Who moved to NZ and hated it?

I'm British and currently live in Amsterdam which is the kewlest place to live in europe but im busting a gut trying to get myself and family over to nz to live.

Has anybody arrived in nz and thought bugger me I wanna go home!!!

I've read so many happy storys of success which at the moment makes me green with envy. that will pass when I write my own im sure.

Whats it like registering with tax authoritys and forign police etc, how do nz government officials make you feel.

here in Amsterdam they gave me 3 months of pain and made me feel like pond scum but after that things picked up very fast.

I don't think many people actually hate New Zealand when they arrive here. ?There may be a few who quickly decide NZ is not for them.

Everyone's different with their own experiences and expectations. ?Many want to improve their lives and that of their family, but realise the bond with their home country is too strong. ?Others give it a go, but quietly pine for their family, friends and the surroundings they've known for much of their life. ?

My husband thought it was best for us as a family to emigrate to NZ, but with his interest in antiques, his dependency to his family and 'need' for the 'home' he knows, he knew within weeks where he really wanted to live. ?Another expat I know has 'ached' for the UK for two years now and as soon as the house is sold intends on going back. ? ?

There are so many Brits here that officials don't think twice with dealing with us. ? Most immigrants to NZ have education and qualifications and are considered a benefit to the country. There seems to be none of the bad feeling sometimes associated with migrants from other countries pouring into Britain and the other wealthier European nations. ?
:)

[MotherBear]

Another problem that hits some people when they start life in NZ is managing their finances differently. Often salaries are much lower than in their home country and the cost of living isn't cheap in NZ, so a bit of financial juggling is called for.

If you've done your homework before you leave home, you should have at least some knowledge of prices downunder and shouldn't have too big a shock when the bills start coming in. A few folks are still labouring under the misapprehension that it's cheap in NZ but that isn't the case.

My advice would be to research prices of groceries and everyday items, petrol/diesel, gas/electricity, rents/mortgages etc. beforehand and draw up a spreadsheet of how much you're likely to need to live on, which will give you some idea of what you're looking for by way of a salary.

If you need any further info on prices, just ask on here and, hopefully, you'll be provided with an answer.

[Lou]

Hi there, I would agree with Glenda that whilst most Brits don't hate it here many will find it is not for them for many reasons. We certainly fall into that category. We both visited NZ before coming here, knew wages weren't great and the cost of living was similar to the UK but that still doesn't prepare you completely for living on a day to day level. We are considerably worse off here financially and there is no way we can afford to save for pensions, University fees for our children (they are only 2 and 10 months at the moment) or holidays and this is despite my husband having a good job and I will return to work as a teacher.

We left the UK adamant that we would grow old in NZ but I found that when I arrived the feeling of 'permanence' really hit me and all that it encompasses. The thought of not having the culture and architecture I was used to seeing every day whilst I lived in York, or not being able to visit beautiful European cities left me feeling quite down - and being away from my friends and family with two young children is very hard indeed. We realised very quickly that if we stayed here for more than a couple of years we would never be able to afford to return home and get on the property ladder again.

After looking at our situation and discussing how we felt my husband and I made the decision to remain in NZ for 2 years which will give us an indefinite returning residents visa - spending a year on the North Island and a year on the South so we could explore and enjoy our time here then return home in time for our eldest to start school.

My biggest piece of advice would be to think very carefully about what you want out of life and whether that can be provided nearer to home or perhaps you simply just need to travel and have that adventure. I would also make sure you have enough funds to return home if you feel you want to - I've met many migrants who have said they want to return to their home country and cannot afford to do so now and I am glad we have our emergency fund.

I don't mean to be doom and gloom - I love NZ and the scenery here is spectacular. I also don't rule out returning one day - if our children decided to return here to live as adults then we would most likely join them. I have absolutely no regrets about deciding to come here and would recommend it to anyone but we know it is not for us at this point in our lives.

Good luck with your application.

Louise :)

[Maggiemoo]

So much of what Lou says applies to us too - we absolutely love it here, we have met some wondeful people, we live in a beautiful city and are having the house of our dreams built, but for us too, I don't see this as a place that I'm going to grow old in. ?Like Lou, we are finding it difficult being able to "balance the books" - after paying rent, utilities, grocery bills, petrol for 2 cars, insurance etc we are left with very little if anything a month from my husband's wage (which is comparatively better than a lot of people who live and work in NZ). ?We came over here expecting to have a similar standard of living to what we had in the UK but that is just not the case here - we would love to be able to travel round the country at weekends, to be able to pop down and see some good friends in Wellington (yes that's including you Lou!! ;)) but we just can't afford to do it like we thought we would be able to. ?At the moment we are managing as we had savings but they are dwindling, and once they are gone, I think we will be too. ?People have said we should perhaps have gone to a different area of New Zealand, perhaps not bought such a big house, but to be honest I wanted to get my dream house in a good area, and not have to compromise on what we wanted for us and our kids. ?Hopefully we have made a good investment, and in 18 months time when we review the situation of where we want to be, if needs be will sell the house and move back to the UK. ?We didn't leave the UK cos we hated it, we just fancied a complete change of scenery and lifestyle - we have that here, I'm just not sure its for us for the long term, but we will certainly make the most of it while we are here (as and when finances allow ?;D)

