New Zealand - British Expat Forum

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to introduce myself to like minded people and hopefully build some great relationships along the way...

Mich (my husband) and I are in the process of leaving our roots in the UK to start a new life in NZ. Our 18 year old son is already living in Auckland on a 2 year working holiday and loves it that much, he does not want to come back to the UK - me and his dad did not need much persuading..(actually none at all!) to move lock, stock and barrel to a great new beginning. So the fun of packing and planning starts here............!

I'm so looking forward to seeing Jonathan (our son) in 48 sleeps time as we are spending Chrsitmas and New year with him.

Hi, Lindeloo, and welcome.

Wow! Sounds like a bold move. Hope it all works out for you!

What do you plan to do when you get there permanently?

Hi Lindeloo

Go for it! Sometimes you just have to grab your opportunities as and when they arise.

Good luck! 8)

Thanks guys!

Mich is an Engineer currently in the Nuclear industry and me - I specialise in HR & Recruitment - troubleshooting and restructures etc, so currently looking at the jobs market. We have not decided on where in NZ, that may depend on job offers/opportunities. But our holiday at Chrsitmas will definately be a fact finding mission on whether I look at employment or continuing my current business of consulting.

So much to do and see....if it were up to me I would go tomorrow as our house is already sold and half of it's contents are in storage, so only really need to sell the last 3 cars, the motorbike and find a loving home for our aquarium!...oh and remember to bring Mich!!

Lookin' good! I would think having sold the house is a major weight off your minds. Certainly the house sale is one of the biggest worries for most people who are going through the process of emigration.

Just curious, do you have any offspring other than Jonathan? NZ is rather a long way to split a family. Whereas people on our Canada forum often make light of the distance and say they're only a few hours flight away from those they've left behind.

As our house was a big 5 bed detached, it was quite easy to direct interest at that level and market it to corporate buyers.

As I have not lived close by my family for years due to travelling in my job, they are used to me being away. I will be leaving my dad and 26 yr old daughter, son-in-law and my 1st grandson who live in the North East , but hey it's only a phone call away and I speak with them every day anyway through different communication channels and webcam.

Our daughter has just moved to NZ - we have bought a skype phone and subscribed to their fixed phone line service.

We now have a Wellington phone number which my daughter can ring at any time and it rings in our house in the UK.

As all local calls in NZ are free, she can ring from home, office, out and about and it doesn't cost her, or us, anything.

We only pay for calls to NZ, so typically we just ask whoever we are ringing to ring us back - it works fantastically.

Cost is about £11 per 3 months. You can do the same with a UK phone number, however they will incur the normal local call charges at the UK end.

It has made keeping in touch with our daughter so much easier - she was at the bank the other day and didn't know what it was she wanted - so she just rang us and we advised her on the spot.

Ain't technology grand