{"id":7026984,"date":"2026-08-04T15:04:38","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T15:04:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/living-in-auckland-new-zealand-whats-it-really-like-from-a-european-perspective\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T15:04:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T15:04:38","slug":"living-in-auckland-new-zealand-whats-it-really-like-from-a-european-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7026984","title":{"rendered":"Living in Auckland, New Zealand: what’s it really like from a European perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n

This post was written by Matej Halouska, a remote worker from the Czech Republic who\u2019s been living in Auckland<\/strong>. In this post, he will share with you his best expat tips and practices in New Zealand!<\/p>\n

My name is Matej and I am a travel blogger from the Czech Republic. I have lived in Auckland for one year before I was forced to return back home because of coronavirus.<\/p>\n

I moved to\u00a0New Zealand<\/a>\u00a0with my partner, Adriana on Working Holiday Visas and it was such a great experience we will never forget. We will definitely consider coming back after the borders will open again.<\/p>\n

And why did we choose Auckland?<\/p>\n

We wanted to try to live abroad for a longer period and New Zealand is one of the few countries, where we can get a work visa for a year. We are nature lovers, therefore New Zealand has always been one of our must-visit countries on our bucket list.<\/p>\n

Now, you are maybe asking \u2013 why did you choose to live in such a large city and not in some more remote place in nature. Well, the vast majority of people coming to New Zealand on Working Holiday Visa, work on fruit orchards.<\/p>\n

Our case was different, we have already worked on a vegetable farm in England for a whole summer and this time, we wanted to find some more \u201cproper\u201d jobs, ideally in our major field.<\/p>\n

I am a programmer and Adriana marketer, therefore we needed to live in some larger city because it\u2019s much easier to find these kinds of jobs there. Before coming to New Zealand, everyone was telling us to leave Auckland as soon as possible and rather go to some smaller city like Wellington or Christchurch.<\/p>\n

I started sending resumes to all kinds of different offers to all these cities but all interviews, I was invited to, were in Auckland. After a while, they gave me a job offer and that basically made a choice of city for us.<\/p>\n

After living in Auckland for a year, we have to say that we absolutely do not regret it! Even though Auckland is huge, it\u2019s spread a lot and there are many green parks even in the city center.<\/p>\n

The city is much greener than we expected. It\u2019s also close to some great surfing beaches, therefore it\u2019s a great place for outdoor activities.<\/p>\n

Personal experience living in Auckland<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"living<\/a><\/figure>\n

I would say that living in Auckland is pretty easy. It\u2019s very similar to living in other western countries. The main advantage is that there are so many immigrants and expats from all over the world.<\/p>\n

Therefore, if you come to live in New Zealand, you\u2019re not an outlier.<\/p>\n

People in Auckland (and in the whole of New Zealand) are friendly and amazing. We had Couchsurfing arranged for the first few days after arrival and the hosts helped us so much with everything!<\/p>\n

They cooked for us, helped with all paperwork, helped with buying a car and other things. They even invited us to their Christmas party.<\/p>\n

After that, we have lived for about two months in our converted van because the cost of housing is pretty high in Auckland.<\/p>\n

We have found out about\u00a0house-sitting\u00a0and started doing that. It was the best decision we could have made. We have lived in luxurious houses for free in exchange for taking care of pets.<\/p>\n

After a month, we have decided to take our blogging to the next level and work on it full-time. And because since then we have worked both from home, house sitting was the best. We have lived in\u00a09 different houses all around Auckland<\/a>, which was great for exploring all these various areas.<\/p>\n

About the language \u2013 be prepared that New Zealand English is slightly different. We have been used to American English, therefore we sometimes struggled to understand locals at the beginning. After a few weeks, we got used to it and it wasn\u2019t a problem anymore.<\/p>\n

If you live in your van or some busy hostel and need to find a quiet place for work, public libraries are great! They are open to the public every day (sometimes except Sunday) and there are tables with electric plugs and free wi-fi.<\/p>\n

Before we have found the first house sitting, we have been to so many different libraries around Auckland and all of them were great for working.<\/p>\n

Cost of living in Auckland<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"living<\/a><\/figure>\n

Many people are afraid that the cost of living in Auckland is pretty high. It certainly could be if you are not a thrifty person, however, it doesn\u2019t need to be.<\/p>\n

