Living in New Zealand (Auckland in particular)

kizzyf

Moving to Auckland in a few weeks time. Just wondering if anyone can advise me on what areas of Auckland to avoid when looking for place to live.
Also if anyone has any tips on living in NZ in general. Simple stuff like where to buy groceries etc. Thanks.

d'Oracle

You will ruin all the fun for yourself.......

kizzyf

d'Oracle wrote: »

You will ruin all the fun for yourself.......

Um... yeah.. it's not so much the fun I'd be worried about missing out on it's the squandering of already miniscule life savings on prolonged hostel accom and other mistakes.

pclancy

Franklin, Takapuna, Birkenhead, Glenfield, Wairau, Milford, Albany, Mount Wellington are cool. In fact, pretty much any North Shore area will be nice. Avoid far west and south Auckland, some pretty dodgy areas there.

This is an excellent hostel I always use in Auckland: http://www.lantanalodge.co.nz/ nice and quiet, cosy and free wireless internet.

Pak n Save are cheap for groceries, best place is the chinese food and vegtable markets. Avoid local newsagents (dairys) unless you have to for groceies as they just tend to buy at Pak n Save and stick on a few dollars profit

My best tip would be dont live in Auckland, live in Wellington where the scenery, atmosphere and quality of life is so much better. Weather's crap in winter though

kizzyf

Thanks pclancy. We're going to go wherever we can get work. Will give Auckland a shot first.

d'Oracle

pclancy wrote: »

My best tip would be dont live in Auckland, live in Wellington where the scenery, atmosphere and quality of life is so much better. Weather's crap in winter though

I second this sentiment.
Christchurch and Dunedin are cool too.

Auckland just isnt that nice a place to be IMO.

When you say you are moving, are you going permanently?
I didn't mean to be unhelpful, but when you said Moving I assumed you would have a job and Auckland was where it was.

kizzyf

We're going on a WHV but if we like it we will try to get residency.

pclancy

Hard times for WHV workers lately, because of the recession Kiwis been given first preference for a lot of jobs as they're coming home from overseas in high numbers. Bring enough cash to see you through and home if nothing comes up workwise. Depending on your skills you might be lucky, if you get interviews etc dont say you're a backpacker on a WHV, say you're here for the long haul and want to get residency. They've seen plenty of foreigners appear, stay for a bit and then vanish so i'd avoid the fact you're on a WHV.

At least try Welly and Christchurch or keep an eye on seek to see what jobs are there...Aucklands just like a warmer Dublin imo with crap nightlife and traffic jams.

watna

I actually quite liked Auckland - but then I was only there for a day and I was used to tiny old Wellington at that stage so was happy to be in a big city again - but yes, it reminded me a lot of Dublin.

Also, I would rather melt my face then go to Pak n Save. I've issued a boycott and I don't go there any more! (my reasons are manyfold!)

Living in NZ is not really that much different to home - just be prepared that consumer goods are not as cheap (or if they are they're terrible quality) or as available. That threw me when we got here and were trying to furnish a falt (yes, flats come unfiurnished so you will need to buy a bed at least - Salvation Army or TradeMe is your friend).

Also, living without a car in NZ sucks so look in to buying a cheap one to keep you going for the year.

pclancy

...and bring lots of cheap clothes because clothes are crazy expensive here. Winter is sucking right now but springs only a few monthes away.

I have never seen the amount of birds flying around a warehouse as the ones in Pak n Save. Airbourne, feathered types of birds btw.

kizzyf

Wil prob head to one of the car markets fairly soon after we arrive. Better half wants to buy a van and the plan is to drive around and see everywhere. Have some contacts in the South Island to stay with later on. They have Woolworths in NZ don't they? Assume that would be okay for groceries. Have contacted a few recruitment agents already, all fairly blunt about competition being high for jobs but we're not setting out to make our fortune so any job will do. Hopefully I'll get some temporary admin work or something. Hoping it'l be easy enough to get shared accom for few months that'l b easy to move away from if we decide to head to Wellington or elsewhere.

Still have to set up bank account. Was looking into it before and it seemed really easy but can't remember what bank it was with now. Anyone recommend any?

esharknz

Banked with the national bank and quite happy with them. I'm certain you can open a bank account with them from overseas (www.nationalbank.co.nz). Asb are also good as well and would no doubt provide the same service (www.asb.co.nz).

Yeah, I've always said Auckland is a nice place if you can afford to live in a nice suburb. Not wanting to offend any south aucklanders out there, but I'd avoid living in that area for a number of reasons......
I liked greenlane/Remuera as they were close to the major bus routes in Auckland, close to the city and nice areas. Some of the dearest areas out there, but for public transport in Auckland they are quite well located.

