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[Emigrate On] UK to New Zealand Edition
Prime
UKRegistered User regular
UKRegistered User regular
So its confirmed, Feburary of 2012 I shall be hoping on a plane and heading to Cambridge, New Zealand.
Any general advise regarding Emigrating or any specific New Zealand info.
Obviously im saving saving saving saving and by feb I'll have over 80k (new zealand dollars) to take with me. Im more concerned with the little things I might not have considered about the actual move.
Advise?
Any general advise regarding Emigrating or any specific New Zealand info.
Obviously im saving saving saving saving and by feb I'll have over 80k (new zealand dollars) to take with me. Im more concerned with the little things I might not have considered about the actual move.
Advise?
Prime on
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In terms of general advice, well I went the other way from NZ to the UK, but I did grow up near a similar kind of town to Cambridge.
You will have to be the type of person who can live in such a place. Small town anywhere can be hard to break into and rural NZ is no different in this respect. You may have to be far more active in making connections than you might in a bigger city - joining sports teams, clubs, volunteering etc. Since there won't be as much to do in terms of what a bigger city offers, these connections will be important just to give you something to do with yourself. Unless you plan to travel a lot to other places in your spare time
Being in Cambridge you will be close to some pretty cool places. The Bay of Plenty, the Coromandel, etc are some of the more beautiful areas of NZ and also pretty good for boating, swimming and fishing, so if that is your scene you could have done a lot worse.
So far as a general comment goes, well, don't complain too much to locals. As an immigrant I know it is pretty easy to get mildly annoyed at lots of small things that rub one up when immigrating (happens to us all), but if you are mainly hanging about with locals rather than other migrants, they will have a limited tolerance for that kind of thing. As do British people in Britain. There is also a tenacious meme of the "whinging Pom", which will be quickly applied to you if you give any excuse. Basically, NZ is full of British immigrants, their children, grandchildren etc, so generations of earlier arrivals have had to hear the same old complaints! Try not to take it personally
Make sure your expectations are not too high. For any of its supposed virtues, NZ is a pretty regular Western country in the midst of a recession and has just experienced a major natural disaster. Then consumer price inflation has been high, apparently, this last 3 years, so things will be expensive as well, more so than the UK in many ways. So it may be slightly depressing, but perhaps no more so than the UK is at present due to the recession? Choosing Feb for your arrival is smart, as it is summer and having come from the UK winter you will be immediately cheered up
Things to remember: we're a smaller country than the UK, and a lot further away from the "main centres". This affects things from food range to clothing range to ... well everything. You won't find as many things open late (we've just started to get 20-hr gyms, fyi), and internet orders are limited -- most places just don't ship here!
The waikato is essentially built on a bog, so it gets a bit humid in the summer and damp in the winter.
When looking for accommodation we're not so good on insulation
Oh yeah -- word of warning the NZ roads are "interesting". People are often surprised to find that State Highway 1 is often a one-lane windy road. And a car/motorbike is necessary here. Public transport is limited.
Sorry to sound down -- we're rather nice, really! Hamilton has some great cafes, and Cambridge (because of all the stud $$) is slowly turning into a nice little up-market town!
As Kalkino said, Cambridge is about 1.5 hrs drive from lots of neat places. You'll have fun!
The thing about the roads, ohman. It's like the kiwis decided much like the scots, don't go through the mountains, go around them.
I'm currently still drowning in job searches and things, but I can tell you that trademe.co.nz is awesome. and there seems to be a lot of support around here for people from 'elsewhere'. I'm not sure if that's because I'm in the city and I have friends here already or not.
But i absolutely love it down here. I'm not wanting to go back to the states for quite some time now.
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I live in rural England at the moment so country side doesnt bother me infact its a big draw, but I wont be going for rural sytle jobs.
Figured all this might be the case but as Cambridge is more of a temp base it might not be an option, depends on how much I like the area and jobs I suppose.
Im into kayaking and swimming so a big yay there!
Will keep that in mind
Moving to Cambridge because my soon to be inlaws currently live there so its a place to settle down until we're ready to find our own place, and find a job that interests me. Im all for not buying more stuff, and this is one of the main draws. I want to be around the "community and outdoor activities" mindset rather then the "Come look at my new sportscar" mindset.
