[Kanga]

People often wonder and sometimes ask, so given we've hopped the ditch but *didn't* hate NZ, thought I'd share our experiece thus far. This is comparing Hawkes Bay with regional NSW (not rural- in a city).

Money:

Yup, you're financially better off here. Our sole wage earner is a nurse so it's easy to compare because both NSW and NZ use a yrs of service pay scale. The tax credit system here is more benefical for families plus there is a tax free allowance, unlike NZ. Also we arrived in time to scoop part of the 'stimulus' and were given $3K. There's also salary packaging, which bumps your pay a fair bit and all sorts of funny tax perks like the education tax credit where you spend X amount per year on certain school related expenses (stationary, computers etc) and get half back- up to a maximum of several hundred dollars per kid. Should net us another $1K for things we would have bought anyway. Also we get tax back on funny things like 'social meals', so going to a cafe. Petrol is cheaper, groceries a little cheaper for a much wider choice.

Education:

I'm a Kiwi education lover, much less keen on the Oz system so far. Can't say much more really. I think it varies hugely from state to state (in Australia it's state first- so we live in NSW, Australia, which is totally different to someone who lives in Queensland, Australia) but broadly speaking on international measures both NZ and Australia fare very well with NZ pulling in front fractionally. The culture and emphasis is very different here though- but that may be because I'm comparing a tiny rural NZ school with a city beach suburb school (still only 200 kids though). Anyway, unless, like me, you're enamoured with the whole barefoot hands-on style of Kiwi education then I doubt there's much between them

Shopping:

Much, much more choice. More branding, better quality. Flipside- less quirk, poor customer service, faceless consumerism, inevitable branding obsession......

Media:

ABC is tops- so nearly Radio 4. Real social commentary and interesting global perspective. TV is a huge improvement too- I enjoy SBS channel with it's global outlook and news reporting.

Weather:

I preferred Hawkes Bay's climate. I love long warm summers but temps above 30 I prefer to be the summer exception, rather than the norm. We did arrive to a heatwave and I am factoring this in but after weeks of never feeling a cool wind you do start to stifle. Others will prefer this I am certain. It's Autumn and only just starting to cool- day temps are mid 20s and night it's just start dropping to mid teens. In the summer it didn't get below 25 even at night, although I live on the coast so it never felt hot. Dh and I went into the city for the evening in the first month and I couldn't beleive it when the bus went past a temp gauge announcing 36 degrees and it was 9:30!!! But that's rare. I tihnk if you like the idea of it only being cool for 2 months of the year, warm and enjoyable for 8 and scorching for another 2, then you're in heaven here!
I think I underestimated the impact of the heat and my youngest really doesn't enjoy- particularly as she has to wear a uniform :( My husband loves woodburners (had them all his life) and longs to get the wood in and tinker with the stove :laugh

Wildlife:

Australia's wildlife is incredible! Twice in the last fortnight we've swam in the sea with dolphins playing the surf beyond us. We have blue tounged lizards in the garden, there is a continual screeching of parrots and lorikeets and the constant guffawing of the cheeky kookaburra. We live bordering a huge bit of bush so it's noisier here than elsewhere but at dusk you have to surrender all hope of doing anything other than listening to the cacophony of birds, frogs, crickets! The spiders are pretty awesome too, once you are familiar with those that cause harm and those that do not! Our garden is not very child friendly- a jungle of native plants and we have heaps of orb weavers that spin webs larger than me and skinks that scatter when you go out (the kids catch them). We've seen loads of proper wildlife and been to a farm nearby for the obligitory koala cuddling and roo feeding. Soon the humpback and right whales will be migrating right past us and we can't wait to see them! I've had the joy (!!) of seeing a green tree snake (thankfully shy and slithered off pronto) whilst living here.
NZ's wildlife is also awesome of course, but nowhere near as prolific and part of everyday life as in Australia, which I love.

