mulling over a potential move to new zealand. anyone done this/got thoughts? ta

Only if you hate your family, or they (or you) are very rich.

Need a good long look at the reasons, and what life would really be like if you did move.

Whereabouts in NZ?

My uncle did it a few years ago. Moved over there because he was just sick of living where he was. The company he worked for here in the UK had a branch in NZ so he applied for a position and off he went.

He's been there 8 years and next month he is leaving NZ and moving to Daytona Beach. Personally I think he should stay but there are a number of personal reasons for the move.

Similarly a good friend of mine went there a few years ago on a 2 year working holiday visa. He now has residency and works for P&O Pacific as deputy cruise director. He is loving it. A few other friends of mine have all made the move out there too and they are staying there permenantly.

It's something I fancy doing but I can only go now if there is a job there for me, can't do the whole working holiday thing as Ill be too old by the time Im well enough to go.

Have always fancied Wellington. Looks like a lovely city.

All your answers are here!
Click Here

Remember you don't need to move to the other side of the world to make a clean break and re-start your life.

Are you running away? Or just fancy a change of life?

not so much running away as just fancying another spell living abroad as i'm getting a bit jaded with living in the uk. currently the main choices are nz or sweden. sweden's got the language and the winter. nz's a ways away but i've not got any family/friends issues to be worrying about

i'm unsure about location. going to go there sometime soonish and have a scout about

This may help.

Sweden, definitely. NZ is full of whining British ex-pats and f*cking gap year students. Sweden is fab and has 'everyman's right'.

Note I have never been to NZ 🙂 But I reckon Sweden'd make you more interesting. Can't beat xc skiing through the woods in the glow of the permanent dusk mid winter.. fab.

Feel free to email if you want specific info – I live in Wgtn and have done for 11 years , nz for 13ish now. Originally from Scotland. NZ has pros and cons but on balance is quite a good place really.

New Zealand looks like a fabulous place and not many to come back once they have made the move. Seems to have a lot of advantages over the UK and fewer drawbacks, especially with no family ties. I would have loved to have done it years ago but circumstances prevented it. I thought I was too old but looking at that link it appears I'm not……hmmmm.

Confused with "Sweden has the language and the winter". Doesn't NZ have that too depending where you are?

Molgrips – odd set of replies but why would Sweden make you 'more interesting'? Mind you, being 'more interesting' might be high on the list of priorities for an IT bod in Cardiff 😆

Wellington +1. I lived there for a year or so back in 2002/3, and deciding to move back to UK was a v. hard decision and only due to the whole family/friends thing. I think Wellington gets overlooked by a lot of tourists, but it's one of my favourite cities anywhere. Sea, beaches, mountains, cosmopolitan population, interesting stuff of all sorts, and given it's the capital, a relatively large number of good jobs around given its size (surprisingly small) – at least there were back then. And given it's effectively in the middle of the country, pretty easy to get to the rest of it.

i've said this before, and i'll say it again,

NZ is not a magical world where everything is golden and perfect.

It's almost exactly like Scotland, only NZ clearly have more talented PR people.

ever heard of the sand-fly? – makes the scottish midge look like a tame pet.

Seriously, move to Glasgow. it's an awesome city – the west coast of scotland is one of the most beautiful places in the world, and it's all accessible. Brilliant sea-kayaking aswell.

the southern Alps are nice, but you can't really get to them without a helicopter or a week off work – there are no roads that go anywhere near them.

'wanna see what NZ is like without spending £1000 onna plane ticket? – havver look at scotland – itser a lot closer, and we've got castles!*'

i should sell that to the scottish tourist board – much better than 'visit scotland'

…not knocking NZ, it's ace (but don't believe the hype), but Scotland is ace too, and sometimes we need telling…

(*and jobs, and interesting wildlife, and europe a short cheap flight away*)

My wife is from NZ but has lived here for over 15 years. We have seriously thought about moving to NZ but have always decided to stay in the UK. As above, the UK has most things that NZ has, plus there is a larger job market(growing up in NZ, Mrs Curtis really struggled for work, since being here has never been out of work for more than a day). However, I know where you are coming from, getting jaded with the UK. We still have thoughts of packing up and making a huge change before we are too old(heading for 40!). NZ is a great country that suits both our lifestyles(outdoors) and a huge plus is that they enjoy proper sport ie. rugby. No wendyball for Kiwis! 😆

If you want money stay in UK, if you want to enjoy the outdoors, then move to NZ. Beaches, bush, mountains, lakes, rivers n a fantastic climate.

If you want an out door orientated life style then NZ is as good as it gets. It is not perfect no where is and it is a very long way away. I loved it there but it didnt work out. Weirdly I am in Sweden and it is so different to NZ.

Wellington and Christchurch are amazing cities.

Given even half a chance, I'll be scampering to Canada (BC). As close to perfect as any place I've ever been.

Ok – I live in the capital city. Looking out my lounge window I see snow capped mountains and blue sea. My 10km commute to work takes me 15m to drive or 25m to ride with no traffic jams. I can ride sweet singletrack from my doorstep. The coffee is good and the food is excellent. There's some positives to think about.

