Got a job offer!

...in New Zealand.

Yeah, so after spending $4500 to move from Berlin to Toronto at the beginning of June, it looks like I'll be packing up and heading off over another ocean again. Everybody I've talked to who's been down there says the country is amazing, the salary is reasonable and they're offering me a moving budget too, which my last employer didn't. I'm very much thinking of accepting. I'd be in Auckland, so about as cosmopolitan a place as you can get on an island in the South Pacific.

Not going to bring a car with me. Actually thinking of taking a break from the car hobby, as I'm getting frustrated with the amount of BS that goes with it (cops, insurance, government "officials" who all want a piece of you, etc.) I think I'll go down there and buy a bike - one with pedals. If I end up staying for longer than my yearlong contract (not unlikely) I'll look into shipping my Elan. Then again NZ is the land of cheap Japanese imports so who knows.

Anyway, it'll be good to have some income again. I've been unemployed for a year (by choice mostly.) I just started applying for things recently and I got this. Not bad.

woot!

I assume you're by yourself, more-or-less?

If so, I'd jump all over that in a heartbeat, with both feet. Congratulations!

New Zealand is beautiful country - I know a few folks who have visited, and am online pals with a few more. Apparently, its relatively modern, with not too many differences in their cities from medium sized cities in the US/Canada. Id recommend a moped though, apparently there are some pretty respectable elevation changes even in the bigger cities, so dinojuice go power is likely to be a plus. And cool mopeds are cool

I'm jealous. I'd love to make a big move like that, but family ties are here and tough to break.

Congrats!!!

You could make up the $4500 by sending us vintage Utes.

Everybody needs Grand Adventures! This sounds like a wonderful one. See if you can find some Hobbits. What kind of work do you do?

What are you doing? How did you get the job? What are the visa issues?

One of my cousins lived in NZ for a few years and a good friend of mine worked down there for a few months. Both would go back down there at the drop of the hat if they'd get a(nother) work permit.

In other words, do eeeeet.

My understanding is that you probably will need a car though if you want to explore the country outside Auckland. They have a thriving car scene down there, too.

Nice man!! Buy a Skyline and build the hell out of it. LOL That's what I'd do...

New Zealand!! My wife and I spent 3 weeks there last year visiting a friend that did something like you - she took a 2 year contract there and it was over so we all just drove around the country taking in the sights and hiking.

You don't need a car to get around Aukland but I bet you'll miss it pretty bad when you go to leave the city. What Amanda (our temp-Kiwi friend) did was something you might consider: she bought a Toyota Estima (Previa here) kitted out with curtains and a manual transmission. She could sleep in the back and we could fit all our stuff in it really easily. They're easy to find and easy to sell since so many people move in and out of that country with the in-country travel mindset. If you check trademe.co.nz (Craigslist for Kiwis; they don't use CL much at all) you'll see there are always a E36 M3-ton of them for sale, but they sell quick so you know it's not too hard to sell it on when you leave.

Shipping a car over there seems silly since they have so much cool E36 M3. Aside from the little vans (Bongo/Estima/etc) there are Alfas and the big RWD Ford station wagons and utes and everything else we drool about here. Your Elan is cool but I bet you would spend less money to buy something neat there and resell it when you leave. Shipping cars trans-Pacific is not cheap, plus then you have to deal with the paperwork end of things there. Ugh.

I wouldn't bother with a moped; once you got outside the immediate vicinity of the city it would be utterly worthless. They don't have hills there, they have mountains. And the roads go up and down those mountains almost non-stop. Some of the mountains had our little Estima struggling - but it always made it!

I loved the country and everyone and everything there. You would have a blast. I wouldn't say it's completely like a US city when you're in their cities, maybe closer to Canada but definitely a bit more "small town." But once you're outside the cities it's like you're in another world. If you're hearty I recommend the Tongariro Crossing. It's a day hike if you're a badass, we just about killed ourselves on it but saw stuff I never thought I would see in reality. Mount Doom in the movies is not as impressive as it is in real life. Holy crap.

I've always thought NZ might be a nice place to live, only stupid thing to watch out for is their 3-strike Internet law so only pirate stuff through a VPN while you're there.

Gameboy- As a Bajan, would you have trouble getting a work permit there? Just curious.

I have no idea, I haven't looked into it that seriously.

Thanks for all the encouragement, guys! They came back with a $5k moving allowance... and a $3k salary increase over what they'd originally offered. I took the job.

I'll be at a semi-commercial research park run by a university, doing geophysics contracting for external clients. Sort of straddling the line between academia and private industry, which is fine by me. Visas and work permits shouldn't be any problem because my field (earth sciences) is on the list of skilled professions that NZ actively recruits for abroad. Should be interesting.

On the other hand, now I have to move AGAIN... why do I do this to myself?

GameboyRMH wrote: I've always thought NZ might be a nice place to live, only stupid thing to watch out for is their 3-strike Internet law so only pirate stuff through a VPN while you're there.

I looked at that since you mentioned it... it's a stupid law but it's not going to get me. The mainstream movie and music industries are on my ignore list and will be forever. I don't pay for their stuff, I don't watch it, I don't pirate it, I don't have anything to do with it. It's how I'm doing my part to kill them off. So no problem.

If I vetoed going anywhere where there are stupid laws or governments I disagree with, well, that would be all the countries. I'd have to live on an offshore platform.

Can you say MK I Escort, rwd ftw

The company doesn't happen to share a name with a certain Toyota brand does it? Rhymes with prion? ;-)

You should have a heck of a time, I'm jealous.