# How do you like New Zealand and Why???



## divastarz

Hi my fellow expats!

Could you please tell me how and why do you like New Zealand???


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## TGM

I liked it for the scenery and for the closeness of the small communities where everyone seems to know everyone else or is related to them in some way. The larger cities are more faceless and you could be living anywhere in the world.

Having said that the scenery isn't enough, as beautiful as it is.


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## divastarz

Thanks for you reply. 
Are you currently living in New Zealand? Which part of New Zealand, attracted you the most?


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## TGM

No, I'm in Queensland now. For scenery the South Island really is the better of the two halves of NZ. The Queenstown area is stunning but it's expensive to buy property there, Arrowtown would be a good place to set up in.


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## FrancisJames

Hi TGM, I'm in Queensland now too, there are a lot of people from New Zealand here aren't there.

I agree with what you say about the small communities, especially in the South Island that's where the real New Zealand is. Arrowtown is a good choice.

In the cities you could be anywhere and Auckland was is popular with immigrants that some surburbs feel more like mini Britains, South Africas and Chinas.


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## sabfrance

You will find that you enjoy New Zealand in direct proportion to how much you are prepared to put in.

Work hard, integrate with the community and make friends and you will have a productive and enjoyable time.


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## FrancisJames

I fully agree, you definitely get out what you put in. However, it was sooooo much easier over here in Australia. Well, for us anyway


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## Gimme5

FrancisJames said:


> I fully agree, you definitely get out what you put in. However, it was sooooo much easier over here in Australia. Well, for us anyway


Yeah that's a nice little slogan but reality is often less straightforward as you've said so yourself. How is it so much easier in Oz? How long were you in NZ before moving?


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## FrancisJames

> Yeah that's a nice little slogan but reality is often less straightforward as you've said so yourself. How is it so much easier in Oz? How long were you in NZ before moving?


Emigration is never easy. It takes a lot out of you to put your old life behind you and start afresh from scratch so it's not something that can be done in a half hearted way. You do need to make an enormous effort to make it work no matter where you go.

It's easier here because we can afford the type of lifestyle we want, we're saving money for the first time in years and have pension plans again. It used to worry me that we couldn't afford these in NZ.

People are more accommodating here of immigrants and it was easier to fit-in both socially and work wise than it was in NZ. Ways of doing things at work are far more like they are in Britain and policies and procedures are very familiar. 

Finding a place to live was dead easy and we'd sorted that more or less before we moved. We found buying cars was harder because they're not as cheap over here - not so many Japanese exports - and registering a car is more expensive because you you also have to pay for CTP insurance. That's balanced out by not having to have your car WOF'd and petrol being a lot cheaper.

Buying a mobile phone (or a sim card) is a drag because they insist on so much ID, same requirement for sending a parcel. It was a lot easier in NZ.

The kids fitted right into school and were accepted straight off. They had some good natured teasing for being Kiwis (which didn't bother them because they're British) but not as much as they took for being Poms in NZ.

What I have noticed is that Asian kids get a much fairer go here than they do in NZ. There's a fair number of them at school and they never get called "bloody Asians" or get singled out for being the clever ones. There isn't the them and us cliques that there are in NZ. I'm not saying that the whole of Australia is like this, but where we are people just don't see to care so much where you come from, it's how you fit in and contribute that matters.


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## FrancisJames

*Being able to afford a lifestlye*

Here's a good example of what I mean about not being able to afford the type of lifestyle we wanted in NZ.

Mount Nathan in Australia and Dairy Flat in New Zealand are both semi rural type locations within about 10-15 minute drives of the CBD, or major areas of employment and development.

