[craig1234564]

Hi all,
Just wondering which emigration books and dvds you have read/seen and your thoughts. what do you recommend?

some of mine are:

A land of two halves,, great book about hitch hiking in NZ funny and a good insite into some views held by the people he meets along the way.

Paul Goddard from Get a New Life in New Zealand,, personal story of a family making the move, this was the best book ive read as it gives an idea of what its actually like.

Also watched The Piano,, it was a great film but thought the finger chopping scene went abit far !

[gil]

Hi Craig, try this thread http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4096&highlight=Reading+group
there's a few recommendations on there.
My personal favourite is Billy Connolly's World Tour of New Zealand. I found A Land of Two Halves far too miserable for my liking!

Gil

[craig1234564]

Thanks,,

well yes he was a bit miserable i suppose but i had to keep reading as it was about NZ !

[marcia]

Have to agree Billy's World tour of NZ - in fact I think he may be 'culprit' in instigating a few people deciding to emigrate - he was certainly the person who set us off on the journey after watching his DVD!

[renew]

Billy's tour is good as you can pop it on when things are going to **** and cheer yourself up.

[mgbridges]

For research before we came we read:
Working and Living in New Zealand by Gerogina Palffy
Emigrating to New Zealand by Steve Horrell
Where to Live in Auckland

We also still had copies of The Lonely Planet and the Rough Guides to New Zealand but they are very out of date so we didn't look at them much.

I've recently read Slipping into Paradise; Why I Live in New Zealand by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson. A very personal story but I found it compelling reading. OH has read the following which he has told me to read The Penguin History of New Zealand by Michael King. I've also got Long Cloud Ride: A Cycling Adventure across New Zealand by Josie Dew waiting to be read.

For film footage have to agree about Billy Connolly's tour, we've seen it loads of times and love it. The Piano is great although I haven't seen it in years and one film I want to watch soon is Whale Rider.

Anneliese

[ourquest]

Whale rider is a competent film, moving and sensitive and left me with a warm understanding of Maori culture. Bear in mind, though, the director is Pakeha. Sublime peacefulness of the area around Gisborne comes through, but is limited to this region only.

I don't remember a lot about "the Piano" but I also don't remember it to be about NZ as such.

The cleverly titled "a land of two halves" is a rather shallow book that doesn't really address any real issues, and shows up a (yes, miserable) side of New Zealand that seems very different to how others might experience it. If I remember correctly I actually didn't know at the end of the book whether he liked living there or not, but I wasn't about to invite him over for a drink and ask him, either.

British journalist Polly Evans wrote an account of her motorcycle trip around NZ titled "Kiwis might fly", where she searches for evidence of "authentic kiwi blokes". A bit light hearted without ever being genuinely or cleverly funny, but does provide some insight. Note though, that it should be titled "Kiwi might fly", as the s is not used in Maori. This alone suggests that someone else should be given the great task of communicating insight into NZ.

I would suggest the internet as the single best source of information. Statistically it is objective and totally specific, and as up to date as can be. Use it to get some facts up front, and then write your own account of your experiences (with some real depth of emotion and usable insight please!).

[dharder]

For research before we came we read:
Working and Living in New Zealand by Gerogina Palffy

We had this, too, and found quite a few significant factual errors in it. Especially in the category we applied under for a visa (partnership category), there were some serious mistakes.

I'd read that book with caution if you are looking for instructions on how to work and live in New Zealand.

Daniela

[craig1234564]

Whale rider is a competent film, moving and sensitive and left me with a warm understanding of Maori culture. Bear in mind, though, the director is Pakeha. Sublime peacefulness of the area around Gisborne comes through, but is limited to this region only.
.

Hi ,, Whale Rider was on TV yesterday! A really good film I agree with what you say,
The director was Pakeha? How does this affect the film in your opinion? I noticed that there were no white people shown in the whole film is that a feature of the gisbourne area or do people not mix?

[Belmont Babes]

I read Emigrating to NZ - Steve Horrell and then Living and Working in NZ - Graeme Chesters. The latter was much more in depth and helpful in my opinion.

[ourquest]

Hi ,, Whale Rider was on TV yesterday! A really good film I agree with what you say,
The director was Pakeha? How does this affect the film in your opinion? I noticed that there were no white people shown in the whole film is that a feature of the gisbourne area or do people not mix?

I only think that it might be disappointing to some viewers to discover that the director is not Maori; with the film being so strongly so. It certainly feels to me that the film is authentic, but then I am not Maori, and I wonder whether if I was Maori I would feel that some aspects were portrayed from a "eurocentric" viewpoint. Still, let's not dwell on it, maybe it didn't affect the film and perhaps I was wrong to draw attention to the fact.

Although I have travelled to much of New Zealand (in general area terms anyway) I haven't visited Gisborne, so I can only recount what I have read. Demographically it does have the highest proportion of Maori at about 50%, which is far higher than the national average of about 15%. As far as integration goes, I am probably not knowledgable enough to comment, although it would seem to me that in daily life there is plenty; socially perhaps the groups tend to be more separated.

New Zealand is IMHO anyway, vastly more pleasurable as a result of its mixture of culture.

[Oregonkiwi]

I don't remember a lot about "the Piano" but I also don't remember it to be about NZ as such.

Your memory fails you. ;)

Note though, that it should be titled "Kiwi might fly", as the s is not used in Maori.
It's true that Maori does not use plurals; but kiwi to mean NZer is a New Zealand English word, so "kiwis" in this context is correct.

[ourquest]

Your memory fails you. ;)


It's true that Maori does not use plurals; but kiwi to mean NZer is a New Zealand English word, so "kiwis" in this context is correct.

Being flightless, much like a pig, I suspect that Ms Evans reference to Kiwi(s) is primarily referring to the bird. But your point is noted, and it almost certainly raised some discussion around the editor's boardroom table, whom in the absence of any other information I had better assume was intelligent enough to publish the correct title.

[craig1234564]

Well need to watch heavenly creatures next , I think I may have seen in on tv one time not sure..
what are your views on this film?

[Potato]

An interesting one that has not been mentioned is Erewhon. OK, so it's fiction....and OK, it's not actually set in New Zealand. But it was based on the authors experience of sheep farming in the Canterbury high country. In the book he describes a fictional land but his descriptions of the mountains and the scenery are clearly New Zealand :)

I gave up on Land of Two Halves. I didn't understand his intentions very well. I was utterly baffled that he ended up in Te Anau and did not seem to attempt to hitch hike to Milford Sound....which is a relatively busy road. In fact, I'm not sure he even mentioned the place. From what I read, the book could be summed up by hitch-pub-sleep-hitch-pub-sleep etc etc
Also he makes factual statements which are incorrect, for example:

Invercargill is the most southerly city in the world.
No, it's not

Bluff lies on the same latitude as the Falkland Islands and it "shares their bleakness".
No, it doesn't. Bluff is at roughly 47S, the Falklands are 51S. Amusingly, the author himself is from Eastbourne in England....which lies at approximately latitude 51N. I am tempted to make a comment invoking the phrase "bleakness"....