New Life New Zealand...

Not long now!!! NZ Trip...August

2009-06-10T16:59:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

its been a while but that's because nothing has happened at all, we have had Stephanie's Teaching Qualifications verified and she has been given her grade and she is registered with the NZ teaching association.

But we have not sent in the expression of interest due to hearing and reading negative stuff online about the realities of living there, in regard to wages, house prices and the possible culture loss that maybe revealed by moving there. We are finding it hard to commit to it all as we are both at present working even in this recession and even increasing our earnings, the house is being done up and life is generally good, but would moving to NZ actually make it better.

Its a weird one really, if we had nothing to lose it would actually make it alot easier, but it seems at present that we do have something to lose....but time is running out, i am 40 and Stephanie is 37...we have to make the decision soon.

Anyway the next thing for us is the trip to NZ for a road trip of 3 weeks, to get a feel for the country ourselves, we know this is in the winter and it may be rainy but we will get to see the ski seasons in action and the Alps will look all the more stunning heh heh.

We will have the opportunity to meet about 9 people who live out there, some expates some old friends and some new happy to help us make the right decision.

Our trip starts on the 03/08/2009 and will last for just over 3 weeks. theyll be alot of driving and it may seem like a whistle stop tour of places but well know if want to live there that's for sure.

on our return will make the decision to send in the EOI form to the immigration - or NOT as the case maybe, at present we have 130 points which is not guaranteed entry but puts you in a good position in the monthly pool.

That's it for now, you wont hear much from me until after the trip ....

Cheers all.

Status closed!

2009-04-21T12:54:00.000-07:00

WHOOOOOOOHHHH!!!!! My status is now 'closed'. The process details now say END. I have a courier ticket number and courier/end/closed dated as todays date....so the 'result' has been put in the post (and hopefully all my original documents)..... Sooooooo nervous about what the result is - how long will it/they take to get here? We'll see!! :-) :-) Stephanie - excited as always!

excited and nervous....

2009-04-10T15:27:00.000-07:00

Stephanie here.... well I'm now onto the last but one stage of having my teaching qualifications assessed for working in NZ.. I'm on 'Approval' and the one following is 'Notification' aaaagh so i'm so close to that bit being done!!! I'm excited and nervous all at the same time - i mean what if they don't give me the Level I expect that my qualifications and teaching experience are worth?? Will it give me enough points to get straight through the EOI application or not? Yes, it was worth the little reminder/very polite email i sent my 'nominated assessor' to ask where in the process my application was and was there anything i needed or could do to help, any more information needed... because within 2 weeks of that email i've gone through 3 stages - hmmmm coincidence or not eh? Anyway - we shall see what that assessment amounts to.

In the mean time - we continue to browse the internet looking at all areas of both islands now... North or South I'm still happy with either but being able to get to the coast/sea is now something that i'm wanting more. Not that i'm the greatest sea activities person - but i love just seeing it and feeling it. Ho hum... who knows.

I'll update again when the assessment comes through the post - no idea even what that will be - a letter? certificate? and will all my 'evidence' and 'original documents' that they insist on all be returned safe and sound too? Lets hope so.

Exchange rates........

2009-04-05T04:23:00.001-07:00

The currencies have stablised to a point over the last 3 months, but they haven't improved the pound is still taking a battering and if honest it could have been alot worse if there had been a run on the pound but so far thats been stalled.

Even the stock markets have stablised a tad, and some banks look good for investing in, the markets may have hit bottom or at least close, but when and if they recovery quickly is any ones guess, but in regard to the NZ dollar, if we did go it would just be a case of waiting for the best price and get a bloody cheap broker.

£1.00 = $2.55 (05/04/2009)
£1.00 = Euro 1.1009 (05/04/2009)
£1.00 = US $1.48 (05/04/2009)

Cheers

Moving forward slowly....

2009-04-05T03:47:00.000-07:00

At present Stephanie is having her qualifications verified in Wellington NZ, this normally takes about 4 months although the website promises sooner, they allow you to watch as the stages of the application are dealt with online, and just recently our status changed and the process is very nearly complete.

The Costs...

The costs for having Qualifications vetted is $450 NZ Dollars more than the EOI. This has been paid at the start and is non refundable.

