dlmckay

Bradfrd12, from Bradford I'm assuming, that really welcoming town for immigrants in the North of England? Of course New Zealand needs more immigrants - how else are you lot supposed to get in?

Also worth bearing in mind that the vast majority of young Chinese seen walking around the main centres are here for their education and will return to China once their student visa expires. Keeps NZ landlords and car salesmen happy as they rake in Chinese money...

Um, someone mentioned no fruit available out of season? Tosh - American oranges, Italian kiwifruit... most countries have reciprocal trade agreements... they get our fruit in our season and vice versa. I have yet to see the supermarket bereft of fruit in mid winter

School fees? No, there are no school fees (unless you go private). There are "donations". Up to you if you wish to donate to your school.

I disagree with the comments about the health system. In five years we have gone through minor and major health issues and found the state system fantastic. However, I do avoid the state A&E because of the wait, prefering to pay the $50 to be seen quicker (half an hour) in a private White Cross emergency room.

Ash1

[QUOTE=Annemarie R;6489733]Hi Ash1

Thanks for that.

How much does the land cost on top of that?[/QUOTE


You can get plots (they call them sections over here) from $140,000 in Welcome Bay with some great views. You`ll get about 600-800 square metres for this and to build a 230 square metre house(bungalow) which would be a good size 4 bedroom house. will cost anything from $180,000 upwards.
Sections in Papamoa are more expensive as they are nearer the beach. The cheapest I have found is $200,000 and a beach front section will cost you $500,000. There are literally hundreds of sections available, so theres no rush!!!
Hope this helps
Ash

Annemarie R

Thats been a great help Ash1 Thanks Very Much

Browner_

Interesting collection of stories this morning, showing NZ's scum at its finest

Gangs out of control (Hastings, Invercargill, Wnaganui)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4592800a11.html

Children left to starve in Porirua
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominionpost/4592702a6000.html

Carnage on Christchurch Streets
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4593199a10.html

Man shot in head whilst waiting for bus in Christchurch
http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominionpost/4592930a6479.html

But of course crime is down according to the Government
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4593409a11.html

luvwelly

Yes I choked on my coffee this morning reading the Dom Post..quite a weekend wasn't it? The scariest thing is that according to the article the neighbours did not report the child cruelty because they were worried about Gang retribution....the usual line being that the Gangs only maim and kill their own so why worry?

Yummy_Mummy

On the child abuse story -

OMG What is wrong with people??? They feed the kids but cant help them?? I am Utterly disgusted with that. A child requires brain surgery due to their abusive parents... i know what i would do with them! :curse:
I am sure that there is adequate anonymous reporting procedures on this type of thing in NZ, so why cant people at least do that for the kids. Bloody Shame!!!

I can deal with reading anything, but when it comes to cruelty with either kids or animals, i really cant deal with that!!!

xxx

Kiwiprincess

I would have thought there would be anonymous reporting through cyps.

I can kind of see the neighbours concern - the mother was tied up with gangs and it probably wouldn't have taken a lot to work out who reported them. But still, you would have thought the neighbours would have reported it. At least one neighbour? But no.

luvwelly

You might have thought they could have approached the Head Teacher of the kids' school....come to think of it why didn't the school notice anything?

Kiwiprincess

My understanding is (porirua is pretty small, stories get out, miss kiwiprincess finds stories out) that they did know and did report it and it was being actioned. But the school was involved from the beginning. However, the kids always went home for lunch.It was just unaware of the food issue as the kids went home and, afaik, there had not been the concerns about the little girl as she was such a little thing anyway and was actually functioning quite well at school.

From what i know though, she has really improved recently.

wintersmith

Looking for bad things about NZ? Well, you'll hear bigoted comments like above frequently, which I for one considered a pretty bad thing. Actually, I take it back. This would have represented a significant improvement over what I was actually forced to hear. "Chink", "chop suey", "you dirty Asians are destroying our country", and sundry threats of violence, with some physical incidents. We can only imagine how this charming local perception of me—American of Japanese descent—impacted things like employment. Suffice to say, we had a terrible time and got the hell out of there as soon as we could afford to.

Agness Kaku
<snip>

Yummy_Mummy

Talking about bad points... My only worry is with Gangs in NZ. Especially after watching a few videos on youtube.

We have gangs here in Glasgow - in fact Glasgow has about 100 of them!!! But they are mainly teenagers and young people who fight for territory and think it makes them popular. Generally they dont bother you and dont get involved in damaging properties or cars! (of course there are always some who will do this)
On the other hand... NZ Gangs... well that seems to be a whole other ballgame... They have emblems, their own customised clothes, gang houses and most of all are widespread. AND most of them are grown adults!!!

I one thing i watched.. a gang said that they would assault and rob any "white" passer by for no reason... Oh dear not good!

Even the police try to negotiate stuff with the gang leaders lol

Anyone got any views on this, and does anyone know people in these gangs?

C xxx

Annemarie R

I'm just like you Yummy Mummy. This is really beginning to concern me about all this gang talk.

Like I said in my original post we live in France at the moment but I am beginning to think the grass isn't always greener.

Can anyone confirm that you don't get this such behaviour (gangs) in Tauranga?

Browner_

I dont think Tauranga is one of the hotspots (like South Auckland, Wanganui, Invercargill or Hastings). There will be plenty of dodgy geezers as you head further east along the Bay of Plenty though.

The trouble is there are a small number of people throughout New Zealand that are quite incredible scum, of a type I have never encountered before. I guess these people exist in cities in UK, but in my sheltered southern existence I have never come across filth like the people here. As I said, overall its small numbers and most people are quite different.

Yummy_Mummy

Hmmm now i'm intrigued.... expand please lol

The most dodgy people i have ever come across are:
a) the usual junkies in the chemist
b) a local guy who had a gun and a tazer - didnt use them but got 5 yrs!
c) the usual local neds who get pissed on the local canal and usually get asbo's for noise anyway!
d) the very occassional drunk person who staggers into your car at 3am!

So come on... tell us... you cant leave us hanging like that...

Talk about dangling a carrot lol

C xxx

Browner_

Well, read some of the stories in the links I posted earlier. Here are a few more, which arent supposed to be representative but give a flavour. Ive tried to show that some of the scum are white and not all maori/pacific

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4592795a6009.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4590014a6000.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4593933a6045.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4591597a11.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4586041a10.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4577409a10.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4595325a11.html
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4573583a12855.html