new to site-general questions

[printman]

Hello, This site is great. My wife, year old girl and I are contemplating a move of undetermined length to NZ in the next few years. My wife is a community health nurse and I am an artist/teacher. Both scored above 100 on the quick test and were wondering about a few things. I'm brand new to the place so I'll start with a variety of scattered questions.
*How much money on hand should we have upon arrival? We have a house in the US but not a ton of cash lying around. So I guess equity is our strength in this department.
*Hows the market for community health nurses in NZ as opposed to hospital nurses? The equivalent to community health nurses in NZ is the plunkett nurse I think.
* Any information on the arts community in NZ? How about job prospects for part-time or adjunct teaching in the arts?
Thanks so much and look forward to all the goodies you can provide! THANKS

[Pulsarblu]

Welcome printman to the forum.

There are already some discussions going on in this forum pertaining to your questions so doing some searching using the search tool will be good.

However these are my personal opninions regarding your questions.

Money...I would say it really depends on the lifestyle you would want to have when you arrive in NZ, what kind of house (rental/buy), car, general living expense - night(s) out per week and etc.. I would say you will need some reserve money to at least survive comfortably for 6 months to one year in case you cannot find job.

I am unsure about nurses since my profession is in IT...but I know there is a long term shortages of nurses so getting a nursing job in NZ is surely possible be it community or hospital nurses.

Arts? At least I see that the environment is much lesser harsh than where I come from, meaning more opportunities. In fact my wife who is interested in painting and photography primarly and everything art related feel that being in NZ will allow her to flourish since the environment is less harsh to potential artists or accomplished artists and there is a market for art in NZ. Besides art originated from NZ are popular in other countries with the blessing from her natural beauty. Therefore I guess teachers for arts are always needed although I cannot be totally sure about this..some other members can testify this perhaps..

I hope my view can help you in any manner.. ::):

Good luck...Pulsarblu

[MotherBear]

Hi Printman, welcome.

I would agree with Pulsarblu. How much money you need to bring with you could simply be put down as ?As much as possible?. How much you?ll need has quite a bit to do with which area you want to settle in, as the cost of living can vary from place to place. Also it will depend on whether the sale of your house would cover the cost of a house in NZ. This could, at least, leave you mortgage free or with only a small mortgage. You do need to look at what sort of lifestyle you plan to have i.e. living the high life or just making do and enjoying all the free stuff that NZ has to offer. Many people go to NZ for a simpler life and they find what they are looking for, others find they can?t or aren?t willing to live like that and struggle to make ends meet. The choice is yours.

As for your respective occupations, I believe there is a shortage of both teachers and nurses so, hopefully, you shouldn?t have too much trouble finding jobs there.

All the best in your quest.

Hello Printman,

I am new to forum too and in a similar position to you. I am a nurse and the other are correct, nursing falls into the long term skills shortage category so getting a job wont be a problem (sorry don't know about teachers) I am enrolling with geneva health care, (you can find them on the web) they are a new zealnd nursing agency who will have employment lined up for me when we land.They will also give you information on nursing opportunities. You can however look on the web site of the district health boards who advertise their jobs on line.

As for how much money to bring well we are now thinking of selling up in the UK and taking our equity with us to buy staright away in NZ. We were origionally going to rent our house in the UK for a couple of years to make sure we liked it, however the market I understand is moving at a higher rate than the UK plus we wont have to rent for so long. We are hoping to be there by july/august so are now saving like mad.

Anyway, good luck with your plans

Lyn

The arts are very lively there. Even small towns have art museums and galleries, with varied media and styles. Hopefully art collectors are also lively. And yes, the inspirations are many and varied. I'm looking forward to painting and photography field trips when we move there.