Auckland to Adelaide. Should we consider it?

[Guest Philzbub]

Hi all,

 

A bit of background first. We are a family, husband, wife and two young daughters(3 1/2yo and 16month old). We've been in NZ, on the North Shore (just outside of Auckland) for two and a bit years. We all british and just decided to leave the uk for our girls and i was fortunate enough to get a job before leaving.

 

however, we are now in a position to consider Australia, and an opportunity has been presented my way for a job located in Adelaide. I don't have to live in Adelaide but would need to be well located for access to the main hospitals within a reasonable driving distance, and would be based from a home office.

 

if anyone has any experience of life in NZ compared to life in SA - that would be fantastic, but any thoughts, advice, from people in Adelaide would be very welcomed. We don't know what to do! Whilst we love NZ, and the beaches are fantastic, it's beautiful here, the cost of living is quite high and to get on the property ladder here very difficult unless you compromise on location (a lot) in a lower decile suburb.

 

so last week a visitor from Aus genuinely offered me a work opportunity to start around December this year, gave me some food for thought around the job and the money etc. But we just can't decide what would be best, and we don't. Know Aus that well. I've visited Sydney a few times and briefly stayed in Glenelg, Adelaide all visits were for work, so short and sweet visits. But i did like the feel in Adelaide. I stayed in the hotel there on the beach, right by the marina- think it was called te Glenelg Hotel? - went for a meal at the McClaren Vale Vineyard and what i saw of the place, i did quite like. But i certainly didn't see that much to make a big call on.

 

anyway, any advice will be welcomed.

 

Thanks

phil.

[cliffy]

My daughter who has lived and worked in Wellington for the last 8 years is staying with us at present. She has bought a house and added a family of 3 children since she moved there. She does get back here a few times a year, with both work and to visit us.

Her present opinion is that she would not move back. Partly because she believes this country is run by madmen, (her words) and also because the cost of living, she believes, is much higher than NZ, certainly Lower Hutt, where she lives.

I think I would advise a visit before you move but if you have no ties to NZ (house, etc.) you could always try it for a few years.

Maybe in your case it would be wise to get your NZ citizenship, so that you have the right to travel and work in both countries without much restriction.

I think I might add, I would happily live in NZ, there isn't that much difference, but the weather in winter is just too much like where I lived in UK

Edited October 3, 2014 by cliffy

[snifter]

I think my first thing would be what kind of visa type? Temp I'd be wary and would want to get a PR application going as soon as possible. Is this possible with the prospective employer? It's a big move to make on a temp visa as there may not be much security in that. If it's PR then much better move.

 

Hubby lived in Wellington for a couple of years going back a while now. He loved it, loved NZ, was very happy there. Long term opportunities for him were further afield though he'd have happily stayed but perhaps would not be in the position he is now work wise? Hard to say. He'd not earn as much in NZ (we looked into it before we settled in his returning to Adelaide), the job market and niche market are if course smaller so less opportunities for him. Property wise in Wellington (the only place we'd have moved to) who knows. I found them cheap compared to our UK standards but then Adelaide prices to me are also cheaper than what we were used to in our area of the UK (Bristol). We bought a house here within 7 months of arriving from the UK.

 

Cost of living is the crunch really. Once living and earning Aussie $$ the rest is kind of a moot point. It's if what you would be earning is enough to provide you a decent lifestyle here, your own home in the not too distant future and so on.

 

I think if you have a solid job offer for Adelaide and liked what you saw, consider it as a serious option to move. Perhaps a visit to see it in more detail is worthwhile? Even if it's just one of you for a few days? Although you won't really scratch the surface but it would give you a better idea. Glenelg is a rather pricey suburb and while lovely, not affordable to all. Many wanting a beach suburb go further south but those beach suburbs are not really anything like Glenelg IMHO. Really nice though but different look and feel I find. Many are very happy living in them (not us though, we like the hills more)

 

Look at living costs, all the things you'll need to cover like medical (bulk billing is harder to find these days it seems), car prices (high), fuel (cheaper than UK, can't comment on NZ comparison). Oh, childcare here might be pricey. Research that carefully. Once in school it should get easier with OSCH but kindy/nursery fees can sting. But then if you already pay them you will be expecting to pay them here iykwim Cost it out and see how then numbers stack up for you.

