New Zealand Mamas?

[justalil'sleepy]

Hi,
Are there any NZ mamas here? I am mama to a beautiful 18mth old daughter and am currently baking up no.2, edd 17 June 03.
T.

[OceanMomma]

YES!!!!! I'm here. I've got 2 dds, one is 17 1/2 & the other is 22 months old & #3 is due on 26th June.

We're currently in Auckland but are moving to Dunedin at the begining of January.

[justalil'sleepy]

Hi!
We are both June mamas!
I am in New Plymouth and currently waiting for Tom Cruise to come and sweep me off my feet;) although he'll have to be strong, I'll be rounder by then!
T.

[Kelly71]

What's it like living in NZ? Climate? Economics? Education? Landscape? AP friendly? If one were to pack it up and move from the US to NZ what would that person need to know?

[OceanMomma]

Hi :) I did just that but packed up & left England for NZ. There's so much to say & I'm off to bed now when I found this. If I don't get back to you in the next day or so, bump the thread to remind me.

[FreeRangeMama]

I want to know too!!! Dh and I are considering moving to NZ when he is done school (in 3-5 years) from Canada. We are curious about a few things, but mainly dh needs to know if there is good high-speed internet:rolleyes: Gotta have priorities ya know LOL.
Laurie

[Astrid]

I want to know too!! :D

We are in Canada right now, but I have always been drawn to New Zealand! Dh has been on the internet looking for jobs and how to immigrate there (I think you need the promise of a job)

Any info would be wonderful!

Samantha

[OceanMomma]

Ok I'm back.

When I came here, I had to have a certain amount of points on the immigration system to get in or to get permanent residence. I had to be under 30, have a degree in a scientific related subject & a job offer. You get points for work experience as well but I'd only just got out of doing my degree so I didn't have any relevant experience that counted. I decided to get permanent residence initially so I could stay, but I know people who came here on work permits, who decided to stay & went on to get permanent residence later. I don't know what the system is now for points etc as that was 10 years ago. They did introduce an english language test very recently which has caused a bit of a stink in the non-english speaking immigrant communities. I don't think you have to take it if english is your first language. I know they desperately need teachers at the moment. There is also lots of work once you get here if you want to work. Like dh got a job the first day we moved to Dunedin.

What you need to know... Depends where you go in NZ. Auckland is our biggest city . It has just over 1 million people. We've just left there thankfully as the traffic was getting bad & it was getting too overcrowded for me. Nowhere near english standards tho'. The rest of the country is very different. I know MomAtHome was in Christchurch for 6 months so maybe PM her & ask her about her experiences as she comes from the US so would know more relevant stuff for you guys.

As a country it is very beautiful, you're never further than 2 hrs drive from a beach. But that's when you're way inland. It actually looks like Lord of the rings in many places.

We've just brought 4 acres on the otago peninsula with overlooking the harbour with panoramic views. It's got the grottiest house on & is very run down with lots of big pine trees. We paid NZ$115k which is about 57kUS. We sold our 3 bedroom house in auckland for $220kNZ. It was not in the best area but we got a good price for it as it was an old restored kauri cottage & had lots of character & was very unique for the area. We were one street back from the sea & had a wharf 5 mins walk away & a park down the bottom of the road with the sea there.

The climate varies a lot too as NZ is a long thin country. Like it's warm & humid all year in Auckland ( up north ) & rains a lot. Whereas in Dunedin, where we are, it gets quite cold & is not that humid. It even snows sometimes. Further inland ( centre of the south island & the north island ) are awesome ski fields.

AP friendliness. With anywhere, I think depends on where you go & who you hang out with. You just have to look. You don't have to get exemptions & all that to not vaccinate & you can homeschool without too many problems I think. Certain areas are known for being more alternative. Not much selection with cloth diapers either ( we call them nappies ). Basically flat or flat. There is a shop in Auckland that sells kushies & imse vimses & does mail order but they are expensive.

Just remembered. You have to pay to go to the doctor & for prescriptions, but for kids under 6 it is free. Low income people get a big reduction as well. Going to hospital can be free too. But there are waiting lists, unless it is an emergency. All maternity care is free. So I can get a homebirth midwife & not have to pay for it - yay!

Wages are less here than in the US. Like I've seen people here saying they *only* manage 75k a year US. :eek That's 150K NZ which is a lot. But I also think things here cost less. I'm not really sure as you can compare it. I found that converting everything back to Pommie money when I got here just didn't work. It would definitely be a lifestyle choice moving here. But then it's also good coz you can do pretty much what you want if you put the effort in.