The cost of sending off the EOI (Expression of Interest) is $400 NZ Dollars, to be paid in due course - It is only one payment per application, not per person.

To be honest though we did have to promt them a bit by sending a couple of e mails, after which things seem to move on a bit, as the documents (All of Steph private and originals) have not been returned which was becoming a concern...I can also confirm they did reply to both e mails and responded within a week or so....

Its been a long while that we have had to wait, and in that time many other considerations have been made about the potential of NZ as new information is obtained, even so we are still very interested in moving there. Seeing the process move forward has secretly excited Stephanie somewhat and the house is now buzzing with the NZ chat it had a few months back, we are also really looking forward to seeing the country in August, which is not too far away at all. !!

Having the the qualifications vetted is required on the EOI form but only at the end, so once we get the final confirmation that that process is complete hopefully in about a week or so, the EOI will be sent off, then the application should speed up considerably. Of course there is an additional cost to apply as well for both os us, money that is non returnable if we are unsuccesfull with the application.

Of course the cost and the huge amount of additional paperwork that comes with it will be interesting when it arrives in the post, but for me the timings good as we may end up using the holiday in August to look for work as well as a general recce, and of course if we work or a potentila offer were in as that would give us the points required for a gaurenteed entry, essentially by the end of the year big changes could be taking place in our lives.

Recently I have found a website of someone who has travelled extensively around the Islands North and South and he has taken the best pictures I have ever seen of NZ and I'd like to share this old boys experiences with you some of these are stunning.

The Photographers name is Tom Dempsey...

Johns stunning pictures

Scroll through all 3 pages, they just get better and better....and these pictures have without doubt relighted my desire to live in such a place even if the housing is a bit dodgy heh heh....

Cheers Gary & Stephanie..

Thanks Mal with Link help....

thinking seriously now....progress

2009-02-16T14:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been following the progress of my assessment of my teaching qualifications by the NZQA. The little icon had moved on one more space. Curious as to what they must think - i admit to having gone to great lengths to get all the bits and pieces they could possibly require... so now? Is it going to be money well spent? I'm sharing Garys concerns over what is the truth of this place called NZ? Yes, i've looked at the aforementioned website - but i'm ever the optimist and i've always been pragmatic... so there're some bigoted, racist and sexist views/folk over there - but i think i knew that and i've never lived in a country that hasn't had that to some degree (ie the UK) and that is why i'm dead pleased we get the reccie this summer first cos to be fair we've also had folk over there tell us we'd love it! In the past I have lived in a squat with no heating and electricity while at uni and i've worked in a multiracial very aggressive school - but i've not had the pleasure of stunning views, mountains and beaches so accessible...or open roads..... now thats what i'm looking forward to. The money and housing of course need considering seriously I understand. Chamonis sounds lovely but i honestly don't know what job I'd get there with the language difference to consider - Gary would have to take the lead on that one.
Canada haha has always been my second choice though - I looked up the immigration requirements for that one yesterday too - no chance there I'm afraid - teachers aren't on their skilled migrant list so we wouldn't earn enough points and you have to 'prove your economic well being' to survive there, ie take a minimum amount of money over with you - which i doubt that we'd manage. Ho hum. NZ here we come - lets take a look and see for ourselves.

Interesting websites...

2009-02-16T10:56:00.000-08:00

Ya know part of the reason for doing a trip to NZ is to make sure that all the hype your given about the place is justified, I have been on so many websites and pages and none well hardly any say it like it is, well not like this one...this website which I will post a few moments says it like it is, it claims that all the good media hype generated about NZ is part of a huge PR machine which actually earns the country more money from failed or successful applicants than the whole of the tourism industry thus making very important money for the government, its make you wonder what all the promotion is really all about. The website is called -

www.expatexposed.com

Have a look you cant help but kind of be happy that you may have found the holly grail of honesty youve been looking for cos nowwhere is as good as the NZ government promote this place....and every field has weeds in it....!!!

It says it like it is and with no need to lie it makes you wonder, NZ is, based on info from this dark and truthful website - racist to the extreme and talk about being Bigots there the best - Allegedly !!! luckily not to the British but to the Asian populations and make no bones about it neither, there is no employment protection lots of gun crime, gang culture is prevalent and the quality of homes within NZ are beyond a joke when compared to the UK.

