i never quite get these comments... its like saying canada is over run by moose and grizzly bears .... ive lived in Australia for 25 years and seen two dozen redback spiders and two brown snakes

The creepy crawlies are an excuse people use not to go there when really all they want to avoid are australians - joke, joke....relax. I love Australians. Especially Dan Carter.

Phat-Dave - My wifes cousin lives just outside Sydney and in the last 18 months she has had a snake in the loft and several spiders the size of dinner plates in her house. The first instance was enough for my OH to say NO!!!!!!!!!!!

Granted it can't be that bad as no one would live there but you're fighting a stereotype and once they've got an idea about something, thats it.

Because like I said, Calgary has a really low population density compared to other cities and the population is only just over a million. If you think Calgary is the "big city"...

To me it's very quiet and laid back.

Just because you perceive it to be quiet and laid back doesn't mean someone else's perception is wrong or worthy of laughter.

I've never lived in a large city, so my perception is very likely to be 'f*** me, it's hectic in Calgary'. Surely you're not so disingenuous to think you can tell me my perception is incorrect? It's just relative to my experience.

hi neilyboy

i lived in nz for a year back in 2004.....myself and my wife (then my GF) went back packing traveling there

i have no comparison for canada but nz was an amazing place to live and experience for a year,the only bad thing i would say it was a 12hr flight from heathrow to south korea a 2 day stop over then another 12 and half hr flight to auckland....so if u ever had to get home in a hurry for what ever reason that would be my only down point i found

we were based in auckland north island....it was warm all the time we were there,there was so much to do and go see

october time (springtime) we were at the harbour area which is all done like shops bars clubs along the front of the harbour....sitting watching all the boats come in late afternoon with the sun setting is one thing ill never forget while sipping on a cool pint of Speight's i think it was called...fantastic

the lifesyle and culture out there is so different from the uk....there wasnt a lot of people going to bars and clubs....its all cafe's and bbq's at home

having a bbq on boxing day in 35 degree heat was an other first for me and strange as the uk has the complete differnet side of it lol

we did do a lot of the adventure sports...zorbing canoeing bungee jumping etc....

the thing about me going out there i knew i wasnt going to live there so it was fun,may be different for someone looking to move there permanent

also nz has a big gang culture and i was kinda worried about that and prositution is legal also...standard practice for uk girls is to wear skirts on a nite out....big mistake in nz as i had more than a few run ins with guys looking to know when i would be finished with her.....and nooding to my GF

but it really put my mind at ease when i wee were walking home one nite from the pub and it was 12.30 am and we walked past a bank and there was cleaners in hoovering and the front door was wide to the world lol

guys

thanks for all your comments about my original request.

I've seen a lot of comments on here about Calgary and it's one place we are considering. I looked at the weather yesterday and it said -19 degrees (C). This might sound a bit silly but how cold is that? What I mean is over here (UK) there's a big diference between +10 and 0. But once you get to -19 is that a big difference in feeling?

I assume eveyone copes ok rather than it grinding to a halt as it does in the UK.

To answer your original post ......Canada!

It's a huge ****ing difference.

Lets put it this way on a thermometer both minus 40F and minus 40C are the same. In Western Canada most places are averaging about minus 35C so yeah its pretty balmy out there

i dont think its that cold in the west... i lived in banff and it averaged around -25 coldest we had was -37 .... i generally wore a tshirt and a roots jumper and only when it was -37 did i pull out my canada goose jacket and then i was sweating because it was too hot.

harden up ye ol' gits !

then i went to montreal and it was only -5 and jesus christ it was cold..... horrid wet cold with cyclone winds ... farrrkkkkkk - too hard to compare the two

yeah there is a big difference between the damp wet cold and the dry cold, the former gets right into you bones.

my aunt has lived in nothern BC for over 40 years. The winters are very cold - last week it never got above -40. When she used to come over to the UK to see my grandfather, in the Isle of Wight, so very south, in April, she used to find it freezing as couldn't manage the damp. Always preferred dry cold to damp mild. (Although even she did question our decision to move last week when it was SO cold!).

In Canmore, -35c we turn on the furnace and the house is a toasty 18c and PJ's/Tshirt will suffice.......

In Queenstown NZ, -2c we turn on the pathetic warehouse electric heater, wrapped up to the eyeballs watching tv through our breath!!!!

Kiwi's don't like to insulate their houses or install central heating.... Log burner in the front room maybe?

I love both places.... But was colder in NZ!!!

I agree...at least homes in Canada are built for the cold.

I have lots of memories of putting on layer after layer of wool while crouched over my space heater in some drafty villa in NZ during the winter. brrr.