Auckland area
Jun 4th 2019, 6:00 am
#46
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 38,611
Re: Auckland area
Actually don't remember you having written that people in the UK or other countries may be able to effect a simple life where they are rather than emigrate.
I think you have been taken to task sometimes for suggesting that those that find living in NZ hard for whatever reason should shut up , pack up and move out - which of course is not that simple at all.
Jun 4th 2019, 7:32 am
#47
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Joined: Jun 2005
Location: In a large village called Auckland
Posts: 5,249
Re: Auckland area
Out of nowhere, a White Rabbit runs past fretting about being late. The Rabbit pulls a watch out of his waistcoat pocket and runs across the field and down a hole. Are we still talking about Auckland?
Jun 4th 2019, 7:38 am
#48
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Posts: 293
Re: Auckland area
How often do you see young kids maybe 6-8 year old walking to school by themself in UK now?
Jun 4th 2019, 8:31 am
#49
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Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 6,148
Re: Auckland area
A Transport Ministry report released last December shows that fewer than a third of Kiwi kids take active transport to school (walking, cycling or using a scooter), and about 60 per cent are dropped off at the gate.
The number of kids biking to school plummeted from 19 per cent of secondary students and 12 per cent of primary pupils in 1989/90 to 3 per cent and 2 per cent respectively by 2014.
Walking rates dropped, particularly among primary school children, from 42 per cent 25 years ago to a record low of 22 per cent by 2007, but has since increased to 29 per cent by 2014. The report highlights new statistics from the Health Ministry showing that one in three Kiwi kids is overweight or obese.
Jun 4th 2019, 9:03 am
#50
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Joined: Jun 2005
Location: In a large village called Auckland
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Re: Auckland area
Jun 4th 2019, 9:12 am
#51
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Jun 2005
Location: In a large village called Auckland
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Re: Auckland area
Jun 4th 2019, 10:03 am
#52
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Joined: May 2017
Location: Cumbria
Posts: 84
Re: Auckland area
We see kids walking up over hills around here and past castles getting to school on their own and would only be around 8 years old. And to add to this point I have a friend in Walthamstow in London and he won't even let his 10 year old girl play on the park right outside of the front of his house on her own.
I agree with BEVS post (all of it actually) - if you want a simpler life you can achieve it anywhere.
Jun 4th 2019, 12:03 pm
#53
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Joined: May 2019
Location: Auckland
Posts: 41
Re: Auckland area
I understand that everyone is trying to paint a realistic picture of NZ for me and I am trying my best to keep a level head about the potential move but I’m starting to get the feeling that most people on here have a slightly negative view of the country? Having never been I don’t pretend to have a clear idea of what it is like there but previously I have only ever heard good things about the place. Through either meeting travelling kiwis, friends who live there or via the media NZ seems to have a reputation as a lovely place to live. Obviously it’s not for everyone but in the main it is viewed as a nice country, it’s rated 8th happiest place to live.
as my decision day for the job gets closer I’m feeling more confused than ever! I’m not expecting nirvana, just better weather, less hustle and bustle and a generally nice place to bring my kids up.
as my decision day for the job gets closer I’m feeling more confused than ever! I’m not expecting nirvana, just better weather, less hustle and bustle and a generally nice place to bring my kids up.
Jun 4th 2019, 12:10 pm
#54
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Joined: May 2017
Location: Cumbria
Posts: 84
Re: Auckland area
I understand that everyone is trying to paint a realistic picture of NZ for me and I am trying my best to keep a level head about the potential move but I’m starting to get the feeling that most people on here have a slightly negative view of the country? Having never been I don’t pretend to have a clear idea of what it is like there but previously I have only ever heard good things about the place. Through either meeting travelling kiwis, friends who live there or via the media NZ seems to have a reputation as a lovely place to live. Obviously it’s not for everyone but in the main it is viewed as a nice country, it’s rated 8th happiest place to live.
as my decision day for the job gets closer I’m feeling more confused than ever! I’m not expecting nirvana, just better weather, less hustle and bustle and a generally nice place to bring my kids up.
as my decision day for the job gets closer I’m feeling more confused than ever! I’m not expecting nirvana, just better weather, less hustle and bustle and a generally nice place to bring my kids up.
Why not give it a go - you only live once and would you want to live the rest of your life thinking "What if...?"
Whats the worst that could happen - you have to move back? Yorkshire will still be here, as will everything else.
No one else can predict YOUR experience, only advise their own. My advice would be to go for it and go for it whole heartedly with a open mind, acceptance of change and not expect unicorns dancing on rainbows.
Although happy to be back, I don't regret my time out there at all. And there's a lot of Brits I know still out there loving it and who wouldn't ever return...
Jun 4th 2019, 12:45 pm
#55
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Joined: May 2019
Location: Auckland
Posts: 41
Re: Auckland area
Why not give it a go - you only live once and would you want to live the rest of your life thinking "What if...?"
Whats the worst that could happen - you have to move back? Yorkshire will still be here, as will everything else.
No one else can predict YOUR experience, only advise their own. My advice would be to go for it and go for it whole heartedly with a open mind, acceptance of change and not expect unicorns dancing on rainbows.
