Why?

volusia · Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2004 12:06 pm Post subject: thanks jcm

thanks for a great site, i've gained loads of info!
we are definatley coming back,my friend lives in whangarie,he's been here two years,we came over on holiday last october,the wife and two young children loved the place,on the chance i asked around for work in different areas and had two interviews at different places, we toured around the north island in a campervan,i would reccomend to anyone wishing to move to nz to a least try it,you wont be disapointed,believe me. my children still can't get used to having to wear shoes,there was nothing on the floor to hurt them,the playgrounds are superb,in all we travelled 3500klms and only saw a fraction of the place,i am a maintanance engineer with certificates in welding and steel fabrication,so i'm lucky in that finding work should be easy fingers crossed

see you all very soon, and to quote the next president of the world[ooops! sorry'i mean the usa.] "I'LL BE BACK" Nice One

and besides, the new zealand wine is the best in the world. Nutcase

richsadams · Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2004 1:26 pm Post subject: Greetings!

Hello Volusia!

Welcome! Everyone here will agree...NZ is awesome! Getting the NZIS to grant residency is more of a chore than one would think, but it can be done with some perseverance. Yes

NZ wine is great, but if you want a world-class red you'll have to visit the Napa Valley in California. Razz

Glad to have you aboard. Let us know how you're doing.

Cheers! Nice One

P.S. Luckily (for us anyway) to be elected President of the United States you have to be native born. That's not to say that a lot of us feel that just about anyone (maybe even Arnold) could do a better job! Embarassed

Moxy · Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2004 10:03 am Post subject:

Chris · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2004 9:35 am Post subject:

I'm extremely proud to be an American, and even though I disagree with some previous posters' opinions about our President, our reasons for wanting to immigrate to New Zealand are similar.

I'm only 25 years old, unmarried (though that will change within a year), and about two years away from earning a college degree in public relations/journalism. I'm a six year military veteran, so I've travelled all over the world, especially to Europe and the Middle East.

While I love America, the beauty of New Zealand and the friendliness of its people (demonstrated here in the forums!) really appeal to me. It seems like the perfect place to build a life and family with my future wife.

We're still at least three to four years away from making the move, but both of us can't wait to set off on this new adventure.

Cheers,
Chris

Scrivo · Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2004 11:50 am Post subject: Why New Zealand?

Growing up in 1970s suburban London wasn't all that. I had a much better time as a youngster in provincial Bath, which was a great place to live, but with limited prospects for my career.

Having fortunately been born with Australian citizenship, I decided to shift to Sydney, Australia. Sydney is everything the UK wasn't. My new husband and I have been here for five years. We live on a clifftop overlooking the Pacific, walk down to the beach most days, and have exciting jobs and great social lives. But now we're moving on again... to Wellington, NZ. Why?

In the five years we've been here, Sydney has become extortionately expensive. The price of food, housing (to buy and rent), beer, transport, and everything has in most cases at least doubled since the 2000 Olympics, but the salaries haven't budged. We can never afford to buy our first property here, despite above-average salaries. We just feel it's time for a change, for somewhere where we can escape the insanity of the rat-race but move steadfastly ahead in life. We're dreaming of a cat, and a log fire, and maybe some laying hens in the back yard.

It was a toss-up between New Zealand, Canada and Tasmania. We've never been to Canada and it's a long way away and too big a gamble. Tasmania's really lovely, but with pretty poor career prospects. A previous two-week tour of New Zealand told me that it's a comfortable mix of laid-back Aussie friendliness (but turned up a few notches), with vaguely English countryside, climate and architecture. Then again, it is unique as well - it's incredibly clean, spacious, breathtakingly beautfiful, affordable, with a unique and fascinating Maori culture and relative racial harmony compared to Australia.

It was probably Peter Jackson who swung it, though. Having seen the final LOTR film, our minds were made up. We're negotiating job offers right now, so if it all comes off, Wellington can expect us in April 2004, lock, stock and barrel. Our poor families back in the UK may not be happy, but we will!

daimac · Testing The Water Joined: 29 Jan 2004 Posts: 6

Sounds like your mind is made up Scrivo. Blow with the wind and experience life to the max!