Outdoor recreation:

Tricky. We're surrounded by bush but it's so much less accessible here- in part because of the climate, which renders any exertion out of water unpleasant for months and part because some of the wildlife is awesome but intimidating! Mozzies are a huge pest as are several flying nasties (oldest daughter got badly stung by something first tree she climbed :( ) and that's before you start to angst about the possibility of snakes and spiders. Shark attacks are of course very unlikely but do happen, more often than you'd think ....
In the end I think that NZ's climate and environment are far more conducive for camping and tramping, Australia's for swimming, surfing and sunbathing (and OMG but they actually do this heaps here!!!!! Many older Aussies look like crocs).

Amenities:

Pools are INCREDIBLE here. 10 mins from me I have a bog standard council facility- outdoor, 2 pools. 50m and 25m, both heated, 25m open all year round, 50m still open but getting nippy. 10 more mins and there's another similar facility complete with flumes and dive pool. Parks and play equipment are both shabbier and fewer. This also goes for public loos and libraries. If you like meat there are free BBQs everywhere though, but of course unless it's windy you have to battle the flies ....


Right, off for a swim now, but will add some more later. I think it's useful, given how many Kiwis hop the ditch or consider it, to have some experiences of Australian life here ..... or perhaps I'm trying to give my time here some meaning :laugh

[pleccy2000]

Very insightful reading that. Thank you.

[CJ22]

One of the things I like about NZ is that if you get bored with the city, you can hop in a car and be in some of the most wildly gorgeous countryside within an hour, and largely have it to yourself. I know Aus has a lot of empty space, but it always struck me as 'univiting' (I suppose my stereotype is of 'desert'). Can you drive out of the city and be in some pretty, safe and quiet countryside quite quickly. Also, can you do it without being killed by something that isn't pleased to see you?

Your description of all the spiders sounds like my vision of hell :)


Parks and play equipment are both shabbier and fewer. This also goes for public loos and libraries. If you like meat there are free BBQs everywhere though, but of course unless it's windy you have to battle the flies ....

Good points here for those looking at NZ. The parks are ubiquitous and always clean and well kept, and have good play facilities. Loos are generally clean and well appointed, and beach ones will have showers and changing rooms. As kids (and adults) spend so much of the summer shoe-less, there's a need to keep streets and public spaces free of detritus. The only area NZ fails in is they're not as fanatical about people taking care of their own dog-poo (as it were) as other places.

Free BBQs are starting to become common now (Narrow Neck beach has one, just down the road from me). Haven't sampled the library in Devonport, but it does have one.

[CityBlue]

Good post - thanks

[dharder]

As kids (and adults) spend so much of the summer shoe-less, there's a need to keep streets and public spaces free of detritus. The only area NZ fails in is they're not as fanatical about people taking care of their own dog-poo (as it were) as other places.

Always amazing how perceptions vary.

I find the roads here littered with glass, every intersection on my way to work has remnants of the last accidents on it. And yes, this definitely spills onto the footpaths. The underpass I go through across the motorway would be impossible to do barefoot, those are mainly broken bottles.

The children at our primary school are not allowed to walk to or from school barefoot (though they take their shoes off as soon as they are within school grounds) because of the dangerous stuff, mainly glass but also nails and screws and other debris, on the roads and footpaths. We are told this repeatedly in newsletters over the summer.

Other than the beach, I would not walk barefoot here anywhere.

As for dog pooh, I actually find it less of an issue here than on the streets/parks I used in the UK.

I know this doesn't contribute to the NZ/AUS comparison thread, but I think it is worth pointing out that it will always be difficult to make general assumptions, even within the same city (well, kind of...)

:)

Daniela

[CJ22]

Very true. Different councils also have different public hygene regimes. I can easily walk the 250 yards to the beach barefoot (apart from the fact that the pavement gets HOT in the summer!).

