Have you ever seen the marketing to attend the Emigration from UK to NZ Expo’s
Register your interest to attend Expo’s on this site and they will keep you informed:
www.live-work-immigration.govt.nz/events-expos
downunderlive.co.uk – 2 events 2025
Working and living in New Zealand for Health Professionals – 2025
this site provides tickets to Glasgow and Birmingham 2025 Expo’s – ticket prices are just £11.00 if you buy Early Bird and you will get to meet a range of Exhibitors and Experts who can help you start to plan your adventure.
Attending an Expo was the first thing my husband and I chose to do and although we did not find Employment or a new home this way, we were able to get a taste of what New Zealand life may be like and there were some recruitment companies and Employers who were giving out good information to attendees. There were various presentations and it was good to see both North Island and the South Island were represented, trust me there is a big difference between the two islands in scenery, opportunities, culture and population and it will make a big difference to you as to what Island you choose to move to.
We decided to make a weekend of it when we went to the London expo at the Excel centre, why wouldn’t we… there is always so much to do in London, to see and to eat… and Yes we do miss it a lot. We actually did attend a second event just to be sure and we were also able to open a bank Account with ASB Bank at the event which certainly helped by starting to put some cash over into dollars into the account before we arrived, one thing less to worry about!
I really would highly recommend attending an Expo event and gathering as much information as you can, you will learn the most about job opportunities, food, culture and financial Information and you may even get to try some of New Zealand’s local wines and food as we did and I can confidently say that they have some of the best wines and food here!
We attended a Brancott estate demonstration and the guy from New Zealand was just awesome, he sold us the dream all day long and as we tasted their beautiful wine and imagined sitting in the sun sharing a barbie with friends we were sold … there is nothing quite like it believe me.
After the Expo
After we attended the Expo, we definitely both felt very buoyed up about heading overseas and were ready to go there and then, but… we did have to come back down to earth and speak to family and friends in the UK and discuss our plans… tough call I can tell you…
My husband’s mother did not take the news well at all, probably because we spent so much time with her and she said she would never speak to him again… Phew tough one but she got over it and she did speak to us eventually … of course, and my children weren’t too great about it either… I do find it interesting that if they had wanted to pack up and head off to a new life I would have supported them 100% but it seems to be a lot harder for us as the parents head off, I think they felt we were abandoning them… not the case at all and we promised we would come back regularly every 2 years and also help all of them if they wanted to join us in New Zealand.
I have known friends who have come from very close families and they have really struggled with not seeing their families regularly and I totally understand this.
It is a huge decision to move away from your family, particularly parents, grandparents and friends and we do need to be really as sure as we can be that we have a secure family unit ourselves to be able to cope with this huge life change… so what I am really saying is discussions need to be had and for everyone to be clear about your decision and your future life choices.
When you attend the Expo, you never know you may find a job, meet future work colleagues and make lifelong friends!
I am hoping to have a stand next year in 2025 and look forward to meeting you all there!