SoCal Gal · Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2004 4:41 pm Post subject: Why?

I just wanted to first thank everyone who posts on this forum for all the great information, encouragement, and friendship - so much news everyday! I posted our online EOI last Friday night, and am trying not to be too anxious to hear anything yet. Rolling Eyes

My husband and I have lived in the western U.S. for most of our lives, have lived in southern California for the past 7 years and have seen a lot of changes in a relatively short amount of time. Things were crowded and expensive then, but you balance it with beautiful weather and interesting opportunities, most of the time! Now, it's just crazy. We thought San Diego would have learned from Los Angeles and not turn into a mass of sprawling houses with no yards, and gridlocked traffic for hours, but we were wrong. This past fall, there was a terrible wildfire stretching over 20 miles, thousands of acres, and over 3,000 homes burned. The city was in a virtual lock-down, and you didn't know what disaster would strike next, especially since we are now so conditioned to fear terrorist attacks too. There was a severe shortage of manpower to put out the fires, they burned for over a week, it was like nothing you can imagine. And there are only 3 ways out of here via highway...and 2 ways were closed. Over 3 million people with one road to safety? It was inconceivable, and thankfully nothing that catastrophic happened in the end. But we don't want to wait for the next....fire, 9/11. earthquake, etc. While we are able, both age and healthwise, we want to move on for the 2nd half of our lives...and anxiously await that call from Wellington!

hede · Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2004 9:51 pm Post subject:

I have been to NZ twice (my husband 5 times) and I feel very much at home there. On my first trip we travelled around the country for three weeks. I have to admit that I didn't enjoy it very much. I was four weeks pregnant and felt sick 24-7. After 2-3 months back in Sweden all the memories came back to me and I realized that I wanted to give it a second try. On Nov 12th 1999 we went for a 3 months stay i Northcote, Auckland. Our son was then 1,5 years old. We had a wonderful time. The best memory is that we got marrid at Karekare Falls, a beautiful place.

I miss NZ every day. I miss living in a warm country. I miss our friends and all the other kind and helpful people we met. I miss lazy days at Karekare Beach and strolling down Takapuna beach in a warm evening, picking up shells. I miss mango frappucinos at Starbuck's and the delicious fish at Toby's Kitchen in Titirangi. I have left a part of my heart in NZ. Sad

aurora · Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2004 9:17 am Post subject:

Eeek!

It's 43 deg C in Adelaide today - I can add that to the list of reasons I came to NZ! Of course, I'll probably be spending my winter months in Queensland, thanks to the mighty age of cheap trans Tasman flights cool

Taffy · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2004 5:13 am Post subject: Why?

Why am I thinking of emigrating?
Have you lived in the UK lately??!!

Why New Zealand?
Simple reasons for that... I live in Wales UK... Love the wales bit, hate the UK bit! So, as far as I'm aware, NZ seems to be the closest country to wales as far as being scenic and (fairly) laid back, but without the UK government and about 50million other people!

Space, laid back, other side of the world to home... BLISS!

Taffy

carl westerman · Posted: Wed Feb 25, 2004 11:47 pm Post subject:

Nothing to do with the Sheep population then Taffy? Laughing

karltsmith · Posted: Thu Feb 26, 2004 1:19 am Post subject:

Don't forget the custard for the wellies! Baaa!!! Laughing

mfree · Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2004 7:07 am Post subject: Why?

Well, I see the american government drifting farther and farther from the constitution... the media controlling more of the public's perception than the public is... corruption, pollution, skyrocketing costs, poor job prospects...

We have an election coming up; I have the realistic choice of voting for a sitting president who wants to take away some of my constitutional rights, or a new president who wants to take away a few different constitutional rights. (I'm a firearms hobbyist, and frankly the NZ laws seem more friendly than US laws.)