Overal im really looking forward to the move and its going to be a big change of pace from my current working life. Im currently making lists of things I need to visit, try out in my first year there so any good North Island suggestions would be good.
Also would people recommend a motorbike or a car for general getting around (I would always have access to my inlaws car im talking more get getting around, visiting and such.
I think on balance the UK is a better driving experience as the roads tend to be better, the drivers slightly more courteous and slightly more likely not to do silly things. One thing you will need to get to grips with straight away is that on main roads the police enforce the speed limit with rather more rigour than the UK seems to do so. It is not an uncommon experience for recent British migrants to receive a lot of speeding tickets. The police tend to be very road focused as the road death rate is quite a bit higher per capita than the UK (2-4x iirc).
The one bonus about NZ roads is that they are pretty empty compared to England anyway and they often go through some pretty spectacular places
When turning right across traffic, and you have a car approaching from the opposite direction turning left into the same lane that you want to go t, the LEFT TURNING CAR is the one that Yields. Not you. You who are crossing traffic, you have the right of way.
this is bizarre and a bit scary making for a girl from the states.
Also, the roads go through some gorgeous places. and I haven't even really left Auckland yet. Other than that one weekend to go out to the west coast and piha Beach.
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I think NZ is pretty much the only place that follows rule
My understanding is this is being debated and may/will be changed sometime in future. But yeah, I can understand why people might find it odd.
Also, I dunno what the prices are like in the UK, but even doing the brief conversion in my head, sticker shock was intense for me. it was quite possibly a little crazy for me. But the food!
I don't know what Cambridge is like, although ecco's been talking about taking me on a trip down that way sometime soon, but I think i've had maybe 'european' food twice while we were out? If you like to taste world flavors and cuisine and goodies, man there is food everywhere.
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I will be getting a car eventually, although I want a vespa or other scooter type thing desperately, but it rains too much in the winter so i'm told.
Oh right, No Snow. JOY!!!!
Ecco has a motorbike and he takes it out once in a while, not as much as he used to.
man, can you tell i'm still so excited about living down here? It's only been a month! I am still honeymooning with New Zealand. My next big tackle will be to figure out Politics.
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politics is um... national = republicans, labour = democrats except then move both of them way to the left so that national are close to the GOP. Sort of. There's a lot stronger central government than the US, local government doesn't really have much power other than being responsible for providing water and some other things like that and building code stuff, I think.
Most of everywhere's too close to the sea to get snow, the closest you would get from auckland would be ruapehu I guess? Especially if skiing on an active volcano appeals to you.
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Anywhere you can recommend a nice weekend trip to would be awesome! although I probably shouldn't hijack Prime's thread! lol.
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I think perhaps we should add ourselves to the Australian politics thread in DnD, or create a new combination, like the UK/Ireland posters do
Speaking of politics whats the general political status? Left? Right? What about the general economy? Its been mentioned before that its as bad as everywhere else pretty much but whats the general feel (example I currently own a business in the UK and I definatly felt it bite hard but I feel its on the level even going up now)
Well, briefly:
NZ runs a three year parliamentary term (compared to five in the UK), with the next election due at the end of this year, which you will miss. However, it you are a permanent resident by the time 2014 comes around you should also be able to vote. We run a similar system to the UK, except with proportional representation (so you get two votes, not one!), which usually means that the government is made up of a coalition of parties - one major UK like (Labour or Tory) and several very small support parties.
Currently the National Party (centre right - roughly similar to the Conservative Party) leads a coalition with John Key (its leader) serving as PM, with 2 or 3 smaller parties (ACT - neoliberal/lockemup/??; the Maori Party - A party for specific Maori interests), then some form of looser support from the Green Party. Prior to that, from 1999 to 2008 Labour led a similar series of coalitions. It seems quite possible National, either with or without a support coalition will win this November. The earthquake may have changed a lot here (hard to tell) and so other issues that were important up to 3 weeks ago have been (for the moment) shoved off the agenda.
