Moving to New Zealand?

Question

We're thinking of moving to New Zealand. Can anyone tell me what its like there. What is the weather like, are there four seasons? Where is the best place to live? Also, what is the attitude of the people, we are a mixed couple (black & white), is it safe for us to go there? If its not a safe place to go then, what country is?

Thank you for the website info. I asked this question because its real easy to read what the government wants you to know about their country. I want to get a better feel for the area, and the best way to do that is to ask everyday people like yourselves to give me an honest opinion of the country. I mainly want to know if it is safe for a mixed couple. But I was wondering about the weather as well, are there any places that just stay hot or does it get really cold, and what cities or areas stay hot or get snow. That sort of thing. Thanks.

Answer 1

How seriously have you looked into this since you do not even know whether there are 4 seasons in NZ? (yes there are & also the climate varies a lot between the north end of Nroth Island & the southern end of South Island). I have friends from Malaysia who have moved there. They have no racial problems (Being Malay some think they look a bit Maori anyway, so consider that a blending in bit if you like)

Easiest options for you are to contact Air NZ in your country (maybe a travel agent in your home area) and the NZ tourism dept. on line for a background on the country including climate info & there is a very good NZ government site all about how to migrate there including all sorts of information you need to know. Sorry, I can't remember the URL but it is a small country with a small government (I mean that in a good way) & therefore easy to find the correct department via links in their sites.

I f you want to know more, email me & I will ask my friends in NZ if I can pass their email on to you.

I understand your concern, I too have a mixed marriage.
Regards & good luck.

Answer 2

Being a kiwi I am biased when I say that NZ is the best place in the world to live and raise children.
Weather is like many other places = four seasons, cold in some places, warm in others.
The best place to live depends entirely on what you like. I suggest coming out to visit for a couple of months and you choose the area you like etc.

The question regarding the attitude of people towards a mixed couple indicates to me that you may not yet know a lot about the history of New Zealand. We are a 'bi cultural' country (though many say we are now multicultural) - meaning a treating was signed between the Maori tribes and the British - and for decades since Maori have married European and vice versa. To have a polynesian/maori person married to a european person is not uncommon.

New Zealand is relatively safe. This does not mean crime does not take place, you still need to be mindful of your personal safety - but we are a country that does not have a right to bear arms so the changes of getting shot in a diner are very low!

Read some information about New Zealand and book in a holiday.

Answer 3

Well in regard to the mixed couple thing, as I'm white this is only from my opinion...I think that the US has a much greater opinion on mixed race relationships than just about anywhere else, my personal feelings are you love who you love, whoever and good on you for being happy!...I personally don't see it as any different.

Also the native Maori, have been happily marrying europeans and anyone for a long time now, and as they as well as polynesian people marrying white/asian whoever as also quite common, its not seen as a big deal....I think that would be the same for most people really......
Safetywise, well we have crime like any other place, while some places have more crime than others where I have lived (Which is mainly the South Island) I don't really see lots of crime...as pointed out by someone its been voted the 2nd safest country in the world...thats more to do with the stability of the government I guess and we don;t really have civil wars etc....but I would also consider it safe in most perspectives...again there are people who are more affected by crime etc than others and in certain areas....as a South Islander I would say that the North Island appears to have more crime and in certain places eg South Auckland...

For the best place to live...well it depends on where you can get a job (ie if you have a specific type of job, as we are reasonably small you may need to head to the larger centres like Auckland (1million +), Wellington (400,000), Christchurch (400,000), Hamilton (100,000) or Dunedin (100,000), while other jobs may allow you to go to the towns or smaller places which may suit you better.
Weatherwise we don;t have the extremes of contiental weather (ie not HOT hot or COLD cold) BUT it can get warm (generally mid 30's oC for summer is as hot as it gets) and cool (-5oC in mornings or colder, but mostly warms up, it may not reach 5oC on cold days in the South Island in some days.....but will be warmer in the North Island.
We generally experiences distinct seasons, but the North of the North Island is called the Winterless north.....but having never experienced what that means I personally don't really mind the winter experience.
I guess you need to look at what come places have to offer you and maybe ask again when you have a clearer idea of what you want (ie smaller places will generally have more of a "community" feel, while larger places have more facilities and maybe jobs).

