New Zealand - British Expat Forum

Thanks so much for your quick replies. I'm going to be teaching in a primary school and am looking so forward to meeting my new class. We are all really excited about coming, except my daughter who is having to leave a boyfriend behind!!! However, I have just had a panic after reading about some messages saying the English are very disliked out there!! Please someone tell me this is an over exageration. I am bringing 4 children with me and would hate to find they have an even harder time just because they are English.

Hiya,
I can't comment from extensive personal experience because, aside from a holiday, I've not been to NZ...

However, I had a fantastic welcome all round, not just from the people on the holiday park / tourist sites (who you would expect to be friendly to visitors ), but from all the people that I met in the supermarkets and pubs.

I do think that, from what I have heard other people saying (not just on this forum) that there are some people who will give you a hard time because you have a British accent, but then equally, there are people here in the UK who will give someone a hard time because they have a French/German accent.

But, as I said, I'm not out there, so I can't comment from personal experience.

NZhereicome wrote:Thanks so much for your quick replies. I'm going to be teaching in a primary school and am looking so forward to meeting my new class. We are all really excited about coming, except my daughter who is having to leave a boyfriend behind!!! However, I have just had a panic after reading about some messages saying the English are very disliked out there!! Please someone tell me this is an over exageration. I am bringing 4 children with me and would hate to find they have an even harder time just because they are English.

No, in a word.

They don't like 'whinging poms' but they are a subclass of your fine breed that is disliked universally.

I am British by birth, NZ by choice. I moved to NZ when I was 12, my parents and I never found any racism towards poms. They like to joke about it and you will need a thick skin come cricket season and rugby autumn internationals, but they are joking, not being cruel.

I have been living in the UK for 11 years now, and find it just the same here - you need to have a duck's back

You keep your chin up, don't keep comparing NZ to the UK and you will be alright.

Don't forget - it IS a different country and a lot of things will be different - not better, not worse, just different.

Wow!!! We are just setting out on our journey. We are using an agency as I couldnt face the paperwork.

We have posted all paper work now with EOI to NZ and agency is going to find me a job.

We started back in 2007 and I had second thoughts wish now my husband had given be a kick up the backside and told me to keep going.

We are sitting in the snow wondering where we will be this time next year. It is great to hear other peoples stories.
We will keep you posted on how things are going.

hi everyone, first post!!
I must say after reading through some posts there are some very brave/mad people out there - upping your whole life to a country the other side of the world that you've never EVEN BEEN TO!! But i will say you deserve every success - too many people sit on their backsides waiting for a wonderful life to come to them, good on you for hunting it down!!
And we're extremely jealous of other people who are counting down the days, you lucky people!!
I live in Southampton with my wife who's expecting our first in July and we've researched the move to NZ lots - i'm an Air Traffic Controller and have contacted Airways NZ and they've said i'm on their books for a future job opening - luckily enough they have Accredited Employer Status so that is a big headache removed, just dont know how long that's going to take - don't really wanna move when baby's too old. Would immigration service see a young baby as a good or bad point.
Anyway, good luck to you all and hopefully se you soon

Hiya!
Welcome to the forums!

Insanity is a good way of describing it (though we did have a holiday here just to make sure it's where we wanted to be) And, four months in, I haven't regretted a single day - it has been everything we wished for and more (it would have been nice to have got a job quicker, but we were never in dire straights, and in fact a 3 month holiday was really what I needed to relax and enjoy the new country!)

And with the posts above asking about whether you are given a hard time for being English, now that I've had some proper experience out here, I can definitely say "no" - outside of some gentle ribbing around the rugby or cricket, everyone here (whether at work, in our social groups or when out shopping) has been brilliantly welcoming, and, once you get past the usual questions of whereabouts in the UK you lived (and whether the person had ever been there), and why you wanted to move to NZ, where you come from isn't an issue. (at least, in my experience )

I will keep my fingers crossed for your application going smoothly - we don't have children of our own, so I don't know whether it is seen as a plus or a minus (I would expect a plus on the basis of just needing to increase the general population!)

Hi guys, i am Jenhuei from Singapore. Been traveled to New Zealand with my wife for honeymoon last year. We love New Zealand!! A MUST GO place!

Nice to meet you all!

