Does anyone know what New Zealand is like as a place to live?

[Anarcho-Socialist]

I'm British (based in Northern England) and I am thinking of moving to New Zealand one day.

Does anyone know what New Zealand is like as a place to live?

I'll be grateful for any comments and opinions, whether good or bad.

(I know this is the Australia forum, but it's the closest I can get)

:bounce:

[Momgonepostal]

1. My short answer is no :-)

I have a friend who would also love to move to NZ from the states so I'm interested in responses to your question.

I do know real estate is less expensive than here (Northern California) but that gasoline is sky-high. They have no oil refineries there so the fuel has to be brought in in it's final form.

[Spurt]

24. Bzzzzzt wrong.

They certainly do have a refinery, at the mouth of Whangarei Harbour (Marsden Point), Northland.
Petrol is about US$5/gal, of which about 45% is taxes.

[Djinn]

2. Good

I'm an Australian/Scot and am thinking of doing the same, unfortunately employment over there isn't as easy to find.

The climate is a little cooler overall than Australia but there's a difference between the North and South Islands.

Physically it's beautiful and politically it's probably one of the better western nations to live in right now.

A country of 4 million people though may be a little dull which is so far the only thing holding me back.

[NewHampshireDem]

3. I've been looking into going Kiwi for 2 years now

Filled out my immigration forms (Expression of Interest) but my wife but the brakes on ...

Anyway, Yahoo has a couple of good ex-pat groups for Kiwis ... I found people there to be *very* helpful.

I also bought the report from http://www.nukiwi.com/ and subscribed to their newsletter.

Those are a couple of good places to start ... good luck to you and maybe I'll see you there someday!

[Anarcho-Socialist]

12. Thanks for the pointers

I'll look them up.

[Spinzonner]

4. Well, if you're into sheep ...

and flightless birds

[Djinn]

18. if so come to Aust instead

we have considerably more sheep AND a bigger flightless bird!

[benddem]

5. I've got friends who

loved living there and others who hated it. It probably depends on where you live and what things you like to do. One friend was in a small town in the boonies where the phrase "he's gone mental" was not uncommon. Try and find some people who have lived there...not visited. You cannot make a decision based on tourists opinions.

[benddem]

6. send me a message

and I'll give you the email address of a physician I know who has lived there twice. He's a surgeon and worked in a clinic there.

[wysi]

7. I'm an expat American...

... and I live in New Zealand. What do you want to know?

[Anarcho-Socialist]

10. I would like to know things like...

Culture
The cost of living
Job opportunities
The climate
What the crime rate is like
...and anything else you might think is relevent.

Thanks.

[wysi]

15. Right...

I've been here about 2.5 years, and I live in Christchurch (on the South Island).

Culturally, as someone else said, NZ is a bit more leftist and progressive than most other places I've lived in (Australia, the UK, USA). For example, we have a left-leaning Labour government that is likely to be returned to power later this year. New Zealand is in fact a bi-cultural society, with European culture and Maori (indigenous) culture existing side-by-side (there is what amounts to several affirmative action schemes for Maori as they suffer from a pretty high rate of economic disadvantage and attendant issues). Having said that, we have our share of conservative people and those who believe in the supremacy of Anglo culture, and we have our own version of the Fristians (called the Destiny Church, but they're pretty minor at the moment and don't have the ear of the powers that be).

The cost of living has risen quite a bit recently as house prices have been increasing dramatically for the past three years or so. They are slowing down now, but things are a lot more expensive here than they were a few years ago. Still, the tax burden is relatively low (no council tax - we do have rates but they are for homeowners only, and reasonable), but wages are fairly static as well. That's why a lot of people go overseas - you get paid a lot more in Australia to do the same job in many cases (nearly 500,000 Kiwis live in Australia).

Job opportunities vary by region. Here on the South Island it can be very difficult to find work as the population base is quite low (there are fewer than 1 million people on the South Island, which is larger than England) and it tends to limit opportunities. But as you are interested in being a secondary school teacher you may be able to find work more easily (though you will need to check that you can get registration here with your UK training). In general it's much easier to find work on the North Island (mainly in Auckland or Wellington).

The climate is temperate and island-based, not unlike Britain, except that we have proper summers (i.e. it doesn't rain nearly as much). Winters are pretty gentle by my own standards (I'm originally from New England), not as nice as Australian winters but quite bearable. What you will have trouble getting used to is the season inversion... winter is coming now, and I'm not used to the beginning of May heralding the start of the cold and rainy season, even after 5 years of living Down Under.

The crime rate is low, but higher in the cities, as you would expect. We've recently had a spate of murders here in Christchurch, but that're pretty unusual.

Anything else?

[Anarcho-Socialist]

17. That's really great information...

...thank you very much. :hi:

[foreigncorrespondent]

8. I have family over there!

All I can say is, if you want a quiet life surrounded by some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world, then this is the place to go.

[Matilda]

9. I lived in Auckland for a while about thirty years ago.

I left because it was then way too conservative, and it was hard
to find interesting work - I had to take what I could get. But the
country was breathtakingly beautiful, and the people were lovely.
They love sport, and play everything.

Politically now it's way to the left of Australia (and the UK), and
looks more attractive to me every week that I have to look at John
Howard's ugly face.

It would be a great place to raise children, but depends on your age
and what work opportunities there are for you.

[Anarcho-Socialist]

11. I'm 22 years old...

...I'm doing a BA History degree and intend to follow it by a Post-grad teaching degree to teach at the Secondary level.

My interest in New Zealand is long-term. If I do move it would be in about 6-8 years time.

Thanks for your opinion.

[wysi]

16. It's...

... a fantastic place to raise children, good schools and quite safe. Despite being American I would never want to raise my children in the USA (I don't want either of them getting caught up in the war machine).

[SweetLeftFoot]

13. It is worth considering

that NZ has the highest proportion of its population living overseas of any English speaking country.

Also, do you like rugby?

[Anarcho-Socialist]

14. Well, I like watching rugby

:)

[Matilda]

19. Don't forget cricket.

n/t

[SweetLeftFoot]

20. Of course

Don't forget netball - those Silver Ferns are quite a combination ..

[Dead_Parrot]

21. Do it!

I moved out here about 6 months ago, and it's a hell of an improvement. (although I was in Luton, so Afghanistan would also have been a step up)

Good stuff:
Friendly people
Lower crime rates
There's still a countryside to go to
Funky wildlife
Fresh air!
Better climate

Bad Stuff:
Can be hard to find work
Quite expensive for some things
The beer's piss...

another place to look is http://www.uk2nz.co.uk, which has some good advice along with a few horror stories from people who haven't made it work: You do need to plan it all out carefully...

[Catamount]

22. All my best friends living in Oz are New Zealanders!

Although I've lived in the USA for 15 years, I'm still friends with all my NZ friends who settled in Australia where I spent most of my life.
SO the people are great!
They go to Oz because there's more work, or at least that's how it used to be. Since "LOTR" I believe the economy is much better and (I think tourism way up)
It's such a beautiful place geographically; great climate,beaches, volcanos, people who are strong, smart, mostly blue, a female leader who's a real person --what more could one want?
Oh lot's of sheep, too!
Good luck

[Kenergy]

23. Check out Stuff.co.nz ... has NZ newspapers on-line n/t