One year update of living in New Zealand
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 ก.ย. 2024
- We discuss what it's like to have lived in New Zealand for a year, including things we love, and things that make us go hmmm.
Check out our friends Liz and Brian on It's A Drama at itsadrama.com/
Stay tuned for a video/photo highlight reel of our first year in New Zealand, hopefully to be completed soon.
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I was raised in a 1940s weather board home below mount ruapehu and recall pulling icicles off my bedroom windows while in bed. I just remember thinking ah it’s cold, and just pulled the blankets over my head also lol. Now I’m
Older I enjoy the comfort of a warm home. Congratulations on your number 1 news.
Oh thanks! That's funny you saw that.
Wow a year already! I grew up in an old villa where we only had fireplaces in the main living rooms and wall heaters in the hallway. We never had ice on the inside of the windows (thank God!) If we were cold we were told to put another jersey (sweater on)! It was very cold and there's no way I've carried on living like that as an adult. My current home is another old villa so it does have the original sash single pane windows, however every exterior and interior wall is insulated, the floor is insulated and also the ceiling. We only have a wood burner for heating but it is the warmest, driest house I've ever lived in. (And cool in summer.) Every room is comfortable to be in. Thank goodness all new builds must have double glazing since 2012, although I still hate how we rely on a single heat pump for heating the house.
Agreed! small improvements at least, but we are looking forward to one day buying a home and doing some upgrades on the insulation
We have double glazing , insulation above and below and in any newer walls, plus heat pumps. Keeps us warm in Dunners
that sounds like a dream! One day lol
I love Dunedin. It's not damp and humid, even though it's cold. It was the first established city with the oldest housing stock. Settler territory. The first University. Thank you Scots.
I love the architecture here, my favorite in NZ so far
@@ZoomiesAbroad I don't know if you have been but Napier gas (in my opinion) some awesome architecture after it was rebuilt after massive earthquake and is mostly Art Deco city.
@@ZoomiesAbroad Dunedin was for a time the largest city in New Zealand during the Otago gold rush era - that's when the wealth was generated for all the grand old buildings the city still has - Christchurch used to be similar until the 2011 Earthquake and the subsequent mass vandalism of the city centre in the guise of "recovery".
Congratulations on gaining residency - that's a weight off the shoulders for sure.
I can see why you have made many friends too, your video is very funny, and your humour matches Kiwi humour quite well - Kiwi humour can be very droll and self-depreciating and sometimes you really did "have to be there". You could have some fun learning the NZ humour based on various TV adverts that great influence in their time too (check out the Toyota b*gg*r ad) - it would apparently be considered highly offensive in the US, but we got an official NZ Broadcasting Standards Authority ruling that it isn't in NZ.
Regarding the cold houses - they're shocking aren't they? My own house is well-insulated and double-glazed, cost me a small fortune, but I simply refused be cold inside anymore. Waking up one winter morning to discover my bedroom was 10C was the last straw.
A few years Otago University did an investigation of Dunedin housing (student housing in particular) and found that in some of them in winter it was actually warmer in the refrigerator - I sure one of your Dunedin friends could give you more details, the report was pretty notorious at the time.
Thanks for the entertaining video . Kia ora tō korua ra.
Congratulations - and welcome!
You sound like fun loving people welcome to New Zealand 🇳🇿 and we need more people like you both in New Zealand 🇳🇿 we also need more nurses/doctors and caregivers.
It's how we grew up. Ice on the inside of the windows 🥶. Went to the UK and double glazed windows blew my mind. I froze my whole childhood for nothing 😭
lol right!! coming from the US, we are like, it doesn't have to be this way...
Side note. I did have to open my bedroom window in England as it was too hot in bedrooms at night for me🤭🙄
I grew up Dunedin 60+ yes ago where double glazing and insulation wasn't even thought about then. We used fires so the heat would disappear out a un-curtained window and through the ceiling. It wasn't till about the 80-90s glazing and insulation was taken seriously. Congrats on getting residency and I'm really glad you are enjoying yourselves
Thanks!
You happy to be here and we are most grateful for you coming here. A great combination. Arohanui
There's nothing like Oamaru stone. Most of the stone buildings in Dunedin are built with it. It's very easy to sculpt with. Everyone who went to Art School in Dunedin got to use it.
That's very interesting!