My husband and I have been here for 1 month already. We originally planned to settle in Auckland but after visiting Wellington we loved it and moved the very next week.

We originally come from Scotland and came here on a Long Term Business Visa so need to find a suitable business to buy.

Found 2 bed flat very soon after arriving in Wellington, it is fairly cold and damp in the flat so a wee bit of a shock to the system.

Found everyone really friendly and willing to help and offer advice.

I agree with toonster that food is fairly expensive here but with a wee bit of research you can find some good deals especially from the markets for fruit and veg.

Have just bought a second hand car and also found some lovely bedside tables from Trade Me. Went to pick them up from Wilton that is another story as it is at the top of a very steep hill that we tried to get up on a very wet dark night wont do that again...........

We too are having trouble with our shipping company, they took the money picked up the goods and although we contacted them several times by e-mail from NZ they were trying to contact us in the UK. This was despite the fact that we recieved an e-mail from them wishing us a good flight. Our stuff is due to arrive in the middle of November (I HOPE). It better arrive soon we are currently sitting on 2 garden recliners I dream of the day that my couches come. It will be like christmas come early or maybe it will come at christmas (better not) sweary words will be flying if that happens.

We knew we would have a bit of a unsettling period and it has not been as bad as I thought it would be and all in all it has been worth it. Would I do it again YES>>>>>>>>>

Hi Jenhuei - welcome to the forums - I hope you find them useful.

Hi Bbabs - welcome too - I'm sorry you are having such trouble with your shippers - I found that telling them I was one step off making a formal complaint regarding their communication helped a lot! It is such an amazing feeling when your belongings arrive - I don't consider myself to be a material person, but just the general homeliness that they provided helped so much in staving off homesickness.

Do be prepared for things to be damper and cooler in the home than they are in the UK - central heating and double glazing are far less common (though things are improving), and the tendency for houses to be made out of wood rather than brick doesn't help (though the reason for that also includes the fact that wood bends when the ground shakes, bricks just collapse...). Hopefully you will find things improving now that summer is round the corner, but I can recommend investing in an electric blanket or some hot water bottles for next winter (and, if you don't have one, a tumble drier - whilst you really don't need it during the summer, we found that hanging wet clothes inside over the winter did not help with the general clamminess inside the house!)

Some of the districts really are amazing with the hills they are on - we've had fun when trying to walk places (we still don't have a car), and what looked like a simple walk on the map turned out to be mainly at a 45 degree angle!

I'm glad that you are finding people here friendly - it is amazing how many people are willing to help complete strangers, or even just smile as you walk down the street!

Thanks for that toonster,
because we have been concentrating on getting ourselves settled we still have`nt been to a beach yet (My main reason for coming here). Hoping to get a car very soon, can you recommend a good beach we are living near Newtown.

I have bought a hot water bottle don`t think it helps that we have been sleeping on a blow up bed. New Bed is arriving on Thursday evening we are going to be like little kids.

Thing is we don`t feel cold during the day it is just at night time, I am seriously considering a bio meg fleecy underblanket.......

Yeah, thanks Toonster.

I like this forum. But I had just uploaded a photo of myself (an avatar) but it does not show up in my photo?

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Hey guys,

Sorry for the delay in replying - for some reason, the system didn't bother messaging me when you replied, and I've been a bit manic recently for getting online!

BBabs - there are so many good beaches - it depends on what you are after There's one right in town if you want a small one with sand and swimming - I don't know what it is called (I've only walked there) Lyall Bay is apparently great for surfing, but I've only driven past it, not been there. If you keep going round the coast there, then there are some lovely bays with rocks for scrambling over (spent a couple of hours on those!) I've not been up to it, but Paraparamu is supposed to have a lovely beach as well. If you head out to Eastbourne, to the very end of the road, there is a walk round the coastline there, which is a nature reserve, and you get to see loads of coastal birds, and one or two sheep... To be honest - just get to the coast and start working your way round!

Oh - the joy of the new bed - we shipped ours out, but because it was a genuine double, not a queen, we had huge problems getting a mattress for it, and ended up having to sleep on the floor on a bigger one (lent to us by a friend) for an extra month!

Jhntl - Avatars don't get used a huge amount on the forum because of the restrictions on who can use them

You can, Toonster, you're a Premium Member. So let's see your avatar!