deedee

as always, something pointless, but funny!

hopper

Not been to Tauranga yet so can't comment on it.But if we wanted to go and visit it would be a long drive on (poor by UK standards) single carriageway roads.Do people still subdivide their sections there and live ontop of each other as they do in Auckland? We also have fruit and palm trees in the garden,even blue skies sometimes

Quinkana

Narrower roads - broader vistas.

hopper

I just prefer roads that are safer to drive.

ex geordie

i wouldnt call british motorways safe . but admit nz are terrible drivers. after staying a few weekends with friends in auckland i can see why you dont like it up there but get out of auckland and have a good look around there are some real nice places but dont compere to england or you will never settle

Jo Jones

I am getting from this thread that Aukland should be removed from my wish list.

Tauranga is on the list, but have to look more into the employment market, is it good?

Glad you have settled in well, it must be difficult not to compare your new life with your old, but you have to remember the reasons you wanted to leave. Like the programme on panorama last night. The knife threat in British schools and how it is escalating.

A safer future for my daughter, even if she has to go to the UK to payoff her student debts from NZ, at least she will have a choice.

Keep up the good points, they help my plans, as do the negative. I know the house I buy / rent will have central heating.

Don

#

AKL to Tauranga is an easy drive on a normal good quality rd, doesn't matter which hook you take.

Some small sections, yes, which looked like subdivisions. Omokaroa in particular looked subdivided but it is a pleasant place. However, didn't get the impression people were living on top of each other the same way as it looked in AKL.

Thing is about the fruit trees, Tauranga (+ surrounds) is one of the prime orchard areas so you are surrounded by all sorts of fruit growing farms. Not the same as having an avocado tree in the garden.

PortJackson

Don't come to NZ................ok

hopper

May be going to Tauranga over the bank holiday weeked so I will be able to say more about it then.Still hold to what I said about NZ roads,you need pretty good suspension for most of them.The occassional bits of dual carriageway are few and far between.The country needs proper motorways,means spending money though!.

babybella

I feel like I am going to be really horrible here, NZ is not UK do not even think of comparing it. OK NZ drivers do leave a bit to be desired but hey there are a hell of of a lot of things in the UK I could complain about, try being stuck on the M25 for 4 hours with a diabetic 10 year old when you have run out of food and they are having a hypo.
So you do not like NZ, I loved my life there and went to restaurants, movies, theatre, opera, far move often in Wellington that I do in England.
If you really don't like NZ please just leave. And your comment about suspension, please I drive to work in the UK each day trying to avoid them.
I will also add, that the first year we were here, foot and mouth year, I had promised to take my son to Toys r us. I tried 3 different rourts all closed, this is a city of 400,000. Where is the Infrastructure in conntry that closes down with a bit of rain!!
Still loving NZ
KAZ

hopper

Hey Kaz, no worries! Good to hear your opinion.I wasn't comparing NZ roads to anywhere in particular,the congestion on the UK's roads is due to it's horrendously large population(lost count now but is it around 40 million?)

I think New Zealand derives a lot of benefit from having a population of around 4 million -but less people means less taxes collected;therefore less to spend on roads,rail,water, sewerage systems,maintaining and improving power supply networks etc.It is also limited by it's geography (mountains,rivers etc) to a large extent and the unstable nature of the ground in places.(eg. roads suffer from washouts and landslides)

The UK has just about had it.It's crowded,crime ridden and Blair has sold out to the USA(under pressure to send more troops to Iraq)there is no way I'd return there but I would give Australia a shot,and that's what I'm working towards.

I'm sure many more of us Brits would want to stay here and add to the economic growth and prosperity of New Zealand,but all we are doing is filling in the gaps caused by its own citizens leaving.

debtay

Hi, just popped over from the ***** site where I mostly live...was that a hiss I heard?

I've been watching this thread for a while now and I agree with Hopper on many points. Of all the places we've seen in NZ only Auckland has the career choices and and facilities we want but even then it has its limitations.

We were thinking about giving Canada a go but decided that Australia would be a better bet too.

Anything is better than England though!

anya4oz

UK population is now in the region of 60 million - and most of them are concentrated in the SE!! The North is definitely less crowded; many parts have better transport systems and the landscape has not been as scarred by over-development. However, there's not as much work up there....

If you seriously want to live in a country whose government does NOT endorse the Iraq war, then you have only 3 choices: France, NZ or Canada. Don't delude youself that Australia is not in on that nasty little adventure, because Howard is right in there with Blair and Bush (mind you, Oz has only sent 850 troops there so far, with no deaths, Thank God).

Anya.

Quinkana

Might like to upgrade your suspenders:

Copperben

Its a real shame that you are not enjoying life in NZ, i've been here for 2 years now and still cant get enough, yes Auckland is a bit of a nightmare and the houses aren't the best but that isn't enough to make me want to move to Oz or back to the UK.

I enjoy the fact that you can drive 1 hour from Auckland and be on the coast which is still pristine and not a tourist trap, in Christchurch I am close to the beach in the summer and ski fields in the winter.

But like a previous poster said if your not happy there is no point staying here, but who is to say your not going to find Australia has its bad points?? I've lived in both countries and NZ would win everytime - which is a complete turn around for me as when i lived in Oz the expression i used was "NZ is shut isn't it" oh how wrong I was!