Life was good in West London in 2003. A nice circle of friends, kids at the best local primary in Ealing, my business had had some very good years, plenty of overseas holidays, small but lovely house…the list could go on a long way. So what the hell was my wife, Shiree, pushing the view that a move to the opposite end of the Earth would bring a positive improvement to our family’s lifestyle?
Shiree and I had been together for over 10 years living in Ealing; we met while she was on her OE from yes you guessed it NZ. In 2003 we had 3 daughters ages 7, 4 and 1. I also had a daughter from a previous marriage who was 12. Shiree had looked at our kid’s lifestyle - mostly indoors due to poor weather and fear of the interminable traffic a few yards from the front door. They had become unfit and couch potatoes in a small house with a tiny garden. There was an alternative, the type of life Shiree grew up with, outdoors all year round, playing meant being outside at a friend’s house or a nearby park or at the nearest beach. There was very little memory of being stuck indoors like caged tiger cubs.
For a time I just ignored her thinking it was a phase she would get over. She didn’t and I began slowly to entertain the idea. Like every major decision in life there always many pros and cons. The cons for me bit by bit were turned over. We had great friends but I knew we could well make new friends. Business had been good but in reality after 20 years I was both desperate for a break from it and to be fair my gut feeling told me it had seen it’s best days. My daughter who was not living with us was getting to an age of independence and her family life was secure and anyway I would aim to return to see her once a year. My parents were in their late 70s - most of our contact was by phone and email; again a once a year trip home would hopefully keep our bond strong too. Likewise my brother and sister.
Soon the pros for staying became a short spurious list but a move to NZ was still a big mindset to come to terms with. Around mid 2003 I just woke up one day and said come on then let’s put our house on the market. Shiree was ecstatic.
The house was sold early 2003 and my business was sold soon after. Heck we are nearly there. My father had heart problems in early summer 2004 and a triple bypass operation followed in July. We held back our departure for a few months until my father had made a good recovery but it was a stark reminder of possible future difficulties that living 11000 miles away may bring. Our 3 girls had New Zealand passports and married to a kiwi my visa was fairly straightforward with a clean police record and the medical passed ok.
We finally set off October 2004 stopping for a week at the delightful Rasa Sentosa Hotel in Singapore arriving in Auckland all the better for that week of winding down. We headed for Papamoa where Shiree’s parents lived, a nice 3 bedroom rental awaiting us. Papamoa is equidistant from Mount Maunganui and Tauranga. It is a very fast growing area with most houses within a 10 minute walk of a beautiful beach for about 12 kilometres. It has recently become fairly self sufficient with the shopping area of Fashion Island opening in 2006 to add to the Papamoa Plaza shopping complex just a short walk away. Between the two you have a vast array of cafes, bars, restaurants, clothes shops, sport shops and large supermarket. Fashion Island has a nice quality atmosphere about it.
We had sold all our big items in London so had just 30 odd boxes of clothes and smaller items sent over. We judged that with the money we got selling off our UK large items we could use the money for more fitting NZ style things. Pretty well worked out right for us.
Schooling for the 3 girls was an immediate thing to sort out. We had done our homework on the internet and the best primary appeared to be Tahatai Coast. Our eldest two started soon after arriving while Charlotte had to wait a couple of years until she was 5, the starting age here. You actually start school as soon as you are 5 rather than having to wait for the next school year as in the UK.
Since we have been here we also can see that Papamoa school is probably equally as good. Both have a policy of living within a zone. Worth noting that is the case for many popular schools here just as in the UK.
All the girls have progressed well and the education system is pretty similar academically to that of the UK. The climate here allows the kids to play outside all year round and most days all kids will go for a run around the school. Much of the team sport is coached and managed by parents.
Getting the kids settled into a good school and kindi was satisfying and then allowed us to concentrate on making friends. Actually it was very easy as most people have moved to Papamoa in recent years for an improved lifestyle and are also keen to make friends. Within a few weeks we were hosting BBQs and heading off to the beach with other families. Plenty of Brits have moved to Tauranga and it very quickly became clear to us that we and they had come to the right place.
