One year on

[Manks]

A year ago yesterday, Mr Manks and I started our new life in Wellington. And a year ago today I started work (no I don't think I need to be committed!). The past 12 months have flown by, to the extent that I’m not quite sure what we’ve done with the time!

In a way, I think that’s probably a good thing. It probably demonstrates that we’ve slipped easily into life here and just got on with it. Life is life, and regardless of what wildly held fantasies you might move out here with, at the end of the day life has to go on.

That’s not trying to belittle our life here, quite the opposite. We love living here. I can’t put my finger on anything in particular that makes me say that because it’s something quite intangible. But life here is easy.

There have been some learnings along the way of course, such as:
- It’s far too easy to become a coffee snob (and it’s actually expected in Wellington!)
- Kiwi scooter riders are bonkers – and have no common sense. I, as a motorcyclist, of course am not, and have some
- A kiwi’s definition of “value” or “worth” is likely to vastly differ to our own
- You can’t go anywhere in Wellington without bumping into someone you know. For me it was someone I worked with 12 years ago!
- Wellington winters are nowhere near as bad as I thought they’d be
- All kiwis think the winter weather here is crap. I had a discussion with my boss about it and he moaned about there being 5 months of grey. I asked him if he’d been living in a different country to me and if he wanted to see grey, he should go and live in Derby for a year. Then he’d get 11 months of the damn colour grey
- Kiwis believe they have a right to own the colour black

But I haven’t got any stunning revelations. Life is pretty much what we expected.

Do I miss anything about the UK or US? Hmmm, maybe free soda refills in restaurants And Wal-Mart/Target/Tesco/Asda. And of course friends and family (it goes without saying).

Are we poorer? No. In fact we’re probably a little better off. I think some of that is down to the fact that people here are less consumer-driven. There’s no keeping up with the Jones’s to have the nicest/newest/shiniest car on the street, or the latest season’s fashion (I think I’ve probably bought less than 20 items of clothing since we’ve been here – oh the shame!). There’s no need to put on a pretence to be something you’re not. You are who you are. No need to be anything else. Plus a lot of free time is spent outdoors. Just doing stuff like walking or cycling. Even if it’s just a walk along Wellington Waterfront to people watch and grab a coffee, or take the dog to the beach.

We have no plans to visit to the UK at the moment. It is a long way to go, but I’d rather encourage people to come and visit us here first. That was the thing about moving to the East Coast of the US. We were “so close” we travelled back frequently, so people had little incentive to come and see us. In the 12 months we’ve spent here, we’ve probably seen more visitors than in 2.5 years in the States.

On reflecting on the past year, one thing I’m starkly aware of is the fact that we haven’t got out and explored NZ much. On the one hand I’m a little disappointed. On the other hand I think that’s probably not a bad thing as it has given us the chance to settle fully in Wellington.

But I fully intend to give us some goals for the next 12-24 months in terms of what we want to do in NZ. We wrote a “bucket list” when we moved to the US, but we were only meant to be there for three years and it was a way of focusing us on those things. We probably got through about half of them in 2.5 years. At least with NZ, our time here is indefinite and so the “bucket list” can keep growing as we do.

Best of all, there's no regrets. But we moved here to make sure we didn't have any. We didn't want to get a few years down the line and say "I wish we'd given it a go." So at least we'll never have to say that.

[Parsley]

Thank you! And yep - it's been grey in Derby for some time. I saw a wee sneaky peek of blue this morning, but then it fled

P

[tk1]

Thanks for the update. We are hoping we can find jobs that allow us to move to Welly or Dunedin in the next 1-2 years.

Along the lines of what you have already said, are there things you worried about that turned out to be not a problem? Are there things you wish you would have done prior to moving that would have helped one you got there?

[Manks]

Thanks for the update. We are hoping we can find jobs that allow us to move to Welly or Dunedin in the next 1-2 years.