I want the opportunity to own a good stretch of land and not pay upwards of a million US dollars for it. i want the opportunity to have a good job and earn a good life without having to worry if my health insurance coverage cost is going to rise 400% like it did last year. Give me clean air, clean water, beautiful landscapes. Show me friendly people who aren't obsessed with everyone being the same as them. I'd like to live and work where I'm not 15 miles from an identified nuclear strike target.

I just want peace and the right to do what I want so long as I harm none.

Raeven · Posted: Sat Mar 06, 2004 3:14 am Post subject:

Since you asked...

Like many who have posted from the U.S., I am uneasy about what the future holds for us here. My husband is a New Zealander whose family is based in Blenheim, and we have long planned to retire there. But as we watch the uncertainty here unfold with respect to the job market, the economy, the war in Iraq (don't get me started on this one), our personal freedoms and general quality of life, we are stirred to hasten our departure. And why not?

We live in a stunningly beautiful area of Central California -- temperate, pastoral, wine-producing and tourism-driven economy, lush green hills and breathtaking scenery. It took me 3 years to figure out when a season had changed (I've now lived here for 20 and have it down pat). The people are generally friendly and rush-hour traffic is something we've heard of but never experienced. Occasionally we enjoy a whooping earthquake ride. Looking at Blenheim, I think I could wake up there one morning and not be certain I'd moved.

There are some differences, though. What would it be like to own my home outright and need only to work at one simple job, instead of one very demanding job plus run a home business, to survive? How would it feel to live free from the ever-unnerving presence of a nuclear power plant less than 4 miles from my home (granted, it is very well hidden from view save for from the sea, but still an extremely tempting target for terrorist pilots looking to dive-bomb a 737 into one on the well-traveled route between Los Angeles and San Francisco)? How would it be to have time to chat with the neighbors?

We live in a lovely home with a dream kitchen that I never have time to cook in, though cooking is a true passion. We have a great hot tub we haven't sat in for months, because we're both so exhausted when we get home from work and there is too much else to do. We live blocks from the beach but haven't walked together on it for over a year because there simply isn't time. We ALMOST have the life we want. So we are coming to New Zealand to try for the life we ACTUALLY want. Fresh-cut roses in the entryway. A small but productive vegetable garden. Time to explore this grand old world with care and consideration. In summary, we've come to feel that by moving to New Zealand, we can put ourselves financially ahead by 20 years and go back 40 years in lifestyle. The pace is slower, far more humane. I hope we are right.

Why New Zealand? That's easy: Because we can! And we hope we are able to make a meaningful contribution back to the community, as well.

Thanks for asking, JCM. I've very much enjoyed reading the posts on this thread, and indeed the whole site. It's been our best find on the net!

Moorf · Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2004 5:30 pm Post subject:

Hi there everyone

I'm Moorf (earth name Helen!) and my hubby Warren and I are all set to start the process of moving to New Zealand. We've been thinking of it for years but there never seemed to be a good time.

We are married, no kids and don't plan on having any, are 35 and 36 and run our own IT and Marketing company from our home in Perthshire, Scotland, UK. We both living in Scotland for its beauty, friendliness and wide open spaces but unfortunately we don't like the way the UK and Europe are going and want to "just do it" before its too late.

I own a flat in Worthing, Sussex so we will always have a bolt hole, but I don't think we'll need it from what I have seen and heard of NZ!!

We intend to live in the South Island - C.Church / Dunedin - we're going the WTR route with the aim of re-setting up our company after a few years of settling in, getting to know the tax/business laws etc.

I am so excited and yet we haven't even yet filled in a form.... we are off in May/June for a month to scout around - this, I gather, will be on a Visitors Visa - we want to set up interviews during that time - is it worth it or will the employer want to see a visa????? (perhaps thats another topic)!

Anyway, if the friendliness, helpfulness and sense of humour on this forum are anything to judge what the NZ'ers are like then I can't wait to get there!

Good Luck all,
Helen & Warren
Scotland