[M-Squared]

I find Wellington to be exceptionally clean but probably wouldn't walk barefoot around it. I did walk barefoot around Chicago though, once when my sandals rubbed holes in my feet. :laugh

Thanks for that great post Kanga, excellent points all round! I hope you see the whales too, that would be awesome! :nice1 I don't think me and Aussie would get along very well... I'm a mosquito's favourite tasty little snack. :(

[Georgebulldog]

Thanks Kanga a great post, you have really sold it to me again after my dissapointing trip, saying that I don't really want it sold to me as I love NZ but maybe one day :D
:cheers

[Kanga]

Thanks Kanga a great post, you have really sold it to me again after my dissapointing trip, saying that I don't really want it sold to me as I love NZ but maybe one day :D
:cheers


Where did you go? Why was it disappointing?

Funny, I'd visited Oz three times (4 month trip up the east coast, 2 week chill in WA enroute to NZ and 10 days where we are now visiting rellies in 2008 ) before moving here and it was only moving here that was ever a disappointment for me ...

[Kanga]

One of the things I like about NZ is that if you get bored with the city, you can hop in a car and be in some of the most wildly gorgeous countryside within an hour, and largely have it to yourself. I know Aus has a lot of empty space, but it always struck me as 'univiting' (I suppose my stereotype is of 'desert'). Can you drive out of the city and be in some pretty, safe and quiet countryside quite quickly. Also, can you do it without being killed by something that isn't pleased to see you?

Your description of all the spiders sounds like my vision of hell :)

To answer the first para- firstly, at least in the city I'm in, we have literally hectares of bush right in the city! I'm backed up against a huge bit of it- we've beaches right here along the city that are only accessible on foot through the bush. If I wanted to drive out into the country it would take me about an hour and a half to lose the remnants of the grotty outer suburbs, so probably no more than from any other city. As to whether you'll like what you find there, well that's impossible for me to comment on. I'd be in the hunter valley, which is all wineries and small towns, vast (almost unimaginably so) tracts of bush including the World Heritage Barrington Tops NP and mountains. Of course the Great Dividing Range runs right along the East Coast and is accessible in varying degrees from the cities and towns hugging the coast.

(edited to add:) but I forgot to say that I know what you mean about NZ and we miss that very, very much. Leaving the city is a weekend occupation here and there is nowhere near the variety, nowhere near.
To answer your second- I'm not in my comfort zone wrt nasties here but we knew from the start that the best way of keeping the kids safe and not aggitated was to let them learn about them and get out there and look. I've only had one actually land on me, but that was a bit of a shock :exit

[Sam B]

The wildlife sounds WONDERFUL, almost enough to make me move, but not quite. Must start saving for a holiday though.

[Kanga]

Carrying on then:

Banking: Pretty similar to NZ really (pay upfront for everything) apart from you probably won't be on first name terms with your bank manager, probably can't call her personally to sort things out for you and probably can't get taken seriously for a mortgage application barefoot- all our experiences in NZ!

Cars: the second hand market is wincingly expensive. Much more of a keeping up with the neighbours attitude means people tend to drive newer, flasher cars and it's noticable when you don't :uhoh On the upside my dh drives a lovely yellow 1970 VW Beetle called Alice in top condition. She's wonderful- I'll miss her heaps. We payed the same for her as her original cost! Insurance arrangements vary from state to state but here in NSW, as in NZ, anything above the basic 3rd party that comes with your rego is optional. In fact, isn't that an improvement on NZ where any insurance is optional?? You need a licence for the state you live in, which gets surrendered if you move state (that's the state first thing).

Working conditions (for a mental health nurse): again the arrangements vary from state to state but broadly speaking the pay and leave are better than NZ, in some states vastly so. Here dh gets 4 weeks annual leave, 6 if he worked 'shifts'. In Queensland, for example, he'd get 6 weeks and could 'buy' another 6 at half pay, but as Queensland nurses get paid a fair bit more, you'd be about even by my reckoning with 12 weeks annual leave- but Queensland just isn't for us! The 'penals' if you're a shift worker are also very generous. Other than that he reports general dissatisfaction working in Australia but this is because he doesn't 'fit' in many ways. Australian work ethos is quite, erm, relaxed.

