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Original poster

Anyone from New Zeland/ Canada

31 replies

mothernature · 27/02/2004 10:52

Any mumsnetters from New Zeland out there, we have friends who are there at the moment and are on the move again to a place called Kiapoi.

We have been toying with the idea of Canada for a while and our friends are inspring us, any information would be of great interest to us.

OP posts:
slug · 27/02/2004 13:54

Wow, that's really small town!

Are you thinking of emigrating?

bobthebaby · 29/02/2004 03:18

I have emigrated to NZ, but have parents staying at the moment and am moving house this week, so pretty busy. I will come back to the thread soon - promise.

buzzybee · 29/02/2004 03:40

I'm a kiwi who lived in London for almost 3 years - returned to NZ Dec 2002. What in particular were you interested in knowing? Kaipoi is a very small town - I presume your friends are buying a rural property?

sibble · 29/02/2004 18:39

likewise let us know what info you want and I am sure we will be able to help
good luck with the move Bobthebaby - are you moving far??

Original poster
mothernature · 01/03/2004 09:30

Sorry I didn't come back to any of you, not had the chance, Yes we are playing with the idea of emigrating our friends have bought a lovely sounding house Quote: 'We are moving to a place called Kiapoi, which is 5 mins up the motorway from here, very rural area, it is a bigger section 1012sq meter, about quarter acre, has double garage, sleep out, 3 bedrooms, separate lounge, dining room and kitchen with dishwasher....only for $172 thousand about 60 thousand in your money' sounds great, but we want Canada seen some nice propertys over there and are looking into work related issues at this time. If we do go I think it will be a couple of years yet as our children are now starting to work towards their exams.

Bobthebaby good luck in your move too....

OP posts:
slug · 01/03/2004 10:32

I have a friend who lives in Northland, within commuting distance of Auckland. She lives on a farm and, when they built their house, they had to pay to put in the water, sewerage, electricity etc from the nearest township. Their house is magnificent, the kitchen/dining room alone is the size of my London flat. They have sea views, a private beach, four bedrooms, ensuite, study, two car garage plus carport, another room over the carport which is self contained with plumbing (for visitors). The whole thing is worth less than my scabby two bedroom flat in Lewisham with no garden.

sibble · 01/03/2004 19:12

we moved 18 months ago, Dh is a kiwi. It is not all a bundle of roses, see various threads about moving abroad BUT we live 30 mins south of Auckland, have a 4 bedroom house on 11 acres with spa and swimming pool going in. My 'laundry' is larger than DS's bedroom in the house we sold in London/Essex borders and has an en-suite (in case I get court short while doing the washing) - no - for when you have been doing muddy work on the land!!!! DS's nursery has swimming pool, animals, is on 10 acres etc. I could go on, but you get the picture, we sold an average house that we both had to work our socks off to maintain in Woodford Green then get off the plane to this. I am a pregnant SAHM now and life is definately more cushy. Buy further from Auckland and the prices are laughable by comparison.
This does have to be weighed up against being so far from family, friends and familiarity though.
Good luck with whatever you chose to do. My godmother lived in canada and that is a great place too.
I would however say if you are seriously considering it, give it a go, why get to 60 or whatever and be thinking what if and they are starting to clamp down on immigration here so applying for residency in plenty of time would be a good idea. It takes forever as well.

pupuce · 01/03/2004 19:35

We emigrated to Canada in the eighties though have lived in Europe for the past 15 years or so. My brother still lives there.
Which part of Canada were you thinking of.... it is not a small country and it is quite diverse.

Original poster
mothernature · 01/03/2004 21:50

We were thinking of Onterio or even the northeastern territories away from town/city areas..we like it quiet, very quiet..where would you recommend pupuce?

OP posts:
pupuce · 01/03/2004 22:49

Ontario is "civilized" and has a changing climate..... the North is VERY cold and can be quite rainy.
I lived in Quebec, know Nova Scotia (this is quite nice and fairly rural), Ontario (similar to Quebec in some ways but English speaking).
I have never been to the Prairies (know that the weather goes to the extremes - v. cold and v. hot) and BC which is probably most similar to Europe in many respects - of course quite far from here for return journeys).

I would have thought it is the time NOW to go as the dollar is so low. I do not know what you need to do to be able to "move" to the country. I think one of you needs to be hired or provide employment to locals.... please do check this as I have not looked into this in quite a long time.

What sort of work do you plan to do?
A few things I can say
I found secondary school easier... Universities are very good and cheap
Free healthcare like here
Very outdoorsy
Except for BC (and the East cost)- winters are very snowy and cold and last a very ong time (which is what people find the hardest and why they go to Florida!)

I might go back one day....

hercules · 02/03/2004 15:18

We have also been toying with the idea of emigrating to North Canada or nz and I will follow this thread now.Please don't forget to post btb

bobthebaby · 02/03/2004 18:37

Still working on it Herc.

philippat · 02/03/2004 18:52

We applied to emigrate to Canada just about a year ago, but our application is still in the pipeline. From what I hear it may take as long as another year before we get called to interview, and then if successful we get a further year to move (subject to medicals).