Just came across you. I live in Dunedin but work in Auckland. About to finally head back for good at the end of this year. It is great having everything you need in one small but beautiful place. restaurants, cafes, coffee, bars, nature etc
Congrats on coming back, we do love living in a smaller city.
you guys are so funny! i'm laughing so hard at the outtakes! lol THANK YOU for keeping them in!
have a WONDERFUL DAY!
~Jj
You guys are totally hilarious!! You are reinforcing my decision to move back to NZ after spending 33 years in the US. I must say that my cats were rather alarmed at my bursting into uncontrollable laughter. Congratulations on getting your residency! You will be much appreciated by the average Kiwi... goodonya!
Cheers
Les
Either prebuild before double glazing came to NZ and it was cost prohibitive to replace them. Just generally not considered when building.
Electricity for central heating is very expensive, compared to income.
Even now living in Auckland to heat my house with electric would add $150 + onto my monthly bill compared to running my mobile gas heater at $28 per month.
Would love to have double glazing just to block out noise alone.
When we do eventually buy a home, we hope to put in double glazing, partly for the noise. And good point about electricity cost.
Get down to the stadium, immerse yourselves into culture of the local footie team, tell them your newbies and you will have a lot of helpers/ new friends. Insulation in New
Zealand houses wasn't mandatory until the 1980's, as a Kiwi, I don't know why, maybe it wasn't in English homes, so why in ours? When we travel, we take note of these
improvements, maybe the lack of money for these things was the reason, we were an economy based on the farm products, the economy was very tight on "luxuries", and
you had to have an income from overseas to get these improvements, for example to buy a new car, you used that money, your old car was worth more in New Zealand
Pounds than a new one (which you not having 'overseas funds' could not get) on the open market, this didn't change until the mid 1960s. The housing stock was in a word
ramshackle, the "state house" pre WW 2, well built, but those built after lacked good design, but they housed people.
Interesting! I could see money playing a big role, especially being an island and needing certain supplies to be shipped in. Thanks for the helpful response!
Glad u guys are enjoying life down in dunners..congrats on yr residency also...sending aroha (love) from Christchurch
Thank you!
I love Dunedin!
I lived there for 10+ years, yes the houses are cold but that's the same right across Aotearoa.
In Dunn's, I think that's because of the tough Scot's settlers, the local building materials, and the Scottish reluctance to spend money on luxuries like, heat.
As my Scottish father used to say, turn that bloody light off! and if your cold put another jersey on....
But you've got to admit there's something special about how deep a sleep you get when it's cold and you're smothered under 6 layers of heavy blankets.
Having said all that, the very best thing about Dunedin, is it's relatively close proximity to Central Otago.
The most extreme but wonderful area in NZ
Glad to see you're both doing well , can't wait until the 24 month update.
By then I'm confident you'll both be walking around in shorts and gumboots in winter and jandals or bare feet in summer.
😀👍💙💛
Oh....
One more thing
Re: the poor air quality
You're a resident now, go get them, give the council a good kick up the ass
An online partition could be a good start or better still, somehow get the Dunedin school kids politically involved in cleaning up their environment by applying pressure to the council
😀👍
It is funny how we are slowly adapting to the cold inside, and our goal this summer is to go barefoot more! I hadn't thought about the Scottish influence, but it makes sense. As for the council, I do happen to have a friend on the council that I often bug about stuff 😂
That was then, now people want better comfort, so don't see why these things can't be installed and replace the old crappy windows and improve insulation now days ? I never get the barefoot in summer thing there's plenty of great summer footwear options.
In the 1950s-1980's NZ had pretty cheap electricity and so space heaters were not expensive to run. In many of the older houses you will find on the fuseboard or on the walls will be old thermostats for underfloor heating that is no longer used.
Firewood is also used a lot and often from managed re-planted forests which they often claim makes it carbon neutral but its not a good solution due to the urban air quality so places like christchurch ban new fireplaces from being installed unless they meet some pretty strict standards. Heat pumps are pretty much where the heating industry is going now.
New houses also need to have double glazed windows etc. Older rental houses are required to have insulation to a new standard. Unfortunatley unless the house is a rental, adding insulation doesnt increase the sale value so most people wont spend the money unless they intend on owning the house for a long time.
Interesting about Christchurch and fireplaces, and I know in Dunedin air quality in the winter can be a real concern. It would be nice to see the trend going towards heat pumps.
