Going to NZ...

DOC09UNAM

Ok, plan is try get to NZ, live there for a couple (2 months), and if i can get a job, then stay for a few more and then travel around aus and asia afterwards...

Main question is, what kind of budget is necessary for living in NZ for 2 months??? looked up a hostel for 2 months that would be around 1500-1600NZD for the two months, but what would living expenses for the week be??

Public travel, etc etc, anything useful, thanks guys!

majiktripp

When I was there last year we were renting in a Suburb called Avondale, and that was costing us $325 a week which wasn't too bad. Factor in groceries etc at around $75-$100 a week (seemed cheaper for more over there) and that was us sorted. They have a good rail transit system based out of Britomart in Auckland, along with comprehensive bus services also.
My advice would be to apply for jobs via seek.co.nz the week before you are due to depart to NZ and get as many cv's out there already. Also go into Madison Recruitment and get yourself set up with them and see whats on offer!

Delorian

Good advise majiktripp. Also OP, consider somewhere other than Auckland. I'm in Wellington and it's the capital, therefore has a good amount of government work, so depending what you do, that may suit. Decent accommodation here would set you back about $150 to $190 depending how close you want to live to the city. Bills may also be included in that. Wellington is so small (think Galway size) that, if you live quite close to the city, you won't need public transport. Many cheaper suburbs are only half an hour walk away too.

Not too sure about Christchurch although think it's smaller again. And, obviously there are a gamete of smaller city / towns around that might be nice to live in, check out Napier, Queenstown, Tauranga. But depends on how you want to work.

Hostels are about $23 per night. Pick up a BBH book as soon as you can for cheaper prices and accurate hostel reviews.

srmnm

Depends entirely on where you live and what u want to do there..

Auckland - Spread out, lots of public transport expenses unless u plan on living off Queen St or K-Road. $200-300 per week for something ok. Groceries will be $100-150 pw. Loads to see and do. Surely you'll be having a drink, going for a movie, buying some clothes, phone credit... or that, id expect $1800-2000. ($1500 on a tight budget)

Welly - No need for public transport really. City is compact, u can walk from one side of CC to the other in 30 mins and lots to see and do again. Rent short term, check platinum rentals for a cheap deal. Groceries and stuff will be the same. But its cheaper to live in Wellington simply because there is no need to use public transport.

Christchurch - No nice harbour, not as appealing to the eye as the other two major cities. Wouldnt live there myself, but know ppl that do and love it. Rent is a fair bit cheaper and there is certainly plenty to do outside the city + they get good weather there and have the best club rugby team (debatable but true).

Queenstown - if u have $3000-5000 per month. U wont care where u sleep, just bring a camera and wear a helmet.

If ur travelling around, rent or buy a campervan for this, easily best way to do it. You can find vans for sale on trademe.co.nz or on a budget u can rent from escaperentals.co.nz (from Auckland or Christchurch), rented ones will be services and will be about $1500 for 7 weeks with good insurance, off peak. Dont know how much around Christmas, but probably 2K'ish. Alternatively u can get a hop on hop service around stopping at various places.

Recruitment Agencies will generally have a Temping consultant, for a few days work here and there. If u fancy working on a site, i used tradestaff/keyskills, majiktripp mentioned Madison, there is also Beyond, AbsolutIT, just google recruitment agencies in NZ hit mapsa and you'll get a complete list.

Tiny bit of advice, if you have enough cash, do Asia first. U may end up not having the cash to go there after a few months here. Doesnt matter what anyone says about work. There is plently over here, if ur wiling to do data entry or work on building sites. I work in IT and did almost a month on sites until i got IT work.

Hope it helps.

DOC09UNAM

Thanks for all the advice guys, applied for a 12 month working permit visa today, waiting on the phone call from the guys.

mesnifth

well if you want a part time job? i stayed in a hostel on the north island in a town called Te-Puke. i worked in a kiwi packing plant and paid $100nz a week and bought my own food. if you look up seasonal work in new zealand on google lots of jobs come up and the employers sort out your visa and tax stuff. if u want to know more juse pm me and i will give u as much info as u need.

