tottefan

I've heard a few people, on other forums, say that the towns and even cities in NZ are often too isolated for their liking. Do you find that the tiny population and wide open spaces are too much to bear i.e. do you find NZ too isolated and quiet?

Someone commented that NZ would be perfect if it had a population of about 10 million instead of 3-4 million.


tottefan.

lapsed kiwi

I think one of the best things about NZ is the small population - it means that you can go to a beautiful beach, mountain or lake on a weekend and have the place to yourself if you like - there are always cities if you like company. In my experience, the proximity of neighbours is inversely proportional to the level of interaction: I've lived in terraced house in UK for years and not even known my neighbours' names, yet in NZ as a kid we were forever invited to neighbours' houses, swimming pools etc, even though the closest ones were several 100 meters away.

Don

If you live in or near a city or big town, it's not very different to living in the UK

Distances between towns are irrelevant when you don't do the journey very often.

Distance to the nearest country is more of a thought...

sunshine_and_rain

Yep have to agree. Some town are very isolated, but how often do you travel on to the next town?? Thats why I like where we are as have the opportunity to visit a few places easily reached for a change of scenery and activity. Don's right though - I do miss being able to go to Europe and elsewhere much more readily than you can here. NZ is soooo far away from anywhere. At least Ozzie and Fiji are close by - not too bad a place to tak a holiday hey!!!