Zippy2005

Having done a great deal of reading on the lifestyle of gangs in NZ I have come to the conclusion that a move to NZ just is not worth it. It's not just what I have read here (in the scary story thread) - I have done lots of research and the risk of bumping into one of these guys is just too much. The gangs we have in this country are bad but I feel that the chances of ever coming into contact with any gang member is microscopic (and I wouldn't be of any interest to them) but these guys out in NZ seem to enjoy intimidation for intimidations' sake. The stories of brutality and rape are horrendous.

javajive

This is certainly an over reaction. Things always sound worse when you are
at a distance. I've travelled alot and as long as you don't tempt fate you are
most unlikey to run into any problems. I lived in South Auckland (Papatoetoe)
during 1992-1995 and never felt unsafe for myself, my wife or baby.
FYI South Auckland is where most of the Maori/Islander people live.

Although I have to admit that I had my car stolen twice!
Once from the car park outside my office in central Auckland.
But then I could also tell you that somebody once tried to break into
my BMW in the South of France and worse in Marseille had a guy
walk behind to me when I was in a camper van stopped at traffic lights
on a sunny sunday afternoon and with a knife punture my back tyre.

I prefer not to live in NZ for many reasons that I can identify with European
expats that have lived in NZ, but not the gang thing. Maybe growing up in
Huntly means I was more accustomed to these black power block heads.

So NZ may not be for you if you want
* a career
* decent money/buying power
* not being totally issolated from the world
* etc etc etc

but don't be put off by these bike gangs, if you don't go into a pub in
a rough area you are unlikely to ever see them.

BTW Have you ever visited NZ?

southerner

You are joking right?

scottish

Smell a Troll looking to stir it up... eh Zippy???????

Roger

The gang problem is totally overstated. I doubt if any Brit coming here would live anywhere near a gang house, or rough Maori suburb (the whites can be rough too though).

Saying that I have met many Mongrel Mob members in A&Es in New Zealand and they have been pleasant and well mannered which is a comparison with your average foull mouthed, lippy middle class teenage oik out for a few beers in any town in England on a Friday night that I came across in the NHS.

Don't worry there is nothing to fear (but keep an eye out for the Albanian Mafioso who wants to make you a sex slave in Redditch ).
Roger

annaerb

All I can say is What a joke.

kiwijetpilot

Ha ha ha nice try... obvious troll...

Zippy2005

I'm not trying to stir things up - it was a genuine post. I was looking to visit with my wife and 2 children but I have been put off. There no point in spending £5K in visiting for a fact finding trip when I feel uneasy.

Lets just leave it at that.

javajive

I can appreciate that after your research and listening to the experience of others you may have decided that NZ is not for you.

But please put some of the stories into context.

NZ is not a violent place, but that doesn’t mean that crime doesn’t happen. On the whole Kiwi’s are very warm, good natured and helpful. Like everywhere there will be some bad people too. NZ happens to have fewer...

If you visited you would have no reason to feel uneasy about personal safety.

Deb+Chris

If this is a serious post, I can tell you that I think you're blowing things way out of proportion. We never felt threatened in any way in NZ (OK so we lived in a nice area).

We travelled around a bit, not knowing what to expect from one place to the next, but found we always felt safe. We hardly ever locked the car doors for instance, something which we always do now back home.

Seriously, you would be mad to let this stop you from going over. In all the things that made us come home, this wasn't one of them.

Zippy2005

I appreciate all that has been said here - maybe I am being hasty. I shall think on this some more...thank you for all your comments.

Let this be the last post on this subject and get back to positive things...

Poindexter

Err sorry ..... I see what's written above, but ........

You're winding us up right? You can NOT be serious !!!!!!

Well done all the exaggerating doom mongers .... guess this one's down to you !!!!!!!!

Zippy2005

As I said before it is a serious post - if you can't take this on board and you think its a wind up then there will be no more posts on this subject (from me at least)

Kiwi26

Zippy, great post, at least you have voiced your concerns, and thats what its all about.

What you have to remember is that there are gangs in every single country, to varying degrees. The reason that they get exagerrated on forums such as these, is simply because thats what people focus on. Think of it like a news story in one of the UK tabloids.

Trust me, I am a kiwi, but have lived overseas as well, and all I can say is that there are good and bads all over the world.

If this country was over run by gangs noone would live here, and we still have one of the highest migrant intakes in the world.

Good luck with the decision making.

Don

Zippy, I travelled all over NZ, lived in Dunedin but stayed a few weeks north of AKL as well. Never felt remotely threatened, though admittedly I was not in South AKL gang territory!

For comparison, it was always a lot less intimidating atmosphere than when I lived in Birmingham, Glasgow, Bristol or London.

A lot of NZ is as friendly as (say) Cornwall or the Scottish Highlands, esp S Island of NZ.

There may be a racial element to this feeling of intimidation/ gangs (ie Pakeha/ Maori tension) but I am not knowledgable enough to comment, other than to say that the Maori are very unevenly dispersed throughout NZ.