Experience in Australia/New Zeland

[JosephD]

A question for you tree men from the UK who have worked down under in Australia and also new zealand.

 

This is something i have been thinking about for the last week or so , was thinking of maybe going over there in a couple of years and work for 6months to a year.

 

I am 20 years old and have been doing trees since mid 2013 , but have been in full time employment for just over a year climbing so that's why i said in the next couple of years to get enough experience over here before heading over.

 

want to know what you guys thought when you were over there , how long did you stay? , was it like you expected , did you like it? did you hate it and any advice and tips would be appreciative and any pics you guys have of big trees you climbed would be great.

[Fredward]

I came out to NZ before I was an arb, love it. Beautiful no matter where you go. Seems to be enough work.. Make sure you allow yourself time to be a tourist, as it's a waste to come just to work.

 

What do you mean about pics of big trees? Just like the UK there is a lots of small trees to work on and some giant ones too - it depends who you work for and the type of work they do. Last week I put some pics of a Eucalyptus dismantle we did in the todays job thread, probably less than 5% of my work is trees that big.

[Taupotreeman]

A question for you tree men from the UK who have worked down under in Australia and also new zealand.

 

 

 

This is something i have been thinking about for the last week or so , was thinking of maybe going over there in a couple of years and work for 6months to a year.

 

 

 

I am 20 years old and have been doing trees since mid 2013 , but have been in full time employment for just over a year climbing so that's why i said in the next couple of years to get enough experience over here before heading over.

 

 

 

want to know what you guys thought when you were over there , how long did you stay? , was it like you expected , did you like it? did you hate it and any advice and tips would be appreciative and any pics you guys have of big trees you climbed would be

 

 

After a year in Oz 94-95 I came to NZ in 98. Haven't set foot on English soil since. If you come just for a year or so make sure, as Fred says, to take plenty of time to travel. Complete and utter waste to be here and not spend time seeing the place.

[RealEstate]

NZ is a beautiful country. nice people, easy place to live, growing economy, but $NZ is down right now I'm told because of the low price of milk! Great climate esp in the North, fertile land. Has a frontier feel.

 

Roads aren't so good, dangerous, and of course you don't have the history or the architecture, but who cares?

Edited November 28, 2015 by RealEstate

[Midge]

I would love to go to NZ one day, either to work or bike!

[Goaty]

I worked in nz 11 yrs ago orchard fruit picking, money was a joke. About £4 an hour it cost us $100s to get permits,not to mention the intrusive medical they gave my wife. It was only for a temp visa but they are terrified you drop a child into nz citizenship. Which I understand from the way people abuse immigration but it's not a nice situation to go through.

I recommend save up get out there get a feel for it. We did and right now I'm at a motel nr heathrow, we fly back for the fifth time tomorrow.

It's the only place I really enjoy being in holiday. I personally find the roads no worse than country roads in Yorkshire. Plenty of idiots on them though. We have pretty much done all of the country.

You have youth on your side. All it takes now is a woman to come into your life and you will miss out.

Plan it get the money converted whilst the rates good if you can. We have got about 30% more this time than our lowest exchange rate.

[Taupotreeman]

Don't procrastinate on the exchange rate. As Goaty says; a few years ago it was horrendous if you were a kiwi and great if you were coming from the UK. Last year the role was reversed.

 

The roads aren't brilliant if you're used to driving everywhere on a motorway. We only have 2 actual motorways and the rest would be equivalent of A or B roads. It's the idiots who drive on them that make them worse. Lots of road rage.

 

I think permits wise it's easier now, especially for arborists as they're classed under the skills shortage. Once you have a visa you can keep applying for extensions as long as you have an employer willing to sponsor you.

[hiluxstihl]

look up ace treee care

[Arran Turner]

NZ is cool, some beautiful country once you get out of the city