[Closed] Potential job in NZ

You still here?

Where in New Zealand ? It does matter !

IMO why are you still here???! but it sounds like you've never been there. I've lived there for a year, and would go out permanently in a flash, but it's not for everyone, and I know some people who have come back... likewise i know people who choose nz over the uk

it's crap, don't go, you'd hate it. as a matter of interest, could you send me details of the job.......

Was in NZ for 6 months.
If you love the outdoors do it..

Do it. You only regret what you didnt do, etc etc 😉

If whatever it didnt work out, come back after a couple of years and remember the experience of it all. Amazing place, try to get located in the south island if can - quieter and more mountains to play in.

Have two friends who did it, one for 2 years, one for a year and both loved it - one is trying to go back permanently. Managed to cadge free accommodation out of one of them while we were on holiday there 😉

Others will be along to lay out the pros and cons (and, there is no getting away from it, there are cons), but if I was in your shoes I would do it without a second thought. My wife is at the 'definitely, maybe' stage 😉

I'm about three weeks away from moving to Ethiopia with the VSO for 2 years.

Its very scary, but I know in the long term it will be worth it.

Probably won't be riding much for 2 years, but there is more to life...

P

Not done it but did have the chance once, not to NZ, and decided not to and there is not a week that goes by that I dont regret that. I managed to come up with reasons not to go, maybe I wasnt really ready for it who knows.

A friend has taken the same step you have and I dont think he will ever be returning here to live, he has been there 3 years so far.

Whats the worst that can happen? you can always come back.

If I get the chance again Ill be gone

my tuppence worth anyway

Long time dead mate.
Get amongst it.

There are several jobs out there, Auckland and Wellington. I was thinking of Auckland.

I've never been there before but they way I'm looking at it is that I'll only ever regret not doing it. A holiday out there would be best first but If i went for it I could be out there in 4 months!

I'll go if you'd prefer? whens my flight?

GO!

It's not a life sentence it's a job! 😉

Got to be worth doing even if it is only for a few years. Some friends have just come back after 2 years out there. He loved it - she found that there were a few problems / old fashioned attitudes around women in technical roles and she had a hard time. Overall they are happy to be back home now but left some things unvisited to allow scope for a return.

Wellington is the place to go, easier for South Island trips..
Auckland surroundings OK.

What job out of interest..

One of my mates moved out there 5 years ago when his long term relationship fell to pieces, initially on a 12 month work visa but his intention was to get a job , make himself the bosses best employee and get the boss to sponsor his permanent status.

lucky for him he walked straight into a job that he knew inside out including methods his employer had never heard of and the rest is history. He says that nothing would entice him back to the UK .

I've been out there working. It was okay, and some things were nicer than here, but I don't think I'd want to go out there forever, it just wasn't as nice a lifestyle overall.

If it's a choice between Wellington and Auckland, Wellington is the place to go for riding, although most of the best riding is in the South Island.

I'd give it a go, some people love it, other people miss loads of stuff, but it isn't the end of the world if you have to come back after a year or two.

Joe

Like the others say, if you don't go, you'll always wonder 'what if...'. You can always come back if it doesn't fit, and it won't suit everybody.

I'm from there, but coming to the UK was the best thing I've ever done, not taking up a job opportunity in Canada is amongst the worst.

Changing countries can be one of the most enjoyable and interesting things you can do.

If I could convince the mrs I'd be there. Would prefer Wellington to Auckland.

Tvco, I get the feeling you should start packing your bags.......

Lived and worked in Auckland for 4 years and regret coming back every single day. Auckland is a wonderful city to live in. I won't bore everybody on here with all the pros and cons, but if you want I could happily let you have an insiders view to life over there if you drop me your email address. Despite its reputation, the North Island isn't the outdoor paradise that some would have you believe. You need the South Island for that (but good choice in Auckland over Wellington!). And, it gets bloody cold and wet in the winter, although the other 3 seasons are very pleasant and summers are long and hot (and often also a bit wet). Nevertheless, the whole lifestyle and way of life is so nice.

I would favor Wellington over Auckland (although I am biased !) but both are great places to live, the biking is way better in Wellington in terms of access from the city. And it is more central and you can get over to the South Island on the wonderful Picton Ferry. Day trips to the wineries of Nelson etc.

There are lots of small towns in the central North Island that are to be avoided, and although the South Island is a nice place to visit it does lack cosmopolitan sophistication, shall we say. All IMHO of course but I did live there for 25 years.

Also, remember it will cost you £1000 per person and ALL your holiday allowance (you get US style allocation in NZ e.g. 2-3 weeks + stats) to visit family. And the nearest country is Australia, which is 3 hours on the plane, and then you are in Australia.

The job is in Engineering, specifically bridge design.

yep, defo Wellington over Auckland.

There are several jobs out there, Auckland and Wellington. I was thinking of Auckland.

Summers aren't wet in Wellington, only north of the Bombay Hills...

apparently the coffee there is ace - second only to italy.

they do have flights back - if you don't like it come home. simple.