It is possible to get lots of locally grown organic produce. Again, you need to know where to lok. You can garden pretty much all year round yourself. We can even get fair traded goods & lots of locally produced things. Our cows don't get fed those funny hormones yours do either. They get to stay outside & roam around the fields all year & have a relatively good life as things go. Things are not so peachy for the pigs & chooks tho'. We still have sow crates & battery hens - yuck!!!! We don't get all those fake vegetarian meat substitutes you do. We get a few but they're not the best so I had to adapt my cooking a bit when I got here. We also get the best fresh fish & seafood ever - if you eat it. I'm not sure of any of you partake in the green herb, but we are rumoured to get the best grass in the world too. At any rate, you can grow your own relatively easily provided you don't get caught as it is still illegal.

Anything more specific anyone wants to know ? I've never regretted moving here & have never wanted to go back to England.

Maybe PM JW or Hilary, now she's changed her name, & ask her too.

[OceanMomma]

Doh! Forgot to say of course we get fast internet connections! Here we pay a set fee for line rental on our phones a month ( about $45NZ ) & all local calls are free. I have an extra phone line for my internet connection & that is an extra $30 a month.

[FreeRangeMama]

Thanks OceanMomma,
Sounds just as I was expecting....great! As long as dh can get DSL or cable he'll agree to go anywhere LOL. (and a job might help too). Thanks for taking the time to explain :)
Laurie

[Chelly2003]

Sounds LOVELY. I'm LOOKING for a place for myself and my family. I grew up in South Africa, and my hubby is american.

Sadly, I'm NOT under 30......

Chelly

[Funkeemonkey]

I saw this post yesterday and then came back to try and find it. But it had disappeared. Thank goodness for search.

I am very new to these discussion boards and still finding my way around. But I live in NZ, in the South Island. It is interesting reading Oceanmama describe NZ. I especially loved the description of cows. I think Oceanmama kind of likes cows. LOL.

I hope to see some of you around the boards. I wonder if there is a chance of a New Zealand tribe being founded. Or at least a South Pacific one.

Hugs all.:love

[Funkeemonkey]

^

[aussiemum]

Hi Oceanmama,
I'm not a Kiwi but thought I'd say hello from North Queensland. There always seems to be a few of us from the southern hemisphere hanging around on the boards. I think I want to move to NZ now- sounds lovely!

[moss]

I just found this thread.

Dh and i are at an information gathering/dreaming stage right now.

OceanMomma~~i loved reading your description of NZ!!

i just came up with a bunch of questions, but i could probably find the answers online if i wasnt so lazy, so dont feel obliged to answer them!!

Are there waldorf schools in NZ? Or other private schools? What are public schools like?

How much do you pay for taxes? And what are social programs like? How much do you have to pay to see a doctor? Is there a website that talks about all of this?

Is there a specific rural area that is more likely to attract natural/hippie types? Are there any clothing optional beaches, music festivals, enclaves of artists, etc?

ps, dh asked which side of the road do you drive on! :D




edited bc i found some answers to some of my silly questions here:

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/nz.html

[OceanMomma]

dd is at a Steiner kindegarten or what you would call a waldorf kindegarten. So they do exist here :) I doubt you'd want to be clothing optional on a beach where we are right now unless you are a sea lion :LOL it does get a bit cold & windy at this time of year.

Not sure about which areas are more alternative. Everywhere has suddenly become so expensive.

Check out www.realenz.co.nz for real estate.

[moss]

thanks oceanmomma!


This morning dh sent out a few emails to prospective nz employers!!
:eek :banana

In '96 i worked for a year in another country. It's a really cool experience, you really get to delve into another culture when you're working and not just visiting. And i think the sh!t is about to hit the fan in north america--we dont want to be anywhere near here when it does. Lucky you, to live in paradise already!! :love

[bradley method mom]

what are taxes like. my dh thinks we would pay up the butt in taxes and then want to come home

[loveharps]

HI, I'm from NZ too!!
I'm currently staying in Christchurch, but my permenant residence is just Nrth of Wellington.

moss: i couldn't tell you about any clothing optional areas, but I do know that the Nelson area (top of the South Island) is considered to be quite alternative. And come to think of it, I'm pretty sure my friend once told me about a naturalist camping ground thats there.

I can't tell you much about the immigration thing, being born and bred here, but we recently had to apply for my 92yro grandfather to stay here, because he couldn't travel back to the UK. It was a hell of alot of paperwork, but in the end they let him in, but that was definatly a special case. I think under normal circumstances they don't let anyone over 50 in.