[noobie]

I'm strongly considering a move to NZ from the US. I filled out the EOI form and had 140 points, although I have no job offer as yet (I happen to be in the "creative" industry, which really helped). I have a few questions for those who've made the move, or are looking into it.

1) I hear it's windy, particularly in Wellington. Is it always windy, everywhere you go?

2) I have a girlfriend with whom I'm going to be getting married. She only scored 115 on the EOI. Are our hopes of moving to NZ together dashed until we've been married for at least a year?

3) What's the public transportation situation like in NZ? If you don't have a car, can you still get around fairly easily?

4) What's the availability of organic foods and range-grown meats in NZ? We prefer to eat healthy, and if possible humanely.

5) Finally, for those who made the move, what's your favorite and least favorite thing about life in NZ?

Thanks for your help, and I look forward to participating in these forums!

[willsken]

I don't think you have to married, but have to be able to prove you have cohabited for a period of time. (Not sure how long that is though, sorry)


Welcome to forum by the way! :D

[Lukas]

...In NZ you must have a car...the public transport is almost inexistent.

[Jaideco]

I'm strongly considering a move to NZ from the US. I filled out the EOI form and had 140 points, although I have no job offer as yet (I happen to be in the "creative" industry, which really helped). I have a few questions for those who've made the move, or are looking into it.

1) I hear it's windy, particularly in Wellington. Is it always windy, everywhere you go?

2) I have a girlfriend with whom I'm going to be getting married. She only scored 115 on the EOI. Are our hopes of moving to NZ together dashed until we've been married for at least a year?

3) What's the public transportation situation like in NZ? If you don't have a car, can you still get around fairly easily?

4) What's the availability of organic foods and range-grown meats in NZ? We prefer to eat healthy, and if possible humanely.

5) Finally, for those who made the move, what's your favorite and least favorite thing about life in NZ?

Thanks for your help, and I look forward to participating in these forums!

Hi,

Well done on the EOI points, if you managed it without requiring a job offer you are well on the way.

I am going over to Welly next month so I don't know much about life on the ground yet other than through research. Everyone I have spoken to has said that city public transport is good (if you are interested you can look at the website for the network http://www.metlink.org.nz) and I am certainly planning to make do without a car for the first six months at least.

As for your partner, you don't need to have been married for a year to put her on your application, just in a stable relationship. The EOI guide defines it as follows...

"Partner
A partner of a principal applicant is someone who is legally married to the applicant or who is living in a partnership that is like a marriage.
The partnership can be between people of the opposite or same sex. The partnership must be genuine and stable.
We recognise partnerships where both partners:
• are aged 18 years or over (or have parental/guardian or other consent if aged 16 or 17 years)
• met each other before any residence application was submitted
• aren’t close relatives.
A partner will only be granted residence if both people in the partnership have been living together for at least 12 months."

As far as I am aware there are no other requirements.

Good luck you too.

[Diny]

Welcome to the forum.

Wellington can be windy, as for other areas, it has windy days and calm days. November 'can' be a blowy month but nothing of any significance (sp).

I second what others say about your girlfriend, you don't have to be married, you just need to be able to prove that you have a genuine and long standing relationship.

Public transport? We live out in a rural area and we have a bus into town twice a week - that's all. I understand that in more urban areas public transport is pretty good.

Organic foods are widely available, you will have no worries there.

As for favourite/least favourite things about NZ. There's plenty of recent threads covering this subject, I'm sure you'd find all the info you need if you had a few mins to spare. In a nutshell, for me personally, my favourite thing is the wide open spaces coupled with a tiny population. My least favourite is the education system.

I hope you have every success with your application. I came to NZ under the partnership category so if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Diny

[Smiler]

Hi Noobie

Welcome to the forum. I've only been in Welly for 5 months but I can answer a few of your questions.

1. Yes it is windy but not all the time. Yesterday was a wonderful calm day but the weather can change in 10 mins. The wind doesn't bother me but others hate it. Sometimes I put the washing on the deck and have to chase bits down the hill.

2. You don't need to be married, we aren't. You will need to prove you have been in a relationship for a year, with joint stuff, a rental agreement, mortgage or bank statments. We also sent NZIS dated email and letters between us.

