BEVS

My personal plumber works 40/50 hours a week. I don't know of any plumbers that don't work a full week.

That's good. I've been told many times that I can never be a Kiwi as I was not born here. I can be a New Zealander & I have been called a foreigner as well as an English Pom of course.

Migrants that have called themselves fellow Kiwis among Kiwis have tended to be given a rather odd look. Bit like calling an Italian living in the UK , British and the like. They're not British. They are Italians and proud of that.

I've actually no intention of pretending I morphed into a Kiwi. I'm English born and bred. I don't stamp that on the people I meet here. We just meet and are who we are as individuals.

We fit in with our NZ lives but that doesn't mean that we don't have our opinions and views about this country that we live in. That we cannot join in with the groans from the born and bred Kiwis when the price of tomatoes goes through the roof .

Sometimes I wonder if we live in the same country. Most Kiwis I know shop at Pak and Save. They work the 40 hours week. Most have both parents working. Their downtime is not much different really to UK downtime. They like their shops . They like MacDonalds. They also like the beach. Going for walks and the like. They are just ordinary folk going about their lives just like the ordinary folks back in the UK .

It really all just depends what you are coming from and what you go to. It also matters a bit what disposable income you might find yourselves with.

Moses2013

Just because you're currently not living in a place, doesn't mean you can't comment now. You could then ask yourself why people comment about the UK if they're no longer living there. I agree, I can not comment on the current economical situation, but if someone says weather is not comparable and way better, I think that's false information.




All I said is that it depends where you currently live and came from, so I don't currently have to live in Dunedin to know that Wellington doesn't really get that much more sun than Portsmouth etc.. It's not a problem for me and yes I now live in Ireland, but unfortunately many people think the whole of New Zealand is tropical and everywhere is better than the UK.
I never even moaned about New Zealand and even said the price of a cucumber can easily be solved and shouldn't put anyone off.




I even said that New Zealand can be a great country like any other place, but people seem to be offended so quickly if you point things out.

bourbon-biscuit

Are you sure about that? Wellington is windy, for sure, but has high average annual sunshine (>2000hrs), which is why you can grow lemons there.

The wind would put me off Wellington and I would say it pretty much has some of the worst weather in NZ (of the more-than-sparsely populated areas) because of that.

Moses2013

Of course you can only go by where the weather stations are, but in general there are many places in the South that receive a good amount of sunshine and aren't far off from Wellington. Eastbourne gets around 1900 hours, so it won't be life changing if you move to Wellington for weather and somebody moving from Southampton to Dunedin will also not see any improvement.




I live on the West Coast of Ireland, so used to weather , but many people are always surprised that New Zealand is not always sunny and most people don't end up in Blenheim, or come from Manchester.




It doesn't bother me personally, but it seems to be a major factor for other people. New Zealand is a great place, but there are options in the UK too for so called better weather.

desmondo84

spent a summer in the south east of england a few years ago and I found the weather considerably nicer than back home in Ireland. That said, neither are a patch on Auckland. it's not just the hours of sunshine, it's the water temperature. Nothing beats going for a swim in the ocean after work and having that beach culture over the summer. Might only last 3 months or so but to have that on your doorstep and not have to fly to Europe is pretty neat. Winter is pretty mild up North. Kiwis seem to hibernate in the winter months but if you plan around the rain you can still spend a lot of time outdoors.

For sure, if you're looking for year round sunshine NZ is not the place to be but most places have their issues. Even Sydney hits 40 degrees which would put me off, nevermind Queensland.

Stormer999

The saying goes in Ireland that you can tell the difference between summer and winter by measuring the temperature of the rain.....

sparklyfrog

Happy for the thread to be closed from my side - I didn't want to start a debate. Of course everyone will have a different perspective and will adapt (or not) to life differently. Just as everyone who has emigrated or is thinking about it will come with different goals in mind.

The bickering is just highlighting these differences!

Stormer999

If only closing the thread would close the cucumber moaning....

barnsleymat

Justice for Cucumber lovers of Aotearoa.

MrsFychan

As I don't eat cucumbers really can't comment but as OP is happy to close I shall do as they clearly have enough opinions to think about.