I'm about three weeks away from moving to Ethiopia with the VSO for 2 years.

I've only been there on holiday for a few weeks but it was one of coolest place I've ever visited. The coffee, dear lord the coffee was astonishing.

Probably won't be riding much for 2 years, but there is more to life...

I think you might be surprised. Granted it's probably not singletrack heaven but as a way to explore it's brilliant. Well apart from the kids throwing stones at you but you soon learn that a quick shout stops them in their tracks.

Hi, I've just come back from my 5th Xmas in and around Picton and am currently suffering from why the bloody hell don't i get my arse into gear and move there syndrome. There was a house for sale overlooking the harbour, 3 bedrooms nice balcony etc for about 130k...only slightly more than my terrace is worth, my only trouble is i don't have a skilled trade and entry might be a problem..
New Zealand itself is a beautiful quiet place ( think large lake district) but everything is so far away and the bike trails certainly don't match what i have within 5 mins of my house ( rossendale).
The place isn't full of chavs and crime and you do feel very safe there. I would imagine in winter it could be a very lonely place..even up to xmas day in Picton it was like a ghost town.

If you have the chance go for it you can always come back, its got to better than getting to retirement and thinking if only...

I lived in N.Z. for 11 years and have been back for holidays since.I can't rate the country highly enough.
Everything about it, the people, the scenery, lifestyle and all the positive comments that you will find on here are spot on. If you don't give it a go you will never know and may just regret it forever.
The country does have it's issues like everywhere else, although not on the same scale as you might find in the UK. What some people do find is they get homesick (obviously) but also people can find themselves feeling a little isolated and detached from the rest of the world as N.Z. is a long long way from everywhere.

Helps if you like/play rugby too.

The place isn't full of chavs and crime and you do feel very safe there.

Not sure I agree with that- there's the same inner city/youth/gang/drug problems as there are here. Only difference is they can get a drivers licence and a dirt cheap Scooby at 15 and don't need car insurance, so it's easier to spread themselves over the road.

Laughing at piha - yes you do need to have a high tolerance level for rugby ! I forgot that... You will also have to get used to people being more direct and saying what they mean, they are a lot less reserved out there.

It is hard to get into NZ to work and if you have a job offer there are a lot of people out there who would kill you for it.

I would vote do it if there was a poll running, and you are young enough to change your mind if you hate it. I'll no doubt get told off for this comment, but the women are much better looking not so much on the make-up and fake tan (so are the men too for that matter) and lets just say aren't so uptight about personal relationships. But you have to treat them with more respect (that goes for the men too too)

Auckland over Wellington.

Wellington is too windy and the fishing is better in Auckland!

Mrs Ratadog is a NZ citizen as are kids. Even the labrador is all black - apart from a little grey round the muzzle.

I agree that I prefer South Island, but you will be going where the job is I guess. It's a great place and I heartily recommend trying it. Nice people, good beer, wine and food. Relaxed lifestyle and a range of climate so should be something to suit you. When I was last there a couple of years back the cost of living for most things was roughly equivalent in that salaries appeared less but so did the cost of the bulk of the things we were buying. Things that were comparitively expensive were those for which an international market exists and that were imported e.g. cars, computers, etc. where the cost was pretty much the direct equivalent of here and therefore cost comparitively more against salary. ( Although everyone seems to buy their cars second hand from Japan - law there says cars have to be hocked in after 3-4 years and guess where the cast offs go ).

Down sides? Well, its a country the size of UK with only 4 million occupants, 2 million of whom live in or around Auckland. If you only feel alive in a teeming metropolis it may not be for you. Healthcare is by insurance and certainly in the South you may be a long way from a hospital. If you have family here it's a long way each way - figure up to 36 hours airport to airport depending on connections - this may of course be a plus. MOST IMPORTANTLY If you own property here then the sale and conversion to NZD will buy you more for your money there - albeit not as magnificently so as a few years back - BUT if you then decide you don't like it you are likely to find that the cost of coming the other way works against you - depends on the market. Had we gone 7 years ago we could have bought a luxurious house with tons of land there, but had we tried to come back 3 years ago at the height of the boom here when things weren't so good over there, we would have struggled to buy a terrace in a bad part of town. That also obviously applies to salaries and savings made there going less distance here.

Clearly, the best way would be to live there whilst being paid here. Still struggling to work out how to do that on a long term basis.

Bottom line is that if I was in your shoes I would go, whilst making sure that I rented my house here and didn't do anything financially irreversible until I knew it was for us.

New Zealand itself is a beautiful quiet place ( think large lake district) but everything is so far away and the bike trails certainly don't match what i have within 5 mins of my house ( rossendale).

Yeah, I found that a pain - having to travel so far to ride anything other than local trails (and having so many large areas where you just aren't allowed to ride any of it).

Joe

Went there far a long holiday in 2003. If I was in your position I'd bite the hand off. Plus, if the rest of the world goes down the drain, NZ's the best place to be.