 

There are plenty of well priced suburbs and small towns out of Adelaide and lots of ex pats around in many of them.

 

It's a hotter drier climate and not all take to it.

 

Hubby works from home we bought a house that has given him a room as his home office that wasn't taking up a bedroom. He loves that aspect. He thankfully doesn't have to go into the city anytime though does have to take trips overseas and interstate from time to time.

[snifter]

One thing I just thought of. If you gained PR for Aus you'd be eligible for Aus citizenship after 4 years. This would then (as it stands now) give you rights to live and work in NZ iirc. Hubby is an Aussie and did this with ease when he moved over there.

[Guest Spitfire]

Hi Phil

 

I've never been to NZ, but a British friend of ours lived there for years before moving to Adelaide, and he has lived in Adelaide for nearly 30 years now, I believe. My understanding is that NZ is more expensive and parochial than Australia, and the cost of living there is supposed to be very high. The cost of living in Australia is also very high, but less so. Not sure of house prices in NZ, but you're probably looking at a four bed house for your family size, which is going to be anywhere from $450,000 upwards depending on area and proximity to CBD. Another advantage to Adelaide is only 6 hours flight to Singapore, KL, etc., for trips to Asia or back to Europe, as opposed to the monstrous flights Kiwis have to do just to get halfway.

 

Snifter makes a good point about climate. Adelaide is usually the hottest place in the country during the spring/autumn (except Darwin) and the hottest in the summer most days when you look at the map, or BOM website, and it can get hard, especially with the 30+ degree nights. If you go into a rental try and get one with good air-conditioning. There is no legislation protecting people from accommodation without proper cooling. Just something to bear in mind.

Edited October 5, 2014 by Spitfire

[guspjmh]

Hi Phil, do you mind me asking what kind of work you are in if it's based around hospitals? If it's anything related to what I do I may be able to give you some relevant advice!

[Guest Philzbub]

Hi there. Sure can. I'm in medical device sales, mainly for general surgery and all sub specialities. So would be needing to get to all public and private hospitals.

 

many thanks.

 

 

Hi Phil, do you mind me asking what kind of work you are in if it's based around hospitals? If it's anything related to what I do I may be able to give you some relevant advice!

[guspjmh]

Hi there. Sure can. I'm in medical device sales, mainly for general surgery and all sub specialities. So would be needing to get to all public and private hospitals.

 

many thanks.

 

I'm doing exactly that! I work with general surgeons in Adelaide and it's more challenging than anywhere else I've worked before. I'd say this is partly because it is a very conservative area and the surgeons tend to be older and extremely established here. That's not to say I don't enjoy it, but you really do need to put the hours in and be available for cases regardless of the time (or distance to travel).

 

If you want to pm me for a more detailed chat I'm happy to help.

[Guest Philzbub]

Thanks to everyone so far, some really good tips and advice there. Most appreciated.

[Guest harribo]

Hi mate, we moved from Auckland to Adelaide a couple of years ago. We lived in Auckland for 8 years and loved it and New Zealand in general. Both originally from the UK. We moved to Adelaide because my wife's sister moved over as well from the UK. So we stayed in Adelaide for a year and are now in Melbourne as my wife couldn't get a job in Adelaide after looking for around 6 months. She's a civil engineer and had a pretty amazing job in Auckland.

 

Adelaide is lovely, very relaxed, next to no traffic compared to Auckland and Melbourne and the house prices aren't too crazy. That said there isn't heaps to do compared to the bigger cities or New Zealand but there is enough going on. We're thinking of moving back to Adelaide as Melbourne is just one big rat race and isn't really giving us the lifestyle we're after.

 

To be honest we wish we'd stayed in NZ but we moved for the right reasons, ie to be closer to family so don't regret it massively but we really did love NZ. We were on the property ladder though (still annnoys me that we sold the house when we left!), now the house prices over there are just silly so if you aren't a house owner now its not a very realistic proposition for most people and i wouldn't want to be tied in to an 800k mortgage which is the same here in Melbourne.

 

Adelaide is totally different to Auckland but is a good city in its own right. I would suggest coming over for at least a week or 10 days to get a good feel for the place, something we didn't really do properly!

 

Good luck!