Tag Archives: Life in New Zealand

Our Family’s Big Move: From Auckland to Timaru

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It was Thursday last week, three days before Christmas, when we moved out from our house of four years. It was not for us to move in to another house or to another suburb in Auckland. We’re not even moving to a nearby town or region around Auckland. The move was actually from North Island to South Island of New Zealand. We have moved to Timaru — a town in South Canterbury.

Moving from Auckland to Timaru could be either having a plane ride or having 8-10 hours of road trip from Auckland to Wellington then an almost four hours of Interislander ferry ride from Wellington in North Island to Picton in South Island then another 8-10 hours drive from Picton to Timaru. We chose to do the combination of road trips and ferry ride.

On queue at 2AM to ride the Interislander ferry from Wellington to Picton

It was not an easy move. It was actually a very unusual move nowadays when people are more inclined to move from the countryside to a big city such as Auckland. We were asked many times by the people around us why we had to move to Timaru.

We have chosen to take the road less traveled.

It was a decision made so suddenly but moving to South Island has always been mine and my husband’s aspiration since we came here for a holiday after our wedding in 2014. We fell in love with South Island — particularly in Central Otago.

So what took us almost four years before we have made this move? What’s with the sudden move? What’s with South Island? Why not in Central Otago now? Why are we in Timaru now?

What took us four years before we have moved here? Two reasons: no job opportunities and had our first boy in 2014. 2015 — no job oportunities. 2016 — gave birth again and still no job opportunities. First three quarters of 2017 — I got so ill and still no job opportunities.

Why the sudden move? The house that we’re renting in Auckland has had to be renovated and we’ve got scaffolding all around our house during our last few weeks there. We didn’t want to spend the holidays in a construction site!

What’s with South Island? It is BEAUTIFUL — the mountains, the lakes, the plains and plateaus! It feels like we’ve got an easy access to nature. Back in 2014, it was more on my husband still being so active in triathlon and me being so into living in calm and quiet surroundings. Now that we have two boys, it’s more on for them to have a bigger outdoor space to run around and to eventually have more freedom to go out and play or ride a bike and scooter without me worrying so much about the busy traffic outside our house. It is important for us that our boys can spend more time outside for them to become more attracted to outdoor and physical activities as we know that they are going to be exposed in the digital world once they go to school. I’d rather have them some cuts and bruises and dirty clothes (and even catch germs and bugs) from playing outside than deal with children who can’t stay calm without a screen in front of them.

Our boys’ playtime during our stopover in Kaikoura

Why not in Central Otago now? We still love and dream to live in Central Otago but the houses there are so expensive now. Also, if we live in Cromwell or Alexandra, we’re not sure if they’ve got a Playcentre there. Dunedin still appears like a city for us. Queenstown is superbly beautiful — excellent tourist spot but I never thought of raising a family there as I associate that place to tourists.

Tram ride during our stopover in Christchurch

Why in Timaru now? What’s more surprising to other people about this move was the fact that we had never been here until last Friday. We never even had a chance to view the house that we are currently renting before we signed the tenancy agreement and paid the bond and advance payment. We were not even sure if we were going to like Timaru. So when we were already a town or two away from Timaru, my husband and I felt so nervous and excited at the same time. We were saying, “This is it! This is it!” And we were asking, “Are we really sure about this? Are we going to have a better life here?” And Mr. Three was asking, “Is this still in New Zealand? Are we in the Philippines now?” Gosh!!! More than 24 hours of travel would even make a three-year-old child think that we could already be in the other side of the world!

Kia ora, Timaru!!!

Then we arrived in Timaru. We drove around a bit before we went to our new home. We had a great first impression of the town. It wasn’t as rural as I thought it was but the good thing is that it is not a city. It’s lovely. It’s not as stunningly beautiful as Cromwell but it is lovely. It is good enough for us to continue raising our family. Caroline Bay is not as awesome as the beaches in Auckland but we’re thankful that Timaru has it.

Where we attended the mass on Christmas

We’re now here in Timaru because it is not a city. The houses are more affordable — we’re renting a house that is twice as big as the one we had in Auckland but it is way less expensive than the two-bedroom houses in Auckland. Timaru is complete for us — two Catholic churches, two Playcentres to choose from, some kindergartens, some schools and there are even catholic schools just in case, PakNSave/ Countdown/ New World are present, some shops such as The Warehouse, Briscoes, Noel Leeming, etc. are also here, huge parks and playgrounds too. And there’s also Timaru Hospital — this one is very important to us too. There are buses too. So far so good for us down here.

Lake Tekapo is now less than an hour drive away from us.

We’re now in Timaru and it feels like a fresh start for us. We don’t have our furnitures and appliances with us as we sold everything (except our clothes and a few boys’ toys) back in Auckland to avoid spending huge amount in movers and it would be hard to bring so much while we know that it’s just me and my husband who would organise everything here when we arrived. But we made sure to have a dining table and chairs before Christmas’ eve — still no beds, fridge, washing machine, etc.. As long as we have something to eat, clean clothes to wear, blankies to keep us warm when we sleep (and toys for our boys to play with), we’ll surely survive and we’ll have everything that we need one at a time — slowly but surely.

Are we going to be here for good? We don’t know. I’m still worried if we’ll be able to build friendships with the people here the way we did in Auckland. We already met a few Filipinos — a priest, the couple who own a Filipino cafe, two other Filipinas. We’re planning to join in a Playcentre but I’m still in the process of learning not to expect it to be like the community that we had back in Hillsborough Playcentre. I don’t know how we are going to be in winter. Yesterday morning, the temp was 7C and it’s summer — such a wintry summer! I don’t know if we can find a practice that is as good as Balmoral Doctors.

