Hi everyone.
My name is Wiebke and I am a registered nurse. I am originally from Germany and have lived the past 6 years in Cornwall/UK with my hubby Tim, the Cornish man.
Two and a half years ago, Tim and I decided we would like to settle down in New Zealand. We both spent over 12 month there on a work and travel visa ten years ago and this is where we actually met: at cape kidnappers on a golf course working as green keepers; as you do.
It was good that we gave ourselves a two year window to get everything sorted, because it took us about 23 month. The longest bit was getting my nurse registration. As I have trained in Germany, the nursing collage found it difficult to provide the correct paperwork. So it went back and forth a little bit and then my police certificate run out and so on and so on. I hindsight I could of probably been a bit more organised but I did not think it was overall that difficult. Nevertheless, with perseverance and help from Accent Health Recruitment and our visa adviser I had it in my hand after about 13 month. The rest of the time was selling the house, organizing shipment and of course getting that job offer!!!!
Merryl has been an incredible help. She knows everything!!! She prepared me so well, that I nailed my first interview and got a job offer. She gave me lots of tips and advice and even skyped me just before the interview to see if I am still breathing and that there was no dirty laundry in the background. LOL.
I arrived in July last year and I work at a rehab facility in Auckland. This is an intensive rehabilitation facility for acquired brain injuries and stroke. I work there as a rehab nurse and take of clients with severe head injuries. I love it. Everything about it and I do not regret coming over here. My employers were very welcoming, aware that we just made a big step and were ever so helpful.
Why choose NZ: dude have you seen it? I love the scenery and diversity of it, it’s amazing or as they say: awesome!!! I don’t think we have a favourite place, because everywhere is just so nice. We recently travelled to Tongariro National Park and done the crossing (this time without volcano eruption) and after that we went to Raglan. Beautiful. We have done lots of walks around Auckland and are taking on the Hilary trail next spring. My husband is a keen walker and I try to keep up!
My husband found a job as well so we are both sorted. We found a nice little cottage in Whenuapai which we are renting at the moment and hopefully we will climb that property ladder soon.
Of course I miss my family in Germany and friends in the UK but Skype is a wonderful thing. And I miss German foods, but that’s ok as I have been missing for the last 6 years when I lived in the UK. My family did however send me a big box full of goodies for Christmas. (All the stuff that is allowed to be imported, of course).
My advice if you are planning to come to NZ is: plan!! Plan the hell out of your plan!! Make inquiries about how long paperwork needs to be processed, how long it is valid for and look up at forums. Many people have been there before and give really good advice at forums and chats. And then one more thing: Persevere!!! Keep on it!! It’ll work in the end.
Everyone deals with the transition differently, so it depends what sort of person you are. I found it relatively easy because I couldn’t wait to be here and start working. I had no doubts that it will work for us and it did.