Many people who arrive here from the UK find it difficult doing anything like the work and getting anywhere near the salary they were used to back home. Tauranga does not have the rates of pay of Auckland and being a smallish city there are just not the number of well paid jobs around. It is maybe a downside here but the city is growing fast (we are due to overtake Hamilton as the 4th biggest NZ city in the next few years) so hopefully a more diverse array of jobs and increase in pay will follow soon.
Tauranga, including Mount Maunganui and Papamoa, has a population of about 110,000 so it is big enough to have the amenities and offerings of a well managed decent sized city but also small enough not to have the more problematic sides of a much bigger city. The place has a lovely friendly atmosphere and with water and greenery all around it is a beautiful city too. It boasts one of the best sunshine hour records in NZ and the temperature rarely rises above 26c in the summer and seldom below 14c in the winter. Visiting “the Mount” with all it’s variety of superb cafes and restaurants can be as enjoyable sitting outside on a calm sunny 16c in winter as it is on a balmy 26c in summer. If there is another place anywhere that has as many excellent cafes per capita of population as the Mount I would be very surprised. There are dozens both along the main high street and also along Marine Parade. The standard of coffee is way above what we experienced in London.
Outdoor sports are not just for the kids. Sports I never dreamed of doing in England have become a new means to get fit and have a real buzz. Mountain biking around here is world class with great local single tracks and gravel tracks; 45 mins away in Roturua are the Redwoods which boast the best single tracks anywhere in NZ. Surfing is like a religion here - if the surf is up there are hoards of surfboards carried by young and old beachwards along the length of the 20kms of beach from the Mount to Papamoa East. Kayaking is a new sport for me but is fantastic fun heading out through the surf with rods ready to catch the evening feed. Running is especially fun when you can dive into the sea or pool to cool off.
Our 4 years here has had very few down sides. I have tripped back with one of my daughters 3 times and maybe this year we will go as a family. But here feels totally like home. We have kept in close contact with the people who counted most to us in the UK. Our lifestyles have improved immeasurably and this has overcome any feelings of homesickness. I can’t speak for the rest of NZ but Tauranga, particularly for me Mount Maunganui and Papamoa with their beautiful beaches, is the nicest place I could ever imagine living and bringing up a family.
Shiree and I had been together for over 10 years living in Ealing; we met while she was on her OE from yes you guessed it NZ. In 2003 we had 3 daughters ages 7, 4 and 1. I also had a daughter from a previous marriage who was 12. Shiree had looked at our kid’s lifestyle - mostly indoors due to poor weather and fear of the interminable traffic a few yards from the front door. They had become unfit and couch potatoes in a small house with a tiny garden. There was an alternative, the type of life Shiree grew up with, outdoors all year round, playing meant being outside at a friend’s house or a nearby park or at the nearest beach. There was very little memory of being stuck indoors like caged tiger cubs.
For a time I just ignored her thinking it was a phase she would get over. She didn’t and I began slowly to entertain the idea. Like every major decision in life there always many pros and cons. The cons for me bit by bit were turned over. We had great friends but I knew we could well make new friends. Business had been good but in reality after 20 years I was both desperate for a break from it and to be fair my gut feeling told me it had seen it’s best days. My daughter who was not living with us was getting to an age of independence and her family life was secure and anyway I would aim to return to see her once a year. My parents were in their late 70s - most of our contact was by phone and email; again a once a year trip home would hopefully keep our bond strong too. Likewise my brother and sister.
Soon the pros for staying became a short spurious list but a move to NZ was still a big mindset to come to terms with. Around mid 2003 I just woke up one day and said come on then let’s put our house on the market. Shiree was ecstatic.
The house was sold early 2003 and my business was sold soon after. Heck we are nearly there. My father had heart problems in early summer 2004 and a triple bypass operation followed in July. We held back our departure for a few months until my father had made a good recovery but it was a stark reminder of possible future difficulties that living 11000 miles away may bring. Our 3 girls had New Zealand passports and married to a kiwi my visa was fairly straightforward with a clean police record and the medical passed ok.