So far as your area, well, rural areas (farmers) trend strongly National and rural towns not so much, but usually weakly so. Your electorate should be Taupo, which is currently held by National with a 6k majority (which is pretty safe in NZ) and the List Vote majority was about 9k. So pretty strongly National at present. However, the seat used to be held by Labour for at least the last two elections. The Labour MP was probably (not certain) as much a victim of people being very sick of Labour after 9 years of government.
The other plus is that we have a pretty great social welfare and public health system here, so unemployment isn't quite as devastating as in other parts of the world. At any rate, things are starting to look up.
As a sidenote; the recent Christchurch earthquake is going to be very expensive. The govt is currently exploring options as far as repayment goes. There have been strong hints that this will need to be passed on to the taxpayer, as we're already running at a deficit, and borrowing more right now is not a great idea. We'll probably know more by the November election.
http://www.expo-newzealand.com/uk.aspx
Might help you find a job?
Checking it out. Cheers.
1) Passing lanes. Kiwis have not invented roads with more than one lane yet. You will get stuck behind lots of trucks, you will finally find a passing lane get past the truck and find another one 1 km up the road. The bastards will drive at 80k's until they hit a passing lane then speed up. This will happen for your whole journey.
2) Super markets. Living in the UK you'll have been spoiled by Tesco and ASDA into thinking supermarkets are a mega cheap one stop shop for everything you can ever need. Pak N Save the economical choice is very basic, pretty much just basic foods. Countdown is a little more up market and more expensive not a whole lot better stocked though. New world is for rich people, high quality food but still not the range you'll be used to.
3) The internet. It's already been said the kiwis have their own ebay called trademe. As you would expect from a place with only 4 million people it doesn't really compare to ebay in the US or Europe. More obscure things (in my case 40k books) will be very rare and expensive. If you buy a book off amazon you can have it sent to NZ but the postage will take weeks and cost more than the book. Steam is hit and miss while it's the US steam you don't always get US prices, you're still better off than oz though.
More general gripes will have been touched on already, no public transport, everything is expensive and the TV ain't great.
On to the good stuff!
1) Community. This has been lost in the UK mostly. There’s a good sense of "belonging" here that I find it hard to describe. The kiwis don't have most of the fancy hoosits we have in the heavily populated world so they make up for it by doing more stuff themselves. Lots of love for local bands and such.
2) Simpler way of life. I found the UK is all about what job you have and how much shit you own. That isn't so important here, people of all demographics hang out together. Keeping up with the Joneses is largely a foreign concept here.
3) Natural Beauty. I say this coming from Scotland so I don't say it lightly but the landscape here is amazing. It's fun just to go to forests, lakes and rivers just to hang out in the sun or swim.
4) The kiwis themselves. A fascinating people, you really need to experience them yourself.
I could go on on both sides but this post is long and rambling enough.
http://ahlterra.wordpress.com/2011/02/24/heart-kiwis/
http://ahlterra.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/silence/
They are, as are all my posts, heartfelt and fully meant. but again, american girl in kiwiland. there's even less community in america than in the UK i suppose...
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My dad emigrated from NZ to Canada and now I want to emigrate to NZ after visiting for one Christmas.
Made some good reading and is encouraging, glad to know your enjoying your move!
Tell me about it. I'm just coming out of a London winter (coldest one yet for me), so all this talk of home and the like is hard. Home sickness is something I can deal with, but it is a special kind when home is 18,500km away!
Re the supermarket thing - Yes, the UK does spoil one, especially if in or near a big city. So far as I can tell you guys have at least 8, maybe more, competitive chains (noting Tescos, Sainsburys and Asda being bigger), whereas in NZ we have 2 - and they form a pretty cosy duopoly. That being said, the NZ supermarkets have improved a fair bit in terms of range in the last 10 years and in central Wellington at least the food range is not too dissimilar from most London supermarkets. Price being the issue of course.
Case in point: video games. For retail stores you're pretty much looking at EB (always terrible), JB hifi (who have decent deals but may not be nearby), or Mighty Ape (online store which has gotten a lot more expensive lately). The baseline price for 360/PS3 games is $110-$130 - our exchange rate has no effect. I get all of my console games from ozgameshop.com instead. As an example, Dead Space 2 cost me about $70 and only arrived a week after release!
