People & Places
Harper's NZ Blog February 2007
May 30th 2006 is when we, the 'Wild' Harper family (Paul, Juliet and children Bryoni and Ethan), started the journey to move to New Zealand from North Wales
Our emigration journey started in a random fashion: a totally random call from a friend told us there was a job which, me, Paul should apply for. Eight months later, we have been living in Auckland for over four months, have found a home, new car, new job, new schools, experienced our first holiday in New Zealand and have already experienced more new stuff than we can count and know there are still more new experiences to come.
There is so much we could write about and we feel so passionate about our move and New Zealand that we are going to start by sharing just a little of what we have learnt from the actual move. This is only our experience but we hope that anyone reading this will find some of it useful.
For those thinking of moving to New Zealand:
Look into the move seriously, but not financially. We have found that if you look at the finances in too much detail you will not do it and that can apply to anything in life. Visit New Zealand for as many weeks as you can afford. If you're bursting to tell someone about your plans tell only the most important people, although our advice is not to tell anyone. The reason is that if you decide it's not for you, you haven't created any anxiety for anyone else other than you and your immediate family. People can't deal with 'what ifs' but they can cope with yes or no.
Remember that New Zealand is not necessarily better or worse than the UK, but different. If you look for different you can't go wrong. Its not forever and if you do make the move, and decide to return 'home', at least you can say you have tried.
For those in the middle of the move:
Be patient, you have started a journey into the Kiwi culture and moving from super fast UK.
Plan for things to take longer. Prepare all your paperwork, but don't panic if you have lost something or you have forgotten something. The immigration people are there to help, not to trip you up.
Medicals can be done as quickly as two weeks, police checks take the longest, but can also be speeded up with a polite letter. Take time to say goodbye to friends and family, the last two weeks will fly by and you find yourself cancelling dinners and get togethers because you have run out of time.
Have your leaving party at least four weeks before you leave. We felt down the week after the party, then buzzing and ready to go the three weeks before we left. We needed that energy to get us through the emotions we were feeling about leaving.
Shop around for a shipper.
Get your UK phone unlocked from the network. This can take up to eight weeks, so do it now.
Cancel all bills in advance. You will be surprised how helpful they are if you give them plenty of notice. We got some money back!!
IMPORTANT: leave friends and family to deal with the move themselves. It may sound very selfish but you can't change the way people feel. They have to deal with it themselves. This worked really well for us and was the best advice someone gave us.
For those packing right now, things to pack:
Iron
Kettle
Tomato Ketchup
Mobile Phones unlocked
UK food as a gift for UK expats living in NZ
Toys and books for kids - it can get very boring looking for a rental to live in.
Sleeping bags
Laptop
File with all your official documents
And importantly - bring a can do positive attitude
Be yourself
Treat your new life as a holiday. If you do something different every weekend then you will be experiencing something new.
Good luck with your new life. We love ours.
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