DOC09UNAM

mesnifth wrote: »

well if you want a part time job? i stayed in a hostel on the north island in a town called Te-Puke. i worked in a kiwi packing plant and paid $100nz a week and bought my own food. if you look up seasonal work in new zealand on google lots of jobs come up and the employers sort out your visa and tax stuff. if u want to know more juse pm me and i will give u as much info as u need.

Cheers, i'd like a part time job really, i read temping and fruit picking are the big things over there, and i had the thoughts of staying in a hostel, comfort doesn't bother me if its all i can afford!!

$100nz a week sounds pretty amazing to be fair, what was the hostel like??

mesnifth

the hostels are grand, just make sure u bring a padlock when u travel cause if u stop off anywhere for longer than a day u will want to lock ur stuff away.

DOC09UNAM

mesnifth wrote: »

the hostels are grand, just make sure u bring a padlock when u travel cause if u stop off anywhere for longer than a day u will want to lock ur stuff away.

Yeah I've been reading through a few guidebooks here and there about what to bring, and I was told that having any kind of qualification in database, excell and word, would probably help me land a temp job easily enough!!


Next step is to book the tickets, and then plan to leave!!

Shzm

DOC09UNAM wrote: »

Cheers, i'd like a part time job really, i read temping and fruit picking are the big things over there, and i had the thoughts of staying in a hostel, comfort doesn't bother me if its all i can afford!!

$100nz a week sounds pretty amazing to be fair, what was the hostel like??

The reason it was $100 a week is because te puke is a hole. Stick to one of the three main cities, akl welly or chch.

If you're going to stay in Akl look to rent somewhere close to the train line, along the western route would be more affordable rent wise. The train system isnt as good as the dart imo, but it works.
Alternatively renting somewhere like pt chev, waterview, grey lynn (in auckland) would all be good options, and only 10-15 mins from the city on the bus.

check out the flatmates wanted section on trademe.co.nz to get a good idea of the rental market. You should be able to grab a decent room somewhere for $150 a week or so.

DOC09UNAM

Shzm wrote: »

The reason it was $100 a week is because te puke is a hole. Stick to one of the three main cities, akl welly or chch.

If you're going to stay in Akl look to rent somewhere close to the train line, along the western route would be more affordable rent wise. The train system isnt as good as the dart imo, but it works.
Alternatively renting somewhere like pt chev, waterview, grey lynn (in auckland) would all be good options, and only 10-15 mins from the city on the bus.

check out the flatmates wanted section on trademe.co.nz to get a good idea of the rental market. You should be able to grab a decent room somewhere for $150 a week or so.

Cheers, I know someone living in auckland, I'll show him whatever i find, and see if it's any good!!

Thanks for the tips man!

esharknz

Shzm wrote: »

check out the flatmates wanted section on trademe.co.nz to get a good idea of the rental market. You should be able to grab a decent room somewhere for $150 a week or so.

try www.nzflatmates.co.nz and www.flatfinder.co.nz.
When I was looking (2002), I bought the trade and exchange. Might be worth a look too (www.te.co.nz).

Comments on Auckland:

There are a few major bus corridors too, one is along the great south road (4/5XX and howick), and another is along the Manukau road (from memory 3XX). Remuera Riders also run along the remuera road from the city about every 15 minutes too.
As I couldn't drive at the time, I found flats along one of these corridors and it's really really handy.

Wellington can be compact, and there are also a few very good train lines, which run along the two major routes out of the city, as well as a line up to Johnsonville. A lot of people do mention how nice it is to be able to walk to work, but plenty do also live close by the city, but commute in within 20-30 minutes depending on where they are. The region has about 450,000 people living in it too.

DOC09UNAM

Shzm wrote: »

The reason it was $100 a week is because te puke is a hole. Stick to one of the three main cities, akl welly or chch.

If you're going to stay in Akl look to rent somewhere close to the train line, along the western route would be more affordable rent wise. The train system isnt as good as the dart imo, but it works.
Alternatively renting somewhere like pt chev, waterview, grey lynn (in auckland) would all be good options, and only 10-15 mins from the city on the bus.

check out the flatmates wanted section on trademe.co.nz to get a good idea of the rental market. You should be able to grab a decent room somewhere for $150 a week or so.

esharknz wrote: »

try www.nzflatmates.co.nz and www.flatfinder.co.nz.
When I was looking (2002), I bought the trade and exchange. Might be worth a look too (www.te.co.nz).

