Advice for working in New Zealand e.g kit, insurance, tree ID book etc

[hamilton32]

I'm moving to New Zealand to Nelson this month for at least a year, maybe more depending on what happens. I'm hoping to carry on as a self-employed climber and my cousin(a forester) want help setting up an arb team, but I imagine work will be very slow there too begin with.

 

Does anyone have any idea of the best way to get climbing kit over(harness,helmet,boots,rope,lanyard,krabs and pulleys etc) without paying tons for an additional heavy bag in hold luggage I was thinking posting might be cheaper than a per KG airline fee but I don't know if I'd have to pay an import tax on it?

 

Also looking for advice on travel and Personal accident insurance if anyone has any recommendations that would be hugely appreciated!

 

If anyone has any recommendations for a good NZ tree ID book and P+D book that would also be a great help!

 

Also with banking do I need to open an account in NZ or will my UK internet banking be alright?

 

What tax might I need to pay if I'm only there for a year?

 

And will NZ sim cards work in any UK phone?

 

Thanks in advance!!!

[hamilton32]

Tumbleweed..... Obviously no one knows anything ha.

ima put this here before everyone forks out hundreds on travel insurance they don't need as I almost did.

 

 https://www.health.govt.nz/new-zealand-health-system/eligibility-publicly-funded-health-services/reciprocal-health-agreements

[JosephD]

Yo Hamilton32 how's things . 

 

I'm here in NZ doing the tree work and been here since the beginning of the year on a 1 year working holiday and i am staying in Auckland and have been working full-time climbing since i got here as an employee for a couple of tree companies.

 

I can't really say much about nelson or any other part of NZ to be honest as i have only been living in Auckland but i can't imagine you have any difficulty finding work whether you work as an employee of a subby climber like you mentioned . My advise to you would be to look up online tree companies in the area that you are heading to and contact them all by sending them an email and they should get back to you pretty quickly.

 

Just after i booked my working holiday visa in November last year i contacted 5 or 6 different tree companies in Auckland asking for work and they all got back in touch within a couple of days. 

 

There is a very big shortage of climbers here and the British guys have a very good reputation and i know that TreeScape & Aspludh who have offices all over the country are always on the look out for staff , particularly tree scape who i know that they offer you 1000 dollars as a loyalty bonus if you work for them for more than 6 months! so yeah worth getting in contact with those companies.

 

As far as climbing kit is concerned i brought my full climbing kit over here + chainsaw trousers and boots with me and i didn't get charged extra. 

 

i had a 30kg luggage allowance to take on the plane and my climbing kit fitted in no problem .

 

i took my harness , climbing rope , spikes , wire core flipline , couple of prussiks , 2-3 karabiners and it all fit in my one bag along with the rest of my luggage. (didn't bother bringing my helmet) also brought my chainsaw boots and trousers

 

Check with your arline how much luggage you are allowed on your flight and if i was you i would say only bring your main basic climbing gear with you ,  like the kit ive just mentioned. most companies out here will supply you with additionally bits of gear like cambium savers , throwlines things like that so i would say only bring your basic gear because the more gear you take with you the more weight in your bag and that might result in you going over you luggage allowance and getting charged.  Bringing you're helmet is up to you , i didn't bring mine i just used the helmet the company i worked for supplied me with as i wouldn't buy 1 out here because they are double the price as the UK! , if you think arb gear is expensive in the UK then wait and see what its like over here , stuff is like double the price! Maybe worth giving your climbing kit a wash before you bring it out here with you as immigration at the airport is quite strict with soils are dirt coming in from other countries.

 

I can't give you any advice on insurance as i never bothered getting any , plus quite a few different species of trees out here so worth getting yourself a book because i had trouble identifying stuff when i first got out here

 

Yes you will need to open a NZ bank account over here and transfer money from you're UK account over to that one . main banks over here are BNZ , ANZ and kiwi bank. I am with BNZ and set up my account from home in the UK and transferred money into it a few days before i flew out . Make sure you tell your bank in the UK your situation and that you are planning to transfer money into a NZ bank account because if they don't know then they think its fraud and will block you account automatically. you will also need an IRD number which is for you're tax while in NZ but unfortunatly this can't be sorted from the UK it has to be sorted in NZ which is a bit of a headache but just the way it is. you will need to pay tax while working over here however you can apply to refunt it all back by the end as i have done , if you are a foregn traveller you are intiltled to you tax back or at least most of it back to keep that in mind. 

 

yes you can use a uk phone with a NZ sim card but make sure you ring your service provider whie your still in the UK to get your phone unlocked which they usually do it for free , 02 did anyway.

 

Hope this helped , safe travels and good luck 

[hamilton32]

Nice one Joe! That's a great help. I've also got a 30kg allowance and managed to get my clothes etc in with my climbing kit and my other bits laptop etc fit in hand luggage so that's all good! 

 

Just sorting a bank account and updated my CV....

 

I'm finally getting sorted and that's good news about getting the tax back

 

cheers

[JosephD]

On 12/09/2017 at 23:05, hamilton32 said:

Nice one Joe! That's a great help. I've also got a 30kg allowance and managed to get my clothes etc in with my climbing kit and my other bits laptop etc fit in hand luggage so that's all good! 

 

Just sorting a bank account and updated my CV....

 

I'm finally getting sorted and that's good news about getting the tax back

 

cheers

Whats the Update ? did you finally get over here to NZ?

[hamilton32]

Yes mate! still here, now applying for essential skills visa to get a couple more years here and maybe a residency. Ive travelled most of the south island, it's awesome. I'm still working in Nelson area and looking to explore the north island soon. My cousin owns a forestry business here so I'm now manager of arboriculture for him starting up an arb team, it's slow going currently but should snowball!

[JosephD]

On 09/06/2018 at 13:04, hamilton32 said:

Yes mate! still here, now applying for essential skills visa to get a couple more years here and maybe a residency. Ive travelled most of the south island, it's awesome. I'm still working in Nelson area and looking to explore the north island soon. My cousin owns a forestry business here so I'm now manager of arboriculture for him starting up an arb team, it's slow going currently but should snowball!

Nice one dude! , glad you have found you feet and that you are enjoying your time here in NZ , ive been here nearly 17 months now and working for TreeScape up in Auckland. I did alot of travelling last year including the south island and visited nelson a couple of times which i enjoyed. keep up the good work and stay safe 

[hamilton32]

On 14/06/2018 at 11:57, JosephD said:

Nice one dude! , glad you have found you feet and that you are enjoying your time here in NZ , ive been here nearly 17 months now and working for TreeScape up in Auckland. I did alot of travelling last year including the south island and visited nelson a couple of times which i enjoyed. keep up the good work and stay safe 

 

Cheers Joe!

 

What's treescape like to work for? they have all the big contracts down here and all the big gear, very difficult to compete with. 

Do you have any idea what rates of pay a good climber should get? I expect you should be getting a bit more in Auckland. I'm still not sure how much I should be earning in a day!

[Jack Allen]

You can't legally be self employed unless you are a resident or on a specific work visa. You can't be self employed on a working holiday visa or most work visas. 

However if your only planning on being here a year then by an invoice book, keep quiet about your immigration status and charge gst on top. 

You earn more than twice as much as a sub contractor than as an employee. You'd be lucky to start on $25 an hour on the books. As a subby you should be getting about $50 an hour plus %15 gst. 

Every one in new Zealand is covered by ACC. Accident insurance. 

Good luck.