Although happy to be back, I don't regret my time out there at all. And there's a lot of Brits I know still out there loving it and who wouldn't ever return...
Whats the worst that could happen - you have to move back? Yorkshire will still be here, as will everything else.
No one else can predict YOUR experience, only advise their own. My advice would be to go for it and go for it whole heartedly with a open mind, acceptance of change and not expect unicorns dancing on rainbows.
Although happy to be back, I don't regret my time out there at all. And there's a lot of Brits I know still out there loving it and who wouldn't ever return...
i agree with your positive approach and expect I will trust my instinct and go for it, am just being a cautious dad who wants to make the best decision for the kids as well as for me and my wife.
Jun 4th 2019, 12:48 pm
#56
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 6,148
Re: Auckland area
I understand that everyone is trying to paint a realistic picture of NZ for me and I am trying my best to keep a level head about the potential move but I’m starting to get the feeling that most people on here have a slightly negative view of the country? Having never been I don’t pretend to have a clear idea of what it is like there but previously I have only ever heard good things about the place. Through either meeting travelling kiwis, friends who live there or via the media NZ seems to have a reputation as a lovely place to live. Obviously it’s not for everyone but in the main it is viewed as a nice country, it’s rated 8th happiest place to live.
as my decision day for the job gets closer I’m feeling more confused than ever! I’m not expecting nirvana, just better weather, less hustle and bustle and a generally nice place to bring my kids up.
as my decision day for the job gets closer I’m feeling more confused than ever! I’m not expecting nirvana, just better weather, less hustle and bustle and a generally nice place to bring my kids up.
At the end of the day I would be focused on the location rather than the country. I could tell you how amazing the Costa Brava is but you wouldn't be bothered, as you work and live in England.
The time it takes you to drive from Auckland to Nelson would be the same as driving from Calais to Tossa:-). You probably have more experience than any of us here, but just saying that the location within the country is more important than anything else.
Jun 4th 2019, 3:36 pm
#57
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Joined: May 2019
Location: Auckland
Posts: 41
Re: Auckland area
You say Through either meeting travelling kiwis, friends who live there or via the media NZ seems to have a reputation as a lovely place to live.
At the end of the day I would be focused on the location rather than the country. I could tell you how amazing the Costa Brava is but you wouldn't be bothered, as you work and live in England.
The time it takes you to drive from Auckland to Nelson would be the same as driving from Calais to Tossa:-). You probably have more experience than any of us here, but just saying that the location within the country is more important than anything else.
At the end of the day I would be focused on the location rather than the country. I could tell you how amazing the Costa Brava is but you wouldn't be bothered, as you work and live in England.
The time it takes you to drive from Auckland to Nelson would be the same as driving from Calais to Tossa:-). You probably have more experience than any of us here, but just saying that the location within the country is more important than anything else.
Jun 4th 2019, 5:31 pm
#58
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Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 6,148
Re: Auckland area
I suppose you mean the Mercer Quality of Living Survey? Ironically it's an investment company, so even Frankfurt makes top 10. I worked around Frankfurt for many years, still have many friends from the area but not one person would say Frankfurt is an amazing city. They complain that housing is too expensive, shopping is terrible and if you arrive at Frankfurter Hauptbahnhof the needles are on the street (seen it myself). Maybe a great city for the the International Banker who drives to work with his big Audi and lives in Bad Vilbel but otherwise I have no clue how they rate. Maybe it's also based on the price of a Big Mac:-).
Jun 4th 2019, 7:34 pm
#59
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Joined: May 2019
Location: Auckland
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Re: Auckland area
I suppose you mean the Mercer Quality of Living Survey? Ironically it's an investment company, so even Frankfurt makes top 10. I worked around Frankfurt for many years, still have many friends from the area but not one person would say Frankfurt is an amazing city. They complain that housing is too expensive, shopping is terrible and if you arrive at Frankfurter Hauptbahnhof the needles are on the street (seen it myself). Maybe a great city for the the International Banker who drives to work with his big Audi and lives in Bad Vilbel but otherwise I have no clue how they rate. Maybe it's also based on the price of a Big Mac:-).
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/n...-intelligence/
I know what you mean though, i've been to some apparently beautiful, friendly cities around the world and had a bad experience and equally the other way around so who knows! I lived in an area of London famous for it's number of gang murders, I had a great time there and never felt unsafe...probably helped that i wasn't in a gang?
Jun 4th 2019, 7:48 pm
#60
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Joined: Jun 2005
Location: In a large village called Auckland
Posts: 5,249
Re: Auckland area
I guess you need to read a bit more widely, most New Zealanders have a rather dim view about Auckland and its people.
Auckland's primary issues around housing and transport are notorious and widely written and talked about in the media etc; it's a simple fact of rapid growth in people with no growth in infrastructure or transport. They built a bridge 60 years ago that was not even adequate for requirements at the time and that has only got increasingly worse and still no real plans in place to do anything about it in the forseeeable. I first came here in 2004 and around that time Auckland's population was said to be 1 million people; in 15 years that has now grown to to 1.65 million and very little has been done to improve infrastructure to accommodate and transport those additional 650 thousand people.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/a...ectid=11831599
