Moving to Invercargill

farizalisz

Hello all

I am very new to this forum but I would appreciate some pointers about moving to Invercargill. A little short introduction: my name is Farizalisz and I recently took a job offer to go to Invercargill. I am originally a Malaysian but has spent 10 years in Galway.

I must admit that I am at times scared and excited at the same time about this big move. Often people would say: 'Hey, you've been away from home anyway for ten years', but I find Galway is very much like home now so at times I find reluctant to leave this beautiful place.

At the moment, I am applying for the work visa so I have been doing a little bit of research about looking for houses and etc in Invercargill. Some questions that may require some pointers from others:

1. Which company is the most reliable for cost+time to ship some personal belongings to NZ?

2. Which phone company/ broadband is the best to support more 3G/better speed? This is a crucial aspect in the move as I will be dependent on this being Asian to connect to my parents at home in Malaysia.

3. Is it easy to find Halal meat stores? I am strict in this but I could always eat fish or seafood.

4. Tell me what else I need to know anyway

I appreciate everyone's input on this. My official start date is November this year but it all depends on my pending work visa application.
Many thanks

Mrs OBumble

The most important thing you need to know .. it gets COLD down there in winter. Very cold. Learn to spell polypropelene.

NZ has a larger Asian population than Ireland does, so you should find it easier to get halal meat etc than you did in Galway ten years ago anyway.

farizalisz

Thank you for the input. I've been told it gets extremely cold there and windy too. I will pack all my winter boots and coats along. Will I be expecting snow as well?

I am glad there will be a bigger Asian population, I will be looking forward for that.

How long have you/ were you in New Zealand?

Mrs OBumble

farizalisz wrote: »

How long have you/ were you in New Zealand?

40 years :-)

Only here for seven.

Had one uncle who lived down there, he used to sign letters "from the freezing south and the frozen David".

The biggest difference from Ireland is the sheer distance to anywhere: NZ has 3 times the and mass of Ireland, but 7 times the coastline. Basically it's long and skinny. You won't be going visiting other cities for the weekend easily the way people do here.

farizalisz

Noted: Longer duration to travel via motorway.

My next question(s) regarding setting up wifi broadband and mobile companies. Which ones would you recommend.

For house- my work place is organizing a temporary stay for 3 weeks so I will do some house hunting during that time. With your advice regarding the weather, I will lookout for a good house with proper heating/ wall. I am unsure how lucky will I get. I have scrolled trademe.nz and one house in particular have tickled my fancy.

The next question would be- where do I purchase cheap furniture. I am planning on shifting to Wellington after this contract ends so I don't really plan on dragging the whole household with me. Or I might as well just invest in good bed and couch and bring them along

Thank you in advance for your advice

DoozerT6

Trademe will be your mecca for literally anything you will need for your house.

Regarding looking for a house with heating - this will be highly unlikely. At the very most there will be wall-mounted electric heaters. It may be a case that you will have to buy your own portable heaters as there may be no form of heating provided, not even a heat pump. Remember too that insulation and double glazing in houses are very uncommon, even in a colder town like Invercargill as a lot of houses there are older and have not been upgraded. Consequently, unless you are prepared to spend a lot on rent, be prepared to live in a house that is not as nice as a (modern) rental here.

As Mrs OBumble pointed out, it gets COLD down there, you will need heavy bedding and warm pyjamas as well as warm clothing for winter. Summer can be quite nice, but rarely VERY hot, as NZ and (Invers especially) are very far south. Antarctica isn't that far away!!

Dunedin is a three hour drive away (each way), as is Queenstown, Christchurch is six or seven hours drive away, although only a one-hour flight.

Invercargill is a small city, most areas can reasonably be walked or cycled to from the centre, although you may be able to pick up a small cheap car on trademe.

Regarding your other queries, I think for things like mobile/internet providers, it is probably best to wait until you get there and shop around - maybe your employer could advise or help you when you arrive.

Where will you be working? I spent a bit of time in Invercargill and if you would like to pm me the link to the house you like on trademe, I could let you know if the area is ok, etc

farizalisz

That's very helpful DoozerT6. I am a physician so I will be in the hospital. I will pm you the house that I think looked quite alright.

I must be prepared more for the cold then. As I will be arriving in November, it would buy me some time to prepare for winter so

NZ_2014

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

40 years :-)
You won't be going visiting other cities for the weekend easily the way people do here.

Other cities here?

Just kidding :pac:

New Zealand is great place, only spent 3 weeks there but was a great trip

Mrs OBumble

NZ_2014 wrote: »

Other cities here?

Just kidding :pac:

Fair call - most of the people here head from the cities back to the bogs at the weekend :-)

Cookie_Monster

Spark (ex Telecom) and Vodafone are the two main phone / internet providers, though there are others. Speeds are average at best but the infrastructure is slowly being upgraded to fibre optic.

farizalisz

Thank you Cookie Monster for the input

padswhack

I spend a lot of time in Invercargill for work, it's a nice little town but it is remote. Flying in and out is very expensive, the best option is Queenstown which is a 2 hour drive from Invercargill, its an easy drive and a great place to go and see.

In my experience people there are very friendly and it is not as expensive as Auckland, Christchurch etc...