With children: Here's where I struggle, but I accept that for heaps of people Australia will be an improvement on NZ. What I'm going to say is also probably quite contentious so I just want to reiterate that this is only my experience and perhaps wouldn't relate to someone else who lived even exactly where I have. Childhood in Australia is much more of a commodity, is much more gendered and branded than in NZ. It's an urban society and this is reflected in the expectations and outlook of kids here. It's also a wealthy society, where Kiwi 'mend and make do' is not the norm, nor commended. My kids attend a middle socio-economic school where their friends collect Smiggle stationary like their Kiwi friends collected the rugby cards out of the Weetbix. Sport is much more gendered than in NZ- my 11 yr old is struggling enormously with this as she finds *all* the girls her age spend their lunchtime in chatty groups, at best practicing netball or American cheerleading. She either joins them and has no fun or she joins the boys in sport, either way she feels a misfit. The Great Outdoors is much less welcoming for kids than in NZ. Lots of people that hop the ditch prefer Oz for kids to NZ though, so I wonder how transferable my experience is?

Environmentalism: A really tough one to compare- on the 'at home' level all the supermarkets stock heaps of environmentally friendly cleaning products, shampoos, soaps etc for much less than conventional products- so I actually spend less using environmentally friendly stuff :) There's a lot of 'environmental awareness' speak at the fore of politics, schooling, business etc and yet it all comes to nothing really because Oz is one of the biggest per capita polluters in the world. There's allegedly a water shortage issue but once here you quickly realise the problem lies with water catchment and management- it's a political issue, much less an environmental one.
There's the same love of everything native Australian (with the exception of the people- see below) as in NZ, which I like :)

Treatment of indigeneous people: Don't. Get. Me. Started. :mad:

[Kanga]

The wildlife sounds WONDERFUL, almost enough to make me move, but not quite. Must start saving for a holiday though.

It is, it really, really is!

[Sam B]

Nope, having read your second installment, have definitely made the right choice.

[Kanga]

Nope, having read your second installment, have definitely made the right choice.

Yep, I left the biggies (for me) 'til last.

[incredible hulse]

Great Post Kanga. Have lived in both and can certainly agree on most points. The treatment of indigenous people really is at the different ends of the scale in both countries.

[Georgebulldog]

Yep, I left the biggies (for me) 'til last.

I want more, it's really good reading :yes

[blackcat09]

Ok, I'm going to be the other round - from NSW to NZ! (ok, technically I lived in Brisbane most recently, but born and bred in regional NSW)

I agree with most of your observations - the money, choices, opportunity etc IS better in Australia.

BUT (and maybe this is just the novelty thing given I grew up with all that wildlife and the blistering summers) I find NZ just so breathtaking and refreshing. I love walking to work and all the autumn leaves are falling... all that red and gold. A real autumn!
I love that you really can just jump in the car and be somewhere amazing in a relatively short space of time.

Australians joke that NZ is 20 years behind Oz and while, in some respects, this is true, there are some great old fashioned remnants left like great customer service and people are genuinely friendly. The fact that mail still gets delivered on the weekend blew me away (I know this is ending.. but still nice to have for now).

And I love the strong emphasis on native culture. It embarrases me that I know so little about our Indigenous Australians yet the words and ideas and beliefs of the Maori are exposed to me every day here.

I can't really comment on the raising kids thing, as I don't have any. But having grown up in a small town that's what I'd like for my kids too whether in NZ or Oz.

And one final point on the wildlife - I love that there's no snakes!!

[Kanga]

blackcat09- did I come across as prefering Australia?