These beautiful flowers welcomed us and have made me feel hopeful about having a more wonderful life here in Timaru.

However it will be, I am now happy that my husband and I have finally been able to fulfill our dream of experiencing life here in South Island. Life is a constant change, anyway. We’ll see — what will be will be!

How It Is To Live and Raise A Family in New Zealand (Part 1: The Economics)

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Disclaimer: Everything that’s written here is based on our own family’s experiences and based on my perspective and preferences. This is just the first part and this post is more about the financial aspect.

South Island, New Zealand (2014)

First, let me give you a background of how and why we came here.

It was in 2011 when my then-boyfriend told me he wanted to come here in New Zealand to see whether or not he would love to live and work here. With my do-what-you-want-and-what-you-think-is-right-for-you attitude, I simply agreed. Because we’re after what’s practical, he came here first while I continue with my life and work back in the Philippines. He came here in early 2012 with a visa that did not restrict him from applying for a job and he was fortunate enough to find one. Fast forward to mid-2013, I came here trusting his judgment that NZ is a great place to live and build a family. Fast forward a little bit more to January 2014, I got pregnant and we got married. And now we have two boys already with two years and a month age gap.

So how’s our life now here in New Zealand?

Three words: HARD YET BEAUTIFUL.

I can’t give you separate reasons for why it is hard and why it is beautiful because hard and beautiful seem to be inseparable to describe our life here. Hardships lead us to life’s beauty. For every beautiful aspirations that we have, we need to go through hardships.

This is what I would honestly say to anyone considering to migrate here in NZ:

If your main goal is to become wealthy, I doubt that you can achieve it here unless you are single and not planning to start a family anytime soon. If your main concern is your family with you being the best provider of material things, you come alone and work here then let your family stay in the Philippines. If your main goal is to provide a better environment to your family and better education to your children without having to pay hundred thousands of pesos a year for the tuition, come here BUT… be ready to live in the simplest and most practical way as possible.

Financially speaking, it is hard to survive here. Most Filipino couples here that we know are both working. In our case, my husband has been the sole provider and I am a stay-at-home mom. At first, it was by choice because we never want to put our young children (3 years old and 1 year old) in childcare centre and none of our parents would stay here to look after our children full-time. Now it is hard for me at the moment to work even if I want to and even if we need to since I got sick this year.

Putting our children for full time in a childcare centre will cost us at least $400 (around 14k pesos) per week. If my child gets sick while he’s under their care, I would have to take a leave from work to pick him up from the centre while still paying the full amount.

Renting a decent 2-bedroom house here in Auckland would usually cost at least $400 per week (if you’re lucky like us). That’s around 60k pesos per month excluding the utilities (electricity, water, phone, internet). Our weekly groceries would usually range between $150 to $200 (5k to 7k pesos). As much as my judgment is concerned, we are already being thrifty while minding our family’s, particularly our children’s, health and well-being. Food is really expensive here but both me and my husband were raised in households where food and nutrition should never be sacrificed.

Do we still go for shopping? Yes, to purchase our children’s needs. For me and my husband? Rarely. Most of my clothes are either from the Philippines (the ones I brought here back in 2013 and the ones that were given to me by my mom-in-law and sister) or hand-me-down clothes from my husband’s aunt. I haven’t even bought any cosmetics in the last 3 years. Shoes? One in a year and I go for bargains…up to $20 (700 pesos). Bag? Yes, a nappy bag that we have been using for 3 years already. My engagement ring doesn’t have diamond or any stone and our marriage rings are from Philippines. And my phone is still an iphone5s.

Going out and about, we go for bus and train, especially if we’re going to CBD, since the parking fees are tremendously awful. We occasionally ride in a taxi or even the likes of uber.

We rarely eat in restaurants now. We would pack our lunch as much as possible whenever we go out. If we’re not able to, we either buy from takeaways or you can find us in a foodcourt.

You might say, “I’m sure the salaries/wages there are high.” No! It might sound big if you convert it to pesos but go back to the above-mentioned expenses then think if the net salary here is really high.  Plus we need to pay really huge amount of tax.

Sounds hard? Yes, it is hard. So why are we still here? It is our decision. It is mainly for our children.

I gave birth to my two boys free of charge. The only prenatal service that we had to pay were the ultrasounds. The healthcare providers even come to our house for postnatal check-ups and for the regular check-ups of our children since they know that I can’t drive. Immunisations are free. They are being checked and treated by our GP (family doctor) for free and that’s until they’re 12 years old. We don’t even have to pay for our admissions to the hospital. Their dental treatments are free until they’re 18. Schools here are not as expensive as the private schools there in the Philippines.

If we want to take them to museum, it’s free. If we want to go to the beach, we can go anytime for as long as our car has enough petrol or we have extra for bus fares. We don’t have to pay for the beach resort entrance. All beaches are open for public for free. Playgrounds and parks are open for public and they’re free of charge. We were able to feed the lambs for free. Almost every suburb has a public library from where we can borrow several books at a time for a month all free of charge.

Considering all of these, we may not have all the material things that other migrant workers or OFW can purchase but we are sure that our children have the opportunities to gain knowledge and wonderful experiences from going to museum, parks and beaches, and from being able to read several different books in their lifetime even if our family is low on budget. And that is what’s most important to us.

In the next part, I will talk about how we are coping as a family while living away from our families and relatives back in the Philippines.