Wellington is nice (although I'm from there) as the train services are quite good (most people I worked with out in the hutt or north commuted by train).

Agree with the price of clothes, I can't believe how expensive they are in NZ, and the groceries can be very dear as well.
A lot of the homes are poorly insulated as well, so power bills can be flaming high.

All the best. Hope you love NZ!

Rabies

I've been living and working in Auckland for nearly 3yrs now.

Will come back to this thread later. In work now.

Any questions you have have about the place throw them up and I'll do my best to answer them tomorrow.

kizzyf

Trying to think of questions....

Are cars cheap in NZ? Trying to sell one of our cars now before we go but looks like we're going to have to practically give it away unfortunately.

I have a Kiwi 'sort of relative' coming over here this weekend that I will plague with questions but she hasn't lived there for a good few years. thanks to everyone who has given advice so far as it really is a big help.

esharknz

I find cars tend to keep their value a lot more than irish cars, although sometimes they are on par when the exchange rate is taken into account. Cars on the road tend to be a lot older too (my mother laughed at OH when he was complaining how old his 2001 car is).

I'm a kiwi but defected to Ireland close to 3 years ago too

watna

Yep - clothes are really expensive. Go to Penneys and buy knickers, socks, vests and pyjamas before you leave! I was given this advice and I'm very grateful that I was. My best mate at home sends me penneys care packages!

We got a car the day after we arrived in Wellington for $1800. We were lucky in that we went around to dealers and one had a car coming in that afternoon worth $2000 - he sold it for $1800 as we were paying cash up front for it. We've had it over a year and it's taken us all over NZ. We have just had to fork out quite a lot to get it repaired but you can't go wrong with $1800 - as long as one of you vahuely knows something about cars.

Yes, they have woolworths here and that's where we do our food shopping - once I'd instituted the pak n save boycott (and yes, birds flying around was one of the reasons!)

Setting up a bank account is really easy. I initally set up with ANZ - it took 10 minutes and they gave me an eftpos card on the spot 0 very handy where you're new to a country. I've since switched to BNZ as they have a very useful account where you get 10 bank accounts for $10 a month - so you can have a rent account, savings, shoes account (yes - I have a shoes bank account! )

One thing I found quite surprising when I got here is the quality of food wasn't great (I mean fresh produce like dairy and surprisingly, meat). Took me a while to find sources I was happy with. I would have expected the opposite, that it would be better than Ireland but even my kiwi OH agreed that he was disappointed with the food after living in Ireland for 3 years. Groceries are expensive (although hime isn't cheap either) but it just feels like you have to pay a good bit extra to get good quality.

If you move to Wellington, let me know if you need recommendations on where to live. My OH is sort of from Wellington so he had a very strict list when we got here - thank god or I wouldn't have had a clue! Happy to meet up for a drink as well if you need any help.

When are you arriving? Winter in NZ is miserable. We arrived May 208 and I had a really tough winter. There's no central heating and the houses are damp and cold. We're much better set up this winter so it's ok. It doesn't get as cold as home but you're not as comfortable when you're inside. In saying that - last summer was fabulous and the quality of life we had over the summer months more than made up for the winter.

jank

Also, I would rather melt my face then go to Pak n Save. I've issued a boycott and I don't go there any more! (my reasons are manyfold!)

Pak N'Save is depressing alright. OK if you are buying tons of cheap $hit to eat but if you want quality foods don't go near it. We are going to be buying our meats from the Mad Butcher and most other things from Countdown.

DeadMoney

How much money would you recomend going over with. whats the farming work like over there for backpaskers. do they prefer backpackers for that kind of work.

gary o

Hello all,
i'm heading down in september i was just wondering about places around auckland like mangere & manukau city to live in?,are they allrite,now bare in mind i'm currently living in blanchardstown so I'm not falling out of a D4 mansion into the real world!.On a WHV looking for a job at the airport/airline work as that's what my experience is in,got an engineering degree but no experience 2 yrs out of college.any tips would be nice,not adverse to going to somewhere like hamilton or wellington for work.Would ideally like to live on the pacific coast but a job is the be all and end all

Delorian

Some ppl have said it already but I'll say it anyway. Haven't been to Auckland yet but haven't heard great reviews. Wellington rocks, was here for only a few days and knew I wanted to live here so went home for a month and a half, got flights, visa and now live here. Great city.

kizzyf

We might actually be heading to Tauranga now instead of settling in Auckland as we have a contact there to stay with. It'll come down to where we get work.

esharknz

Delorian wrote: »

Some ppl have said it already but I'll say it anyway. Haven't been to Auckland yet but haven't heard great reviews. Wellington rocks, was here for only a few days and knew I wanted to live here so went home for a month and a half, got flights, visa and now live here. Great city.