Because I don't think I do :)

I couldn't agree with you more RE the points you make about NZ, but I thought on a forum with heaps of people in NZ some are bound to be contemplating/wondering and some observations might be of use. It's proving helpful to me too.

I did some calulating tonight and it makes for sobering contemplation. My partner (when I'm feeling lazy I write dh but I actually hate that abbreviation) is a nurse qualified for three years. As I'm (hopefully :uhoh ) off to uni for three years he's the sole wage earner. In Australia after tax deductions and family credit we are $500 per month better off then in NZ and that's before some of the perks I mentioned above. $500 isn't so much if your income is over $100K but when after tax etc it's only about $39K in NZ you soon start to see why NZ loses so many nurses to Oz.

Customer service observations are to follow, I concur with your experience 100% :nice1

[blackcat09]

blackcat09- did I come across as prefering Australia?

Because I don't think I do :)

Oh, no not at all - just adding my 2c! :)

And I agree re: those sobering calculations. To be perfectly honest, we would not have moved here had OH's company not paid for it and found me a job as well. I took a massive pay cut and while we're certainly not hurting yet, we will be in a far less healthy financial position in a few years than had we stayed in Australia. Not to mention we were first home buyers so we would have got all those nice grants too if we'd stayed! :wah

But an opportunity is an opportunity and we figured in the grand scheme of things it was worth taking the chance. If nothing else for the experience.

p.s. I should say, all the Kiwis think we're nuts. Australians moving TO NZ? They can't work it out.

[Kanga]

Not to mention we were first home buyers so we would have got all those nice grants too if we'd stayed! :wah

TBH, I think you may have been lucky *not* to have bought in Australia at the moment- the FHOG is propping the market up and essentially just ensuring first time buyers take much more debt than they can afford and I have first hand experience of how that situation can go pear shaped :wah

[sophiedb]

Thanks for this Kanga :) Hubby and I lived in Sydney for 3 years pre-marriage, then shifted back to the UK. We didn't have sproglet at the time, but our memories on NSW are very similar to what you've described here.

He's a homesick Kiwi though, so we weren't really planning to return to NSW :)

[rowells]

Hi there everyoone,

What a great thread Kanga, thanks. This kind of thread is just what I have been looking for.
I am English, I lived in Brisbane for 2 years where I met my hubby. He is kiwi born but living in Australia since age of 15. We have been living in the UK now for 7 years and have 2 kiddies.
So.......we want to leave the UK but are very very unclear whether its going to be NZ or Aus. So this post is great for us to read and to see that some people do move from Aus to NZ, as it seems that most would think Aus to be the clear winner when comparing countries.
We, however are not sure of that. Having lived in Aus and seen how it is changing and getting more and more busy, we are thinking that NZ would suit us better, as well as the climate in NZ being more inviting than the extreme of Aus.
The thing that confuses us the most is the financial side, we know we would be earning more in Aus, although you definately get alot more house for your money in NZ. We read alot of concerns about finances in NZ on this forum, this is obviously a worry when you have young children.
So... our dilemna continues, at the moment NZ in front but could change anytime!
Thanks again for a great thread, and any advice on our dilemna would be great!
Rache

[Kanga]

PM me if you want any off board advice Rache.

I've got to be honest- most people I've met that have lived in both either prefer Australia or feel that the money/more consumer culture and weather (was a great quote on ABC National this am about it- must look it up) just overshadows NZ's benefits. What are your lifestyle aspirations?

[rowells]

Hi,
We want space and freedom, but with opportunities galore!!!
I am thinking we want a bit of both NZ and Aus!!!
Is anyone else in this dilemna or just me?
Rache

[PEI Bill]

I think that if I had the choice I would choose Australia over New Zealand. Australia is the country of the future New Zealand has yet to have a futrure. Australians want to take on the world while New Zealanders are quite content to stay the way they are and they way they always have been. That is why I left. I wanted something better. I didn't want it given to me I wanted to earn it. New Zealand could be a wonderful country if the New Zealanders would get off thier butts and compete with the rest of the world as winners. If New Zealanders can hold their own in every corner of the globe

[Belmont Babes]

Such interesting reading Kanga, thank you.

