Moving back to NZ for a year, with my family, after 13years in London - yes/no

[Discovery01]

Hi,
We're considering moving back to NZ for a year. We have a very young family 18month old & currently pregnant with baby no.2. Reason for the move I want to move back so I can have help from my family with bringing two children up under two!!!!!

Why a year? I can take a career break for a year & come back to my current job, so it gives us the security in the UK. Clearly we might not come back if we love it...

My partner is 40 & I'm 34, He's lived in London his whole life & has always said he will not move to NZ however He's showing signs of agreeing to it. So i'm jumping on it & starting the ball rolling.

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

Thanks

[G-Mo]

My wife (a kiwi out of NZ for over a decade) and I moved to NZ with our 2 1/2 year old and her pregnant with twins for similar reasons (3 under 3!). We're not planning on staying for only 1 year though! I suppose one concern is, how are you going to support yourself in NZ. If your husband needs to find a job, how long could that take? Etc...

[bond]

It sounds as if you are living a nice life at the moment in London. Be aware that New Zealand is as far removed from life in London as you can get, one of the reasons many people move of course. Even in central Auckland the city is very small time with basically one busy main street with a few shops and bars etc and the rest of Auckland spread over miles of timber clad, corrugated rooved houses (which are incredibly expensive, even by London standards). Beaches are quite nice though and quick to get to.

I would honestly say unless you have a craving to be close to beaches, like going tramping and kayaking etc really think about your decision. If you enjoy the benefits and convenience of London life New Zealand will unlikely be for you. Just my opinion.

[Discovery01]

Hi,

We would ensure my Husband has a job before we arrive. What I really want...Is to finish my MAT leave in NZ setting up home for him to come over & head straight into work therefore I wouldn't have to come back to work for a short period of time. So I would go from MAT leave to a career break therefore having two full years off with my little ones. It's such a hard decision & I am really worried about not having everything on our doorstep BUT...In London we don't have any family & I would really really like my family to get to know our children better etc.

[waylin]

[QUOTE=Discovery01;484130]Hi,
We're considering moving back to NZ for a year. We have a very young family 18month old & currently pregnant with baby no.2. Reason for the move I want to move back so I can have help from my family with bringing two children up under two!!!!!

Why a year? I can take a career break for a year & come back to my current job, so it gives us the security in the UK. Clearly we might not come back if we love it...

My partner is 40 & I'm 34, He's lived in London his whole life & has always said he will not move to NZ however He's showing signs of agreeing to it. So i'm jumping on it & starting the ball rolling.

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 story

a kiwi who has been living in the uk for a similar period, I went back to NZ last year to give it a go

it was a complete nightmare

fighting a Kafkaesque government bureaucracy

Employers in NZ who would not recognize my skills and work experience in the UK, and some who were openly hostile wanting to know what what I was doing coming from London to NZ

employment agencies are a waste of space

there is a lot of insecurity in NZ, many feel threatened by you, their appears to be a lot of resentment to kiwis who have gone overseas and "bettered themselves" ...perhaps the kiwi tall poppy syndrome

If the attitude to me as a kiwi was bad..not sure I hold out much for your husband..as kiwis tend to be derogatory to the English

and dont get me started on the cost of living from food to atrocious over priced housing

much seems to have changed in NZ since I left and it is not for the better

it is a very insular place...coming from London you will find it very difficult to adapt...

my rose tinted glasses are off

I have returned to the UK, very saddened for myself, my partner and my NZ family, but glad to be in the UK

I did a lot of googling upon my return to try and understand my experiences, and found many many examples just like mine, of kiwis coming back only to struggle to integrate and not been able to find employment ..if they did it was not in the field they had in the UK

[Hagabel]

Sorry for the people who have had negative experiences.
I am from the UK(been overseas for a long time though) and moved here with young kids and OH from the US 2 yrs ago. I went back to UK in May for a long holiday and would not move back there if you paid me. Too many people, too much traffic and everybody was in a rush.
I agree there are certainly issues with NZ, price of goods etc, crappy housing but there are also beautiful beaches, friendly people, slower pace of life and so on.
I guess it is what you want for you and your family. I can definitely relate to wanting to be nearer family with young kids, I just wonder why if moving this way and disrupting everyone's lives is worth it for a year. It took us a good 18 mths to settle in properly. Congrats on baby no 2 and good luck with making a decision.

[jawnbc]

A few years ago two dear friends--kiwis--moved back to NZ after their second child was born. They've been back for about 5 years now. Unfortunately home for them was Christchurch and they're in a morass related to the quake and insurance. But in terms of settling back in NZ they say it was the right decision for them. But they would move to Auckland probably in hindsight: Christchurch is a bit too sleepy for them after London.

[Fern49]

I did a lot of googling upon my return to try and understand my experiences, and found many many examples just like mine, of kiwis coming back only to struggle to integrate and not been able to find employment ..if they did it was not in the field they had in the UK

Unfortunately/ fortunately once you leave a place and go back, things are seldom the same.
There can be no comparison to the UK when it comes to looking for employment.For one thing a bigger economy consequently more jobs. But for some, it is not all beer & skittles. This from metro in July, 2013,

Thousands of British jobs are being advertised to foreign workers across the European Union despite 'rife' unemployment in the UK.

[dharder]

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