Answer 4

I worked there in a senior executive capacity for some years and I like the place a lot.

The South Island has the 4 seasons. Northland on the North Island has nice weather all year around, but Auckland is wet for about half the year.

There are Maori, Asians (including Indians) and Whites (Pakeha) in Auckland.

Wellington, Palmerston North and Hamilton are basically Maori and Pakeha.

Christchurch and Dunedin are White.

The West Coast of the South Island is best avoided. Horrible weather and black sand beaches.

There are also Pacific Islanders.

You are safe in New Zealand, but ethnic groups do tend to fight within their groups on occasion. They would not harm you, but I am unsure whether you would fit in. There are plenty of White/Maori marriages. It sounds really racist to say it, but I imagine you want the truth, if the husband is white, I do not think it would be a problem, or if the husband is black, if he is light colored, I do not think it would be much of a problem. Otherwise, it might be difficult because you are so unusual.

I rarely saw any blacks, even though the rugby team is called the "All Blacks".

Answer 5

You wont need to worry about the black/white thing too much.( I am in a mixed marriage) It's reasonably safe here too. Cities are were the work is. It's too cold down south and too hot up north. Live somewhere in between.
No where is totally safe though, just be sensible.

Answer 6

Visit www.immigration.govt.nz. This website has a whole heap of infomation on migration to NZ. Yes we do have 4 seasons, and its a perfectly safe country. I wouldn't live anywhere else! As for the best place to live in NZ, well that comes down to personal choice, but I live in Wellington, the capital city. Best place in the world!

Answer 7

G-day

I lived in NZ for over 20 years. NZ is VERY multicultural – you will blend in fine! My partner is black, I’m white. My thoughts … “No matter what country you go to there is always going to be racist remarks, it only boils down to being immature”.

Yes NZ is one of the few countries that really do have 4 seasons. Personally I think the south Island is better - beautiful landscape vast mountain chains, steaming volcanoes, sweeping coasts, golden beaches, alpine peaks, glaciers, rain forests and grassy plains.!

I lived in Nelson at the top of the south island. Nelson city is the 10th most populous city and geographical centre of New Zealand. Nelson and Tasman Region has a resident population of 92,300 (2006 census)

Annual Rainfall: 985mm, Average Sunshine Hours: 2392hrs
Max Temperature January 22.3º Min 13º Extreme Max 36.13º
Max temperature July 12.2º Min 1.5º Extreme Min -6.6º

Main website for Nelson is http://nelsonnz.com

On one side of Nelson you have Abel Tasman http://www.abeltasman.co.nz and Golden Bay, http://www.goldenbay.net.nz/en/guide.html and the other side Marlborough.http://www.destination.co.nz/marlborough - everything is not far away if wanting a change of scenery.

In October there's been times where we've gone to the ski feild skiing in the morning and waterskiing in the afternoon / evening (with daylight savings).

Close to everything, beaches, the countryside, ski fields, wineries, hiking tracks etc…. again my opinion, less crime in South Island also. Nelson is probably the safest place. Next choice would be Christchurch.

For more info –
http://nelsonnz.com
http://www.nelsoncitycouncil.co.nz/jobs/jb-living.htm
and http://www.christchurch.org.nz/Living/

http://www.immigration.govt.nz

http://www.nz-immigration.co.nz

Moving to NZ Information - http://newzealandnow.info/au/article/au-come-on-over

Working in NZ
http://www.workingin-newzealand.com
http://www.workpermit.com/new_zealand/new_zealand.htm

Cost of living in NZ
http://www.emigratenz.org/cost-of-living-in-new-zealand.HTML
http://www.nz-immigration.co.nz/cost-of-living


If you want to flag NZ altogether and want HOT weather ALL year round. Comes to Cairns, North Queensland in Aussie. This is where I live now - http://www.welcometocairns.com.au

Any other questions email me if I can help you.

Answer 8

new zealand , has just been choose as the 2nd safety country in the world to live in , norway was first... look up n z sites you will see the beauty of the place , pop. of 4 millions peple of all race now .. its class as a very caring country .