3.We have both car and motorbikes and OH uses the bus to get to work sometimes. Trolleybuses and regular buses seem pretty frequent if you are on the main routes, but where we are there are commuter buses every half hour on peak times then down to an hour during the day. At weekends the isn't a bus at all. It's $3.50 from Miramar to the CBD and there is also an express airport bus for $5, which you can hop on too. I use the car or motorbike. Can't help with trains sorry.

4. There are several free range organic shops in Welly with branches outside the city too. http://www.commonsenseorganics.co.nz/ . I like the famers market for fresh veggies, free range eggs etc.

5.I'm stuck here on this one. I'm enjoying most everything about our move but only now am I starting to settle in after our speedy move and shipping mess. There is a huge list of dislikes and likes on Diny's thread somewhere.

I suppose my greatest like is being able to live by the sea, something we were aiming for in the UK but was a way off. With that goes the ability to be in the CBD in 10 mins. My dislike, not yet finding a decent chinese takeaway that doesn't chuck cauliflower in everything. :wah

I'm not counting missing family in that because that is too huge for me.

[zardell]

Hi Noobie.

Welcome to the forum.

We are still in the UK, so I can't help you with a lot of your questions, but what I do know is that you must prove a minimum 12 month relationship between yourself and your girlfriend, if you are going to include her in your EOI. Jaideco is spot on in his post.

As Diny and Smiler said, there are a lot of recent posts covering peoples opinions on their likes and dislikes of NZ and I am sure that you will find these valuable and interesting.

I hope everything goes well with your EOI and good luck with all your future plans.

Julie

xx

[xanctus]

Noobie,
Congrats on the EOI points...hope the best.
Which part of US are you from? I live in Milwaukee, WI I believe Welli is pretty close to Chicago wind matters. It could be quite windy but pretty similar to Chicago's weather. As for the transportation goes, it's pretty good and nice...no problem of going anywhere. Even if you have no car at first...especially if you live in CBD for a bit.
As for organic food, I read it once somewhere that NZ is one of the best place of Organic foods, so I guess you'll be definately in a good place.
However for the things I like and dislike..can't say yet, as I am still in MKE.

[noobie]

I'm in Colorado. We have wind in the spring, but it's usuall fairly calm in the summer. I'm certainly prepared for the sudden changes in weather they shave in ZN though. It can be 70 degrees F here one day, and literally snowing the next (happened just a few weeks ago, actually).

What is CBD? I'm still learning all the acronyms that are tossed around here. EOI, WTR, etc..

[Jaideco]

CBD = Central Business District (ie City Centre)

[Oregonkiwi]

The big difference between NZ and Colorado in terms of weather & wind is that Colorado has no coastline and NZ has lots. So you do get a lot of sea breezes. But it's not blowing a gale the whole time. On a side note, if you're used to American weather forecasting, where you can get a pretty accurate 10-day forecast on the Weather Channel or whatever, be prepared for a shock. When we were there on vacation recently, I wanted a 10 day forecast so we could make weather-related plans, and the "long range" forecast was for 2 days out! You can get "today" and "tomorrow" and then it's anyone's guess - although I think they were just guessing on today & tomorrow anyway. That's life on an island.

[pineapplehead]

Hi noobie,

Welcome and good luck in your research.

1. It is windy in Wellington because of the geography, surrounding mountain ranges and proximity to the Cook Straight. Then again, we have some calm days, and there are MANY microclimates. On exposed hilltops and along the waterfront it can rage. I almost miss the wind when there is none - it almost seems eerie and too hot without it. The whole country can experience wind- they call it the roaring 40's (latitude). But it is nowhere near as cold as CO.

2. Others have answered this one.

3. Public transport varies, depending on your region. Wellington buses and trains are very easy & less $ than owning and running a car in the US. We only have one car here, whereas there was no possibility of that in the US. I think proximity and compact scale of the City is the factor. If you live more rural and/or want to travel the country/camp/etc, it may be difficult without one.

4. Organic foods are available but they are more $$$. I used to be a vegetarian, and buy lots of organic produce and products, but I've mostly cut that out. Veggie product choices are more limited (like soy hot dogs, $7-8 vs $2-3 in US). I think there is less of a mass market for "Whole Foods" like chain supermarkets. Even without organics, though, the fresh produce is excellent quality and yummy. The carrots here are sooo sweet!

5. Favorite: tons of free/affordable activities, city services, parks
Least favorite: rain (LA native not used to it yet).