Introduction

[AmandaB]

Hi everyone - we are right at the beginning of the process of emigrating. We live in the UK and have been toying with the idea of leaving for many years. We are using immigration consultants because I took one look at the EOI and chickened out!! We are hoping to come over for interviews in April/May and to have a good look around. Any advice on how to use the trip to the best advantage would be greatly appreciated. We are looking to work/live in the Bay of Plenty area. My husband is an electrical engineer and we have three children. I will probably work eventually but don't think I can until I get citizenship (I work in immigration!!).
Amanda

[Duke]

Hi AmandaB, Havent been to the north island yet but traveled the south and I would say to best satisfy your experience and expectations of New Zealand your family should rent a large Britz Campervan Hire & Car Rentals New Zealand - Motorhomes, RVs and Cars to Rent ( one of many rentals to choose from) and stay at the holiday parks, most had a kitchen, showers, and TV....I would guess a car would be uncomfortable, for the 3 kids plus It would get the family into the grocery stores to see what foods are different and same...(try the hokey pokey ice cream)... and if capable, rent some bikes... the pavement is smooth,,,, on the other hand if the Bay of Plenty will be your homebase for exploration a rental may be an option....other than that good luck and have a great research visit. Duke

[Brightside]

Good Luck with your "look-see" trip, Amanda.
You're being very sensible - we are just moving there in June without having been before...and are going to have to find a place to stay, schools etc all at once!
Let us know how you enjoy your trip,
Love
Alex

[alan&moyra]

Hi Amanda

Welcome, we did sort of the same thing as you, we came we saw we liked we moved ...........

But we only came for 4 days on our honeymoon and that made our minds up even is such a short time.

We decided on Christchurch, mainly because my wife had a job offer here, we booked a hotel for 2 weeks and managed to find decent rental housing, and nursery care for our daughter in that time. I even managed to get a job 3 weeks after arriving.

Hard to say the bset way of spending your look see trip, I would just cover as much as you can and gather as much info as possible, this place is great but you cant beat the gut feeling you have yourself.

PS
be wary of the advisors, they will get no special treatment from NZIS and they (NZIS) list the costs on their web site, so anything over and above is the profit for the consultants.
We did out own forms, yes they are a pain and lengthy but using sites like this you can get most of your questions answered.

Good luck

Alan