Some of the homes are an embarrassment to the assumed value they are being portrade at, and of course as is well known there is no such thing as central heating, all the people on here seem to freeze, and damp is a major issue in the south Island apparently..

You need to read between the lines and you would need to read it yourselves to get your take on what people are saying on here, but from all accounts the bottom line seems to be that the NZ government is selling the dream but the reality soon kicks you back in the teeth once your there and having spent all your hard earned cash getting there. probably making it very hard to get back to the UK, where you'll have nothing when all you have left is converted back to the stronger pound.

I'm not a pessimist per say, but this website has opened my eyes a little, as it is right now, me and my partner have a job, we have a nice house, its warm all year, and we have spare money for fun things, why oh why would we want to change all that for a roof leaking freezing house in the middle of a bigoted racist gang cultured society in one of the most isolated countries in the world...

The NZ imigartion service dont promote it like that as they NEED YOUR MONEY!!!, and remember you pay upfront with no gaurentee of getting in....!!! hence the Hype show and nice pictures, not being funny but Chamonix, which is a short hop away is stunning, why travel... 19,000 miles, I am beginning to doubt this move...if honest.

But I don't know and that's why were going on holiday and checking the place out first with the powerful pound in hand.

Anybody considering moving there must take a read of this stuff as its there to help with the truth of it all, and to be honest no one on that website slags off the countryside and the beauty of it all no it all the other stuff that concerns people.

You have to measure up the arguments, but from this site you soon get to realise that NZ is way behind the times and is well out of date, so much so it compromises the pleasure of living there..

But well find out for ourselves.

Cheers for now.....Canada looks nice .....(Iknow people there too)....mmmm

Were off bye....!!!!

2009-01-22T00:23:00.000-08:00

Ha Ha Ha we are nuts sometimes, or maybe its just me and my crazy impulsive nature making Stephanie do on the spure of the moment things.

WE bought flights to go and check the place out .... Nuts.....we fly with Air New Zealand.....

Departing - Mon 04 August 2009
Returning - Fri 28 August 2009

We were sitting around in the study last night and chatting about NZ and I had come across some very convincing reasons not to go to NZ online, people were making some very good points and they were coming from quality newspapers / publishers.

We have so much information swilling around inside our heads about the move and alot of this information is based on opinions of third parties, and they vary in detail and enthusiasm greatly, it confuses and annoys you as you don't know these people and cannot be sure if you would respect there view point if you knew them personally and it seems to be the case that whether or not you like NZ is down to you and you alone no-one else can compensate for what you see and feel yourself, through your own experiences...

So to make sure we don't waste up to £13,000 moving over blind (if we got the chance that is...)we have decided to spend £4000 in going over and seeing it our selves.

So its booked and we cant wait, we've planned it so that we Can save up and pay for the flights before we depart and will plan the trip to meet people we have met online from blogs and to also tour the whole island to get a refined understanding of the places and options we are foolishly trying to get a full understanding of from 12,000 miles away - (never a good option)

I could spend hours trying to defend the fact that we've just spent serious money which we could have saved, but in the long run we think its the best plan.

What it cost us -

We paid £818 per person return full cost no extras.

The taxes etc were - £587 So in total its cost us £2223.20p

Were not sure if this is supper cheap but it was the best deal at the time with a reliable Airline, flying via Hong Kong which is the cheaper option albeit 1 hour longer option.

We will be arriving in the winter but as were considering Christchurch at least I will see how good Mount Hutt is for skiing, which will be a big draw for me as Mount Hutt is only an hour and 30 minutes from the city.....bring on weekend skiing....and the summer biking....sweet....

So although we may get soaked were not bothered.

Laterz

I love life at present ha ha - shit I need some overtime....

Waiting waiting.....yawn...

2009-01-16T03:59:00.000-08:00

Waiting and some more waiting...mind you we could be expecting to much to soon...some facts about exchange rates and money for today's date -

£1.00 = $2.72 (16/1/2009)
£1.00 = Euro 1.12 (16/1/2009)
£1.00 = US $1.49 (16/1/2009)

£130,000 Highest House value - $353,805.00

£110,000 lowest house value - $299,495.00

Now this is important stuff as it will determine if we sell or not, if it takes along time to sell that may not be the worst problem as long as we get a fair price when it does sell.

