Moving Down Under: Huw’s Story

Huw Turner moved halfway across the planet in a bid to “get out of a rut”. Chris Farnell learns more.

By Chris Farnell

Moving halfway across the planet is a huge decision, especially when you’re moving with your whole family. Huw Turner and his family decided to move to New Zealand 15 years ago, and they haven’t regretted it a day since.

Huw describes his family’s reasons for moving as “Wanderlust, the need to get out of a rut in the UK.” They decided to move to New Zealand as there were a lot of teaching jobs available there at the time. 

Getting a Teaching Job in New Zealand

Getting a teaching job in New Zealand today involves four main steps. Firstly, you’ll need to get you qualifications assessed by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority so that they can sort out your teacher registration and work out your starting salary in state schools. At the same time, you can register with the New Zealand Teacher’s Council.

Once these steps are completed and you are registered, you can apply for any teaching position in New Zealand. Once you’ve found and been accepted for a job, you’ll need to obtain a work permit from immigration New Zealand.

Since arriving in New Zealand, Huw has had a good deal of luck with his teaching career.

“We moved in January 1997,” Huw explains. “I have mostly worked as a teacher, Head of English at two high schools, Head of Drama in a third.”

Waipu

Of course, as well as finding a way to earn a living in New Zealand, the Turner family would also have to decide where they were going to live. Once they had arrived in New Zealand, and completed the sale of their house back in Britain, they settled in Bream Bay on the north east coast on the Pacific side, roughly 120 kms north of Auckland in a small place called Waipu. Waipu started out as a settlement by Scottish Presbyterians in the 1850s, and the community’s Scottish heritage can still be see today- one of the town’s annual highlights is the Highland Games held every New Year.

However, despite starting off as a Scottish settlement, the town’s population today is actually very diverse. “It is a surprisingly cosmopolitan place considering its geographical isolation and the fact that it's a fairly traditional New Zealand dairy farming community,” Huw says. “For example, my yoga class is mostly Californians, Germans and poms!”

One of Waipu’s other highlights is, naturally, the weather.

Huw tells us, “It's semi sub-tropical, known as the Winterless North. We don't really have winters, it can rain and blow but frosts are a rarity - perhaps three a winter and they are gone by 9.00 am. Haven't had a frost so far and I was walking on the beach yesterday in shorts and barefooted in temperatures of about 20 degrees.”

Of course, nice weather in New Zealand is hardly a rarity, and there were other reasons the Turner’s chose to live in Waipu. “My wife, Alison really chose it and she made a good decision. It was a good place for our children, Elen, Hywel and Isabelle to grow up - in walking distance of the sports clubs, on the school bus routes and in easy reach of amazing beaches with the Pacific Ocean just five minutes away.”

Today Huw has plenty to do in Waipu, and not surprisingly given the climate, a lot of those activities involve getting out and about.

Huw says, “Pastimes are to do with the outdoors - swimming, fishing , surfing , biking, but I also do lots of yoga, pilates, tai chi , chi kung.”

15 years on from the move, Huw is well settled in New Zealand, and waxes lyrical about the country’s space, the scenery and the friendly locals. When it comes to the UK, Huw says he can't think of anything that he misses from the homeland. On first arriving in the country it was a challenge being so far away from family and friends, “but as we made new friends that became less of a problem,” Huw says.

At the end of the day, Huw only has one piece of advice for other Brits who are thinking about making the move themselves. Put very simply, all Huw has to say is “Yes, do it!

EXPAT IN BRIEF

Name: Huw Turner

Occupation: Teacher

Moved From: Leicester

Moved To: Waipu, Auckland

Issue 9, Australia & New Zealand Outlook