My wife and i brought a small house 🏠 in Masterton this house was built in the 60's so doesn't have double glazing and no wood burner but did have a heat pump the house was very cold in the our first winter in the house and all the inside of the windows had condensation on them so the following year we had a HRV fitted which dried out the whole house 🏠 and the house is now toasty warm in the winter we have been living in Masterton for 4 year's now, my wife and i are both born and bred New Zealanders my wife is a caregiver in a resthome in Masterton and i've been retired for one year 😀
New Zealanders are used to the cold, so when they go overseas, they feel like thy buildings are overheated! It's the same in Australia, and yes some parts of Australia are just as cold (or colder) than Dunedin in the winter and the houses are similar with single glazing etc. That's only slowly changing in the last 10-20 years. People just get just to it.
Great vid, and congratulations on you residency. Cheers.
Thanks Sam!
Have to say, you have the Dunedin look - best look in the world.
Thank you!
Congratulations on your residency. Glad you've settled in well. Dunedin is a nice town. My Mother grew up there. I know what you mean about being colder inside than out. It's pretty much the same in Christchurch and surrounding small towns. I often put an extra layer on inside our house. No double glazing and average insulation.
Yeah it just baffles us a bit, but we are getting used to it. I know Christchurch gets quite cold as well!
Ha - you have embraced the woollen jumpers - yup that is Dunedin 🙂
Chances are the house you are in is 100 years old or more. Even if ceiling insulation has been added there is likely no wall insulation. I lived in Jackson St St Kilda for a few years - would sit in front of glowing coal fire with electric heaters on behind my back. Ah the memories - condensation on the inside of windows turning to ice, getting dressed under the bed covers in the morning. Yup, Dunners' winter smoke haze, though should be better than when I last lived there nearly forty years ago. No heat pumps back then. Back then coal gas was piped throughout the city, that would even leave sooty residue on the internal walls and ceilings.
Living in St Kilda, at least you can hear the surf crashing on stormy nights. I loved that.
Kia ora, first time catching your vid, great to hear your settling in, you made a big move coming this far and seem like you'll fit in fine, many years ago like most kiwis i spent time out of the country (7years) when i came back i struggled with the slow pace and relaxed approach to things but its now something i really appreciate, the song "dont worry be happy" sums it up. Enjoy Dunedin, ive never been there, im scared of the cold. Give the dog a pat from me. Ka kite ano
For me being from the Nth Island, a few years back I headed to Christchurch for a couple weeks RnR, and because it was winter, it was a shock for me, how cold I felt once I got there. At that time I had never been in snow or ice cold conditions like it was then, our party went to the local electrical store and bought every heater we could find. As for the smog, Christchurch and Dunedin are iconic as the smog capitals of NZ because of coal burning. Winter is pretty bad in those areas. Most housing throughout nz is not double glazed or has any form of heating installation provided. If you buy an older home, unfortunately you also buy the cold that comes with it lol.
The christchurch city council banned log burners since 2010 and any log burners that are over 15 years also to be phased out. There are a few exceptions to the rule, but mainly very strict. It would be interesting to see how much improvement in air quality of Christchurch today
Great update guys, the year has gone so fast. I grew up in Auckland and you're right, colder inside than out 😂 we did have a fire place which helped and lotsa blankets
Congratulations!! I think you are both a lovely asset to NZ :) The cold house thing is just the way we do it, even though its stupid. When I was a student we used to go for drives we couldnt afford because the car was warmer than the house.
oh my gosh, that's crazy! It makes me laugh, while driving me crazy at the same time! And thanks for the kind words
Thriving ❤️
Welcome home!
Congratulations Brian on your job extension and on your and Maille's residency! It was a blast hanging with you guys at Ryan's! You guys are adorable!! The shopping hours and finding stuff that was commonly found in North America has been challenging yet interesting - discovering all kinds of new shops! Glad to have met you two!
So great to meet you Randy! We can't wait to hang out again. Stay patient, it gets easier finding stuff lol
Congratulations on the visa 🥳🥳
I presume there would not be much new home building activities in Dunedin. With the building code, the houses will be much better insulated.
Rented properties now need to abide by the healthy homes legislation so hope your home is meeting that requirement.
There is some new building, but I know that generally there aren't enough houses, and that even though many are supposed to be updated, I don't think thats happening everywhere
@@ZoomiesAbroad All Tenancy Agreement must now attach:
* insurance statement providing information on whether the property is insured etc
* Insulation Statement. All rentals must now have ceiling and underfloor insulation where it is reasonably practicable to install or if work done by professionals it's receipt.
