I want to live in New Zealand!?

Question

I got such great answers with my Australia question, lets try with NZ!

I was brought up and live in a big US city and a little bored and tired of American attitude and ignorance. I have an advanced degree in technology, I am female in my late 20's and know little to nothing about NZ, haven't even met anyone from there. I'm also getting older and bit tired of my crowded big noisy city. I want to be in a diversere cultural city but close to natural spaces. Which is funny cause when I did search for those words NZ tourism page came up.

Care to fill me in? What should I be reading and where should I be visiting to get a better idea?

Answer 1

Hi

I am a kiwi living here in New Zealand. I would not live anywhere else and I have travelled extensively to both visit and work in many countries.

However, if you are in your twenties, live in a large bustling US city and are bored, then you should look at NZ with a certain amount of caution. Also, I am amazed that you haven't bumped into a kiwi as yet; 10% of our population is overseas travelling at any one time and it is almost impossible NOT to find one propping up a bar in any of the world's major cities.

The most sensible thing for you to do is to arrange a holiday down here. Arrange for it to be for at least one month and incorporate, at the very least, a looksee at Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington, Nelson, and Christchurch as potential places to live - as well as the major tourist spots (all work and no play, etc etc). There is no substitute for visiting a potential home and getting a feel for the pulse of the place.

There are a lot of internet sites that will also give you a taste of New Zealand; some of them are listed below.

Good luck!! :-)

Answer 2

New Zealand is a fabulous place. Everyone I know who has been does not want to leave. I had a chance to get citzenship once and fooloshly turned it down because I wasn't ready to settle down yet...dope! It is a much more laid back, friendly atmosphere than anywhere I have seen in the USA. And, there is great diversity in weather, land type, activity, and even culture depending on which city you are in and everything is within driving distance in a weekend. I.T. is big points on the immigration application especially if you also have a degree and any experience in the field. That is what got me the offer. With what you explained, I would think you could easily qualify (they do look at criminal background too, so any arrests can be a problem) then you have to get and hold a job for 2-years to be permanent. You could get a work visa good for 6-months through a company called BUNAC and then if you want to stay go apply for an extension and permanent residency. Once you have NZ residency, you can pretty much go back and forth and work in either NZ or OZ, their borders are pretty open.

Answer 3

Do what I did and get a work visa. I went for a year, and now I am back in the states, and applying for NZ residency. You should be able to get a 12-month working holiday visa no problem

When I went over I used BUNAC, and they were great. You get an orientation when you arrive in Auckland, and support while you're there, cheap travel deals and insurance... Or just check out Immigration NZ (I see both have been sited in other answers already, good on ya kids!)

As for an actual center to move to in NZ... Check out Wellington. Great city, very cultural, its right in the middle, so you have easy access to both the North and South Islands. Great people there... Its just an all around great city.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Aucklands the most culturally diverse city in NZ, but hamilton is a bit quieter. i live in a little town called thames on the coromandel peninsula, about an hour and a half away from both cities. actually, theres 3 cities the same distance away from Thames, the other one is Tauranga. that place is quieter than Auckland too, but it gets a whole lot louder around christmas and new year.
Check out this page to get a look at the place:
http://www.newzealand.com/travel/destinations/regions/regions-home.cfm

Answer 5

Hi this is quite funny because I am a young female who wants to leave NZ to see more of the world... Anyhow a great place to start would be the capital Wellington. Auckland is a big city with alot of crime and a lack of things to do.. Growing up in Wellington I would reccomend it for our scenery,harbour,shops and beachs. Infact I heared Wellington was judged as one of the top 10 citys to live in. Good luck!

