Fezz1990

Hi I am 25 years old andovung to nz in December this is my 1st ever forum so please bare with me I was just Intreated in hearing people emigrating story's of moving to nz is the life style better ?? Also I will be moving to the new plmouth Taranaki area and was wondering if there are any ex pats on here from the area as I won't know many people when u land thanks you

bearskin

We prefer NZ to the UK, but one of our main considerations was having a young family - our kids have had the most fantastic childhood.

Not sure how great it would be for a mid-20s person - have heard that 20-30% of all NZers of that age are overseas doing stuff (as NZ can be a bit dull?)

M_and_M

Depends on your definition of better. NZ has a more outdoors sporty lifestyle which suits me, but social life is very very different. I don't mind, as I am in my 40's but younger people might miss that buzz?

Justcol

I have two 20 something sons who returned to the UK
as NZ was to small and slow for them

Fezz1990

Brilliant thanks for takig the time to reply guys I am a very sporty active person I have lived the busy social life living in and around London I have always preferred a more country life style so hopefully nz will give me a good balance of the 2

AceofSpades

IMO Its better in the UK mate - more freedoms there and better access to the great outdoors, things like food are as cheap as chips too which helps heaps. I found the lifestyle in NZ way more restrictive (there ain't much to do) and the long wet winters were a pain in the proverbial. I went to the beach and went rambling more in one summer in the UK than I ever did in NZ in all the years I lived there. The kids played outdoors in the street more in the UK, in NZ they mostly sat around the house or hung out in the malls. As much as I love living in Australia now there's one thing I do still miss about Britain and that's the long warm summer evenings.

Pom_Chch

Hi Fezz, welcome to the forum!

My partner and I are only a bit older than you. We love the lifestyle out here, but I totally understand it's not for everyone. We much prefer outdoorsy and sporty hobbies as opposed to seeking out and being close to a buzzy city or town. We are never short of activities to keep us occupied in Canterbury and there's always Christchurch close by if we fancied dinner, show or concert. There's so much here on our doorstep and all easily accessible for us, but I guess that depends where you are in NZ. We live a 5 minute drive to the beach for surfing in summer and 1.5 hours from the mountains for skiing in winter. Plus heaps of hiking, biking, fishing, surfing, paddle boarding opportunities too.

I would say we socialize differently here too. In the UK our social habits centered around drinking, eating and getting coffee with friends. Here we go hiking/biking/fishing etc with our friends and then round the evening off with a BBQ and beer or two at home. I'm personally more content with spending most of my time with my partner and just a few very close friends rather than constantly going out meeting friends for coffee or drinks. I would say most of our social life is centered around day time activities followed by a relaxing evening. Others may class that as "boring" or "dull" but I personally love it! I hate standing around like a lemon with an over priced beer in my hand with a bunch of people I don't like in some new trendy bar.

Anyway, hope that helps! You're young and free - come out to NZ, see how you like it and then go from there

LauraNotts

I feel happier and more content in New Zealand but I really think this is an entirely individual thing. Constant busy socialising drains me completely so I am very happy in Christchurch where I can have that when I feel like it and can kick back and chill out when I don't.

To be honest if you're (general you) bored and unsatisfied in the UK you're likely to be bored and unsatisfied in New Zealand unless you address the things in your life that make you bored and unsatisfied.

Bo-Jangles

I read or heard some statistics a few weeks back that described NZ as the Nanna capital of the world - something like 84% of people would prefer to cosy up on their 'jamas than go out. Going 'out' generally seems to be dinner at 6pm and back home in bed by 9pm.

LauraNotts

There is nothing particularly wrong with "cosying up in your 'jamas" or being home by 9pm. I do get a little irritated by the implication that if you're not out drinking to the point of being legless and staying out until 3am you are not living life.

Fezz1990

This forum has helped me so much as it's the 1st ever one i have joined it's so investing to hear everyone's opinions and story's nice to hear from people that have done what I'm trying to do and exspirenced it just talking to everyone makes me so excited to come out and exspiriemce nz life for a year maybe more

Tom H

Right, now for the real post on this. It is a completely different country to the UK and comparisons is probably not the way forward. It's down to the individual and how they make the country. In my opinion both the UK and New Zealand are fantastic places to live but both do have their faults. You'll have people saying what a great place it is and how their life has changed for the good. That's excellent, it's always nice to hear positive stories. Then you'll here negatives about the place, appreciate them because they could easily happen to you. An excellent piece of advice I can give right now is "Don't come with tinted spectacles". I accept I had those, I recently went back to the UK and the things people go mad about here - I had those in Blighty. Forestry walks, I had the New Forest at home. Beaches, Bournemouth beach is one of the best in the world. Mountains for winter activities - great here but there's Aviemore in Scotland in the Cairngorn mountains. Golf - oh of course there's loads here but they're becoming far cheaper back in the UK. As you mentioned that you're a Barista, there's heaps of work round here. Baristas and Car Mechanics have a job for life in New Zealand. Loads of them positioned around here

BEVS

Yup. Current formatting issue that tech is looking into .

Read HERE

bearskin

Jeez, fancy yerself much. Of course, the rest of us were just killing time waiting for you to turn up and give us your pearls of wisdom and put us all straight.

bearskin

I would agree with that 95%. The other 5% is the 40-somethings who still think they are 18 and get trollied most weekends - and particularly on holidays. Even to the extent of leaving their kids unfed and running riot.. We have a few of those around.