Originally Posted by Mixter

You already did, but that wasnt the object of the exercise. I was trying to point out how folk can have 'views' on particular places - which can often be misguided without indepth knowledge. My own example was glib - but a valid one none the less. Quiting a country because you dont like your neighbourhood doesnt make sense to me, as does agreeing with the notion.

Originally Posted by cally49

Hi there regarding the boy racer culture i think you are right NZ really does need to get a grip on the situation.

Kids really are not mature enough to be behind the wheel of a vehicle in fact you may as well give them a loaded gun...Because a lethal weapon is what they are sitting in and to be honest once these kids are out of the sight of their parents they become total nutters. Unfortunately it is all to easy to be sorry after the event when someone is injured or killed.

I read on www.stuff.co.nz this morning that Christchurch is putting evening safety officers on the streets in pairs to make the residents of Christchurch feel safer at night in town. I went out for a takeaway in Nelson a few weeks ago and i deffinately didnt feel safe and in fact my partners son whos 20 said to me the other night dont go into town tonight the masked parade is on and town will be full of drunken 16yr olds later and he was right i did end up going out to collect a takeaway and there were young ones everywhere and broken glass all over the road and that as in the centre of town!

I have lived in NZ for 32 yrs and have also returned to the UK each year and there of course are the thug types in the UK and the Chavs but each time i have never heard the boy racers in the UK, is this because by the time they can get their licence they are more mature? and that the licence is harder to get.

I believe that NZ is not as clean and green as its portrayed to be any more but thats just my opinion after living here all these years in saying that though my boys who both have children of their own still believe NZ is a great place to bring up their children but funnily enough both want to move from town where they currently are and bring them up in the country (one is in Napier and one in Nelson)

I think world wide though that the teen culture has got out of control and what it will be like in 10yrs time is anyones guess the kids are easily bored nowadays and this is when the trouble starts its very easy to get a group together quickly via text messaging but one thing that really baffles me is how don these 15yr olds manage to buy a car in the first place and even more interesting how on earth do they afford the petrol and the amount of new tyres they must need from their burn outs someone is obviously funding them......

They have absolutely no respect for themselves or anyone else but that maybe is a lack of maturity showing through I have seen these little angels at home and also seen them later hooning around when mum and dad think they are just driving around sedately one of my friends daughters had 1.500 worth of speeding fines within weeks of getting her licence and was in fact stopped twice in one day she ended up losing her licence but still drove her car as every time the collection officer came round to get the licence she was out! This went on for months and mummy and daddy ended up paying the fines...

As for housing i feel that maybe coming from a bricks and mortar / centrally heated country in the UK is why people are shocked by NZs timber constructed houses which have always been perfectly acceptable to kiwis because it was all we knew and we didnt really feel like having a ton of bricks landing on our heads in the event of an earthquake. Timber moves and breathes and is not quite so havy if it does fall on your head. What we need to remember is that these houses have a lifespan of 50 or so years and so by the time people are buying them they are possibly already that old and need renovations done to come up to speed with what we expect nowadays.

It is possible though to build in brick but interestingly enough my son whos a builder and lived and worked in the UK for 6yrs said the same about the UK he had never seen such shoddy building work my partner is a plumber NZ and said the same of the UK so horses for courses i'd say.

At the end of the day we all have to decide what we personally can and cannot accept and act accordingly. I feel we all want different things from life at different stages of our lives and if we can afford the changes and wish for them to be in a different country then thats great.

From what i hear though (and i have only been told this) NZ and Aus are portrayed in a very different light on the TV adds promoting both countries. Its not like having a holiday at the beach every day (unless of course you just won a share in the 30million lottery) its real life and real life can be shitty sometimes and if we are able to change it for the better then why not.
I think Browner you have been here long enough to know its not your paradise.

I wish to leave for very different reasons and thats because my marriage ended some yrs ago and i just dont feel like i belong here anymore when i was busy on the farm working from daylight to dawn in the middle of nowhere i just got on with it (i did always have a yearning for home though) We lived in a draughty old house on the farm for 12yrs because we couldnt afford to change it and each time it rained (we used to get 27feet rain a year on the west coast so it rained often) out came the buckets to catch the drips from the leaking roof. That house should really have been condemed but at the time we were Pioneers and we were trying to give our kids a better life.