* Healthy Homes Standard Compliance Statement for draught stops, heating compliance.
For those who were in a tenancy before the legislation first started had a few years to comply and they should have completed their compliances by now.
As a landlord of a few decades, I will never rent out my property if it is not safe and warm for my tenants. Altho not expected, I have found that installing ventilation system keeps the house dry and healthy and has saved $ in medical bills and lower electricity bill for the tenants.
Unfortunately most NZ homes, rentals or not, are not warm so it is important that tenants do question their landlord or at least let them be aware of their obligations.
Great to see you both settled in,I used to live in South Dn and always found it a great place to get to know people,mainly because neighbours are so close! We always complain about the housing but the housing stock is quite old so insulation was never a thing,we just learn to live with it. The house I grew up in had louvre windows in every room,you guys are so lucky having solid glass windows! 🤣 Thanks for the update.
oh my gosh, we googled those windows and they are terrible! Next time we complain I will think about you and stop complaining!
@@ZoomiesAbroad part of the problem is we've grown up with cold houses being the norm,when something seems normal there's little incentive to change,the one warm room just becomes the focal point in the house. Now I live in the UK I see the other side of the coin,central heating and double glazing are standard,bunch of softies over here😜
@@DomingoDeSantaClara lol! I will admit I am a softie
Yeah Dunedin is Gaelic for Edinburgh so that possibly explains the stoicism to the cold
Yah for residency 🍾
good to have you here, loved dunedin lived there in the early 2000s then moved to auckland for work reasons but would happily go back if i could secure a job down there that paid the same as what i make up here.....but yeah what an intersting journey you guys have had, look forward to hearing more......
Thanks Dave! We spent some time in Auckland recently and enjoyed it more than we thought we would. It's got some great things going for it, like warmth 😂
I think the primary reason that we don't have good insulation and double is that we are cheap!! Combined with everything is crazy expensive.
Yeah !
Congrats on your residency
There's multiple reasons for the lack of insulation, double glazing and central heating. Thrift is a big one and gets mentioned often. We also have a volatile climate, a warm day or a cold one anytime of the year. But he biggest reason I think, and it's not mentioned much at all, is the focus here traditionally on radiant heat from open fires or freestanding gas, kero or electric radiant heaters. These heat the person rather than the air and double glazing and insulation are not that important. Pretty common in pub outdoor spaces for that reason. Once you try to maintain warm air inside a space then insulation and double glazing are vital and the increasing use of heat pumps go hand in hand with increased insulation and double glazing.
Thanks for that thoughtful and interesting answer! Makes a lot of sense
Congratulations, great fun video like usual, glad you're happy and settled in, winter will be over soon, then it's sunshine and beach time, also lol on the hand writing, I'm a micro lab tech in a hospital and a lot of Doctors and nurses can't write anything legible , we have to be mind readers, stay safe and warm
When I write notes at the hospital, I have to write twice as slow just to make sure it's legible. And you are right, spring isn't far away, and even in winter we get warm sunny days
Your house looks like old 1920ish house and especially Dunedinites back then were hardy tough ppl and central heating etc wasn't a big thing but saying that thise old houses are really cold. NZ has started doing emission standards for vehicles and are starting to come down on fireplaces etc. This is our 2nd Housing NZ house and both have had the fireplaces blocked off and replaced with heat pumps and wall heaters. Congratulations on your permanent residence.
Thanks! People were definitely hardier back then than I am :)
Congratulations!
If your renting, your landlord has a legal responsibility to upgrade the insulation and heating in the house.
Insulation of rentals has been law since July 2019.
Heating of living area has to be up to the standard to heat to a minimum of 18 degrees Celsius.
Laws also include things like extractor fans in kitchens and bathrooms, sealing up drafty houses etc.
When new tenants move in the landlord, has 90 days to upgrade.
Unfortunately a lot of tenants don’t know the rules and regulations of rentals, or they don’t make a fuss, in case the landlord puts the rent up to cover the costs of the upgrades.
You could have a friendly words with your landlord rental agent and find out what has been done.
That is a very very old house your in. I remember living in a house that was built in the 1800’s.
Houses of that era are common in Dunedin.
The smoke from house fires is quite common, when there is no wind and the air is still, smoke is going no where.
A lot of those old houses still have coal ranges, and multi fuel fire places.
University students rent a lot of those old houses because they are cheap.