This by the way is my own personal opinion, I would never suggest to anyone else that they should not make the move - what's right for one person and all that.....it really is a wonderful country and there are some wonderful times to be had - who knows in 18 months time we may well have overcome all our financial concerns and be living here in unimpeded (is that a word??!) bliss! ?;D

Maggie x

Here in Tauranga and loving it....honest! x

[Debd]

Hi, We've been in Auckland for 2 months now and like it so far, (apart from the typical stress of immigrating and all it's problems!)
It's hard to say at this early stage whether it is definitely for us. I'd like to think that we would be able to move around to quieter places if need be in the future though. I haven't started earning yet so we'll need to see how that ends up... I just hope I will be optimistic and 'make it happen' because what can happen, once you get here, is that the burning ambition or dreams of how things will be, soon dissipate once you are knocked back several times by other events beyond your control, (ie; stresses of moving, late container, issues with hotel, savings disappearing very quickly etc...)... well what I mean is that life is difficult wherever you are and it's going to be a case of weighing up the pros and cons of UK versus NZ for us anyway!
I will tell you that I have quite a few reasons for preferring NZ in many ways though and that is I prefer supermarket shopping here, I hated back home in the end.... you know... miserable people, crappy veg etc... ha! Now it's more happy? (well, more pleasant) people, great veg choice and a feeling of "Wow, that wasn't so bad in there at all"... if you get what I mean! Also, I much prefer Isaac's kindergarten here, the staff, the policies, the choices everything, although I do miss some of the Mum's!
I also prefer, (thios is more unfortunate though)... the sweets here, ha!!! Shame on me!
The kids seem very happy here too, the look on their faces when they're running on the beach! Bliss! It does you good to get to the beach to remind yourself part of why you came.
I hope we end up staying and that everything works out for us. I think we're already too poor to go back to the UK! Ha.... but then we didn't have that much to lose, (financially)... that has to be a good thing I reckon! To be happy with your quality of lifestyle - not how many pounds you made in the UK or wherever else you came from!!!
Will let you know on an eventual basis.... so keep checking this post over the next 60 years!! ?;D
Debra, Eddie, Isaac (4) and Eva Agnes (20 months)

[pianist1]

Hi all,
Those were very interesting posts....I really did not want to be the only one to voice negative feelings about NZ, so I did not want to be the first to reply. Also, since we have been here only two months, I am still waiting very hopefully that things will start turning a more positive direction for us.....latest bad luck...we were in a car accident a few days ago - no one hurt, but damage was done to both cars.
Alright, so why do I not like NZ so far? Like a number of you have stated so far, my husband took a pay cut (like 40%) to come here; I took 100% pay cut (until i can build up my business again, which took me years) and we are going to have to settle for a home smaller and not as nice as our previous one. We realize that there will be no money for trips home to the US to visit the family for a while and savings will be a big question mark.
Unlike many on the forum who were enamored with the idea of living here, I really did not want to leave the US (my adoptive home) - life was good to me there and I was very happy. The situation was such that if my husband did not take the job he was offered here, he was going to be jobless. I am generally an optimist, but several consecutive months of stressful mishaps, bad luck and whatnots have worn me thin. We keep running into problems with the banks, Telecom etc. because of all kinds of unexpected charges for everything that we normally get for free in the US.
I suspect things will run "smoother" once things are established so I am still holding on. I know we will have to stay at least three years here before we can leave, so we will try to make the best of our time here and enjoy whatever we can.
I feel one of the things that have really helped me the most is reading others' posts on this forum...thanks!

[Debd]

Wow pianist! You've had more than a fair share of bad luck but you're doing so well to still make the most of it all. you sound like an optimist and that's a really good thing, you need to be!! I'm inbetween at the moment, ha! (It seems to sway between hubby and I!!)
Unlike you, Iwe really love our home here already, it has so much character and we feel fortunate to be renting such a nice place - (bloomin cold though!)
I didn't realise that youwere a jewellery designer! It's a shame we don't live closer - we could get our heads together and 'do something'! But if you want to know anything or have any questions at all, please feel free to pm me!
Debra

[selchie]

I'm glad that Mentiad posted this question, and that so many people have given such informative responses about their experiences.

My OH and I are still in NZIS limbo, and are going back and forth on whether or not we really want to go. The big negative for going is the cost of living/wage issue. Being in our mid/late 40s, we really don't want to have to struggle financially again, especially if the struggle continues into our retirement years. We also have places we'd like to travel to, and wonder if we could afford to do that on a Kiwi income. Right now I'm of the mind that if my OH has to leave the area to get a good job that she likes, we might as well make the move to NZ. Otherwise, we're likely to stay put.

Of course, if we ever win the lottery...

[Debd]

Hi Selchie,

Yes the lottery!!!!

There's alot of honest opinions coming through on this thread and it must be a good thing to weigh it all up! I wouldn't like to be in your shoes though where you're undecided beacause that must be a difficult situation. I'm glad we came and I'd still do it all again knowing what I know now but you'd be crazy to think it'll be plain sailing.
All the best in your decision!