A young Blenheim family are joining an increasing number of Marlborough people leaving New Zealand for Australia.
Tane and Deborah Brunt, along with their children, Joshua, 7, Joseph, 5, Anna-Maria, 4, and Ella-Rose, 7 months, will leave Marlborough, with plans to arrived at Port Macquarie, north of Sydney, in October. They will spend time with family in Auckland and Rarotonga on the way.
Data from Statistics New Zealand show 385 people from Marlborough left for Australia permanently or long-term in the year ending June. It is the highest figure since regional statistics were first recorded in 1992.
Mrs Brunt, a junior doctor at Wairau Hospital, in Blenheim, and Mr Brunt, a lawyer at Blenheim law firm Wain & Naysmith, have lived in Marlborough for about four years and are packing up after spending longer in the region than they first expected.
Both did their degrees in Auckland and moved to Blenheim for a few years of experience.
Dr Brunt, who has worked at the hospital for almost three years, did not apply for the state bonding scheme that places new graduates in hard-to-staff areas for up to five years because she did not think the family would be in Blenheim that long. They were looking for a new adventure, a different lifestyle, a chance to pay off debt and for more work experience, she said. All the children were excited about moving.
"The money is attractive ... but lifestyle is very important, too. We don't want to be slaving our guts out, even when you're making the mega-bucks."
Other hospitals around Australia offered more money, but the environment was not right for the children, she said.
Dr Brunt will take up the role of senior house officer at the Port Macquarie hospital, which is slightly larger than Wairau Hospital, and would get to work in other areas of medicine such as intensive care, not available at smaller hospitals in New Zealand.
Mr Brunt will need to apply for a practising certificate in Australia to work as a lawyer and would be a stay-at-home dad until he found a job.
It was a difficult call to leave Marlborough, but they could always come back if they did not like Australia, Dr Brunt said.
Neither had been to Port Macquarie, but had been told of good suburbs and schools by friends in the area.
"We're just going to rock up and do it, otherwise we wouldn't do anything," she said.
Blenheim couple Claire O'Keeffe and Trent Lindsay are also packing their bags, leaving on Saturday to work in Perth before travelling the rest of the world.
Miss O'Keeffe, office administrator, operations and events co-ordinator for the Marlborough Chamber of Commerce, said the couple were not sure what to expect in Perth, but will be looking for jobs.
She was unsure what she wanted to do for a career, and an overseas experience was calling.
"When you finish college there's not many opportunities here in Blenheim so you have to move somewhere else."
- The Marlborough Express
Family off to Port Macquarie
SIMON WONG
A NEW CHAPTER: Deborah and Tane Brunt and their children, Ella-Rose, 7 months, Anna-Maria, 4, Joshua, 7, and Joseph, 5, are moving from Blenheim to start a new life in Australia.
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