You guys really need to take the time to watch an NZ movie, filmed in Dunedin titled “Scarfies”. So Dunedin and very funny.
Please don’t go on about comparing cars to California. I’ve been there, a few times and l am still in shock at the state of some of the vehicles l saw with my own two eyes.
A least our cars have to have a yearly warrant of fitness. California cars just need to pass the smog test.
I saw cars wired together, and one car was wrapped in duct tape. My California friends said that was road legal as long as the exhaust system was working and the engine wasn’t burning oil.
These friends use to live and work in NZ, so they know the standards in both regions.
I must also remind you, it’s a University town, anything goes as long as the police don’t stop you for driving an un road worthy car.
Exciting about your residency- keep up the videos 👍
Thanks for the good info! We will have to chat with our landlords about it. I do know they have made some upgrades but Brian would know more. And so true about the cars in California (and elsewhere in the US). Haven't seen Scarfies yet, so thanks for the recommendation !
Yeah, cold houses. It's weird that older NZ houses are (in general) so poorly insulated. What were they thinking? You can get away with it in Northland, but single glazing in Dunedin is just daft.
And congratulations on your herpes.
Totally agree! It doesn't make sense.
Congratulations on the residency!
Wow! Congrats & welcome properly to Aotearoa! Great to have you both contribute to our country's future.
Thanks for posting and congratulations on getting your NZ residency and passing your one year milestone 🎉
Glad that you’ve settled so well, made some good friends and are enjoying life in Dunedin.
Too right about the houses. Don’t know why NZ houses are build like every season is warm.
I just wonder if the cost of building in NZ has caused this outcome of housing stock that is not fit for purpose.
Excellent point on car emissions and burning fossil fuels to heat homes.
NZ is definitely not an environmental leader but it is trying to take steps in the right direction and should adopt best practices if it claims it’s clean green image.
Agree about NZ taking the right steps. I expect to see more regulations/changes in the next few years regarding burning coal and emissions standard. Thanks for the congrats! We are very happy to be here!
Congrats on Residency!! love you guys!
Thanks!! That's so sweet!
Places like Christchurch and Dunedin to have emission standards similar to la however that specifically relates to new builds
Kia ora & Congrads whanau, on receiving your Residency into Aotearoa, welcome officially aboard as a kiwi resident, keep safe and take care..
Thank you so much!
You two are cool dudes.
Congrats on the News
What a blessing, so happy for you, may your life together, be one of joy n happiness..your smiles r infectious.. look forward to hearing more from you guys..woo..hoo..🙏👌
Welcome home!!
congratulations guys on your residency!!
Thank you!!
One year already! Wow that went fast! I don’t remember you having a dog before, did I miss that one? I read someplace that its because the Irish builders (irish and Scottish settlers) built them like that, that’s how they built in Ireland, no heat no insulation no dbl glazing, I guess they freeze in Ireland too. Congrats on residency.
Thanks! We got our dog after a few months of living here, sometimes she makes appearances.
To be fair St Kilda is one of the oldest parts of Dunedin so housing stock is pretty old fashioned so open fires are more common.
I am watching this on the 26th, hope your not get get flooded out with all this rain!
No, luckily Dunedin faired pretty well through it all
Lived in Dunners for a time..nice place in the summer..winter..horrible
Really enjoy your video.
I can't believe it's been a year already! Congrats on residency, very exciting. Sometimes I wonder if people think my shop hours are ridiculous, I'm not open on the weekends and close at 4:30, hey, I want a life too!
If I owned a shop, I would do the same thing! What shop do you own? Is it here in Dunedin?
@@ZoomiesAbroad No, it is outside of Seattle
@@VtorHunter Brian lived in Seattle for many years and loved it there
The single glazed windows and lack of heating in the whole country is to encourage population growth. Snuggle up and you’ll be sweet.
Herpes!!!!! lol. So glad you guys are settling in well. I have enjoyed your videos and interviews with Liz and Brain. My dream is to immigrate to NZ in the next few years with my family- thank you for making that dream seem possible. Best wishes!
Best of luck with your dream! If you ever have any questions let us know. It was a long process for us but so worth it
Nice to hear of your residency. I guess with the houses back in the day they thought that it gets cold but not like it is in Britain or in Dunedin's case Scotland so didn't insulate the houses. In Wellington I do my best not to turn the heater on until it gets really cold. Probably only turn my heater on 20 times a year. It's what you grow up with. I tend to just layer up and handle it and before you know it it's starting to warm up. I reckon you'll find IT work in Wellington if you guys ever decide to try a new location
We do love Wellington, and if we ever left dunedin, it would probably be to move there. We just spent a lovely week up there, enjoying some awesome food. Te Papa Museum was really impressive.