Comments on Auckland:

There are a few major bus corridors too, one is along the great south road (4/5XX and howick), and another is along the Manukau road (from memory 3XX). Remuera Riders also run along the remuera road from the city about every 15 minutes too.
As I couldn't drive at the time, I found flats along one of these corridors and it's really really handy.

Wellington can be compact, and there are also a few very good train lines, which run along the two major routes out of the city, as well as a line up to Johnsonville. A lot of people do mention how nice it is to be able to walk to work, but plenty do also live close by the city, but commute in within 20-30 minutes depending on where they are. The region has about 450,000 people living in it too.

This is why i love boards, Thanks for all the feedback guys, just having a look now at some rough prices and there seems to be a good few around the 150-170 a week margin, which would suit me fine...

Kudos!!

watna

srmnm wrote: »

But its cheaper to live in Wellington simply because there is no need to use public transport.

Man, I feel bad now. I live a 20 minute walk from work and I've been getting the bus in all week.

Lazy watna!

OP, if you need any advice on whether a suburb is nice or not I'm sure people will be happy to help. When we moved to Wellington my OH (a kiwi) had a very strict list of suburbs we were allowed to live in so I can help with Wellington!

$150 - $170 sounds like a good amount to spend. I share a two bed flat very close to town with my OH and we pay $170 a week each to you should get something good for that, in Wellington anyway.

jank

Come to Christchurch!!:)

srmnm

jank wrote: »

Come to Christchurch!!:)

Back to work Christchurchian. Friday evening drinks are still hour away...
hehe!

DOC09UNAM

I'd like to see a month at least on each island if possible, so was thinking either auckland/wellington and then christchurch/Queenstown.


I have 3 places that i would love to go there as a tourist/traveller...

Mount Cook, Milford Sound, Abel Tasman National Park.


I'm sure there's more, but those three places really caught my eye!!

DaireMac

Hi all

I'm 37 and would like to emigrate, oz dosn't seem to be an option over the next two years at the moment anyway, what about NZ are they the same?

Thanks D.

BraziliaNZ

mesnifth wrote: »

well if you want a part time job? i stayed in a hostel on the north island in a town called Te-Puke. i worked in a kiwi packing plant and paid $100nz a week and bought my own food. if you look up seasonal work in new zealand on google lots of jobs come up and the employers sort out your visa and tax stuff. if u want to know more juse pm me and i will give u as much info as u need.

You lived in Te Puke? Jasus!!!

jank

srmnm wrote: »

Back to work Christchurchian. Friday evening drinks are still hour away...
hehe!

Head hurts alot, xmas party last night. Needless to say I did things that I dont want to repeat in public.:p

pclancy

Me too. Got home at 7am yesterday morning with bad memories of late night Karaoke in the Fringe Bar, half a pie and no credit card.

watna

pclancy wrote: »

Me too. Got home at 7am yesterday morning with bad memories of late night Karaoke in the Fringe Bar, half a pie and no credit card.

I was stumblng around town on Friday night too. I probably stumbled past you at one stage. Went out for "just the one" after work and it ended in carnage. I got home and demanded my bf order me a pizza. Then (apparently) I ate the whole thing and went to sleep, covered in bits of cheese and pepperoni. My bf had to clean me off

Hmm, this thread seems to have got a bit off topic. OP, as you can see from the posts the kiwis can also put away their drink!

watna

DaireMac wrote: »

Hi all

I'm 37 and would like to emigrate, oz dosn't seem to be an option over the next two years at the moment anyway, what about NZ are they the same?

Thanks D.

What kind of visa would be applying for? What job do you do? I think NZ is still a little bit easier to get in to - especially if you have a skill.

aindriu.doohan

hi all.
just wondering if anyone can fill me in on the engineering situation in nz. finished up with a degree in structural and civil engineering and in two minds whether to go to canada or nz.
anyone have any thoughts??

pclancy

Sure have a look youself: www.seek.co.nz

Economy isnt doing too bad and there's still a skills shortage here. Might not get much without work experience though.