YEAH! It does rock. The one thing I hated was the wind! Although I lived there for 20+ years.
Many areas have decent enough public transport too, and a number of affordable nice enough areas (in comparison to Auckland).

Wally Runs

I have lived in both Wellington and Auckland albeit some 5 years ago. Which you like will greatly depend on your lifestyle to date. Wellington is nice and compact, being held in by the hills and has a defined town centre.
Auckland is much more spread out.
If the outdoors is your thing then Wellington is the place as you have easy access to the hills and the South Island. Auckland is good too, things are just further away.

If you have specific skills it might dictate where you will settle, Wellington being the capital has many of the HQ's of industry, Government offices etc. Hamilton has a more dairy focused industry.

Furnished rental was hard to come by so you might have settle for a Hostel for some time.

If your plan is to be free and easy then settle where you find work.

You do not need us to tell you that you are on for a great experience either way. Remember to embrace the whole thing, you will be on your own for much of the time, that is to say you will have to rely on yourselves and eachother (no going home to mammy etc) It is real independence. Enjoy every moment.

mazken

I lived in Auckland for 6 months and while I did enjoy my time there it's just a regular city, nothing spectacular or out of the ordinary. Because it's the main city in NZ there's quite a few events which take place throughout the year including free concerts etc. This is a major plus!! Eventhough the city itself is nothing to write home about the people are fantastic. Your experience is what you make it to be regardless of where you live. If you do decide to live in Auckland I'd recommend somewhere like Parnell or Newmarker which is really pretty, great places to eat out at, great shops and really close to city. You can get the Link bus into town from both these places which is regular and dependable. Also if you do end up working somewhere in the suburb it's always good to be living relatively close to the train station. Once again, both these are accessible by train. As for supermarkets, it's Foodtown all the way..loved that place
There's a HEAP of recruitment agencies in Auckland, only thing is that they're not overly fussed about people on WHV. One which I found excellent was QuinnStaff - it's a smaller recruitment agency so it's defs more personable. Had really bad experience with HAYS so you might want to stay clear but then again you can't be fussy these days!! Best of luck in NZ, you'll have awesome time
P.S. I totally agree about stocking up on Pennys/Dunnes items...they having nothing near an equivalent over there, such a pain!!

Claasman

Hey all, just moved to nz(near christchurch). Seems to be a bit of a nz crowd in this thread, so just 1 quick q, how long can you work for 1 employer here, is it 6 months, same as aus? Im on the whv by the way...sorry for the thread hi jack.

pclancy

Yep supposed to be only 6 months.

esharknz

12 months - http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/work/workingholiday/irelandworkingholidayscheme.htm Kiwi's can work for the one employer for 12 months in Ireland, so in fairness...
They'll specify if you cannot work for one employer for longer than a certain amount of time. You cannot take up permanent employment unless you transfer to a work permit

terencemc

Hey,
Does anyone know which big pharmaceutical company has a plant in Auckland?

pclancy

esharknz wrote: »

12 months - http://www.immigration.govt.nz/migrant/stream/work/workingholiday/irelandworkingholidayscheme.htm Kiwi's can work for the one employer for 12 months in Ireland, so in fairness...
They'll specify if you cannot work for one employer for longer than a certain amount of time. You cannot take up permanent employment unless you transfer to a work permit

Mine said I could only work for 6 months for each employer but that was over a year ago so must have changed.

Either way if you want permanant work Jack dont advertise the fact you're on a whv, push the fact you want a perm job and will get a 2-3 year workpermit if its on any of the skills shortage lists etc. If you just want casual work they probably wont care how long you've worked elsewhere.

All depends on what work you want/can do and how long you plan on staying in NZ really.

pclancy

terencemc wrote: »

Hey,
Does anyone know which big pharmaceutical company has a plant in Auckland?

Pfizer have some sort of setup there, not sure of its size.

Searchy

watna

pclancy wrote: »

Mine said I could only work for 6 months for each employer but that was over a year ago so must have changed.

Either way if you want permanant work Jack dont advertise the fact you're on a whv, push the fact you want a perm job and will get a 2-3 year workpermit if its on any of the skills shortage lists etc. If you just want casual work they probably wont care how long you've worked elsewhere.

All depends on what work you want/can do and how long you plan on staying in NZ really.

It has changed. You can work for one employer as long as you want, there is no rules on this but you cannot take permanent employment with them - unless you get a work permit or otherwise. When I got here a year ago I thought it was three months but the recruitment agency I went though rang immigration and got the answer for me.

I was lucky in that my company kept me on a contract until my residency came in and then gave me a permanent contract.