@@ZoomiesAbroad I think you'd love living in Welly as much as Dunedin...they're so similar in lots of ways.
@@geangekate We do love Wellington as well. That was actually our back up plan if Dunedin didn't work out. I think for us we love being on the South Island, so Dunedin beat out Welly for that reason alone
i like the wooly zip jumper,
W ondered why you were wearing your hat inside, good on you, a kiwi thing in Winter. St Kildare, St Claire, lived there during autumn and winter, can be so cold bcuz you're not far from the sea. The south poles close by and you have to block the cold from getting to Auckland. Make sure to close your curtains b4 sunset and hopefully they come down to the ground to keep the draughts out.
Look forward to your next post when winter is over
The last 2 years are a bit abnormal with covid so labour shortage is a big factor. Gas emissions? Do you have an electric car? Solar panels?
So glad you guys managed to get over the hump and are settled.
Well done, looking forward to year 2.
p.s. The houses are cold because the were built by hard pioneers. And now it is a cultural expectation, and our way of breeding tough people. lol
You can vote!
You'll be looking forward to Dunedins new hospital and is the cold getting to you yet.
I am looking forward to the hospital...in 6 years! lol. The cold isn't terrible, but I am looking forward to spring!
In the 1970's Dunedin my mother used to shut up her shop if the "whitebait were running" Her shop was in Princes Streets next to where Black Dog is now. I don't think there who be too many cities in the world where you would find a shop in prime location with a sign reading "CLOSED. Gone fishing"
love it!! For the record, we fully support shops closing early, it's just been a definite NZ thing we've had to get used to
Puppy... Puppy... Puppy... (we have a Jack Russell named Rimu)
You are my new friend... sometimes you just got to adult????? what is this adult thing you speak of... :-/
I am down for pizza... and or go for coffee and being from Dunedin... so... ;-) Partner and I do are doing a Cafescapade, going to every cafe in the greater Dunedin area. lol
Most of Dunedin houses are very old... (our house is 110-120 years old and when the fire is going heats the whole house... (BTW I grew up in St Kilda now bought a house and live in Caversham)
Congrats on the residency
From memory you are a bourbon Drinker... ... ... ok I like yah sense of humour... lol
Dunners has Scottish heritage, the Scottish are known for being Frugal with their $.
we need an update :)😃
Seriously, I love you guys and I'm glad you have been having a good time. BTW. Talk to tech and we have a MASSIVE coding opportunity if you talk to the right folk. This town is lovely and I'm only new as well so I know the feeling. (I'm literally only a couple years as well but the people are wonderful).
PS Kindergarten Method? You are funny. People here are not backward about being forward. Congrats on the house BTW.
How do you think we are supposed to get acclimatized to short shorts, t-shirts and bare feet in winter if we had insulation and double glazing?
We will know we are real kiwis when we go barefoot in the winter here 😀
have you joined the library, is this a theme?
we have more hot pools in the North Island, and Surfing beaches,
Number 200 👍up.😉
Key or r kiora welcome great vid seing alot of moving abroad cumn to nz one popular video is kiwiamerican she touches on alot she from Wisconsin keep up the good work
Dunedin was settled by Scots
The Dunedin climate is tropical by Scottish standards
I love your videos. I am in Kentucky, but I hope to move to NZ someday. I'm actually in the process of trying to get my teacher registration and practising (gotta spell it the NZ way) certificate (I teach science at the secondary level). Goodness, there is a lot of paperwork! Then I'll try to get a job/visa. However, I did have a question specifically about Liz and Brian's slack group: I would like to join and I have the link to do so, but I am uncertain if the 1-year subscription will suffice or maybe I should just go with the permanent subscription. I don't want to say the price here, but which subscription length did you go with? I figure it would help me not only with gaining information, but also sharing my experiences while I'm there as well as making friends. Also, did you use an immigration advisor? I have a quote from NZ shores, but I am undecided as to whether or not I will use them. Thanks in advance. You guys are great! :)
Hi Warren! Congrats on starting the process, the certification is usually the hardest part. We signed up with Liz and Brian forever ago, before the subscriptions started. I know that a lot of people find them the most helpful while in the process of moving here, and then drop off a lot once they arrive (plus life gets really busy). We enjoy helping others and sharing photos, and whenever we travel to a new city here we meet up with slack members, so for making friends it's been amazing. Maybe you could start out with the 1 year subscription and then upgrade if you still want to a part of it? Looking forward to chatting with you on there.!
