lardyl

nope you choose to read what you want to
as "his..blah..blah.. mates"
are *his* mates
not *my* mates....
.....pretty simple really.........but if you really do have the bit between your teeth.........then I suppose a mistake any educated person (Kiwi or otherwise) can make.....

As Polyanna has directed I will resist the barbed further comments........but I will not be mis-represented by posters who want to score points and avoid issues.........which is my main gripe with some of the posters in this thread.....and with the odd troll that magically surfaces at the same time - don't believe in coincidence myself.

BTW, I agree Kiwis should be able to post here like anyone else but when they come across as defensive, nit-pickers then their case is not going to be helped......

in fact it serves to prove the very point that others are making....

but go on keep digging..........

Browner_

Well, the noisy cars drive me crazy and it might be enough to send me back. Its just ridiculous.

Its much easier to find a quiet cul-de-sac in England and to have some brick walls and double glazing.

I also cant quite understand the design of many housing estates - rather than culdesacs, they are designed with massive long drives which are just perfect for racing.

Anyone know Porirua - take a look at the new Aotea subdivision. This even looks like Brands Hatch with house after house stretched along the main drives.

Horrid.

I'd prefer to live on the A3 at Kingston.

sr71

Why not move and go live in Auckland. Never seen any boy racers in normal suburbs whatsoever (Remuera, Meadowbank, Greenlane, One Tree Hill, Epsom, Mt Eden etc)

Tamaki Drive maybe, but the police are pretty strict now, Onehunga and South Auckland there might be some.

But as I've said before, as a reasonable young person NZ is pretty much dead at nights and property affected by noise must be in a minority.

Black Sheep

I have been accused on this forum of being 'bitter ' based on my own so-called "single experience", 'vitriolic', and much worse, Lookin2Oz, for trying to explain these 2 particular extremely important negatives about NZ. Needless to say, very few if any believe me, especially as I have been more 'scathingly honest' than you in describing them. Ah well, I say good on you for 'seeing clearly' now before it's too late, especially for your son. I know exactly what you are talking about, so take comfort from that! 'nuff said for now...

Lookin2Oz

We live in Auckland and from our experience the yobs with cars culture is everywhere

It is so sad that folk come to New Zealand thinking it will be all green & peaceful and pay very high prices for housing and plagued with yobs running around with $500 cars and no insurance.

Lookin2Oz

Here’s an interesting one ………….

http://www.dol.govt.nz/actreview/sum...tion-h1_16.asp

read point – 15.4 – other comments

taken from another source...............

Expatriation is also big business.

Nowhere is this more true than in New Zealand. In 2006, migrants paid a net total of NZ$3.3 billion (US$2.5 billion/€1.77 billion) in taxes into the New Zealand economy, an astounding figure considering the "real" New Zealanders contributed a net of $2.84 billion, despite being 3/4 of the total population.

The New Zealand government has aggressively marketed the country as a relocation destination to skilled workers, and the campaign has successfully created an image of New Zealand as a progressive, green and technologically innovative nation.

Some interesting figures and I ( for 1) certainly agree with the outlook that immigration to NZ is BIG business

Genesis

Quiet and tranquil places CAN be found..all over NZ I am sure. We found one (pretty much by luck). We live off a number of cul de sacs, way, way off the main road and about 3 k's out of Palmy. I could not imagine living anywhere that gives us the peace we have here. I don't think the boy racers are a 'plague', they are bloody irritating when in town sometimes and the bloody stupid laws that allow them to do all the daft things they do are the main problem. THE LAWS NEED CHANGING!!!!!!!

Our house has not been without its problems build wise, most of them are sorted now but I would not swap this place for anything purely from the peace side of things. Browner like you I would be off like a shot with all your noise shite. I DO expect to be able to come to NZ and live somewhere without constant anti social neighbourhood problems..it was one of the main reasons I left the UK. In a country with this type of low population it should not be a problem to find a quiet neighbourhood. There are loads of them in Palmy.

Jokerman

My own experience living in NZ is negative. But I am a positive person. You don't spend 7 years in a country you don't really like that much without being positive.

When I arrived I was full of hope and optimism.

However, gradually over the years NZ has extinguished much of the fire. It started to happen from day one, really.

I have *really* struggled to find work here, not just in IT, but in mundane student work like at burger-king, KFC etc. Note : I've applied 2 times to KFC and am still waiting for a response!

Actually, I was rejected for a job recently because a potential kiwi employer didn't like one of my negative NZ blog entries where I had suggested that migrants, who couldn't get work, should bullshit on their CV, but this is another topic entirely! Needless to say i've now deleted that blog!

How fricking ironic is that?

I know most Brits can eventually get on their feet here but how many migrant engineers end up driving taxis? Loads!

I have lived in piss poor housing with mold eating through my furntiture, dehumidifiers running virtually non-stop despite assurances from landlords that their property would be 'warm in winter'.

And then becoming really ill as a result.

I've dealt with pom bashing, had shitty inept managers, poor work conditions, lost heaps of money, struggled with the culture, the isolation, etc etc.

I think the only reason I've remained is because I am an eternal optimist and have a indomitable spirit.