Answer 6

new zealand is about the size of great britian but with a population of aproximately 4 milllion
any city in new zealand would be great for getting to beautiful scenery in a very short time
start in Auckland and then try out the others one by one
i preffer hamilton where i went to school when i lived in new zealand

Answer 7

do not situation there is thousands of human beings and diverse cultures in Auckland. it rather is once you get out to the wop wops that there is not many human beings. a great style of stuff to do. There are dodgy factors (I make it sound undesirable even nonetheless it rather is probs not something whilst in comparison with u.s..) however the Albany and the north shore hours be wonderful because of the fact they are wealthy-ish factors. it could get slightly costly, the nearer you reside to the city the better the lease would be. a great style of human beings circulate to Australia because of the fact it rather is extra cost-effective and there is extra jobs, so yeah Melbourne would desire to be extra valuable. Out of everywhere in New Zealand i might prefer to stay in Auckland nonetheless.

Answer 8

Go there on vacation for 6 weeks and tour it.

It is great country, but sleepy back water. Awaesome for outdoor people.

Answer 9

New Zealand has everything & if you love space & getting away from it, its perfect. Go check it out first to make your decision. It will be a real adventure.

Answer 10

Muslims who want to live under Islamic Sharia law were told on Wednesday
to get out of Australia, as the government targeted radicals in a bid to
head off potential terror attacks.

A day after a group of mainstream Muslim leaders pledged loyalty to
Australia at a special meeting with Prime Minister John Howard, he and his
ministers made it clear that extremists would face a crackdown.

Treasurer Peter Costello, seen as heir apparent to Howard, hinted that
some radical clerics could be asked to leave the country if they did not
accept that Australia was a secular State and its laws were made by
parliament.

"If those are not your values, if you want a country that has Sharia law
or a theocratic state, then Australia is not for you", he said on national
television.

"Immigrants, not Australians must adapt. Take it or leave it. I am tired
of this Nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or
their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Bali, we have experienced a
surge in patriotism by the majority of Australians.

However, the dust from the attacks had barely settled when the
"politically correct" crowd began complaining about the possibility that
our patriotism was offending others. I am not against immigration nor do I
hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking a better life by coming to
Australia.

However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our
country, and apparently some who were born here, need to understand. The
idea of Australia being a multicultural community has served only to
dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Australians we have
our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle.

This culture has been developed over two centuries of struggles, trials
and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.
We speak mainly ENGLISH, not Spanish, Lebanese or Arabic, Chinese,
Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you want to become
part of our society,...learn the language.

Most Australians believe in God. This is not some Christian, right wing,
political push but a fact because Christian men and women, on Christian
principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is
certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God
offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your
new home, because God is part of our culture.

We will accept your beliefs and will not question why, all we ask is that
you accept ours and live in harmony and peaceful enjoyment with us. If the
Southern Cross offends you or you don’t like a "Fair Go" then you should
seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.

We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change and we really
don’t care how you did things where you came from. By all means, keep your
culture but do not force it on others.

This is OUR COUNTRY, OUR LAND, and OUR LIFESTYLE and we will allow you
every opportunity to enjoy all this. But once you are done complaining,
whining and griping about our Flag, Our Pledge, Our Christian beliefs or
Our Way of Life, I highly encourage you to take advantage of one other
great Australian freedom: THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.

If you are not happy here then LEAVE. We didn’t force you to come here.
You asked to be here. So accept the country YOU accepted.

"I’d be saying to clerics who are teaching that there are two laws
governing people in Australia, one the Australian law and another - the
Islamic law. That is false. If you can’t agree with parliamentary law,
independent courts, democracy and would prefer Sharia law and have the
opportunity to go to another country, which practices it, perhaps, then,
that’s a better option" Costello said.

Asked whether he meant radical clerics would be forced to leave, he said
those with dual citizenship could possibly be asked to move to the other
country.

Education minister Brendan Nelson later told reporters that Muslims who
do not want to accept local values should " clear off "

"Basically, people who don’t want to be Australians and they don’t want
to live by Australian values and understand them, well then they can
basically clear off" he said. Separately Howard angered some Australian
Muslims on Wednesday by saying he supported spy agencies monitoring the
nations mosques.