This is a 4 bed house in Mt Nathan on a landscaped lot with air conditioning and large outside shed (both very important in Aus) it is under contract and was offered for sale for $639,000 but probably went for 10-15% less than that

Mount Nathan, address available on request - House for Sale #106964597 - realestate.com.au

This is a comparable four bed house in Dairy Flat, nothing special, similar house with more land but a lot of it is in covenented bush so unusable. Asking price $1.485 million

- Realestate.co.nz


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## FrancisJames

This is another nice looking place in Mt Nathan, a bit less at $585,000 and fairly typical of a lot of properties around here

22-24 Trentbridge Court, Mount Nathan, Qld 4211 - House for Sale #107029325 - realestate.com.au

For around $800,000 there's stuff like this around, quite fancy this one myself but need a payrise first 

10 Mountain View Crest, Mount Nathan, Qld 4211 - House for Sale #107052504 - realestate.com.au


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## Gimme5

FrancisJames said:


> Emigration is never easy. It takes a lot out of you to put your old life behind you and start afresh from scratch so it's not something that can be done in a half hearted way. You do need to make an enormous effort to make it work no matter where you go.
> 
> It's easier here because we can afford the type of lifestyle we want, we're saving money for the first time in years and have pension plans again. It used to worry me that we couldn't afford these in NZ.
> 
> People are more accommodating here of immigrants and it was easier to fit-in both socially and work wise than it was in NZ. Ways of doing things at work are far more like they are in Britain and policies and procedures are very familiar.
> 
> Finding a place to live was dead easy and we'd sorted that more or less before we moved. We found buying cars was harder because they're not as cheap over here - not so many Japanese exports - and registering a car is more expensive because you you also have to pay for CTP insurance. That's balanced out by not having to have your car WOF'd and petrol being a lot cheaper.
> 
> Buying a mobile phone (or a sim card) is a drag because they insist on so much ID, same requirement for sending a parcel. It was a lot easier in NZ.
> 
> The kids fitted right into school and were accepted straight off. They had some good natured teasing for being Kiwis (which didn't bother them because they're British) but not as much as they took for being Poms in NZ.
> 
> What I have noticed is that Asian kids get a much fairer go here than they do in NZ. There's a fair number of them at school and they never get called "bloody Asians" or get singled out for being the clever ones. There isn't the them and us cliques that there are in NZ. I'm not saying that the whole of Australia is like this, but where we are people just don't see to care so much where you come from, it's how you fit in and contribute that matters.


Thanks for taking time to share your experiences. Sure there are downsides but glad that it's been mostly positive so far. Although we are Kiwis, its still hard for us here as we do not fit the mould (ie, white or Moari looking). We've got to try extra hard but it tends to wear you down. Just the other day, someone commented that whenever he sees a boat full of Chinese going fishing, everyone instinctively knows that they were going to be keeping undersized fish and beyond their catch limits. That sort of prejudice and racism is rather prevalent even though some people here may try to sweep it under the rug or try to be polite about it. I mean what can you do? You're right about the "them and us" thing going on. There also seems to be a culture of "you're OK I'm not OK" sort of mentality. 

When you say Mt Nathan is 10 mins from CBD, are you referring to Surfers? We used to be on an acreage as well and you're right, there's nothing like having privacy and space. Our neighbour used to go on his ride-on mower in his birthday suit on a hot summer's day. Which private school are your kids attending? Hard to get in?


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## topcat83

FrancisJames said:


> Here's a good example of what I mean about not being able to afford the type of lifestyle we wanted in NZ.
> 
> Mount Nathan in Australia and Dairy Flat in New Zealand are both semi rural type locations within about 10-15 minute drives of the CBD, or major areas of employment and development.
> 
> This is a 4 bed house in Mt Nathan on a landscaped lot with air conditioning and large outside shed (both very important in Aus) it is under contract and was offered for sale for $639,000 but probably went for 10-15% less than that
> 
> Mount Nathan, address available on request - House for Sale #106964597 - realestate.com.au
> 
> This is a comparable four bed house in Dairy Flat, nothing special, similar house with more land but a lot of it is in covenented bush so unusable. Asking price $1.485 million


I've always found anywhere north of Auckland to be expensive when compared to similar areas to the south (with the exception of Clevedon and Whitford - they're a bit pricier). Even so, $1,485k is high and not an 'average' property.

How about this one in Dairy Flat for $675k NZD? http://www.realestate.co.nz/1445056?max_price=1500000&order_by=1
Or http://www.realestate.co.nz/1442042?max_price=1500000&order_by=1 for $745k NZD? 
Both are admittedly on smaller sections than the one that you highlighted in Dairy Flat, but larger than the sections on the properties you highlighted in Mount Nathan.