It's quicker if you can get a job and a work permit but that is SUPER tough.

I'd be careful about moving somewhere really away from it all - it can be extremely tough - quite impossible to imagine from the UK. Frankly I find the suburbs of Toronto quite rural!

NB the canadian dollar exchange isn't quite so great as the US at the minute!

Linnet · 07/03/2004 23:50

Dh and I would love to move to Canada but we don't gain enough points in the points system and
No family or friends out there either
Good luck to all of you who are eligible.

Ghosty · 28/03/2004 08:48

Ooooh ... how did I miss this thread?
In case none of you knew ... I live in New Zealand too
We emigrated here 2 years ago and it has been a good move ... we are happy here and would not consider at this point moving back to the UK ...
Like Sibble I am able to be a SAHM and we do have a nicer life style than we did back home (although we live in Auckland and so therefore do not have the lovely type of place that Sibble has ... have been there - it is loverrrrrly!!)
HOWEVER ... Auckland is NOT the best place to come to if you want to live in a mansion for not very much money ... Auckland prices are phenominally ridiculously high for the average person's pay and, like in London, people who work in the Public Sector (Teachers, nurses etc) just cannot afford their own homes anymore ...
My DH's salary is very good but it is only just enough to get us by without me working.
I do know some Brits who are here who feel that they are in the same boat as they were back in the UK ... a kind of 'Same $hit, different city' type thing and they are planning to move back home ...
But that is Auckland ....
NZ is a great place to be though ....

wobblyknicks · 28/03/2004 09:36

How did I miss this thread too?

My mum and dad recently thought up the idea of moving to NZ but they hate the idea of being so far from family and they asked what I thought of the idea of moving over there with dd. So I'll be following this thread too! NZ looks gorgeous and some of the houses over there are insane prices. My mum and dad worked out that if they sold their small 3-bed Cornish house they could buy one of the most gorgeous houses I've seen, with 5-beds, loads of room and a pool AND have about £50k in the bank!!!

If I had no friends or family here (and if UH didn't make a fuss) I think I'd be on the plane now.

kiwisbird · 28/03/2004 11:30

I am from NZ we were going to head back this year but are leaving it another 3-4 yrs
Wow Kiapoi is lovely and small!!
I am from Wellington which has many different areas and different prices, there is good train services in Wgtn and trolley buses. it is very cosmopolitan, great food, great lifestyle but a bit windy!
I brought up my son there for 4 yrs and it was a great place to have a baby in!
We would have to live in Auckland if we went back due to Dh'd job, thats why we are holding off as I don't like Akld that much!

toddlerbob · 28/03/2004 22:16

Hi, I promised I'd come back and I did (with a slightly different identity). We live in Christchurch, and like Ghosty and Sibble I can afford (just) to be a SAHM. I wouldn't live in Auckland (although I love visiting)because we would have the same quality of life that we had in the UK, I much prefer my nice new 4 bedroom house in Christchurch surrounded by market gardens.

If you have good ideas and want to be your own boss I think NZ is an excellent place to be, many of my friends run their own businesses and their lifestyle is incredible. My parents come out 3 times a year for a month each time - I may feel differently if they never saw their grandson.

sibble · 29/03/2004 01:48

hi toddlerbob, guess you are bobthebaby - great new name.
You have hit the nail on the head with family/frineds visits. We have been here 18 months and nobody has visited yet. Does make things very hard.

toddlerbob · 29/03/2004 02:30

Yes it is me! We have been visited by 2 lots of friends, my grandma, 1 friend of a friend, my parents 5 times (might be more)and most of ds's family live here. I also made loads of friends when working and loads more when pregnant. I know heaps more people than I ever did when I spent all my time commuting.

Ghosty · 29/03/2004 06:09

toddlerbob .... love the new name
I wonder if you will be bobthenightmarefouryearold in 3 years time??

toddlerbob · 29/03/2004 08:45

It seems I may be from reading the dork thread. I was under the misguided impression that if I waited until then to have another one, I might find things easier, but it would seem that is not the case. I'll start hiding the scissors now.

slug · 29/03/2004 09:21

Oooh kiwisbird, where in Wellington? I'm from Upper Hutt.

kiwisbird · 29/03/2004 10:00

slug, I grew up in Pinehaven!
Parents split up when I was 10 and we moved to Wellington Central - small town girl Big city LOl
wheeeeeeeeeee
Where are you slug, god bet we were in school together or know all the same people LOL NZ really is a small place!
I'm 32 btw!

slug · 29/03/2004 10:58

St Joseph's Primary and Upper Hutt College. You're a bit younger than me 9cough)38. My best mates are Gillian Rodgers and Ruth Pidgeon. If you went to Pinehaven primary school you'll know Ruth's mother, Isa.