We haven't worked out what we owe on the house yet but being realistic we would probably end up with about £70,000 in our hand after all bills paid. This is $190,500 at today's rates. Meaning that we would get a small mortgage between us in NZ for approximately $100,000 split between two of us which equals £36,800 divided by two £18,000 each....over however long.

Allowing us to buy a $300,000....well that's the plan anyway which I'm sure will backfires at some point. Thing is were not looking to equal what we have here really, were going for the rustic-ness of it all, we don't want all the trimmings and flash kitchen, we want to get into growing our own food and being more at one with the imediate world around us..and so the exact quality of the house we end up in will be in relation to those ideals, it wont in my view have to be stunning or spic and span but authentic to our needs...our new needs.

That's all for now.

Qaulifications recieved.

2009-01-14T08:42:00.000-08:00

Stepahnie sent off her qualifications to the NZQA to have them verified we were concerned this may take a while, but from the online progress option which informs you of where your details are at in the chain, she has already had them -

File opened
application materials have been allocated to someone.

Now we assume this is quick, we hope, as soon as they are completed and verified we can sent off the the EOI and Stephanie will be graded and able to apply for jobs, and if she gets one we are in for sure.

Thats all for now.

Here we are...

2009-01-06T12:17:00.000-08:00

The first of many video blogs...

So thats us, if anyone else is considering emigrating to NZ this year and are at the same early stages as us feel free to say hello...im sure it would be of mutual benefit when things get tough later on, also if youve emigrated recently within the last year why not give us your thoughts.

Cheers....

Gary and Stephanie..

Sending off the NZQA Teacher forms.

2009-01-06T10:57:00.000-08:00

Today Stephanie sent off all of her qualifications and certificates and evidence of employment within teaching to the NZQA based in Wellington at a cost of £15.00, it has taken her several months to get all of the documents required.

The hardest part was the waiting for references from previous employees, they have all in all been very helpful and some of the references were exceptional so we are hoping this puts us in a good position, the forms have been sent to Wellington NZ and when they have been verified and the forms accepted she will be informed online allowing her to complete the Expression of Interest on full.

We are hoping the the verification will take no more than 5 weeks but as its the new year there may be a back log of mail so who knows how long it will be. The reason and advantage of sending all the documents off early are that it shows your committed to the move and that if and when we are invited to apply, it will speed things up a great deal having it all done already.

Also when she is verified it will mean that i can apply for the professional teaching registration in NZ which means employers will take her seriously and she can begin applying for roles before hearing from the immigration service thus possibly helping the process as any job offer in your application adds 50 points to your application we already have 130 at present so it would guarantee an entry..... or so we think.

There is a separate cost for this service and the cost for us was $445 NZ, (£430)....so teachers pay more ha ha...

So now one of many waiting stages.....yawn....

Odd Things weve learnt about NZ

2008-12-24T14:04:00.000-08:00

A couple of things about NZ.

(1) The wages are much lower then the UK, we will lose about 40% of our salaries now for the same roles.

(2) The cost of living is high it is not cheap there as all goods are imported the same as the UK, and you earn less.

(3) Rent is cheap, but the rental market is a joke, most properties you would not want to live in, the higher end of the market which would give you a similar property to the UK would be about 1200NZ$ per month about £450/500...approximate figures.

(4) There is no free banking they charge you for everything you do and have with them...including overdrafts...each month they charge you for even having the account at all....

(5) The taxes are lower...

(6) You don't have to have Car insurance....sweet.

(7) There is no NHS, you pay to see the doctor and for prescriptions / medicines....

(8) You can keep your UK accounts for two years and your UK credit cards for 2 years as well after that you must close the UK or the NZ accounts.

(9) Employment law is not as safe as in the UK, your not protected as well as you are here.

(10) The minimum wage is $12.50 cents (£4.25)

Makes you think huh, why leave the security of the UK behind for less....you really need to think about why....its a toughie.

Where to live in NZ...

2008-12-24T13:31:00.000-08:00

We are all over the place with this decision, we have had dreams of living in Dunedin at first then we realised that its the most drizzly place in NZ, not confirmed of course just a rumour ha ha, then we moved further north having dreams of Christchurch which is still on the cards....but then as we are going 12,000 miles why not move to the warmest and highest sunshine area in NZ ? why not I say...