We did give Aus alot of thought but decided on NZ, however the fact is we STILL give Aus alot of thought :uhoh mainly due to financial reasons. My OH has really had enough of the low wages and don't get him started on the leave entitlement. It can feel like a backward step BUT definitely no plans to move anywhere right now.

[Arwen]

Oh I'm sorry to hear that Nat. I know what you mean though. It can be tough living here as money seems to drain away like water, but the rain never comes to fill the pot up again. :(

Whatever decision you come to in the future, I wish you they very best of luck. Just please stay in touch. :nice1

[winka]

Cars: the second hand market is wincingly expensive. Much more of a keeping up with the neighbours attitude means people tend to drive newer, flasher cars and it's noticable when you don't

They dont call Aus 'mini America' for nothing;)

[Kanga]

They dont call Aus 'mini America' for nothing;)

I could almost be in (the) America (of my nightmares) sometimes!

Had a few 'interesting' online discussion about the similarities between Oz and USA and UK. It is very interesting how some things are more UK-like (ie the 'flavour' of national broadcasting is fabulously green leftie-leaning with loads of forward looking reporting and investigative journalism) whilst at the same time aspects of being here are like my own personal American horror life; mall is king and driving through the wasteland-like suburbs passing mile and mile of fast food outlet :shudder:

[winka]

I think that if I had the choice I would choose Australia over New Zealand. Australia is the country of the future New Zealand has yet to have a futrure. Australians want to take on the world while New Zealanders are quite content to stay the way they are and they way they always have been. That is why I left. I wanted something better. I didn't want it given to me I wanted to earn it. New Zealand could be a wonderful country if the New Zealanders would get off thier butts and compete with the rest of the world as winners. If New Zealanders can hold their own in every corner of the globe

Did you not read the OP's comment on the work ethic in Aus being more relaxed?
Try find an Ausiie that will work in the rain!;)

If you look at sites like http://www.keanewzealand.com/index.html youll find a plethora of talented kiwis and NZ punches well above it weight in front runners of industry and entrepreneurs etc.

The work ethic in the UKand Aus in my opinion, is far more do the minimum to get by attitude than NZ.

[benhila]

Try find an Ausiie that will work in the rain!

Luckily they hardly ever get any rain :wah

We are off to Oz on the 31st of July to try and improve the work ethic.

Hila

[Kanga]

Try find an Ausiie that will work in the rain!

Luckily they hardly ever get any rain :wah

We are off to Oz on the 31st of July to try and improve the work ethic.

Hila


Nope, gets HEAPS of rain here in NSW!

[Parsley]

Try find an Ausiie that will work in the rain!

Luckily they hardly ever get any rain :wah

We are off to Oz on the 31st of July to try and improve the work ethic.

Hila

Hope you're not going to northern Queensland in the Wet then!! Didn't stop me working, to be fair, or any of my Aussie colleagues :)

[benhila]

Hope you're not going to northern Queensland

Nope, it is either Sydney or Melbourne, depending on where the project is, and unfortunately the last time I looked the IT dept was located indoors (so dry either way).

[Tesall]

Whats the difference between Australia and Yoghurt?


Leave yoghurt in the sun for 150 years and it would develop a culture....



I will get my coat.

[incredible hulse]

The work ethic in the UKand Aus in my opinion, is far more do the minimum to get by attitude than NZ.

I've worked for some time in all 3 and must say my opinion is the total opposite. I find the lack of output and the general 'she'll be right' small minded attitude of work one of the most difficult things to come to grips with in NZ. I'm doing what's seen as advanced IT work at the moment that I was doing in 2001 in the UK and it was seen as run of the mill stuff then.
I also went to a presentation recently from an esteemed NZ financial guru and he showed lots of stats that show that NZ has one of the lowest work outputs of OECD nations (despite long work hours).