With regards to transport does insurance fleece you like they do in the UK?
e.g. Im 24, driving 4 years, no points or accidents and it costs me £1100 a year to insure my car (nothing fancy but only 3 years old). What would a likely NZ cost be?
Edit: Panic mode! How would steam work? Are all my games lost at the border?
Depends on insurance policy - first party, third party?
Give this a shot:
http://www.aainsurance.co.nz/quotes.html
It's the AA, not necessarily the cheapest insurer around, but it does give you a ballpark figure.
Don't see why that would happen!
That said, there are so many more choices! I mean, holy crap. The produce sections alone have more variety than I was used to! let alone the whole chocolate/candy aisle.
And don't even get me started on the asian food selections. I came over from an area with a burgeoning hispanic population. finding miso was impossible. but i could get you as much menudo as you wanted.
I'm pretty sure my steam game is still there. I still can't play it because it hates my netbook, but it's still accessible.
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wait a minute why did I assume you weren't taking your computer
anyway yeah steam won't be any different, even with games that we get censored versions of (because we're in the same zone as australia)
kpop appreciation station i also like to tweet some
No. I have all the steam games I bought in the UK as well as all the ones I bought here.
Also car insurance isn't even mandotory in NZ so it's actually fairly cheap to tempt you to buy it anyway. My gf has a restricted licence and third party insurance was like $30 a week or something very low like that.
It's also worth noting a decent PC will set you back double what it would in the UK.
this is strange to me, i don't know how it is in the UK. but it's weird in the states. unless you're living in like a boarding house.
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Kiwis get paid less so they find it easier to live on a week by week basis than month by month. Bills like power and phone/internet are still monthly.
You know, oddly, I'd never noticed it was done differently elsewhere. Go figure. Also, where did all these Kiwi's come from?
As has been touched on, you will need your own transport - I get by without it in Auckland, just, but in Cambridge you'll be more or less entirely reliant on it to get anywhere not within walking distance. I wish you luck in finding a job there, but really can't tell you much about how the local situation goes.
As to things to see - I think it's been touched on briefly, but visit the coromandal, (I'd recommend Hot Water Beach / Cooks Beach, and check out Cathedral Cove while there), but be prepared for some of the most frustrating driving on the planet getting there.
Food is definitely more expensive in general than the UK, and if you're anything like me, you'll end up using bookdepository.co.uk a lot, since they're the only international booksellers that I've found that do free shipping (when buying from PA store or Amazon here, it's not uncommon for shipping to form from 1/4 to 1/2 the price)
[edit]
Also, call me odd, I guess, but I've never really had issues with downloading Steam games here - the main annoyance is that we frequently have things at more than double price than the US, but coming from the UK, you'll already be used to that. You might have issues buying things until you get a credit card that matches your address here, though, not sure
This is something I wish I'd found out about months ago, it would have saved me a lot of money.
That right-turn-across-traffic thing is mental, though. Sorry NZ, the person who can get through the turn fastest wins.
I don't know how you'll find the food compared to where you are now, but it's very nice overall. I mostly noticed that the yoghurt flavours changed from mango and passionfruit to apple and cranberry :P You sound like you're from the UK - you'll notice that the curry is different, and perhaps harder to find.
I didn't think PCs were double what they were in NZ initially, but the NZ dollar has strengthened a lot and consumer price inflation (more food though I thought?) has been high this last 3-4 years, so who knows. Maybe check component sites like Pricespy.co.nz, DSE.co.nz or Ascent.co.nz
I buy books a bit for people in NZ and if I buy locally they are more expensive than the UK - by quite a bit. DVDs not so much. However freight is a killer from the UK, so for one off purchases it isn't so great. Which is why I picked up an Ereader this year, in case I go back home soon
On eating out rather than say eating in, I think NZ scrubs up pretty well against the UK/London. Far less chain restaurants and the quality (subjective I know) seems better. That being said, in NZ I could afford to eat at pretty much any restaurant I wanted, here in the UK, being the land of the Plutocrat I cannot - hell, some places I wouldn't be able to get a booking!
http://www.harveynorman.co.nz/hp-p6535-desktop-pc.html
Also curry here is really nice.