Damson

When I looked on the map I realised just how far NZ is from lots of places. I was wondering therefore if anyone feels isolated/trapped by the distances, and if so, does it go?
Cheers
Lorraine

Coda

Well put it this way, the distance from NZ to OZ is 2,218 km.
Distance from London to Moscow is 2498km


So, yeah, pretty isolated and after a while you get a bit of cabin fever.

Genesis

Yes I feel it..its bloody marvelous. The isolation is something we have to deal with..some like it some don't. I guess with time it will lessen.

shirl

Well normally I hate isolation and said to a work colleague who had been tramping in the wop wops that it would be too isolated for me to do that with no roads or houses in sight to which she replied "why did you come to NZ then if you don't like isolation" Trouble is, I don't really feel that isolated by day to day standards - it is only when I think of a holiday or going back for a visit and the costs involved that it feels isolated. I never worry about it in my day to day life! Just as well really LOL

Anyway Oz is not that far 3 hours to Brisbane which would be like going to Europe, then there are the tropical islands near by and the same distance to LA as it is from the UK so don't worry too much about it.

Browner_

Which is all very well if you have the time,salary and spare cash to be able to do it.

No Easyjet here.

Even within New Zealand you could feel isolated - Wellington is certainly pretty remote from anything else apart from Wellington.

CarolineSwan

I live in NP and i dont feel isolated whatsoever, got everything i want and need right here .. I def wont be wasting a holiday off work to go to the UK.I will be taking advantage of all the wonderfull places right on our doorstep. you could spend a life time visiting all the islands or 3 hours to aus, cant wait to get to dream world, certainly cheaper than uk to disney plus better weather. And these are all the places we would never of visited having still been in the UK. i mean how many times can you visit gran can or menorca etc

We knew we were moving to the other side of the world when we moved but hey its not anymore is it ,its our home

Batty

I don't feel isolated either but when I was in Ireland last year NZ felt very far away - I think that was because I was away from home

CarolineSwan

probably was yea

jennifer45

Really don't want to travel by plane/or boat any more, any where[except NZ and within NZ]. There are so many places in the South Island I'd love to see/visit/stay a while, whilst I still have the chance. OK the occasional trips to OZ in winter 'cos I really don't do 'cold' and other than that I am going to enjoy the distance from all the pollution and rubbish [human as well as environmental] of the overcrowded Northern hemisphere.
I shall chill out, I shall paint and make things for my grandchildren and when they're not around I shall chill out, relax, just enjoy life whilst we can and did I say?--- Chill out! .
All the things I've found so hard to do in the UK over the past few years.
I shall embrace the isolation!

luvwelly

I would say you don't feel it at first...but that it does get to you after a while....for instance in 20 months I have left NZ once to spend 10 days in Oz. Seven weeks of that 20 months has also been spent holidaying in NZ itself.
I have a trip back to UK planned though. By August all my relatives capable of visiting me here will have done so and most of the friends too (have had a lot of visitors) but they probably won't come again during my time here (because of the distance/cost/time it takes) so arguably I will feel more isolated because of the lack of visitors and because I have now toured a lot of North and South Island already. So seeing more of Oz is probably next on the agenda.

There's plenty to do in Wellington and I like it here but it does bug me that there's nowhere different to go within a short drive once you've exhausted the immediate outlying places up the Kapiti coast and over the mountain in the Wairapa. Still love the scenery though.

I found during school holidays the 'flights out' soon get sold out to everywhere...so you have to plan your escapes well in advance too.

As Genesis says the isolation can be good too..terrorism seems quite remote in comparison. You wake up and see what the rest of the world has been doing while you've been asleep. Empty roads etc etc

shirl

Yes but by the same token, did others really go to Europe that much in the UK - we saved for our hols and went to Majorca or the Canaries, not something we hopped over to at weekends. Who can afford to do that even with Easyjet you still have to spend on accommodation. Take if for what it is. We would have 2 weeks in the summer and 2 weeks to be spread out for the rest of the year, same as here really. Save for hols and your friends back in the UK will be envious of you going to Oz or Samoa or Raro or whereaver you fancy going as back there it is just a dream destination for most ordinary hard working folk. Same thing - just upside down with different Islands to visit LOL!!!!!

Fooferfish

We have been here 4 years and at first it didn't bother us, and on a day to day basis, still doesn't bother us, we did a trip back to UK at Christmas it that flight is a bloody shocker, it took 6 days to get over jet lag, and your stomach does not get back to normal for days and the cost of it !!! for 3 of us to uk and back counting in spend ect i recon over $13k, the flights were $8.5k, but it was worth it to see my folks and they have not seen their grandaughter in 4 years.

But when you look at how far you are from OZ when you are sat in UK thinking of moving here to NZ, you think at least we will be able to jump to OZ every now and then !!!! Think again, unless you have lots of income to spare, then for most of us its a case of touring around NZ dodging the weather and making the most of it, we looked at a trip to Thailand to meet rellies half way, bugger that was over $9k for 2 weeks arrghhh, so yes you can feel a bit trapped, and isolated, my BIL lives in Invercargill and we dont get down there that much, especially when the fuel prices went up, and thats only 2 1/2 hrs away, but when you look at fuel ect it does mount up.

People need to look before they leap to NZ as once you are here, trips abroad are few and far between.

CarolineSwan

We were same we would save and go away maybe 3 or 4 weeks of the year. never just a spur of the moment oh lets pop to france kind of thing. Going to fiji for a holiday was just a dream now it can be reality same as aus its somewhere i always wanted to holiday but hubby wouldnt go the long flight just for a holiday now its 3 hours away , and something we can do. We are looking to book our holiday but cant decide to go to fiji (plantation island) or dream world theme park. looking at the prices its not going to cost more than a trip to gran can did back in the uk. I will deff not waste money on a flight back to see britain when i can visit all these beautiful places

luvwelly

Spot on post!

luvwelly

Pre-kids I did go away to Europe a lot...and was never a sunseeker as such so would do main holidays in different EU countries too. It's not just proximity of Europe though, it's the fact that if you wanted to within the UK you can drive to a different town, visit a stately home etc etc. Also in UK you can get aboutby train easily (if not cheaply).
At the end of the day whether you did it regularly or not, the fact was you could have done if you wanted to, you could travel somewhere else quickly and easily and in NZ you can't..so best have thought this through before you come.

What Fooferfish said about the weather is true too..I have been incredibly lucky with my two NZ Summer tours of each island - mainly decent weather both years - Kiwis are fond of pointing out that it isn't always this good....whereas in Europe you have a mixture of colder and warmer/hotter countries to choose from to suit and can travel more easily at last minute meaning you can take prevailing weather into account more easily.