3 Months in

andy · Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2003 4:02 pm Post subject: 3 Months in

I have now been in NZ with my family for 3 months as a resident under the general skills cat. I am reminded by reading some of the posts on this forum just how miserable I felt about being in the UK. We are worse off financially and miss our friends but I still wake up every morning and think 'yes!'
It took 2 years to get here but was worth all the stress. My one piece of advice though is be prepared to feel alone at times. Hope you all get where you want to be one day!!

John Miller · Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2003 4:30 pm Post subject:

We came here 10 months in front of you andy and New Zealand was the right decision. Our quality of life has soared here and our kids get out and about much more. It's amazing how all of the primary schools seem to have slides, climbing frames, flying foxes, etc etc and the kids actually play on them outside school hours without feeling the need to smash windows etc.

I know what you mean about feeling alone. You get friends here but it's not quite the same as family if you've been close to family back home. Taking kids to the other side of the world from their grandparents is sad. I think it's easiest to settle if you know that your parents have the money to come out here every couple of years and you earn enough to go back every couple of years too. Better still if your family situation allows your parents to emigrate as well.

My own parents are coming out for 6 weeks in January/February and we're all looking forward to it .

dieter · Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2003 9:08 pm Post subject:

hello andy. i have spent some time in london and edinburgh. i hope you could say please how do you think of auckland comared with these cities?

dieter

andy · Posted: Tue Nov 18, 2003 9:20 pm Post subject: London

Auckland city is crowded and the traffic is mad. Drive for less than 15 minutes from the city and you can walk along an empty clean beach. People are polite and you feel safe on the streets even after dark. The heavy aggressive atmosphere that you get in London and indeed most of the UK is not there. The streets are clean and vandalism is not at every bus stop and public toilet. There is beauty all around, even in the city suburbs. I hope this gives you a rough idea!

Ian Simpson · Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2003 5:37 am Post subject: Re: London

dieter · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 11:11 am Post subject:

thankyou very much andy. it sounds excellent. is it easy to work in the city if you buy a house in a rural area?

andy · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2003 2:52 pm Post subject:

The traffic is heavy but it moves. I work south of the city, about 10 miles away from home. It takes me 40 minutes to get there and 20 to get home. Alot of companies in the city do not have parking and car parks are expensive.(I paid £5 for 2 hours last month) Therefore alot of people go by bus or ferry, the cost of this is bigger and the journey longer the further out you live. Travel is a big factor when you are job searching. Most companies are quick to boast if they have parking too.

dieter · Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2003 6:44 am Post subject:

thank you again andy. i think you are giving good advice and not making it sound perfect. nowhere is perfect. i am reading more about auckland and i have found that auckland has trains and is getting more. are trains a good option in auckland?

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3535295&thesection=news&thesubsection=general&thesecondsubsection=

AliJax · Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2003 9:18 am Post subject: Keep it up Andy

Keep going Andy...although I'm envious you're there, & I'm in the UK. I have set a date for my family to get out to NZ October 2005

You may think its a long way off, but its just the right time for our daughter to reach school age & for me & my Wife to have another baby in the UK and financially set ourselves up for the haul.

And 2 years will give us the opportunity to get it right. Nice One

andy · Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2003 6:17 pm Post subject:

I have not even seen a train yet! From what I hear there not a patch on British rail and thats really saying something! The routes do not cover all of the country and certainly not The North Shore of Auckland. Sorry I cant help there.
I think 2 years is very realistic, it takes alot of planning expecially when you have children. Unfortunately once you make the decision your life goes on hold for the 2 years. Every expence is evaluated as to if it can wait and can you take it with you. Its a real buzz though when you get a can of beans that have a sell by date later than the date you plan to go! Sounds silly but its from then that you start saying 'we wont be here then'

The 2 years will fly by as ours did and people eventually take you seriously. We often thought we were just living in a dream world and we would never get here, but it happened in the end!

martwend · Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2003 11:08 pm Post subject:

Hi !

I agree that 2 years is a realisitc timescale although I also think that keeping your lives on hold for that long is daunting.

We had thought about emigrating on and off for 15 years and passed up a chance to go to Canada before we had kids about 11 years ago. Since then the regulations have changed and we no longer qualify for Canada - Actually we could technically go there but we couldn't work as our qualifications are no longer recognised (dentist and lawyer) and we would have to go back to uni for 3 years (no thanks!).

We thought seriously about NZ when the last baby reached 1 just over a year ago and it took us about 6 months to think it all through and make the decision to go. We then got cracking with the paper work which took much longer then expected but not because of the emigration stuff but professional registration which has taken months. We are still waiting for the registration papers which is all we need to complete our residence application but, of course, in the meantime the application procedure has been changed and we are back to square one. We are going to apply for work permits, explain that we have sold our house etc and hope that the officials can get the visas through in time so that we are not homeless.

The point here is that firstly, it seems to be getting harder to emigrate anywhere and secondly, that the emigration process can be done quicker than 2 years with more stress but less time wasted or slower but your life on hold for longer.

I know what you mean about sell by dates....when I was tidying up the garden before our house went on the market I kept thinking how strange it is that we won't see the leaves on the trees again or the bulbs in flower. It's also odd to realise that there are friends in family that you see only rarely that you won't see again or at least not for a very long time.

One more thought, if you can get some paperwork into Immigration in London and get a named caseworker they are really helpful and you get a direct line!

Wendy

dieter · Posted: Tue Nov 25, 2003 9:34 am Post subject:

citizensmith · Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2003 9:35 pm Post subject:

Stuart Mac · Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2003 7:06 am Post subject:

Must admit, Wolfie old son, I'm sure I've read something similar about overseas trained medics having to sit exams in New Zealand . I thought it just applied to people from the 'third world' countries though.

martwend · Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2003 7:20 am Post subject:

Hi !

Martin had to sit a Conditions of Practice exam which was to do with the NZ way of doing things re admin rather than re-sitting finals! The exam papers were sent here to him and he had to open them at a set time with a witness present and complete the exam within a time limit again to be verified by a witness (a doctor friend who lives next door). The exam was open book and not too difficult. One of the main themes was an understanding of the Maori culture and how it applies in dentistry and Martin found this really interesting.

Not sure what the requirements are for law......I am the most reluctant lawyer on the planet Sad

and have no intentions of continuing in NZ.....time for a change Razz

.

Martin got provisional registration with the NZ Dental Council today Clapping

so we are going to complete our application forms over the weekend to post off on Monday. As our house is sold, we are homeless from mid February so we will have to grovel a bit and hope that the fact that Martin has a job offer and dentists are on the job shortages list, will get usthe visas quickly fingers crossed

.

We are going to Napier/Hastings area.....anyone else heading that way?

Wendy