Accent Health

My name is Moyra Doherty. My husband, my two-year-old daughter and I now live in New Zealand. I was working as a bone marrow transplant nurse in Scotland. We had done a lot of research and were thinking of making the big move when we met the ACCENT representatives at the expo in Edinburgh in March 2007.

I participated in a telephone interview with the team at ACCENT in April, which led to an interview with Christchurch Hospital in July. The interviews were hard, but I obviously did a lot better that I first thought – I was worried they would have problems with my accent!

By the end of July I had a confirmed job offer in writing. The paperwork was all taken care of by the team at ACCENT. They were fantastic. They advised us on everything from housing locations to tax codes and even where I could take my husband for his birthday when we arrived.

We eventually received the visa applications in October. To be honest, the process is pretty stressful. We had to fly to London the day before we were due to depart and collect them ourselves! Since we arrived in Christchurch, we have been loving the family life. We had a great Christmas party/barbecue with the team at ACCENT. I even got a surprise visit at work, just before Christmas, when they delivered a lovely Christmas stocking to myself and my boss.

I have found the pace of work a lot slower than I was used to, but it is a nice change from the hustle and bustle of the UK. In New Zealand we love the outdoor and sporty lifestyle. Keira, my daughter, takes swimming lessons and gymnastic classes.

We are still confused with the weather (summer in December), but what a summer it has been. In Scotland our stress levels were much higher and we generally stayed in watching TV, but here we are out all the time. There are so many lovely parks and walks to go on and the beach is just a short drive.

We have bought a huge plot of land on which we are building our dream home (one that was way out of our reach in the UK ). I have even passed my driving test after only five lessons! We do miss our family and friends, but lots of them have booked their flights to come visit us this year.