Col, I heard it was a bit cr@p……but then so is sitting on a boat between iceland and the faroes…..

Ha ha what up H – having fun ? Not missing anything weather wise – sh1t. Great ride wed night in the mush, how's the boat going?.

Where are you in Wellington NZCol ? I was born there (well, Tawa) moved to Wadestown when I was 16 my family still live there. Great place to visit/live and best coffee in the whole world I have conducted extensive reasearch.

I've been in Auckland for nearly 3 years now, having moved from Bristol. The positives i'd say are: the schools (generally better than the UK), the opportunities, if your good at anything in the UK then they'll give you a go here, although they do like you to have 'kiwi experience' the reason that they'll give you a go is that pretty much anyone who's got any skills is now in Oz or the UK, so there is a shortage of skilled folk (this i'm saying from experience of myself and mates who have got great jobs here that they would never of been considered for in the UK). Hmmm what else, it's uncrowded, which has it's advantages, the health service is excellent.

Bad points: there is poverty, violence, terrible driving, that's pretty much standard in most countries thou i guess.

I like it in many ways, i like the opportunities here that me and my kids have, something that i found lacking (for me) in the UK. I've just driven back from a ski trip to the mountains, it took 3 hours to get back and tomorrow i might go surfing in a summer wetsuit, even thou it's winter here, so it's not all crap. I do really miss proper houses thou, and watching the tour on sky you realise that although NZ is often touted as a beautiful country you have you have to go some to beat most parts of Europe.

alex, I fully agree with you, I love the alps, I don't speak franch or german though. I'm going to save up and go travelling I think but I've never felt at home in england and I'm young and have no ties so now seems like the perfect time to test the waters.

alexathome – thats a bit harsh re "proper houses" the drafty wooden shacks in NZ hold up better in earthquakes – a realistic consideration !

And it means even the most unskilled DYIer can build extensions.

Are they still desperately short of social workers out there? I'm trying to wrangle a second year placement in Wellington and quite fancy emigrating whilst I'm still in my early 30s?

That said, Vancouver would definitely work for me too and I've already lived/worked there.

Spent a few months working in NZ and was lucky enough to travel/work around most of the country.

Awesome for the outdoor lifestyle and Skiing/surfing type variety as described above. Some beautiful cities (Christchurch was my favourite) and a fantastic way of life. It reminds me of the relaxed pace of life in some areas of Ireland/Scotland etc.

The single reason I would not up sticks is the distance…
All your friends and family would be a 27 (ish) hr flight away. I also think (IMO) this distance translates to a great deal less consumer choice in most areas.

Whereas Vancouver is a whole different story.

However as some have described I do think we (the collective we) tend to knock the UK. Edinburgh in particular (again IMO) has so much going for it.

Some would say that the best thing about becoming a NZ citizen is having the right to work in Australia…
(I can't remember which NZ PM who made the quip that emigration from NZ to Oz raised the average IQ of both countries).

I guess it depends on where you are in life; I was brought up in NZ and I can't imagine a better place to have a childhood or raise children. But in my 20s I think I'd be a bit bored.

Lady Dai and I head out there this Thursday for 6 weeks travelling around. Getting a bit excited now 🙂

My sister and her husband moved there about 10 yrs ago and are now have some sort of citizenship. They love it, skiing, diving hiking (aka tramping). A mate moved there about 5 yrs ago from Bristol and hes not coming back either.

The Scotland story / analogy is fairly true. The weather, esp in N island isn't great, there are v few rights of way so the scenary might look great but you can't ride there, there is sod all history (even less than the US!!) or old buildings or interesting vilages etc. There is skiing but its pretty limited and my sister and her friends go to US and Canada now.

You just have to assess your own priorities. I wouldn't want to be so far from my main family and friends but its a free choice.

(maybe not so) oddly the access thing is a bit of an issue. i guess, living in scotland, the notion that i can go where ever i like is so ingrained that being somewher where it isn't is a bti of a sticking point.

as for sweden language and winter. swedish winters – long and cold! plus my spoken swedish is about the level of a chatty under three! as least the kiwis will be able to understand me right away!

oh, and thanks for all the responses

"bravohotel9er – Member
Are they still desperately short of social workers out there? I'm trying to wrangle a second year placement in Wellington and quite fancy emigrating whilst I'm still in my early 30s?

That said, Vancouver would definitely work for me too and I've already lived/worked there. "

Still loads of jobs for social workers. Advertised allthe time. Look on http://www.trademe.co.nz

Access is simpler than you think – generally large tracts of land are in 'stations'. Ring them, i've never been denied access and in some cases have uncovered gems – we did a 4 day ride through the Clarence and got keys for huts that would otherwise be closed to us, the one with the heat exchanger and the outdoor bath was the star find !

I'm moving out there on the 27th of this month, with my partner following about 4 weeks later.

thing is we aren't running away from anything but we both wanted to live abroad for a while and we are running out of time before we'll want to have children, i suspect we'll not stay for more then 2 years then do a month of travelling on our way back……or course we may love it so much that we stay for ever but i can't see it as we'll miss our family and friends too much. looking forward to it but have so much to sort before i go, and it will take 84 days to ship my bikes and snowboard out which is going to annoy me!