Also take into account the difference in exchange rate between the Kiwi and Oz dollar. Currently $100 NZD is only $75 AUD. (and the GBP exchange rate to both is abysmal at the moment!)

Just trying to make a point here - it is easy to cherry pick so that the point you want to make is shown to its best advantage. I really don't know whether the property prices around Auckland are better or worse value than those in similar locations to towns in Australia.


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## FrancisJames

I wasn't cherry picking, just taking houses at random in a similar area that I know reasonably well (Dairy Flat) and trying to compare like with like. 

What I didn't mention is that Dairy Flat's days as a rural area are numbered because permission has been given to break up some of the larger sections and lifestyle blocks and make the land available for more concentrated development. This is one of the reasons why the road down into Albany village was upgraded and improved. 

Thanks for the links to the two houses. The one in Horseshoe Bush road is very similar to one that a friend of ours bought out that way a few years back. It's really no more than a wooden chalet type cottage and very small inside. Ok for a holiday home but not as a main residence. It's the sort of house you'd live in whilst waiting for your main one to be built then rent out to tenants. 

The other house you gave on East Coast Road is overpriced for what it is and it is on that horrible back road/rat run that goes alongside the motorway up to Silverdale. They have a cheek calling it Dairy Flat as it is really Redvale (dairy flat doesn't extend east of the motorway) there's no way I would have lived alongside that road and I used to dislike driving on it. The land up there is awful - very loose, poor quality unconsolidated soils and liable to slippage and movement. It's also very exposed to the weather up on that ridge and I think in a house like this you'd freeze in winter. It probably overlooks the motorway too and will be noisy if it does.

I know you're trying hard to show that there are some acceptable properties in the area and I thank you for that, but believe me we searched for years and couldn't find anything decent that we could afford. It wasn't for the lack of trying.


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## FrancisJames

P.S. forgot to mention the exchange rates. Yes you're right there is a difference but you also have to remember that salaries are a lot higher here so property is more affordable. We achieved a 53% increase in take home pay by switching from NZ to Australia.


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## FrancisJames

Gimme5 said:


> Thanks for taking time to share your experiences. Sure there are downsides but glad that it's been mostly positive so far. Although we are Kiwis, its still hard for us here as we do not fit the mould (ie, white or Moari looking). We've got to try extra hard but it tends to wear you down. Just the other day, someone commented that whenever he sees a boat full of Chinese going fishing, everyone instinctively knows that they were going to be keeping undersized fish and beyond their catch limits. That sort of prejudice and racism is rather prevalent even though some people here may try to sweep it under the rug or try to be polite about it. I mean what can you do? You're right about the "them and us" thing going on. There also seems to be a culture of "you're OK I'm not OK" sort of mentality.
> 
> When you say Mt Nathan is 10 mins from CBD, are you referring to Surfers? We used to be on an acreage as well and you're right, there's nothing like having privacy and space. Our neighbour used to go on his ride-on mower in his birthday suit on a hot summer's day. Which private school are your kids attending? Hard to get in?


I was referring more to the Nerang/Molendinar/Southport area really. People do commute to Helensvale from here but Pac Pines is more popular with the people who work there. Nerang Station is about 10 mins away, less if you clog it . People drive to it and get the train up to Brisbane, or take the motorway south to places like Robina and towns down to northern NSW. How much easier it would have been if there'd been train stations on North Shore, not those awful buses.

Your neighbour sounds like a right character, you'd certainly NOT want to borrow his mower after he'd been using it!! 

No the schools weren't hard to get in, sorry can't say which ones they go to but they're happy there and the fees are a lot less than they would have been at somewhere like Kristin or Pinehurst in North Shore. I think the standards are higher here but it's not fair to compare them with state schools in NZ.


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## anski

FrancisJames said:


> Here's a good example of what I mean about not being able to afford the type of lifestyle we wanted in NZ.
> 
> Mount Nathan in Australia and Dairy Flat in New Zealand are both semi rural type locations within about 10-15 minute drives of the CBD, or major areas of employment and development.
> 
> This is a 4 bed house in Mt Nathan on a landscaped lot with air conditioning and large outside shed (both very important in Aus) it is under contract and was offered for sale for $639,000 but probably went for 10-15% less than that
> 
> Mount Nathan, address available on request - House for Sale #106964597 - realestate.com.au
> 
> This is a comparable four bed house in Dairy Flat, nothing special, similar house with more land but a lot of it is in covenented bush so unusable. Asking price $1.485 million
> 
> - Realestate.co.nz


Hi FrancisJames

Are there 2 Mt. Natham's in Queensland? 