Do it.

christchurch is a bit of a dump and very bland although it is in the south island. Wellington is the place to be. Small city with a bigish city feel and excellent riding-I'm bias though, I live here.

Holidays-legal minimum is 4 weeks annual leave and 11 days of public holidays and not sure what someone was going on about US voucher system.

Crime rates are low and you don't have the muggings, etc that happen in big cities in the UK. There is crime but it isn't something that has really ever affected me apart from the house being broken into once. That said I leave my 5-spot parked up outside my front door at night and it is still there in the mornings.

Certainly I would give living in NZ a go. Job wise you'll find you'll need to be more of a generalist and be able to cover a range of tasks and companies here are not so hung up on specific skills but generic transferable skills are highly thought of.

Place isn't perfect, but no place is. I would say quality of life is much better than the UK by long shot. Food is local, people are friendly and approachable.

Lesson number one in Kiwi Kulcha: they are referred to as THE South Island and THE North Island they don't have names, we didn't name them South Island and North Island like the Aussies with their White Snowy Mountains, Big Wet Lake etc. Thus they are referred to as the South one and the North one.

For some reason it really winds me up when people get this wrong, even the Guardian travel writer couldn't come to grips with it.

If you want to get a taste of NZ life look at www.stuff.co.nz and see what makes the headlines it makes me cringe.

Holidays have improved since I lived there then ! It used to be 2-3 weeks plus statutory public hols, (which I guess is near to 4 weeks anyway), so thats good.

Agree with John re Christchurch the word I would use is parochial, but some people like that kind of thing.

My twopenny worth, aren't the salaries low and cost of living high in comparison to UK?

Wellington would be my choice (over Aukland).

i went, had lots of fun, realised that all my friends were here in the uk, had a bit more fun, came back.

no regrets.

NZ is ace, but don't believe the hype, check it out for yourself.

i found the cost of living to be very comparable with the uk, some things were more expensive, some things were cheaper, my salary was a bit lower though.

(i remember getting chatting to some dudes in a bar in Dunedin, they'd just come back from the uk, and were raving about all the awesome trail centres in the uk... - the grass is always greener, etc.)

NZ beer is crap.

Other than that, and the distance from everywhere else, I'd be there now.

Wellington over Auckland every day for me, but if I could pick anywhere I'd probably say Nelson, on the North of South Island.

I've lived there (a while ago now) and would relocate permanently very happily. Overall, it's a fantastic country, though there are ups and downs. I think there can be a parochial 'small town' feel to even the cities. Perhaps the hardest part is feeling slightly disconnected from politics, culture etc without a lifetime's worth of reference points. On the other hand, the wine is awesome.

Helps if you like/play rugby too.

I have noticed that when people identify my wife's accent their next comment usually refers to rugby.

She tends to smile and say that she's never been religious.

the beer whilst crap is I would say the best approximation of bitter you can come accross outside the UK

Steinlager..

As a kiwi who lived for a while in the u.k. recently I have some advice. Come out and try it. As you have job opportunities here you will get a "work permit" which means that you can move here and try it. You won't have to sell up to do this. That will add a little security to the move. People have difficulty getting back on the property ladder if they move back. People who stay often miss there family. That appears to be the main reason for return.

The lifestyle here is different, our attitudes and the pace. I live in Wellington and have lived in Auckland too. I choose Wellington because it's a better place. Auckland is a big, big, big city. There are poor transport links (not unique to Auckland however)and this is a big issue. We love cars here.

The riding here is superb, I can ride a two hour loop from my door and 80% is singletrack. To get an idea of the riding have a look at [url= http://tracks.org.nz/ ]"tracks"[/url].

My final advice is to try it, you may like it!

Another Wellington resident here and an ex-pat to boot. I am celebrating 10 years in Wellington - today 🙂

Theres lots of crap spouted forth about NZ and living here etc etc - the truth lies somewhere in the middle. The beer is very good if you buy GOOD beer, its like assuming all UK beer is wife beater. Weather is variable.

I like Welly to live in. Small enough that i can ride to work in the central city in 20 mins yet live in what is seen as the 'outskirts'. View over the sea to mountains, native birds, silence, good sun. It can be windy here though but you get used to it. Riding is sensational really and I can't complain about the variation.
Downsides are that its a small country and has all the things that go with that. Drivers are terrible, its a long way from anywhere. I went backwards and forwards to the UK 7 times last year for personal reasons and its not that bad if you learn to work en route etc.
Its your call obviously but if you have a sense of adventure and fancy a change then you may want to at least give it a go. Beware that as time marches on and things like babies and deaths get in the way the gap between life 'here' and 'there' can get slightly stressful. But hey, thats life and it would be boring otherwise.
Oh and its a lovely place to live. I just spent a couple of weeks in the Coromandel over Xmas and NY. Thats the really 'busy' time as well and we barely saw anyone on the beach and had a truly awesome time riding, paddling, surfing etc.

give it a nudge waddya got to lose i've been here 11 years and wouldn't go back to scotland unless I absolutely had to.