Well as usual i seem to have rambled on for ages here when are you planning in returning to the UK Browner? will you be having xmas on the beach here or a proper xmas back in the UK i sooooooooooooooo miss proper xmases and in ll the time ive been here have never had xmas on the beach lol.

Let us know how you are getting on when you return we are a nosey bunch lol.
All the best
Cally

Originally Posted by Browner_

...But the major problem troubling me is that, well, its a noisy crap-hole isnt it, infested by boy racer/hoon scum with no concern for anyone else.

After another day of being buzzed by plenty of cars which are modified to be ludicrously noisy, and also Harley type bikes that would wake the dead, I have to say that there is really nothing nice about living here.

The car culture in NZ is terrible, why they let people get away with making their cars so offensive and annoying to everyone else I shall never now. And then they let 15 year olds drive them.

Originally Posted by Browner_

Combine this with balsa wood houses which provide no sound insulation at all and, well, it would be quieter on the Heathrow flight path (I know, I lived in Hounslow once!)

Originally Posted by Browner_

It really is horrible, and it makes me laff when you hear all this clean green NZ spouted.

Only about 2% of NZers would know how to spell green, let alone contribute to it. They think that as long as 95% of the country is empty, then they can do what they like.

Originally Posted by janek

Don't forget European Capital of Culture

Originally Posted by Browner_

Now I know I will be criticized for being negative, but this post has been a while in the making and needs to be said.

After 5 years in Wellington I think I have reached breaking point and am going to have to return to UK.

Originally Posted by brussels_sprout

I may criticize the economic apects of life in New Zealand, but it is a very peaceful place for me, and for most people here. None of my relatives even lock their front door, 1 does not even HAVE a lock ! But they do live in small towns/countryside. I have never lived in a Kiwi city, and i suppose that there are many "incidents" like in every city in the world, but the quality of life is very very good in NZ, especially for kids.
The number of gang related stories in the papers is quite high, but it is nearly always Gang on Gang all of Maori/Pacific Island descent.
You also read about hoons, but in general teenagers here seem to behave ok

Originally Posted by Genesis

Totally agree with your sentiments. NZ nhas many, many problems but on a daily basis they have no DIRECT impact upon us. I think our move would not have been as successful as its been had we moved to a BIG place..we NEEDED a big change, thus life in a smallish rural town in the middle of no where suits us fine. We are well away from all the inner city strife that was our UK life with endless daily problems. We just bliss out in this sparsely populated place. Personally I hate crowds...I guess a big reason to leave the UK.

Originally Posted by Jokerman

No disrespect, but isn't that a bit disingenuous of you when you say that NZ's problems have "No DIRECT impact upon us".

Didn't you vent recently on the boards about losing over a 100K in a failed investment venture?

It appears that -despite your assertions- NZ's problems have had a direct impact on you.

Originally Posted by Am Loolah

My 16 year old daughter drives her own car and had some mates come and fit a silly filter to it - it doesn't go "whoosh" when she changes gear - sounds more like a ride on mower - but that's kids for you ...

Originally Posted by Patrick2007

Kiwis will never change Browner fact. Look at the driving laws how anyone and there are still plenty on here can defend it is still beyond me. A 15yr child behind a wheel....recipe for death. I thought you would have been in with a chance living in an affluent suburb but sadly we are talking about a backward country who only interests are the All Blacks. N.Z. never gets a mention here in the U.K. the place will never grow its tryed for 40 years. How long we gonna keep calling it a new country? Good for a holiday,living and dare i say surviving on poor wages blah,blah, forget it. Hope you make your mind up mate best of luck.

Originally Posted by Browner_

That mentality is the problem isnt it - first, why do people want to do it, and then secondly why do you allow it?

Originally Posted by Mixter

I dont think i could hack the sort of place youre describing, but i think id be looking at another town, as opposed to a whole new country - particularly returning the the UK, where things have risen in price a tad! Which im sure would shock a lot of ex-pats trying to return!