Hi there April,you can practise massage therapy here easily,it is'nt anything like the US...in fact anyone can do it,with or without any certification,tho of course studying with a reputable college does have its benefits,but I have friend swho learnt from many sources and have a good client base...
As to cats,they will have to be in quarantine for 6 months...I think there was a thread about that in the cat lovers tribe,a guy moving over here was'nt sure if he should leave them behind or not,he decided to bring them...
It's fairly easy getting accommodation with cats,not so much with dogs tho....ask away...be happy to help..I live an hour north of Welly at the beach,delightful up here and better weather too,and peaceful...tho Welly is a cool and easy city to get around,its very green and has great views almost everywhere of something lovely...

this is escape from USA

Yer freaking me out! I've been trying to get my girlfriend to join Tribe for awhile and when I saw an April posting about moving to New Zealand... but no. It's just some random person from Austin. Named April. That wants to move to New Zealand. And looking at a career shift to massage. Actually she's already made the switch on the career, having earned her LMP certification earlier this year, but still...close enough to make me double take. :)

I'll have to tell her about you so she has one more reason to join up. She's been researching the various organizations (TMANZ and MINZI to name two I can remember off the top of my head) that seem to be trying to do something similar to what the AMTA has done here over in New Zealand. Certainly, as others have said, right now it's pretty much a free-for-all. Our first ever search on massage in New Zealand turned up more brothels than anything when we first started looking (just checked, still does...just google "new zealand massage" to see). And when we honed in on schools we'd find places that offered what amounted to a weekend class and then offered a "certificate" though what meaning that has seems dubious. We did find some good places though and as I said, there are organizations that seem to be working toward improving the legitimacy of the whole profession there.

Also as someone else said, I think, it certainly would not hurt to be certified either way. I mean, really, when it comes right down to it, what's going to make you successful is knowing what you're doing well enough to keep people coming back. I thought I knew what a good massage was until I came to Seattle where the massage culture is way stronger than in my hometown of Chicago. When I learned what a therapist with intimate knowledge of all that anatomy and physiology that some of the 72 hour schools poo poo could actually *do* with that knowledge... wow.

We're going down there at the end of this month for three weeks and, while it's mostly a vacation for us, it is also a scouting trip for April which, I tell you, is going to be rough when it comes to the "experiencing local techniques" parts. ;) I know she also has some sort of an open house she's going to near the end of our trip. If I don't manage to strong arm her into joining up by then I'll be sure to relay whatever we learn at least.

Oh, and on the cats thing, April has a cat so looked into this and here is your site:

www.biosecurity.govt.nz/import...spe.htm

It looks long and daunting but it's not so bad really. The only rough part is if your cat is bad with being alone for a long time because the crate has to be sealed for the entire trip and can't have openings large enough for paws or nose to make it out which means they're essentially locked in another room without contact for the entire time on the plane. I'd definitely get them to LA and spend a day before having to crate and seal them for the 12-13 hour plane trip.

Ok, so for now I'm not going to focus on massage therapy. It's definitely something I want to do but at a later time. For now I think I'm going to go back to my original plan to get a degree as a dietician. I think it will help with my raw food business (once I start it) and it's also on the list of needed professions in New Zealand so it'll help keep me in the country.

As soon as I can get a job here and pay for a passport I can start applying for a visa and get started on the quarantine process for my cats. I don't know if I'll make it in time for the Kiwi Burn, but I'm hoping I'll be there by then.

Hi April!

I moved to Wellington in March on 3 weeks notice. The cats needed 6 months between rabies titre tests before they could join us here, plus 30 days in quarantine. We had trouble finding a place downtown that would allow cats (most apartments don't), but we ended up in a really nice beach house in Seatoun (10 minute drive to the CBD). The cats were quarantined in a lovely facility called Shado-lans, an hour north of Wellington, and we were able to pick them up on 9/17.

Getting through the red tape to get them here was a nightmare, as most vets are unfamiliar with the procedures. The cats escaped 3 days after getting out of quarantine, and we had a major freakout given the amount of money we spent on them (vet bills, airfare, quarantee, bribes to friends for cat-sitting for 6 MONTHS). But they're back now, and so HAPPY, so it was worth every penny. Get started now if you want to bring them with you. It can't hurt to have rabies vaccines done immediately if you're thinking about making the move soon.

Good luck!