LittleGreyCat

The fruit and veg is one major aspect of lifestyle, and a deal maker/breaker on housing choice.
Having to wear shorts a lot is also not a problem :-)

Back in the UK after a lot of flying.
It is raining just like NZ but it isn't warm rain.
I just checked the climate for the Coromandel peninsula and allegedly it gets as low as 14C in the winter and as high as 25C in the summer (on average, that is). One reason we are considering it. Fortunately we are retired so aren't tied to a job.
This week in East Anglia it is around 4C most days with the risk of dropping below 0C overnight.
I glanced at Devonport just to check out Devon and it is a bit milder on average but still below Coromandel.

So on the climate front Coromandel is just that bit warmer than the UK but the climate profile is similar without the much higher summer temperatures you get in places like Sydney. Which makes it just like the UK but just that bit nicer.

On the dreaded cost of tomatoes in NZ, well you aren't parked next door to Holland and all those glass houses.

On the house prices Coromandel West Coast looks affordable but the East Coast holiday homes with no facilities but fantastic beaches look well expensive. Auckland holiday homes, presumably.

BEVS

I really must take a pic of all the glasshouses of toms down the Appleby highway sometime.

That's where the toms come from . Cultivated , hydroponic grown produce.





It is fuelling my urge to post ineffectual vid of the freezing hail storm that ruined my fruit and veg a few weeks ago.

It was ..........................summer !

Oh and Col. Keep your hat on. You cannot compare country to country . Or even place to place can you. You have to be in the 'now'

Moses2013

It's a big problem everywhere. Growing in a glasshouse is actually not bad, but it's the chemicals they use. Even in the South of Spain most tomatoes come from glasshouses, otherwise they couldn't produce the huge amounts.

LittleGreyCat

Obviously not me, as I have travelled widely in NZ and the UK so the places I discuss are the places I know. It is possible that I have seen more of NZ than most native born Kiwis. I don't suppose many have been lucky enough to spend a solid four and a half months touring both NZ islands.
I haven't spent a winter in NZ yet (give me time) but a family member has lived in Suffolk and is now living in Auckland so is qualified to brief me on the weather and the housing there.

This last trip (2 months) we spent in Northland scouting out housing, including Auckland (shudder) and most points north plus Coromandel. Favourites at the moment are Russell, Thames and Coromandel Town.

On the weather front, just finished watching the BBC forecast with snow, rain and a severe frost warning for the whole of the UK this weekend.

LittleGreyCat

Agh! Don't mention sausages! As for bacon........
Probably not wise to get me started on the cheese either :-)
However having spent 2 months in Oz then two months in NZ I will now be moaning about the lack of coffee roasters in the UK.

Kotare

9 years ago, did the tiki tour with my wife over most of NZ (incl Stewart Island) unfortunately she loved NZ Then in consecutive years did the same (from Russell to Milford) with firstly my son, then daughter. So agree often the incomer has seen more real estate.

Coromandel is pretty, but make sure you visit Dec/Jan when the Aucklanders are there en masse (bit like Northland) - it can be dead in the winter and the windy roads would finish me off.

Peter

Moses2013

I love how they always say severe frost for the whole UK, when it's a crisp, clear morning. Just winter weather really and nothing too dramatic.

Justcol

Mind you bang that big head of yours as you pass through immigration

gingerninga

I'm scratching my head on this and the other similar post about Building Regs. Think I must be missing something?

NZ Building Regs seem really relaxed compared to the UK ones. And the expectation for insulation and window BTU's seems higher for UK windows than NZ ones so i'm wondering what i'm missing? Standard NZ double glazing is aluminium frames which is not as insulated as say, timber framed double glazing. But i'll check.

Looking at quite a few companies that build 1880's style villa's. I'm going to miss old looking things, so want a house that has some old charm

gingerninga

I've read that if whatever you bring is no longer in new packaging with new labels (and therefore not re-salable as new) that there isn't import taxes. It's considered the same as anything else you bring in as a new migrant/resident and included under that first entry exemption? Am I missing something?

Also, even if Customs did slap on duty, after looking at costs and quality of NZ double glazing, I still think we'll be paying less for better. Timber framed double glazing has really come down in price in the UK.

simonsi

Its just a note of caution, "complies with" and "better than" don't mean the same thing.

Just saying its worth checking before carting windows round the world only to find they don't comply with some fine-print reg.

Personally Imported cars fall foul of this all the time, if you can prove it complies to the required standard (sticker missing for example), it doesn't matter if every other mass-produced car of that make complies, it doesn't count. Just an example.

gingerninga

Oh wow. Thanks for that. I just looked up "compliance" rather than Building Regs" and found exactly what you mean. It has to have been tested by a particular NZ organisation (a bit like the Kite Mark in the UK). Yeah i'd definitely need to see whether I can get a IANZ registered laboratory Test Certificates or if the UK equivalent is acceptable.

Here was the site that explains all that... Compliance

simonsi

Glad it helped, I wasn't aware of anything specific, it was just a general warning...

MrsFychan

Not exactly true. When customs views your goods they determine if they have been used or not and satisfy themselves as to how old they are. So you had better check and not assume taking a sticker off will suffice