Surfers make lots of friends,
Yeah the irony of that is that in NZ terms Dunedin is one of this countries largest cities
That is bizarre to us lol
@@ZoomiesAbroad yes it's is it's even more bizarre to me that Tauranga is NZ 6 th largest city. I grew up in Hamilton, to me the mount is where you spent xmass/ new years
Dunedin was the largest city in NZ during the gold rush era, was number 4 for a long time, but it's number 6 now.
How is the cycling there? Im in the US and am looking for change as i start out my 30s. Like yourself, i feel i don’t fit it.
Im curious how getting around by bike for fun and commuting is there. Thanks for the update!
C'mon - round trip in traffic St Kilda - hospital must be no more than 30 minutes 😄
#youWILLbeourfriends 🤣🤣
Try to get into a newer house which will have full insulation, glazing etc
I think Americans fail to understand that NZ is super isolated. Things are expensive, and thus your material standard of living is going to be lower. Unfortunately that comes down to things like new cars and houses being harder to obtain. There's a cost to living on an island. But you win in other ways.
Neat
Does it even have batts in the ceiling?
Someone could put them in?
13:14, maybe the frequent mild earthquakes are the answer.
Wow still there?
Congrats on the Residency... That means you get to vote this year in the local elections and next year in the General Election, but you need to register to do so.
A certain proportion of the housing stock here in Dunedin is quite old - my house was built around 1910, and we haven't really imported the concept of central heating - I only know of it from being a kid in the UK.
Plus some of the landlords haven't been keeping their houses up with modern standards - yay capitalism., It is only with this government that the government are forcing landlords to upgrade properties for better healthy living. Housing for students when I was at Otago Uni (30ish years ago) was pretty bad, competition for students to rent to forced flats to be better.
If your heat pump isn't working very well, you might need to get it serviced, as it should be doing better than what you say in the video.
And this winter has been milder than most - yay climate change. Most years we get a snow fall or two to sea level. Having Highs of 17 C in July, as it was recently, is not a common thing at all.
Thanks Andrew, we haven't thought about servicing the heat pump but thats a good idea. It might also be that we are just so used to central heating, that it feels like it takes forever to heat up the room. We are excited to vote this year! I hear that even now student housing can be pretty terrible when it comes to quality, but I can't even imagine 30 years ago!
Congratulations on getting permanent residency visas.
Hows Christmas going?
Hello! Do you mind sharing your thoughts about the pros and cons of working as a nurse?
That's a good question. It's a mixed bag here, and often seems to depend on where you end up (as with nursing in general). I really enjoy my ward because we have a lot of support from our managers and we have a great team, but we do paper charting and don't have a Pyxis. A lot of nurses feel like they step back in time. We also struggle with staffing and covid/sickness. I find though I am a lot less stressed out, and that NZ really does try to honor work life balance.
Congratulations on your first steps to becoming kiwis
congrats on the residency, But don't stop there folks. Go all the a way. Become New Zealanders !!! you can still be Americans. we allow Dual Citizenship ya know............. you're having a baby!!!!.... is that the news at the end :) !!!!
No babies 😂 We can't wait to become citizens, and don't plan on going anywhere
Yay kiwis finally
Feels amazing!!
Actually very curious - was trying to figure out if you have a remote job based outside NZ, and move in on a skilled migrant visa, while keeping that job, does that count in your favour or no? Keeping a job while moving certainly sounds like a more secure path than finding something brand new, but it sounds like it’s not so simple, eh?
For us it's worked in our favor, but the leg work Brian did to make it all happen was rather stressful. But if he didn't have it, I am not sure how well job hunting would have gone for him.
I really appreciate you making this video.
My ex of 4 years cheated and gave me Herpes virus during our relationship and I was devastated.
You've mad me feel so much better and seeing all these people share their stories
#dronuwa
wasnt expecting that in the comments........hahahaha......hope your better lol
@@daver7867 right! for the record, we don't actually have herpes!🤣
@@ZoomiesAbroad hahaha
Congratz....fellow kiwidomship...lol