[nickydwuk]

My husband and I (rather royal sounding huh !!!!) are in the throws of deciding whether to take the plunge and move to NZ or stay here in sunny !!!! England. I am a nurse so would go on the skilled migrants route and apply for permanent residency. We would be bringing our two youngest sons and 4 dogs with us. We have many concerns but have read loads of books and done tones of research on the web. I just want to hear from others who have done the move and the pitfalls and good points they encountered. One worry I have is the initial cost of the move. I know the cost of residency but how much is it for the medicals and the cost of shipping all our worldly goods. Is it best to take as much as possible with us or should we be selective? Is it possible to co-ordinate the house emptying with our departure date? What happens when we arrive in NZ- how long is it before our belongings will arrive and are the shipped to certain ports only? I have so many questions and not many answers so any help from this forum would be greatly appreciated.

[Moorf]

Welcome :nice1

You'll find all the info you need here and if you can't find it, just ask, I'll guarantee someone will know!

Where are you heading or haven't you got that far yet? ;)

Moorf

[zardell]

Hi and WELCOME to the forum.

The forums search facility will answer an awful lot of your general questions I'm sure, but anything more specific - ask away.

Julie

xx

[nickydwuk]

We are thinking of somewhere in the South Island - near Dunedin - my husband likes the idea of lotsof countryside and greenery. we did consider Whakatane or Whangerei (North Island) but we still prefer South Island. If we do make the big decision to come out it will be next september when my son has finished his GCSE's - so plenty of time but I want to get things clear in my head so I know when to start the ball rolling etc..

[zardell]

We are thinking of somewhere in the South Island - . we did consider Whakatane or Whangerei (North Island) but we still prefer South Island..



How ironic that Moorf who lives SI and I who live in Whakatane should be the first to welcome you.

Over to you S.Islanders.......looks like Whakatane beaches lost out to the S.Islands stunning scenery...:D

Julie

xx

[Moorf]

:laugh Let's wait and see what they makes of our S.Island weather, shall we!! You may yet be taking her round the local beaches!

[nickydwuk]

We're not too worried about the weather - UK has it's cold spells but what does bother me is that not many of the houses I have looked seem to have central heating. Is this only for the wealthy - if so how do you keep warm? (only clean answers please).:roll

[wiki]

Welcome - as a Southlander (even further south and on a par weather-wise with Dunedin) I can tell you that even in the coldest bits of NZ central heating is still uncommon, but is slowly coming into fashion - not so much radiator central heating as in the UK but more heat pumps and redistribution systems.

When I was growing up we put up with a log burner and fast runs in bare feet to the bedrooms where the electric blankets were on... but after 10 years in the UK I've gone soft and when we go back I want a warm house! (so we'll probably look at building our own)

Personally, I love the south of the south (I include Dunedin in that) but until you come for a look you won't know what suits you best. Otago is sort of Lake District-ish in terms of greenery, but the lakes are further inland. Still, it's worth exploring!

As for costs - medicals depend on where you are. OH went to Dr Million in Manchester which is highly recommended by a few people on here. It was £265 including the bloods and x-rays. You'd be best to ring around the panel docs in your region and ask for quotes.

As for shipping, if you like your furniture then ship it all as the smaller population and fewer producers makes decent furnishing a lot more pricy than in the UK. Again, you'd need quotes for a container - but a 20ft one seems to vary quite a bit - do a search on containers and you'll get an idea of prices.

Good luck

[andrewandjane]

hi,weve jsut moved out here (auckland) and did it all relativley cheaply, sold most of our stuff before we left and just shipped about ten boxes, a few surf boards, a guitar and a table and lamp for about 600 quid.

so far weve found you can get furniture quite reasonably on trade me. and prices seem ok when compared to the uk, but not as much choice.

in terms of medicals etc that was quite pricey, about 700 for 4 of us, then things like migrant levvy which we had to pay before getting the sticker in the visa.

all in all with flights, and all the imigration fees we spent about £4000, and came with about 2000 left for when we got here, weve managed to buy a van, pay a deposit and rent in advance on a place, survive for three weeks without any pay from the job, and buya 21 inch tv some chairs, a couch, and a sofa bed, microwave, and all sortd of other stuff for general living,

between trade me and the warehouse (where everyone gets a bargain) we've managed on not a lot at all, so its possible on a small budget, but weve only been here a few weeks so dont really know too much about the day to day living, and we were pretty skint in UK but seem to be better off here so far..