Because if it is the Mt. Natham I know it is approx 68.3km from the CBD of Brisbane & takes approx 51 minutes drive time as per Google Earth.
Or were you referring to it's proximity to The Gold Coast? If so the distance to Southport is 28km & approx 28 minutes drive time. However having personally lived on the Gold Coast I would hardly call Southport a CBD area. It would have fewer opportunities for employment compared to Brisbane CBD.

Neither are “within about 10-15 minute drives of the CBD, or major areas of employment and development”. It is unfair to make people think otherwise.

I lived in Australia (Sydney & Queensland) from 1967-1999 & I can tell you with all honesty that on arrival it was a lovely country with few problems other than hardship. 

Australia has increased from a population of 11.7 million in 1967 on my arrival to in excess of 20 million today & not all the changes are for the best in my opinion.

Since the mid 70's I have watched more violence occur, looking at the news on Yahoo Australia or online newspapers to see the gun related crime in spite of Australia adopting a gun free stance after the Port Arthur (Tasmania) massacre.
I constantly read of drive by shootings, home invasions, muggings granted I know some the areas are problematic with certain ethnic groups & drug dealer related issues.

As for differences in housing values between Australia & New Zealand

I can tell you in 2001 our house in New Zealand was 1/3rd of the price of a home in a similar area in Sydney. Comparing Mission Bay (7.9 km from Auckland CBD & 13 mins drive ) with a similar suburb in Sydney -Rose Bay (7.5km & 13 mins drive from Sydney CBD) Both are blue chip desirable suburbs & similar in terms of socio-economic & tertiary educated residents.


However we have both strayed of the original topic so getting back to the question Divastarz posted How do you like New Zealand and Why???


I like it for the greenery, the friendly, helpful people, the ease of dong things, & less population & I myself prefer NZ to present day Australia. Also the east coast of Australia has so much humidity.

I also never realised how much I liked NZ until the other day when the excitement & novelty of living in other places disappeared & I sat down & thought about the possibility of living in NZ again.


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## FrancisJames

How long has it been since you lived here anski, have you seen the amount of development around this region in recent years? all those extra millions of people have to live and work somwhere you know. My travel time to and from work is work is 10 mins and an easy drive, a fraction of the time it was when I lived and worked in New Zealand. I'm not talking about Brisbane CBD just the major conurbation where people work, your interpretation of a CBD must be different to mine. It's like driving from Dairy Flat into a larger version of Albany. 

I've never lived in Sydney, nor would I want to as it's very crowded and expensive and I don't rate the quality of life very highly there, but it obviously suits a lot of people who do love it.



> I constantly read of drive by shootings, home invasions, muggings granted I know some the areas are problematic with certain ethnic groups & drug dealer related issues.


You know, I see the same stuff written about New Zealand, these sort of problems are the same the world over. 

What's been in the news recently in New Zealand? children getting beaten to death by their caregivers, a man shot in the face in Gisborne, the fifth assault on a police officer in three weeks, people injured by bottles thrown from cars, police officers chased by a man wielding a samurai sword in Otara, people and seal pups getting the bash in Kaikoura. It's all the same.

If we could have found the sort of lifestyle we were looking for we would have stayed in New Zealand, it's not a bad place.

You're right about the humidity here, tell me about it! it takes some getting used to and you should see how it makes the grass grow! Good job we have one of those ride on mowers and a couple of alpacas 

I hear there was a small scale hurricane on your islands a few weeks ago, did it cause much damage?


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## FrancisJames

> I can tell you in 2001 our house in New Zealand was 1/3rd of the price of a home in a similar area in Sydney. Comparing Mission Bay (7.9 km from Auckland CBD & 13 mins drive ) with a similar suburb in Sydney -Rose Bay (7.5km & 13 mins drive from Sydney CBD) Both are blue chip desirable suburbs & similar in terms of socio-economic & tertiary educated residents.


