"Emigrating to New Zealand"

My book Emigrating to New Zealand by Steve Horrell explained every aspect of relocating to New Zealand. It starts out with a basic overview of the country: history, geography, economy, climate, lifestyle, people and other vital information. Horrell then described the reasons to emigrate, they ranged from quality of life to taxation and then to politics. Once the reader has decided it is in their best interest to emigrate he next outlines the visa application process. He tells about the various types of jobs/visa options and then clarifies all the regulations on some of the paperwork that is required. Once the visa application has been accepted he moves onto the preparations before you leave, he has advice on selling you house, vehicles, insurance, credit cards and bank accounts. He then mentions how to transport pets to New Zealand and the items you will need with you when you first arrive and are waiting on the rest of your belongings. He provides insight into the process of buying a house, the education system, health care and insurance as well as cars and driving in New Zealand. He then describes more in depth generalization about the climate, entertainment, and lifestyle of New Zealand. Major cities and regions are outlined in detail to help the reader decide where in the country they want to live and he even included a handy section on ‘Kiwispeak’, New Zealand slang. In the Final Thoughts section Horrell said “What you may be asking yourself now is exactly how we feel after deciding to emigrate and making New Zealand our home. The simple answer is we have no regrets”.

This source was tremendously helpful, it described every possible aspect of the emigration process from deciding to go to getting settled. The visa application chapter was exceptionally helpful because of it’s specific nature. I loved how it was written as a recollection of his own experiences because it made it real and nothing fell through the cracks. The city/region outlines were highly detailed and helpful and the Kiwispeak was as informative as it was entertaining. If I were to actually emigrate to New Zealand this book would be indispensable to my journey.

My only negative about this book is that it was written for someone wanting to move from the UK to New Zealand. Luckily, all dollar amounts were listed in dollars as well as pounds so there was no discrepancy there. However, the driving section was a little vague, in New Zealand they drive on the left side of the road, like they do in England, so it was not described exactly how strange that was because the book was designed for people who are used to that. I would have liked to have heard what it was like to have to adjust to that, but other than that this was a great book that I would recommend anyone considering emigration to read.

Horrell, Steve. Emigrating to New Zealand. Oxford, UK: How To Books Ltd, 2006. Print.