[MoJos]

Hi Kanga,

Not for the first time, I found one of your pieces very enlightening and helpful. Much appreciated. Our own terms of comparison were between UK and WA and we noticed some similar things about Oz as you did but so far have no experience of NZ. I cannot believe that anywhere has worse dog owners than UK, though!

Our position is that we have had to give up on Australia (we checked out the agency your Mum used but we really are too old now at 54 and 46 and not in a high skills shortage) so want to look at NZ next.

We are many years away from retiring and have young family so your mention of TV, Outdoor actvities and Education were especially helpful.

Mo




People often wonder and sometimes ask, so given we've hopped the ditch but *didn't* hate NZ, thought I'd share our experiece thus far. This is comparing Hawkes Bay with regional NSW (not rural- in a city).

Money:

Yup, you're financially better off here. Our sole wage earner is a nurse so it's easy to compare because both NSW and NZ use a yrs of service pay scale. The tax credit system here is more benefical for families plus there is a tax free allowance, unlike NZ. Also we arrived in time to scoop part of the 'stimulus' and were given $3K. There's also salary packaging, which bumps your pay a fair bit and all sorts of funny tax perks like the education tax credit where you spend X amount per year on certain school related expenses (stationary, computers etc) and get half back- up to a maximum of several hundred dollars per kid. Should net us another $1K for things we would have bought anyway. Also we get tax back on funny things like 'social meals', so going to a cafe. Petrol is cheaper, groceries a little cheaper for a much wider choice.

Education:

I'm a Kiwi education lover, much less keen on the Oz system so far. Can't say much more really. I think it varies hugely from state to state (in Australia it's state first- so we live in NSW, Australia, which is totally different to someone who lives in Queensland, Australia) but broadly speaking on international measures both NZ and Australia fare very well with NZ pulling in front fractionally. The culture and emphasis is very different here though- but that may be because I'm comparing a tiny rural NZ school with a city beach suburb school (still only 200 kids though). Anyway, unless, like me, you're enamoured with the whole barefoot hands-on style of Kiwi education then I doubt there's much between them

Shopping:

Much, much more choice. More branding, better quality. Flipside- less quirk, poor customer service, faceless consumerism, inevitable branding obsession......

Media:

ABC is tops- so nearly Radio 4. Real social commentary and interesting global perspective. TV is a huge improvement too- I enjoy SBS channel with it's global outlook and news reporting.

Weather:

I preferred Hawkes Bay's climate. I love long warm summers but temps above 30 I prefer to be the summer exception, rather than the norm. We did arrive to a heatwave and I am factoring this in but after weeks of never feeling a cool wind you do start to stifle. Others will prefer this I am certain. It's Autumn and only just starting to cool- day temps are mid 20s and night it's just start dropping to mid teens. In the summer it didn't get below 25 even at night, although I live on the coast so it never felt hot. Dh and I went into the city for the evening in the first month and I couldn't beleive it when the bus went past a temp gauge announcing 36 degrees and it was 9:30!!! But that's rare. I tihnk if you like the idea of it only being cool for 2 months of the year, warm and enjoyable for 8 and scorching for another 2, then you're in heaven here!
I think I underestimated the impact of the heat and my youngest really doesn't enjoy- particularly as she has to wear a uniform :( My husband loves woodburners (had them all his life) and longs to get the wood in and tinker with the stove :laugh

Wildlife:

