookers in them, (they are always part of the deal!). Definitely bring clothes and books! Books are way cheaper in UK, especially children's books.
If you are looking for furnished houses/flats try looking on bookabach.co.nz or holidayhouses.co.nz
they have houses/flats all over the place that are furnished, most are rented on a weekly basis but would I imagine, be keen for a longer staying tenant. We stayed in a holiday rental last year when we moved north and were looking for a permanent rental/house to buy.

Ooh - and also children's shoes - you will not believe how expensive Clarks shoes are here!!!

Just read this thread to DW. Tell me something positive to sweeten the pill.

Also, given that NZ is nearer Asia than the UK, why are things so much more expensive? Surely there should be loads of cheap stuff.

relatively small population/market

Tell you something positive, hmmm....

We live 2 minutes walk to a beach. Within about 15 minutes drive are another 10 or so beaches. We have lots of lovely parks in the area. Ten minutes drive away is the start of this national park. It is May, therefore the equivalent of Nov in UK and I am still wearing flip-flops and T shirts every day. Yesterday it was 26 degrees in my house, just heat coming from the sun through the windows. We are near all these beaches and the national park but are 20 minutes drive from the centre of the biggest city in NZ.

People are generally friendly. I am currently looking at birds landing on trees outside my window (actually I shouldn't be happy about that, the little buggers are trying to eat the grass seed we have put down). We have a garden dd can run about in. We have a 4 bedroom house that is a bit run down but we can do it up over the years to come and it will have enough space for us and the kids (second dd due July). We can (just about) get by with me as a SAHM so I am spending all of dd's early years with her.

We don't have a whole lot of money spare but there is lots to do that is free, espec in summer. I have just bought a years pass to the zoo for 80 dollars, dd loves it and we pretty much go every week, so that's a few dollars a week. Yes, shopping is limited but I'm used to that now. Some things can be pricey but there are ways around it (Book Depository is a must for buying books, don't even bother with buying them in shops here!)

It's not perfect and I do get homesick at times but writing this down has made me realise how much there is I love here. Turned into a bit of an essay!

That does sound nice. I suspected that some things such as food and certainly education and public transport are cheaper than the UK. We know some taxes are lower and even rents seem fairly reasonable. I am comparing to the UK of course and the money we are bringing with us will go further.

One of the things we want to do is set a business and if there are so many things that people want and cant get at sensible prices - maybe that is an opportunity.

I'll let DW know. I think a lack of good shops might be the killer for her. A big shopping trip to Sydney might be necessary once a year.

Absolutely! Pre-children I used to go to Melbourne and see shows and shop once a year. It's one of my favourite fantasies now!Australia is close (well close by NZ standards Sydney/Brisbane are a 3 hour flight, Melbourne is 4 hours), and you can get cheap flights.
Other good things - outdoors is very accessible, good beaches, not crowded, good coffee everywhere, and cafes. Casual lifestyle.
Cheap hols to pacific islands and australia.
Fruit and veges and meat are definitely cheaper.

There is lots of cheap stuff from Asia, the quality of it though often leaves a little to be desired. But can find good quality NZ stuff - just takes a bit of hunting.

You can't really rely on public transport in NZ! Even in Auckland. Auckland is the size of greater london with a population of just over 1m (as far as I remember!) The demand is just not there. There are buses and trains but expect to wait for ages, walk for miles and for them to stop at 10pm. We very quickly became a 2 car family. Cars are cheap though!

WhatSheSaid - thanks for the info on the furnished rental plaes. Will be useful until the furniture arrives and we can rent an unfurnished place!
HairyMaclary - hurrah, cheap cars! We live in the depths of rural Lincolnshire here in th UK so are used to non existent public transport.
DH has started applying for jobs and I'm supposed to be swotting for my NZ bar exams (ahemmm.... MN is a bit distracting) eek! It's all looking rather scarily close, but exiting too. Maybe I'll leave the range cooker then, but I think a major stock up from Ikea is on the cards before we go.

tbh I'd take the cooker. Even if the house you buy has a cooker they are usually electric as a lot of the country, even Auckland, is not on mains gas. It is quite common to have a gas bottle to use for your cooker though so unless you want to use an electric hob I'd take your range! A bit different if you are renting though as you can't change it...