Along the lines of what you have already said, are there things you worried about that turned out to be not a problem? Are there things you wish you would have done prior to moving that would have helped one you got there?

I honestly can't think of anything that falls into this category. Now I don't know if that's because we are just used to moving around and adapt fairly easily, or whether we were truly well prepared.

I would probably say don't move out here expecting some kind of utopia. It has its upsides and downfalls like everywhere else. But I think the downfalls are probably less extreme than elsewhere.

People complain about kiwi driving but I have to say it's a vast improvement on where we lived in the US, where the standard of driving was abysmal. So I don't actually think it's that bad.

We were quite prepared for high food prices, but to be honest, we're probably spending a similar amount on a weekly food shop as we did in the US or UK. We don't buy exactly the same stuff so that may account for it a little. We buy a lot less coke and cordial for example.

Our power bill is less than our UK and US bills but we don't have the same heating as we did there. If we kept our heat pump on all the time it would probably be up there. But we manage it a lot through pre-paying with Powershop.

Don't always expect to find bargains on TradeMe like you would on eBay. The kiwi psyche is very different and they will hold out for what they think something is worth rather than being totally realistic. E.g. I was watching some washing machines just before we moved into our house. There were no bids at all on these appliances time and again. But the seller just kept relisting at the same price over again. Also, they don't seem to understand the concept of a "buy it now" price. Really you should have an auction starting price that is lower than buy it now. But so many times I've seen buy it now prices that are identical to the opening bid price(?!).

Just talk to people when you get here to find out about what's good and what isn't. Where to go etc.

[Adventurefamily]

Music to my ears . . . or eyes, I guess. Thanks for sharing!

[JandM]

[dede]

No way is Kiwi driving worse than CT or NY where you have to expect the drivers to be totally crazy in order to survive the I-95. It's interesting that we have similar backgrounds in that we are from Britain originally but moved to US and we are now contemplating (subject to ITA approval) moving to NZ. Having done this once, you learn that, as you say there are positives and negatives to any place/country. We are also drawn to Wellington which reminds me of SF without the scary edge. Good luck with the next 50 years.

[Kanga]

- It’s far too easy to become a coffee snob (and it’s actually expected in Wellington!)

It's been one of the worst things about living in Cambridge with its cafe culture for me. I used to enjoy the odd coffee, thought BP stuff was quite a nice treat but now I feel anxious if it's not my favourite barista on duty when I order and have sent back more than one coffee. The coffee here is just so damn fine you can end up getting very picky. I'm ashamed of myself.

[themilkybarkid]

people here are less consumer-driven. There’s no keeping up with the Jones’s to have the nicest/newest/shiniest car on the street, or the latest season’s fashion (I think I’ve probably bought less than 20 items of clothing since we’ve been here – oh the shame!). There’s no need to put on a pretence to be something you’re not. You are who you are. No need to be anything else. Plus a lot of free time is spent outdoors. Just doing stuff like walking or cycling. Even if it’s just a walk along Wellington Waterfront to people watch and grab a coffee, or take the dog to the beach.

Nice post!

Yes you do both seem happy and settled enjoying the Kiwi lifestyle!

Pleased that it is just what you wanted and expected

Your quote above captures it well

Look forward to the 18m update

Like you funnily enough we've not ventured out much - but then Welly has so much to offer!

[Manks]

No way is Kiwi driving worse than CT or NY where you have to expect the drivers to be totally crazy in order to survive the I-95. It's interesting that we have similar backgrounds in that we are from Britain originally but moved to US and we are now contemplating (subject to ITA approval) moving to NZ. Having done this once, you learn that, as you say there are positives and negatives to any place/country. We are also drawn to Wellington which reminds me of SF without the scary edge. Good luck with the next 50 years.

So right about CT/NY driving, but the utter worst have to be the Massholes

I've also heard Wellington compared to Seattle, which I can understand. There's that cultural/grungey/underground kind of feel to it compared to Auckland.

Let me know if you end up down this way. Good luck with the ITA.