The most expensive is definitely housing. One room in a shared flat is NZ$120-300 per week (highly depends on the neighborhood). If you want a private flat, be prepared to pay around NZ$400 a week, and a private house is NZ$600 at minimum.<\/p>\n

We highly recommend doing house sitting, because it will save you a lot of money. After all, we have heard that there are even many locals, who do house sitting full time.<\/p>\n

Grocery is not that expensive. The salary \u2013 prices ratio is actually much better in New Zealand than in the Czech Republic, you can buy many more things for what you earn.<\/p>\n

Even the minimal wage is decent and you can live with that. The cheapest supermarket is Pak n\u2019 Save, followed by Countdown. New World is a little bit more expensive than these two.<\/p>\n

The Internet costs about NZ$75 per month. A meal in an inexpensive restaurant is around NZ$12-15.<\/p>\n

Public transportation in Auckland is not great because most people drive their own cars. After all, New Zealand has the\u00a0highest number of cars per capita<\/a>\u00a0in the world.<\/p>\n

One ride by bus costs between NZ$2-7 based on the distance and be prepared that the buses do not always go exactly on time. There are also huge traffic jams, therefore, we highly recommend avoiding traveling during peak hours. <\/p>\n

If you are thinking about buying a car, having reliable fast loan options<\/a> on hand can help you cover that gap without derailing your relocation budget.<\/p>\n

The first neighborhoods, we have lived in, were in North Shore \u2013 Forrest Hill and Birkenhead, these are great places for living. It\u2019s close to some nice beaches, it\u2019s much more laidback than the city center and it\u2019s still pretty close to everywhere.<\/p>\n

After that we lived in\u00a0Taupaki and Riverhead<\/a>, \u2013 these are further, they\u2019re already more like villages than a city. Then we have lived in\u00a0Titirangi<\/a>, which is a very green area close to the Waitakere Ranges Park, which is a great area for hiking and it\u2019s close to some famous surfing beaches.<\/p>\n

Finally, we have lived in\u00a0Remuera<\/a>, which is pretty close to the city center, however, it\u2019s a very nice area with a lot of parks and villas.<\/p>\n

Living in Auckland: New Zealand resident visa<\/h3>\n
\"living<\/a><\/figure>\n

New Zealand has a certain quota for work visas for each country. For instance, there are 1200 working visas offered to Czech Republic citizens every year to live and work in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

Some countries like Germany or France have unlimited visas. Some like Poland or Austria have, on the other hand, only 100 per year. Is it easy to get a working visa for New Zealand if your country doesn\u2019t have an unlimited quota?<\/p>\n

You just need to be quick! The quota opens once a year and about 10,000 people from the Czech Republic apply every year. All the visas are gone in about 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

Medical care for living in Auckland<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"living<\/a><\/figure>\n

Medical care in New Zealand is not great in general. Especially in smaller cities. We personally didn\u2019t need to use it, however, our good friend had a serious car accident and told us that the hospital in the small city New Plymouth was terrible and he was glad that they quickly transported him to Auckland.<\/p>\n

Therefore, this is another reason, why to choose living in Auckland. It has the best medical care in New Zealand. Dentists are extremely expensive in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s actually cheaper to buy a return flight to Thailand and go to the dentist there. You can at least enjoy a nice vacation.<\/p>\n

Buying a car in New Zealand<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"living<\/a><\/figure>\n

We recommend going to the car fair, which is held every Sunday on Ellerslie Race Course. You can usually find here dozens of cars you can buy from other backpackers or professional sellers. We have bought our van there. A good option is also to join Facebook groups, where people post cars for sale.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s definitely a good idea to buy a car for moving around the city. The public transport is serviceable, however, it\u2019s not great.<\/p>\n

And if you want to go on trips outside the city, it\u2019s very difficult to get anywhere without a car (unless you like hitch-hiking, which works pretty well in New Zealand).<\/p>\n

You need to get used to driving on the left-hand side, apart from that, driving is quite easy in New Zealand, drivers aren\u2019t nervous.<\/p>\n

I just highly recommend avoiding driving at peak times because the traffic jams are terrible. The city is huge and spread a lot, therefore it\u2019s not really walkable. For moving around the city center, you can use Lime Scooters, which are great.<\/p>\n

Living in Auckland tips<\/span><\/h2>\n