Australia's wildlife is incredible! Twice in the last fortnight we've swam in the sea with dolphins playing the surf beyond us. We have blue tounged lizards in the garden, there is a continual screeching of parrots and lorikeets and the constant guffawing of the cheeky kookaburra. We live bordering a huge bit of bush so it's noisier here than elsewhere but at dusk you have to surrender all hope of doing anything other than listening to the cacophony of birds, frogs, crickets! The spiders are pretty awesome too, once you are familiar with those that cause harm and those that do not! Our garden is not very child friendly- a jungle of native plants and we have heaps of orb weavers that spin webs larger than me and skinks that scatter when you go out (the kids catch them). We've seen loads of proper wildlife and been to a farm nearby for the obligitory koala cuddling and roo feeding. Soon the humpback and right whales will be migrating right past us and we can't wait to see them! I've had the joy (!!) of seeing a green tree snake (thankfully shy and slithered off pronto) whilst living here.
NZ's wildlife is also awesome of course, but nowhere near as prolific and part of everyday life as in Australia, which I love.

Outdoor recreation:

Tricky. We're surrounded by bush but it's so much less accessible here- in part because of the climate, which renders any exertion out of water unpleasant for months and part because some of the wildlife is awesome but intimidating! Mozzies are a huge pest as are several flying nasties (oldest daughter got badly stung by something first tree she climbed :( ) and that's before you start to angst about the possibility of snakes and spiders. Shark attacks are of course very unlikely but do happen, more often than you'd think ....
In the end I think that NZ's climate and environment are far more conducive for camping and tramping, Australia's for swimming, surfing and sunbathing (and OMG but they actually do this heaps here!!!!! Many older Aussies look like crocs).

Amenities:

Pools are INCREDIBLE here. 10 mins from me I have a bog standard council facility- outdoor, 2 pools. 50m and 25m, both heated, 25m open all year round, 50m still open but getting nippy. 10 more mins and there's another similar facility complete with flumes and dive pool. Parks and play equipment are both shabbier and fewer. This also goes for public loos and libraries. If you like meat there are free BBQs everywhere though, but of course unless it's windy you have to battle the flies ....


Right, off for a swim now, but will add some more later. I think it's useful, given how many Kiwis hop the ditch or consider it, to have some experiences of Australian life here ..... or perhaps I'm trying to give my time here some meaning :laugh

[Andy-Dee]

Whats the difference between Australia and Yoghurt?


Leave yoghurt in the sun for 150 years and it would develop a culture....



I will get my coat.

I know I shouldn't but tee hee - that is funny :D

[Kanga]

Hi Kanga,

Not for the first time, I found one of your pieces very enlightening and helpful. Much appreciated.

:o You're very welcome.


Our own terms of comparison were between UK and WA and we noticed some similar things about Oz as you did but so far have no experience of NZ. I cannot believe that anywhere has worse dog owners than UK, though!

Our position is that we have had to give up on Australia (we checked out the agency your Mum used but we really are too old now at 54 and 46 and not in a high skills shortage) so want to look at NZ next.

We are many years away from retiring and have young family so your mention of TV, Outdoor actvities and Education were especially helpful.

Mo

I'm so sorry that the Oz door is for now closed for you but remember NZ is in no way second best to Oz, just different.

I'm trying to think of where in NZ I'd compare to WA- was it Perth city that appealed to you or did you head to the Margaret River area (drool) or down to Albany-Denmark way? If it was Perth itself and you're city people then I think only Auckland will compare but if you fell for the Margaret River area then I think the Abel Tasman/Golden Bay/Nelson area (top of South Island) would offer that sort of lifestyle or to a lesser extent, Hawkes Bay, although it's not so coastal feeling as the former. Albany -Denmark I found appealing because of the areas end of the world feel and I'd probably think Gisborne and the East Coast area most akin to that region- heavily wooded (bush) *gorgeous* remote coastline and quite remote from the rest of NZ. Gisborne gets an (at least partially undeserved imo) bad press but if I had some reasonable cash to buy in a decent area there then it would be on my top five. It's not a major expat destination because of its proximity to the rest of NZ (still heaps closer than Albany-Denmark to Perth though!) and because parts of it are less wonderful, but I think with a reasonable amount of cash to get yourselves into the decent parts there's a golden lifestyle to be had there.