But, this stubborness can be bad, too!

At what point do you hold your hands up and say "Yep, NZ has got me by my balls and I am whipped? I think it's time to leave".

I probably should have done it years ago, but I kept hanging on hoping things would improve, and, you know what? They didn't.

Do I think life is fair? Hardly, but I didn't expect it to be less fair than life in the UK.

When I read stuff like Genesis losing over 100K and saying "well that's life..." that is the difference between him and me. Because I know that wouldn't happen in the UK.

Over time my problems have got worse! Mainly because once your UK savings go, you are totally at the mercy of NZ and all it's many whims. At least before I had some financial options still left open.

It's ok saying "be positive"! Sure, but if you constantly struggle to make ends meet, that grinds anybody down, eventually. Throw in struggling to make friends, weird cultural differences (for example, my next-door neighbour regularly walking past me without saying hello), differences in sense of humor, and, over time, they tend to have an affect.

It certainly makes me realise that the UK is not so bad, afterall!

My advice to anybody coming to NZ is to make sure you have an escape plan firmly in place and only give it 1 or at the most 2 years before you leave, if things are not going well. Otherwise, you could end up like me. A virtual economic prisoner in godzone!

But, like my Murphy's I'm not bitter...yeah, right! I am bitter! Very bitter!

mickey_d

I can relate to that, i'm a Design Engineer, now experienced in Apple packing/picking
Been for loads of jobs, could do most of them blindfolded, but with no luck.
If it wasn't for the work I still get from the UK, I think we'd be long gone

Lookin2Oz

I am really sorry to hear that you are not getting a job.

You say you have been for “loads of jobs” , I’m curious – does that mean you are getting the interviews but not a job offer ?

If that is the case what do you put that down to ?

Cheers

Lookin2Oz

That’s scary and I sympathise with you and admire you for remaining positive this long

After nearly four years here for us I am beginning to see a very limited future for us and are seriously discussing returning back to the UK.

The upside of all this is that we will go back to the UK and appreciate what there is there for us and that is a good space to be in.

I hope that whatever you decide to do you find peace and the positivity and determination to get beyond your NZ experience to-date.

Best of luck

PS: I have suffered asthma attacks in New Zealand which I have never had before and put it down to the poor quality houses and the mould and damp that is everywhere. New Zealand has the highest rate of asthma in the world and for me it is certainly obvious why.

One of things I look forward to moving on from New Zealand is living in comfort of a well-made house.

Patrick2007

I was exactly the same Jokerman 7yrs of utter waste. In one house i had the neighbours each side ignore me for 12 months,yes they are strange people indeed. Kiwis are hard work fact. You can try your utmost to fit in but you know what mate you are in a foreign country. My own cousin was a miserable sullen prat who had no conversation in him at all. I was in a garden fete once and the sly swine ignored me! Its hard work over there trying to fit in and i cringed at your post as it brought so many memories back. To be honest i found the British expats no far behind the Kiwis. Half of those were social misfits i found. As for pom bashing that is rife but thats supposedly acceptable. Let me take the piss out of u but if u say anything or lose your rag they wont speak to u again ever. Kiwis and Aussies get a good ride over here on their own soil sorry but they are a different kettle of fish altogether.
Hope it picks up for you over there mate i for one know exactly were you are coming from good luck...

sr71

Just a small observation - many of you that seem to be unhappy or having problem with jobs etc, do seem to live outside of Auckland. Do you think this is part of the problem?

I'm a Kiwi and would never, ever consider living in NZ unless it was in Auckland, as the rest of the country are back in the 1950's and full of country bumpkins.

Jokerman

Glad Im not the only one! To be fair, not all a waste. I am hoping to take out of this place at least a post-grad qualification. After 8 years! I am definetly leaving once I get it though.

Can't argue with that. Most seem on completely different wavelength to me. Im a northerner, too, by the way, so have never really bought into this "Kiwis are REALLY friendly" nonsense. I don't get that at all.

I stopped trying. It makes no difference.

It was quite hard to write as I am not going "Look at how great my life is".

Sort of agree, but not fully. Most of my mates are poms. What's the point of travelling half way around the world and ending up with fellow poms for friends? One thing I don't really like is that a lot of poms I do meet are well into smoking marijuana (as are Kiwis). Not really my thing.

Yeah, kiwis (not all, but a lot) are notorious for not being able to laugh at themselves - they take everything sooooo personal. Yep, the Ozzies and Kiwis in England are really well looked after - they get the red-carpet treatment! Would be interesting for more brits to come here and see how they get treated in THEIR backyard - it's not a reciprocal love thang.

Cheers! I am sure it will.

Genesis

Palmy must be the exception..jobs no probs, loads of quiet neighbourhoods and most are VERY friendly. Our NZ lives here have way surpassed all our expectations of life in NZ. As ever its not perfect by a long chalk..but way better than what we left out of Northampton.

For me Auckland would not have worked as well as we needed to escape the masses, the traffic and expensive housing. At the end of the day you takes your choices. We understand there's a trade off for living somewhere like Palmy with regards to 'stuff to do' etc but the pros of Palmy FAR outweigh the cons.