4 prospective NZ hopefuls

[AlphaDog]

Hello NZ from middle TN in the USA!

I can't even express how happy I was to find this site after hours of google searching. This answered all my "big" questions in fifteen minutes that I couldn't satisfy anywhere else. Such as official language, exchange rates, life style, etc. This forum has also given me tons of insight about other hopefuls!

I represent my three other buddies wanting to move to NZ as well, so I apologize upfront for a long post. We don't plan to move to NZ until after college (another two years), but we figured we should start researching now so there are no surprises! We are looking at Auckland mostly, because of its size. I love the countryside, but we figured we'd start in a city where we can find employment, get settled and immerse ourselves in the new way of life before trying to venture out into even more unknown territory!

There are a few questions I have left, and if anyone could answer them, I'd be very grateful!

1. My husband is a Kawasaki (motorcycle brand) technician (currently shop manager). He is completely consumed by the sport bike culture and lives to ride and work on bikes. He has a tech-school education and will have 10 years experience before we move. Does the NZ culture have this sub-culture too? Will his skills be well-received or not highly looked upon? This is his life, his love and his utter passion. He is TERRIFIED to move anywhere, much less to a foreign country, especially one that does not have a bike culture. Actually, if this is not a job field where he can find placement in, he will not even consider a move…and neither will I or my best friend (and her brother). I don’t think that we could move with the idea of “great place to start a bike business!”, but that could well be a future idea once settled. Any info that can be provided would be amazing!

2.I will have a BS in environmental management, do have an associates in business management and quite a few college credits in animal science that I took while deciding on another degree. I am competent in office life as well. My friend tess (the second hopeful) is going for her BS in liberal arts, but will probably finish with a major in hospitality and tourism or something similar. The youngest hopeful will be 18 at the point of the move with a highschool education. We’re quite an assorted gang, do you guys think we’d have trouble getting accepted through immigration and finding employment? Do you think it is a better idea to have a job lined up before moving (this might be impossible I don’t know) and if we don’t when we arrive, will it be difficult to find one? I will be interested in finding a position in conservation – my degree is geared towards toxic waste management and pollution control. Tess is interested in tourism at its management level or anything similar. Jack has great charisma and manners, but being a fresh highshool graduate, he will not come with the higher education. Will this be a great obstacle for him or are there entry level, basic jobs available? I found SEEK, but haven’t had the chance to peruse it yet. Any info would be wonderful, thanks in advance!

3. Once I met a woman who came to the USA from NZ and said that NZ was "home of the twelve dollar burger". I didn't understand that statement and now that I'm considering moving to NZ, I wonder if anyone could shed light on the statement? Also, with the currency exchange, 1 USD is 1.42 NZ dollar. but that being said, what do most things sell for in NZ? Such as housing (rent?) in new zealand dollars (being reasonable, of course), or an average dinner and a movie? A trip to the grocery store? A tank of gas? Really, the cost of everyday life? What can I buy a normal, good car for (I paid 7,500 us dollars for a 2004 nissan xterra with 40,000 miles...but I think I got a killer deal on that) or a motorcycle??

4. What do most people in Auckland drive? Do alot of people bike, ride motorized scooters, etc? Its a city, so what's the parking situation like for businesses? Is there anyone who has the experience to compare it to an american city of some sort, so I can have a more rounded idea of what to expect?

5. We will have four dogs joining us in our travels (one each!) two Boxers (80lb male and 40lb female), a Chihuahua mix (8 lb male) and a pug/boston terrier mix (20 lb female). They are all fixed and UTD on shots. I already looked at the pets page and it says they need a chip. Is this chip different than a “home again” chip, which all of our dogs have it says our current address and veterinarian location when it is scanned? What kind of facilities would the dogs have to stay at in quarantine and is 6 months the minimum or maximum time? What’s the main reason dogs can’t import? They are major parts of our families and we will not move without them. They are indoor pets, well loved and all very healthy.

6. Is there a breed restriction on importing? I didn’t see one, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t. Also, we would have to rent an apartment/house immediately (we would all be rooming in one home at first), is it difficult to find housing that allows dogs? Do those housings have breed restrictions? Alot of American facilities do not like dogs in the house and most have banned Boxers (which is rediculous, our two don't know what the word 'bite' means..) Is Auckland a pet-friendly city, meaning dog parks and pet training? We don’t really want to live in a condo/apartment, considering the number of us and our dogs, we’d rather rent a house with a yard. Is that hard to find?

7. Considering the needs of our group, would Auckland be the best choice or does anyone have a better suggestion? We’re not crazy about huge night lives, we would rather spend our days off rafting, hiking, horseback riding, etc. But being new to the country and needing quick employment and housing, we didn’t think picking a rural location would be the smartest move.

Sorry for the huge post and thanks a lot to anyone who answers!

[MotherBear]

Welcome to MTNZ AlphaDog.

Well, where to start . Such a lot of questions to choose from.

I can't comment much on the motor bike culture in NZ as I don't yet live there - only visited a handful of times. Can't say I've been aware of such a thing myself, but hopefully someone 'on the spot' can report back on this.

Next thing to deal with, and just as important as NZ having a bike culture, is whether any or all of you would be eligible to apply for residency. I'll post this link which explains a bit about this, especially if you go into the links for the LTSSL and ISSL as these are the keys to a long term stay in NZ. If your job skills appear on the LTSSL you would be able to apply directly for residency. If they appear on the ISSL you couldn't apply directly for residency but could possibly get there by another route i.e. working for 2 years in NZ, for which you would need a job offer to apply. To be able to apply under the Skilled Migrant Category (with a job skill on the LTSSL) you would need to get 100 or more points to qualify. This is the points indicator and this is the points table which you would need to look through. If, say, you and Tess find that your job skills are on the LTSSL and, therefore, you are eligible to apply for residency, you would be able to add your respective partners in with your own application. It doesn't sound like they would be able to get there under their own steam.

Re the cost of living etc. have a look on here and use the various links to find out about the cost of property and cost of living by using the onlne shopping sites. They should give you some idea of prices.

I get the impression that people in NZ get about like those in other cities i.e. car and bus with the added bonus of being able to use the ferry.

Breed of dog restrictions....

Dogs of the following breeds (including crosses of these breeds) are not eligible for importation:

* American Pit Bull Terrier;
* Dogo Argentino;
* Japanese Tosa; and
* Brazilian Fila

NZ landlords/ladies are not particularly pet-friendly but that's not to say folks haven't managed to squeeze in somewhere with their pets. It just takes a bit longer to find somewhere suitable and convince the landlord that Fido is a good, housetrained pooch.

I'm fnally off to bed now so I'll leave it for others to add their bit.

[Taffy]

Hi,

Bikes are popular here, NZ has the roads, weather and scenery to make biking worthwhile. As for motorbike racing, I think you'll struggle to find any 'big' sub-culture here for that, there just isn't the money or volume of people. There are plenty of bike clubs around though, and regular race meetings so if you don't mind smaller clubs you certainly wont go without What I will say though, is that you may find it more cost prohibitive in NZ than the US. Again, it's a numbers game and fewer people = less demand = higher prices.

If you're looking at Auckland, it may be worth contacting these guys to find out the specifics: http://www.amcc.org.nz/