Congratulations, you must have discovered that New Zealand is not just another part of Australia!
My husband and I brought our three children here in 1972. We had no friends or relations to come to: we just decided that it would be a good place in which to bring up our family. The only information we had received from New Zealand House in London was that we should buy a house in New Zealand before we arrived! We decided that was certainly not a good idea.
After poring over maps of New Zealand, we came to the conclusion that the North Island was going to be sub-tropical, and therefore we wouldn’t need our warm English clothes, and told the children to take their last look at the pleasure of open fires, because we just would never see one again.
This proved to be wrong; only north of Auckland in the Bay of Islands area does one find truly sub-tropical weather. As we settled in the Bay of Plenty, we found it very hot in summer, but when the temperature dropped to around 10 degrees Celsius after summer highs of 25-30 degrees Celsius, we certainly felt it cool enough to light a fire.
New Zealand lived up to the clean green image we had, the skies were certainly blue and the waters clear, and the sun was so bright we needed sunglasses to cut down the glare.
One day we were travelling from Hamilton in the North Island to Tauranga, a journey of perhaps one hour. After about 20 minutes I realised that there were no cars to be seen, and what’s more, there were no people either! It felt as though
a bomb had been dropped and we were the only people alive -a strange feeling. However, it now seems strange to meet many cars when on the open road; you only meet congestion and experience hold-ups when travelling through the cities.
The children got teased about their ‘pommie accents’ and it took a while for them to settle in at school and make friends, but that was in 1972 and there is a lot more tolerance these days towards new immigrants.
I hope that this book, based on more than 23 years’ firsthand experience, will be of some help to you in planning your stay in New Zealand – and who knows? – perhaps making a whole new life here as so many have before. It is pleasing to see such great interest in New Zealand, making it necessary for a sixth edition of this book. This new edition has been revised and updated to reflect the latest information for visitors and new residents.
Finally, I would like to express my thanks to the following organisations for giving so much valuable help and advice during the preparation of this book:
NZ Immigration Service
NZ Police Department
KPMG Peat Marwick, Wellington office
Ministry of Education
Department of Statistics
New Zealand Medical Association
NZ Employment Service
Fig. 1. Map of New Zealand.
The Birds And The Bees
One of the main factors in influencing me to make New Zealand my home was the fact that there are hardly any creepy crawlies here! There are no snakes or crocodiles. We do have one spider which is poisonous – the Katipo. I have never seen one although I do know that they can sometimes be found in decaying logs, so I just stay away from dead wood!
Twenty years ago there were no wasps here but there are now. We get mosquitoes, especially in the north of the North Island, and there are flies, but not in the horrendous numbers they have in Australia. Yes, we do have sharks in our waters and there have been a few attacks on swimmers.
First Impressions
When you first arrive you will be enchanted by the gaily painted houses, which are mainly of wooden construction with tin roofs. You will be surprised at the spaciousness of everything, and even on a busy day on Queen Street, Auckland, you can still walk in reasonable comfort. You may notice the seemingly small selection of goods in the
shops, and possibly be told, when enquiring for something, that they are waiting for the next shipment!
Bare Knees
New Zealand lifestyle is very casual. Shorts and shirts for the men and sundresses for the women are the norm during the summer. I found it strange to see butchers wearing shorts, knee socks and an apron! When I went to see the doctor, I had to try not to smile when he came around from his desk as he too was wearing shorts!