Originally Posted by
Discovery01
BUT...I wanted to know if any other fellow Kiwi's or Brits have made the move with such a young family & how it went for you. We are so used to having everything on our doorstep, we have a lovely home in a beautiful area with great friends & neighbours & fantastic schools. So I feel leaving for NZ in one way seems very risky, as we have it so good. But I also feel unless I do it I'll always have it as a what IF.
I would really love to hear some thoughts/experiences
My partner is the Kiwi, and after 11 years in London felt it was time to move back. We have four children, and I wasn't particularly taken with the school in East London they went to, so I agreed to an initial 3 year stint, albeit, as implied above, relutctantly.
For various reasons mainly to do with jobs and schools, we are still here almost 6 years later. For my Kiwi partner, this has been the right move. She loves the surroundings, camping, tramping, etc. For me, this was not the right move, I would much rather live in the UK.
Was it the right move for the children? I don't know. We've just been back for a month in Europe, and quite frankly, I felt that it was a mistake to move away. The children are certainly not unhappy here, they enjoy school, have friends, etc. But do they have anything I feel they couldn't have had in Europe? I don't really believe so. Going back to 2007, I would probably try to work on the issues I didn't like in the UK (schooling) and try to find a solution there. I don't see any particular need to spend more than the occasional holiday in NZ, if that.
However, I don't have family here and in fact moved away from mine, and I can certainly see that being closer to family is a strong reason to move (as it was for my partner).
Good luck with the decision,
Daniela