We finally set off October 2004 stopping for a week at the delightful Rasa Sentosa Hotel in Singapore arriving in Auckland all the better for that week of winding down. We headed for Papamoa where Shiree’s parents lived, a nice 3 bedroom rental awaiting us. Papamoa is equidistant from Mount Maunganui and Tauranga. It is a very fast growing area with most houses within a 10 minute walk of a beautiful beach for about 12 kilometres. It has recently become fairly self sufficient with the shopping area of Fashion Island opening in 2006 to add to the Papamoa Plaza shopping complex just a short walk away. Between the two you have a vast array of cafes, bars, restaurants, clothes shops, sport shops and large supermarket. Fashion Island has a nice quality atmosphere about it.
We had sold all our big items in London so had just 30 odd boxes of clothes and smaller items sent over. We judged that with the money we got selling off our UK large items we could use the money for more fitting NZ style things. Pretty well worked out right for us.
Schooling for the 3 girls was an immediate thing to sort out. We had done our homework on the internet and the best primary appeared to be Tahatai Coast. Our eldest two started soon after arriving while Charlotte had to wait a couple of years until she was 5, the starting age here. You actually start school as soon as you are 5 rather than having to wait for the next school year as in the UK.
Since we have been here we also can see that Papamoa school is probably equally as good. Both have a policy of living within a zone. Worth noting that is the case for many popular schools here just as in the UK.
All the girls have progressed well and the education system is pretty similar academically to that of the UK. The climate here allows the kids to play outside all year round and most days all kids will go for a run around the school. Much of the team sport is coached and managed by parents.
Getting the kids settled into a good school and kindi was satisfying and then allowed us to concentrate on making friends. Actually it was very easy as most people have moved to Papamoa in recent years for an improved lifestyle and are also keen to make friends. Within a few weeks we were hosting BBQs and heading off to the beach with other families. Plenty of Brits have moved to Tauranga and it very quickly became clear to us that we and they had come to the right place.
Many people who arrive here from the UK find it difficult doing anything like the work and getting anywhere near the salary they were used to back home. Tauranga does not have the rates of pay of Auckland and being a smallish city there are just not the number of well paid jobs around. It is maybe a downside here but the city is growing fast (we are due to overtake Hamilton as the 4th biggest NZ city in the next few years) so hopefully a more diverse array of jobs and increase in pay will follow soon.
Tauranga, including Mount Maunganui and Papamoa, has a population of about 110,000 so it is big enough to have the amenities and offerings of a well managed decent sized city but also small enough not to have the more problematic sides of a much bigger city. The place has a lovely friendly atmosphere and with water and greenery all around it is a beautiful city too. It boasts one of the best sunshine hour records in NZ and the temperature rarely rises above 26c in the summer and seldom below 14c in the winter. Visiting “the Mount” with all it’s variety of superb cafes and restaurants can be as enjoyable sitting outside on a calm sunny 16c in winter as it is on a balmy 26c in summer. If there is another place anywhere that has as many excellent cafes per capita of population as the Mount I would be very surprised. There are dozens both along the main high street and also along Marine Parade. The standard of coffee is way above what we experienced in London.
Outdoor sports are not just for the kids. Sports I never dreamed of doing in England have become a new means to get fit and have a real buzz. Mountain biking around here is world class with great local single tracks and gravel tracks; 45 mins away in Roturua are the Redwoods which boast the best single tracks anywhere in NZ. Surfing is like a religion here - if the surf is up there are hoards of surfboards carried by young and old beachwards along the length of the 20kms of beach from the Mount to Papamoa East. Kayaking is a new sport for me but is fantastic fun heading out through the surf with rods ready to catch the evening feed. Running is especially fun when you can dive into the sea or pool to cool off.
Our 4 years here has had very few down sides. I have tripped back with one of my daughters 3 times and maybe this year we will go as a family. But here feels totally like home. We have kept in close contact with the people who counted most to us in the UK. Our lifestyles have improved immeasurably and this has overcome any feelings of homesickness. I can’t speak for the rest of NZ but Tauranga, particularly for me Mount Maunganui and Papamoa with their beautiful beaches, is the nicest place I could ever imagine living and bringing up a family.
