Living in New Zealand

Ruth: Cotswalds, UK to Hawkes Bay, New Zealand (1989 words)
We left Heathrow in the snow, freezing our fingers and toes off and very shell shocked after so many emotional goodbyes and landed to the sound of cicadas and a wall of heat in Auckland. Seeing husband again after 5 weeks apart just added to the slightly-drunk-but-actually-jet-lagged feeling of unreality that the…

Alison: Edinburgh, UK to North Shore, Auckland (1518 words)
I enjoy living in Milford but we cannot afford to buy a house here. Although we are earning good incomes in New Zealand, because of the high rent we don’t have money for any luxuries. We manage with one car. I plan to start working full-time soon when my youngest starts primary school and then our…

James: Cornwall, UK to Christchurch (1047 words)
What I liked best about New Zealand is the pace of life and scenery. The lack of keeping up with the jones’s that makes it enjoyable to concentrate on the more important things in life. The friendliness and helpfulness of most people we met. The lack of health and safety (they seem to trust your judgment…

Astin: Singapore to Auckland’s North Shore (2112 words)
We wanted a quieter pace of life, away from the crazy rat race in Singapore where work almost totally dominates your life. We were tired with the tried and safe method of living in a country where everything is efficient like clockwork and rather boring. There is no great scenery in Singapore, awfully hot weather…

KiwiMaggie: Christchurch NZ, then USA to Blenheim (1038 words)
Research, research look and think closely. Come here first for a few months… look for work first and see how you go. You may say oh I can’t do that, it is not affordable … can’t get off work for that long. Nor is coming here lock stock and barrel thinking its going to fit into place. yeah you expect a few hick ups…

Nadia: Durban, South Africa to Auckland (832 words)
The first thing I noticed when we arrived in Auckland was the wooden houses. I was amazed to see sheep and cows in the city. People think that in SA we have elephants in our back yard, but we have to actually go to a ZOO to see them. I noticed the difference in price. Things seemed cheaper. What I noticed most…

Stephen: From York, UK to Wellington (1618 words)
Our reasons for leaving the UK were probably similar to a lot of people and generally included overcrowding, work/life balance, outdoor lifestyle etc. Looking back now, we surprised ourselves with the speed at which we made the move. It was only a few months ago that we decided to give it a go and now we’ve …

Mish: From Cape Town, South Africa to Newton, Auckland (1500 words)
I don’t own a home yet, still renting. Compared to South Africa, rental and house prices are extremely expensive – especially coming over with South African Rands. Houses are not as spacious and are built close to one another. It takes a bit of adjusting (mainly privacy) when a plot is split into 3 so you have 3 houses in one section…

Alison and Matt: From Lincoln, UK to Auckland’s Franklin District (1347 words)
We live a very healthy life style here! Fresh fruit and veggies are in abundance and there seems so much more to choose from! We have all joined the local Yacht club, the two older children are learning to sail and the younger children crew the patrol boats. The children do far more sports at school and the school has its own outdoor pool which is used to its limits!..

Richard and Olivia: From Colchester, UK to Wellington (2241 words)
We just bought a one-bedroom flat in need of some doing up for the equivalent of about 90,000 pounds. Obviously, considering it’s 20 minutes’ walk from parliament, that’s fantastic compared to London, but I think the days of buying a six-bed mansion with the equity from your UK property are behind us now…