The Immigration Process
This was relatively straight forward for me as I already had a job to got to and *** is a New Zealand Immigration Service (NZIS) employer, which apparenetly speeds up the process. As such, I applied for a 'Work to Residence' visa under the 'Talent' stream (such irony). This basically means that I have a permit to be resident and work in New Zealand for 30 months, have to stay with the same employer and can apply for residence after 24 months. If you haven't got a job lined up you will have to follow another one of the application streams -I'm afraid I don't know what these are but suspect that if you want to apply for residence you will have to go through the points process which is based upon your age, qualifications etc. Not sure if this is the same if you just want a short-term work permit. Either way you will need to show that you can support yourself financially.
There are a number of supporting documents you need for a visa application and I strongly suggest you follow this order of obtaining them:
1. You need a Police certificate to confirm you have not been convicted (if you have been, forget it, they have enough crims here). This can take up to 10 weeks to come through so get it ASAP, i.e. even when the idea of moving to NZ is just in the back of your mind - get the certificate (it should only cost 10 pounds).
2. Book your medical. There is a specified list of doctors that can undertake the medical and these can be very very busy. Unfortunately, the medical has to be less than 3 months old (I think) when you apply for you visa so you need to time it correctly. Cost - 115 pounds
3. Book your x-ray. You need to take this to your medical but there are more places that take xrays than medicals. Cost 50 pounds.
4. Get your visa application in ASAP as it can take up to 3 months to process, though I got mine back in 2 days! Cost 115 pounds. Check, double check and triple check your form before you send it.
5. If you are applying on a Talent visa you need a copy of your employers NZIS accreditation certificate.
6. You need to provide copies of bank statements, qualifications, passport etc.
7. Your passport need to have at least 12 months after your intended leaving date left (I think).
NZIS operate a really annoying and really expensive 24hr info line which is no help whatsoever - call the London NZIS and get the name of a processing officer.
Moving
Shop around for removals agents. Shipping by sea is bloody slow - 3 months on average. shipping by air can take 3-4 weeks but is expensive, very expensive. I used Xcess Baggage Co and moved 90kg of possessions by air and it cost me 700 pounds. Be aware that NZ is paranoid about biosecirity and will scrutinise your possessions and confiscate anything muddy or any food or animal items. Don't risk it - it can be expensive and time consuming to bring in anything remotely dodgy.
The People
I can only speak for the South Island but by and large NZ people are very friendly and reasonably easy going and importantly accepting of foreigners. Here in Christchurch there is a slightly laid-back feeling, though maybe it is more quiet than laid back. It is not a large place by any means and if you are used to say London, it will be a shock. That said people here are big drinkers and there is much the same binge drinking culture as there is in the UK. In fact Christchurch is very British.
Sport
Sport is dominated by rugby, and although every guidebook will say it, Kiwis really are obsessed with it. Not everybody is a triathlete, but generally people are more outdoors orietated.
Food
As long as you are not vegetarian you are fine. Vegetarianism is still very much the exception to the rule. There is a lot of crap food over here but a lot of cracking stuff too, and not always expensive. Which brings me on to...
Cost of living
It is a bit early for me to tell but from what I've seen some things are more expensive, some less, some about the same as the UK. At the supermarket, food isn't that much cheaper, if at all, beer at the supermarket is much cheaper. Sports equipment can be expensive as can electronics. Car insurance is unbelievably cheap - it cost me the equivalent of 150 quid to insure a car over here that would probably cost at least 500 quid to insure in the uk. There are loads of Japanese imported cars here too so you can pick up a half decent motor for peanuts.
Remember of course that on average wages are much lower over here.
Scenery.
One word - stunning. The roads are excellent, well maintained and largely empty. You will have to get off your bike every 5 mins to take in the views. The rail network here is crap so you'll need to drive. Bare in mind that some of the passes across to the west coast of the south island can be snow bound in winter. Best bet is get a 4wd.