So now our dream area is now in the north of south Island we really need work of course so although we are interested in Picton or Nelson we may need to consider Blenhiem in Marlborough for employment, there are also more schools there....in the centre of the wine making area of NZ.

Its tough though and as we have never been to NZ we wont really know until were there, but were sure that the north Island doesn't really offer us much in comparison to the south as we want access to the Alps and National Parks as well as the stunning sounds around the area. We are also interested in the area as getting to Wellington for the weekend is easily accessible..for those big shopping days for the big ticket purchases...

If you have any thoughts on preferred areas, let us know. I am sure we will change our minds again when things like rental costs and house prices and employment come into the eqaution nearer the time, I say this as to get a gaurenteed place in the country all Stephanie has to do is secure employment which gives her 50 points alone, when she has had her qualifications verefied she can apply for jobs, it may come down to where these job are that will determine where we stay, in reality Christchurch may have more oportunities in this regard.

we will keep you posted.

Do your reasearch....

2008-12-24T13:20:00.000-08:00

We have been since October 2008 been trawling the Internet for information on emigration, to assist you if you are also considering moving to NZ the best advice I can give is this. Use the official website which i will post here later, be very wary of emigration service companies, do go to a Emigration show but take it with a pinch of slat as they are after your money and business at the end of day. We went to one and although it was useful for us, we just used it to pickpocket the information that we were missing, but at the same time you could just call the immigration in London if something small was bugging you that you needed an answer too.

But the best way is to find blog from people who have made the move already, also ask all the people you know if they know anyone who is over there, and get their e mail address, and politely ask them to help you, we found the advice we got from these sources way more useful than any official websites because if gave us a warts and all picture of the reality of living there from British People.

It is the best information you can get, we have made friends with people we, in a sense don't even know, they have been so helpful to us. that's just our take on getting info.

The UK Ecomony

2008-12-24T13:09:00.000-08:00

The economy in the UK is not looking good at present and tough times are ahead for many in 2009, in regard to our emigration dreams this concerns us in a couple of ways, we assumed that by selling the house we would be able to buy over 50% of a new property in NZ and getting a mortgage for the rest....as alot of people do, but with the down turn the house may have lost substantial value, this concerns us...

On a seperate note the pound has crashed, I have a freind who is Australian and is returning in January he has about £35,000 in savings but is not prepared to take the loss being caused by the weak pound...I can understand his concern and he will be doing it bit by bit, he has lost about $10,000 Aus dollars within the last 6 months alone, well hes not lost it, but its valued has been lost....

So although our dream is a year or so off, we are concerned that the house will have lost value and the savings we have will have much less value when converted...we will be watching the economy closely, as it is now, we will have to rent the house and rent in NZ (if we get there) until things settle and the pound regains its strenth..who knows whats going to happen.

Introduction to our NZ Dream....

2008-12-24T12:39:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

This blog has been set up for us to have a detailed record of our attempt to start a new life in New Zealand. It is also to be of use to others if they are also going through the same process or are considering it.

We have at this stage done nothing more than fill in half of the online expression of interest form as more detail was required regarding Stephanies Teacher qualifications, but here is a brief background about us first.

My name is Gary Wilson I am 40 years old this year and I am not the main applicant, I myself would not be aloud to enter the country as I alone would not have enough points due to age and qualifications. I am dating a girl called Stephanie Jukes, yep we are not married, we have been together for one year and I have only just moved in with her, this is to assist our application as evidence is required that you are a strong and long term couple for the imigartion service.

Stephanie we think is eligible under the skilled migrant catergory as she is a secoundry head of drama teacher with 12 years experience with exceptional references, teachers at the time of writing are on the highly skilled migrant list.

I would be entering the country as her De facto partner. Currently the points needed to be considered are 140, at present Stephanie is having her qualifications verified by the NZ association of education which has to be done prior to completing the online EOI form...this takes time but is worth it in the end we have been told. In January 2009 she will be posting it off at a cost seperate to the cost of the general application I believe its about £250...(non refundable)

At present Stephaine has 130 points without having her qualification verefied, we dont know if this will add to the points, as 140 points is required to get an automatic invitation to apply we can only hope that we are close enough to be considered, time will tell.

We dont expect to be moving for at least 15 months so there is no rush at present.