Step 5: Sail to New Zealand (or Fly)
Once we made the decision to emigrate to New Zealand the old-fashioned way—by boat—we spent the next few months searching for the perfect ride. Eventually we found it in Portland, Oregon: a sturdy 38-foot sailboat we re-christened Wondertime. We moved on board a year later when our daughters were 18 months and 4 years old. A year after that, Michael quit his job, we secured the lock on our small closet-sized storage unit, and we sailed out of Olympia, Washington, USA, for the final time.
We spent our first months in British Columbia, Canada, getting used to travelling on board our new home. We sailed around Vancouver Island where we saw otters and whales and sea lions and bears. We departed Canada in late summer, making our way down to Southern California for autumn. With hurricane season officially over, we crossed the border into Mexico and spent a warm Christmas with other kid boats.3 The next few months, we explored the Sea of Cortez and readied our boat to cross the Pacific Ocean.
On 17 March 2012 we shoved off the North American continent for good, pointing our bow towards the South Pacific. We sailed and sailed and sailed, read books, played games, caught fish and rain. We crossed the equator and drank beer. Just 26 days later, we arrived in the luscious Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia. For the next six months we made our way across the South Pacific, our focus on our New Zealand prize.
On Thanksgiving morning (1:30 a.m.), we dropped our anchor in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, just 18 months after casting off from our dock in Washington and nearly four years after Michael Palin helped us decide to do it.
Of course, you could catch a plane and fly here too.
But what about all your stuff? It was easy for us, as nearly everything we owned was aboard our sailboat. (We left only a few boxes of photos and mementoes remaining in storage in the United States.) Before you go, decide what’s important to bring with you. Many people come to New Zealand with only the bags they carry. Dishes, towels, and other sundry items are probably not worth the cost of shipping. Some people ship favourite furniture and other personal items. If this is your case, get quotes as soon as possible to help decide how much and what to bring, then start packing. It can take months for ocean shipments to arrive.
One thing you must bring to New Zealand is money. I am often asked how much someone needs to budget for life in New Zealand. Of course, there are too many variables for me to give a single answer. How big is your family? How frugal are you? How much do you like chocolate and wine and macadamia nuts? (The latter are NZ$70 per kilo here.)
For what it’s worth, we’ve been tracking our family-of-four’s expenses recently and our basic budget breaks down as follows (all in NZ$):
Everything else varies (alcohol, medical fees, entertainment, clothing, school fees and activities, kids’ toys, books, etc.). So, if you won’t have an income right away, make sure you have enough reserves to get by until you do.