As a corporate objective to further expand our business, it has come to a corporate decision that we will be opening a regional office centre in Auckland. When I first visited the city in November, it struck me with great interest that this would be an ideal location to conduct an expansion for our company to grow. Such interest sparked one of my-co shareholder and I to head over to our local New Zealand consulate and apply for a visa/permit for the sake of our business. Not knowing how the result and status of our application would be handled, reviewed, and judged upon completion of the paper work in January, we waited and continued on with our daily routines.

Then suddenly when I got back into town Saturday, did the word come out that my application has been approved. Not only that but within moments after receiving the news did my mobile phone ring with my co-shareholder on the other line informing that his application has also been approved. A visa along with the preceding 9-month working permit for us to operate our business have been granted along with a potential extension of up to three years once we are there.

So there you have it. After three days of extensive discussions with many members of the organization, we will be expanding our business and put Auckland in the map as one of our major sales quarters joining Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Vancouver. My co-shareholder and I (yes it is only going to be the two of us) will be running the new location and will remain there for at least two months before we can train, get things moving in the right direction, and eventually hire a local to handle our operations. My co-shareholder will travel down there to explore the area further for potential office and housing locations. It will be a needed preparation before we finally move in at the end of September.

Now that you have gotten a brief introduction on what we plan to do here, I would like to ask the advices of those who either is a current resident of the nation or has had plenty of experiences living in the area. I visited Auckland twice in the past, once in November and as recently as last month. However, both visits have been limited to three days each and did not give me enough time to do further exploration.

So what should we know about living here that we probably don’t know that differentiates it from other western cities I have been accustomed to such as Los Angeles and Vancouver? Yes I am fully aware that it rains a lot here. But having lived in Vancouver for many years, I am accustomed to such weather. In addition to those two cities, I still maintain permanent residency in Hong Kong (I am a native of the SAR) and still commute and reside there on a part time basis regularly. In addition I have also worked in Toronto for a period of almost two years in the past.

So other than driving on the left side of the road as oppose to the right, having spring in September/October/November as oppose to fall, etc what else can we expect while we are here? Any advices, recommendations, thoughts, etc?

It’s a golden opportunity filled with may challenges and potentials. I can’t wait.

Inputs and suggestions would be more than welcome and appreciated.

Congrats - ygpm.

Okay. Arrival date is set to be Sep 20. Will be based there until end of Nov or beginning of Dec. My friend aka co-shareholder will arrive a few weeks earlier to get things started. I believe this is the spring period for NZ so weatherwise should be nice. Not sure about rainfall amount during this period though.

Welcome to NZ! If you've any questions, feel free to ask.

As to the weather in spring, it'll be unsettled. The period you'll be here will be spring (as you said), but it'll be unsettled, especially Auckland - 4 seasons in 1 day type weather. However, by the end of your stay, the weather will be significantly better when you first arrive.

Well it will be significantly warmer by Nov/Dec compared with Sep, but can still be unsettled (a bit like Vancouver).

Have an umbrella handy and should be fine.

It seems to me that living in NZ, the only major Supermarket chain store there is Woolworth's? Correct me if I am wrong.

Woolworth is one of the major ones. There're also New World, Foodtown and Pak n' Save.

Foodtown seems to be quite common in Auckland.

There's a Foodtown in the CBD, just on the other end of the harbour from Viaduct.

Can I have your job?

The Waitemata Harbour is pretty big, Foodtown is much closer than the other end - only half a dozen blocks from Viaduct.

You're right of course- I guess I was thinking jusst on the other side of Britomart (although it's a bit farther than that...)

My colleague is currently here still scouting potential housing and office locations. Judging from my past visit experiences and what he is reporting, public transportation is very limited and getting a long-term car rental during our 2+ month stay would be mandatory.

Having lived in Auckland for over 2 years I agree that public transport is limited, although there is a free bus service (Red bus) that does a loop of the CBD.

When renting a car, look at some of the "second tier" companies (for example Go Rentals). They are generally much cheaper than Avis, Hertz, etc.

Glenn

If you need a car for that long, why not just buy one and sell it when you want to leave?

Or get a short term lease. Since it's business related you probably should get tax advice since the treatment varies significantly.