[Laurie]

My husband and I are 48 and 46 and are looking to move to New Zealand from Quebec, Canada. We own a small winery here in Canada but are at that time in our lives where our children are young adults and have semi left home and feel that it is our time now for adventure.

Because my husband and I both have on years of experience (me in IT and him in the viticulture), no degree and our ages do not give us many points there is no way that we can lodge an EOI without coming down and securing a job. Even with a job my thoughts are that we will not have enough points to be granted PR but will be given a WTR visa...

My question is....are we crazy to give everything up and take the chance at our ages? Will we be able to pass the physicals (we are both healthy but could stand to loose a few pounds)? Will NZ want us even though we can only give 10-15 years of work service? Will they see us as a burden because of our ages? One of my other problems is that I have been with the same company for 25 years so my IT experience is all with one company. Are employers open to that type of experience or are they looking for people who have moved around a lot?

We visited NZ last year and enjoyed the country tremendously. We enjoyed the people and felt that it was somewhere we could start again.

Any comments would be appreciated...
Laurie

[veronica]

give it a go. they are after people with anything to do with wine/vinyard experience.

[Nienke]

If it's what you want, then go for it!

[jo b]

Laurie

could you not buy a small vineyard and go on a business visa. A friend of ours who was 62 did just that, started up his truck repair business, same as he ahd in the UK and lvoes it.

Hawkes Bay or Blenhein are the largest viticulture areas.

Good luck

[Cardy]

hello i,m 44 not far behind you and i worked for the same company for the last 16 years . Just been granted permanent residence recently so i,d say go for it
Cheers Paul :)

[Smiler]

Laurie

If this is something that you want, go for it, you will find the way.

You will never know until you try. Trying and succeeding is much better than what if....................

25 years of experience is also a lot of knowledge to share.
I'm 44 and also dodgy on the lb's side and I passed the medical. :raebanana

Good luck and go for it.

Deborah

[zardell]

Hi Laurie - welcome to the forum.

All I can say is that my husband and I are of a similar age to you and yours and we too had similar thoughts to yours - are we too old ?......

Well, NO, WE'RE DAMN WELL NOT !!

Yes, we are settled in our home and lives here, yes, the kids are grown up and have fled the nest, yes, we are grand-parents and finally, yes, now its our turn to do something for us.

We are totally aware of what we are giving up and completely unaware of what we may be letting ourselves in for, however we are not going to get any younger and if we don't do it now, well, we probably never will.

Like I have said on many occasions on this forum - the big birds that fly into NZ also turn around and fly out again, so we could return to Blighty anytime we wished. And we would not be returning with our tails between our legs. We would be returning because it would be our decision (for whatever reason) to do so. There is no way that we are going to join the 'If only....' gang.

I know that a lot of the people on this and other forums are making the move because they believe that they will be giving their kids a better quality of life and I am sure that they are right. Well, we want a better quality of life too. We've done our bit and now its our turn to enjoy just being us.

A romantic notion ? - possibly.
Stupid? - maybe.
Determined ? - definitely.

And if it doesn't work out in NZ? Well, we have yet to come up with a reason as to why it shouldn't, but if we do, well, I'll let you know.

Julie
xx

[Hannah]

Hi,

i'd say go for it too! What you lose in points on age you will make up for in work experience. The points system is quite black and white in my opinion - you get points for work experience whether it is with one employer or 10 different ones. You can apply for PR up till age 55 - so even a 54 year old is not 'too old' in the eyes of NZIS. Being with one employer shows loyalty and stability and future employers will like this. I doubt it will make any difference on your PR application - they simply want you to prove that you have the work experience you say you have.

We came out on a visitor visa searching for work (which we have both now found) and i have not regretted a single day here!

[kiwidollie]

Just wanted to add my words of encouragement too. You only get one life and if you fancy a move to New Zealand then why should age stand in your way? You've obviously got the enthusiasm and 'get up and go' required so if it's what you really want I say go for it!


I wish you all the best - what have you got to lose really???

Alison x

[Moorf]

Welcome to the forum.

Can't really add anything to what has already been said, except that if your intentions were to continue in the wine industry you could consider emigrating via the business visa route, a lot of opportunities for purchasing large scale vineyards here. I've heard it's not the easiest route, lots of paperwork etc, but it sounds like you have the background.

Don't rule out Canterbury (Waipara) for a wine-growing region, the largest vineyard in NZ is being constructed just north of Christchurch.

http://www.nzwine.com/regions/

Alternatively you could come and run our little vineyard! :laugh God knows we need the expertise!! :o I think it's "panic and get the nets on" this weekend....

[jim&alma]

Hi Laurie,
For a potential employer, your work experience will most likely translate to stability and reliability on your performance. As for your health, I think NZIS is watching out for conditions that require continuous medical treatment, something that cannot be linked to having a few extra pounds. Goodluck to you and your partner! You deserve an adventure!
Alma

[Laurie]

Thank you all for your encouragement. There are good days when I say ..Yes we can do this and then there are days that I look at myself and say...Are you crazy???

Moorf
I have been lurking for a while and have followed your adventure that you started back in 2004. I must say I did smile when I read that you purchased yourself a little vineyard but you seem to enjoy the adventure. Yes do put on nets as those birds can wipe you out very very quickly. I know first hand the damage they can do!!!! It is amazing how fast they can go through those grapes...

We did do some research in the business visa route but felt at this time we would not go that way right away. When we were down last year we felt that the grape and wine industry is big and we are not used to that. Here in Quebec it is still very small even though it is over 20 years old. We did not want to jump in and get over our heads without getting our feet wet first so we feel that my husband needs to get experience in NZ before deciding the direction we should take. Owning a vineyard for 20 years, me being in the same job for 25 years indicate that we are a cautious couple that take things slowly but when we find something we like we hang on tight!!

Zardell
I read your words and felt a kindred spirit. My kids are off on their journey and I do feel like now it should be my turn. Selfish thought sometimes (especially when we just told them that we put the vineyard up for sale and saw their faces) but I too want to have an adventure. We spent a lot of time making sure that their future was secure and that whatever path they choose we would support it but now it is our turn.

We are going to give this a try! I don't think the doubts will ever go away but as it has been said...you only live once and really what do we have to loose. It will be an adventure and whatever happens the experience will enrich us.

I'll keep you updated on our progress.

[Saintlos]

Hi Laurie

Go for it. My wife and I are exactly the same as Zardell (I thought my wife wrote their reply)

We are awaiting NZ immigration to get in touch - lodged ITA Nov 8th 05

Plan if all goes well to arrive Bay of Plenty Aug 06 - no job offer, just DOING IT.


Duncan

[zardell]

So you see Laurie, there are plenty of us 'oldies' out there that are raring to go and give a new life a chance.

It may work out wonderfully for us all, or it may be a complete disaster, but either way, it'll be one helluva tale to tell when we are recalling our memoirs to the rest of the seniors in the old folks home !!

Seriously though, I was pleased to read in your post that you've decided to give it a go. Half of the battle is the making of THAT decision - the other half is deciding whether or not you've made the RIGHT decision and sticking to it - see, we cant win can we ?

I'll probably still be wondering if we've made the right decision when I'm sat on the plane on my way to NZ, but rather that than never finding out.

Keep us updated on your progress wont you, 'cos we're a nosey lot you know !!

Julie

xx