Mission Bay is a lovely location, do you still own property there? I think the prices have gone up a bit since 2001.


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## anski

I go back frequently my son lives in Brisbane & I was there last March 2010.

I hear there was a small scale hurricane on your islands a few weeks ago, did it cause much damage?[/QUOTE]

Yes it was bad here in Puerto de la Cruz wind gust were 190kph & scary. Damage in our area of La Paz was broken roof tiles, a huge neon sign from a shopping centre blown over & the Jardin Botanico was closed for 3 weeks having major damage to their 200+ year trees.
All calm now & winter temps 24c -17c Purr fect


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## FrancisJames

That's about the same as it is here in winter. Glad to hear you escaped relatively unscathed from the storm. There have been a few over here recently and it rained like crazy just before Christmas, worse up north though where thousands have been made homeless. The weather patterns are mad, last time there was a major storm here they lost most of the banana crops, I fear the same may have happened this time. When I heard about Tenerife I wondered if their crops had been similarly affected.

Next time you're over why not come and look around Mt Nathan, Worongary, Nerang and Mudgerraba & surrounds? You may be pleasantly surprised.


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## anski

FrancisJames said:


> Mission Bay is a lovely location, do you still own property there? I think the prices have gone up a bit since 2001.



Yes I am fortunate to own a lovely solid Californian double brick bungalow with leadlights & built & occupied by a Scottish Master Builder. Guess he knew what he was doing?

Yes by last estimates it's increased 120%, but we are returning later this year to sell & move to Hawkes Bay. Got to complete our Bucket List first though, lane:


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## anski

FrancisJames said:


> That's about the same as it is here in winter. Glad to hear you escaped relatively unscathed from the storm. There have been a few over here recently and it rained like crazy just before Christmas, worse up north though where thousands have been made homeless. The weather patterns are mad, last time there was a major storm here they lost most of the banana crops, I fear the same may have happened this time. When I heard about Tenerife I wondered if their crops had been similarly affected.
> 
> 
> Yes lots of Banana crops were completely wiped out here in spite of that they are still cheap.
> 
> Next time you're over why not come and look around Mt Nathan, Worongary, Nerang and Mudgerraba & surrounds? You may be pleasantly surprised.


I can only live on the coast, I'm allergic to inland areas


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## FrancisJames

> Yes I am fortunate to own a lovely solid Californian double brick bungalow with leadlights & built & occupied by a Scottish Master Builder. Guess he knew what he was doing?
> 
> Yes by last estimates it's increased 120%, but we are returning later this year to sell & move to Hawkes Bay. Got to complete our Bucket List first though,


Well then you made the right choice with Hawkes Bay, as well as the builder! 

Come on, tell me what's on your bucket list?


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## smithpamela

*Love NZ*



divastarz said:


> Hi my fellow expats!
> 
> Could you please tell me how and why do you like New Zealand???


I have lived here for 5 months and love it because:

1. I wake to the sounds of hundreds of birds stirring in the bush instead of car noise 
2. almost anything will grow here. In just 5 months we are growing most of our own veggies and get eggs and the rest at farmer's markets
3. The people have been very friendly and welcoming. We had several invitations at Christmas and lots of helpful hints as to how to do things.
4. I only wear makeup twice per month. My business suits are still in the wardrobe from the move.
5. I look outside and it looks like a movie set; no one back in Dallas believes it is real.
6. The restaurant food is for the most part quite good and reasonably priced by US standards, even in the smaller cities. The Thai food is especially good. Minimal tipping is expected.
7. There is a beach always close by.
8. A "green" ethos in most parts of society.
9. Almost everyone is well read and concerned with local and international political issues.

Drawbacks:
1. It is very far away from family.
2. Housing is expensive and perhaps not quite what I am accustomed to seeing for the price.
3. Imports are expensive and almost everything is imported. Glad I sprung for a 40 ft container.
4. I miss Jiff peanut butter, Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing, real TexMex food (trust me, what is served here is not authentic), Crisco and Whataburger. Grocery stores really ought to have a US section along with the Asian, Mexican, Indian and other ethnic groups.
5. Winter is very wet and gum boots became my best friends.


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