Possibly heading over to NZ to live. A few questions

[ynot slow]

As an ex naki(slang for Taranaki,province of New Plymouth)it is a great area to live,sea,and mountain within 40 mins of each other,and engineering is there in loads with large industry which you know about,also close to Auckland airport,but can get a few breezes like most areas.

A good choice to live in my opinion.

[Metastable]

Cool thanks to know!

We'll see how it goes.... keeping fingers crossed they let us in.

[St_Gabriel]

In regards to the medical, not being resident/citizen, you will be responsible for your own medical costs except for any accident which is covered by ACC. But having said that, being Canadian (I assume) NZ has a reciprocal agreement with a some countries (Aus, Canada and a couple of others) and you just have to show your passport at the hospital and then not have to pay for any hospitalisation/treatment in hospital.

Hmmmm, on second thoughts, maybe im wrong, I know Aus has the reciprocal thing going on with NZ and Canada so would ASSUME NZ and Canada have it going on as well, It may pay to check that.

[axdout]

Have you been here before? If not watch Once Were Warriors and you will see what this country is like! Shit pay and expensive living. We hate guns, love to give to those who can't be botherd working and blame all crime committed on the rough childhood that the crim had, it's always somebody elses fault. Seriously shit must be really bad if your leaving canada for here. Anyone who says this country is a great place to live either has emigrated from somewhere like somalia, Has never been overseas or is filthy rich and money is no object to them.
Bummer about the stanley cup aswell, I reckon someone paid Luongo to throw it, he was shit.

[admenk]

New Plymouth is a great area to live - but that's because I'm here No decent beer though !

[Metastable]

Have you been here before? If not watch Once Were Warriors and you will see what this country is like! Shit pay and expensive living. We hate guns, love to give to those who can't be botherd working and blame all crime committed on the rough childhood that the crim had, it's always somebody elses fault. Seriously shit must be really bad if your leaving canada for here. Anyone who says this country is a great place to live either has emigrated from somewhere like somalia, Has never been overseas or is filthy rich and money is no object to them.
Bummer about the stanley cup aswell, I reckon someone paid Luongo to throw it, he was shit.

Ya Luongo didn't do so hot when he was playing in Boston.... should have played their other goalie in Game 6.

Anyhoo - Yes I was there in the middle of winter last year. Had a chance to speak with various locals that live in NZ and 1 here in Canada too. It seems like all the Kiwis I meet outside of NZ all say they'll end up back in NZ sooner or later.

I figured we'd go in the winter (end of July beginning of August) to see what your "wank" weather is like. I must say it wasn't too bad. What you described above sounds like Canada. Except here the cost of living is actually a lot higher because the price of housing is getting to be insane. To be honest I think both countries are very similar except what attracts me to NZ is more of what you don't have:
- Too many people
- Too much traffic
- The smog and pollution we get
- Our nasty winters. Geez... where I live (which is 1 hour from the American border) we can get snow anywhere from Oct-May that's 7-8 months out of the year. Then during July and August it's super HOT.

Don't get me wrong. Canada is a great country... and there are places where you can get away from the crowds etc... but in those areas there are no jobs and the winters get even worse.

Plus you guys have a geography that is a bit more conducive to the lifestyle we want to live.... mountains/hills and water in close proximity. We've done the big city deal... time to settle down a little. But hey, if they don't let us in... I know I will still be privileged to live in Canada.

Oh and I have seen Goodbye Pork Pie.

[Mental Trousers]

New Plymouth is a great area to live - but that's because I'm here No decent beer though !

Bollocks. Mike's Mild out at the White Cliffs Brewery.

[Mental Trousers]

....To be honest I think both countries are very similar except what attracts me to NZ is more of what you don't have:
- Too many people
- Too much traffic

Stay the hell away from Auckland and you're right on those two

- The smog and pollution we get

Christchurch gets smog. They also get Earthquakes. But other than that it's a great place!!

Oh and I have seen Goodbye Pork Pie.

Hell, you're practically a Kiwi already then!!

[ynot slow]

Bollocks. Mike's Mild out at the White Cliffs Brewery.

DITTO when Mike owned it was good,the dark beer best,and not a fan of them myself but was impressed.

[Metastable]

You guys do have some nice microbrews. Had some good ones in Chch and in Wellington. However, I'm fine with Tui.

[Mental Trousers]

DITTO when Mike owned it was good,the dark beer best,and not a fan of them myself but was impressed.

Mikes Mild Ale is the lightest of the 4 dark beers. There's

• the original Mikes Mild
• one that's virtually a soup and kicks Guiness's arse
• a caffeine charged coffee flavoured one
• a smooth as silk whisky flavoured one

[admenk]

Bollocks. Mike's Mild out at the White Cliffs Brewery.

And I can see it from my house !! Still not as good as a pint of Banks' Mild though.....

[CheapBastard]

Hey,

My wife and I came here from the U.S. this past July (I'm from Boston, but am not a hockey fan, so don't worry), and brought our bikes (my old Beemer and her Scooter). The car thing has been answered well; it's not worth converting something to right hand drive when many examples are already built that way and available here for somewhat reasonable prices.

But as for the bikes, the importing itself was pretty painless if you have the paperwork in order: you'll need proof of ownership (and ideally proof that you've owned the machine for at least a year), and a "valuation" on this side (i.e., what the bike is worth in the New Zealand market) for customs. This valuation can be based on your proof of purchase or a receipt from Canada, or can be provided by a dealer in New Zealand (an "unsighted valuation"), and will be used to determine any duties you might have to pay. I don't know if a race bike will qualify for this, but we were given concessions for our bikes (we don't have to pay duty, as long as we don't sell them for two years: we still needed the valuations, nonetheless).

Once you have the customs paperwork cleared (and the bike is clean enough for MAF, which both of ours were after just a good hand-wash before loading into the container back in the U.S.), you are good to take possession of the bike (trailer rentals are reasonable here too).

Getting the bike on the road (entry certification,WOF, brake certification, registration) if that is your goal, is a bit more involved and expensive... I've completed that for my bike (needed new tires to pass WOF, and the other tests add up), and am still in process on my wife's (less of a priority right now).

Bike registration here is pricey compared to what I was used to (my 40 year old bike used to cost me $6 USD to register in the U.S., and was 175 NZD here: I imagine I'd be crying to register a sport bike). Keep in mind too that both of our bikes are the round headlight sort, so we didn't need any pricey parts to comply with the other side of the road: you probably would need to spend some cash. My suggestion to you would be to get any bike parts you might need to comply with NZ road standards lined up in North America if possible (shipping from the UK, for example, to Canada has got to be cheaper than from anywhere to NZ) where you will find most things are significantly cheaper (open them so they are used and clearly for personal use) and throw them in your container...

With some effort, you can get everything sorted, and if your stay here would be made better by the presence of your favorite toys, than by all means go for it!

Good luck!

[Metastable]

Cool thanks for that. So it looks like I don't have to make it road worthy to pass the import stage, that is good. My paperwork from Canada should be fine, it says that it is street legal here, but that I just don't have plates for it. I guess I should get someone here to do an estimate... it would be pretty low anyway, but since I have to get it done, I might as well... plus I'm sure the estimate here would be WAY lower than the estimate in NZ.

[Metastable]

Hey folks quick question.

The advertised price of used and new vehicles cars and bikes on trademe etc... does that include all the taxes and WOF?

Are you guys charged tax on used vehicles? Is that included in the price advertised.