The negative New Zealand thread
 

Now then stay civilized with each other!

I would like to hear about all the negative things that you can think of about moving to New Zealand. Is it poor wages, weather, schools ect.

The reason being is that I have as Etiopia in my head and need a reality check. So dont hold back and tell it as it is :)

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

go awayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!! no one reply!!! dont wanna hear it

*head in sand* :D

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

I have told you about the good stuff. here's the bad. Isolation..I am nearly 50 so did all the travel stuff in my early years...but for those who are younger unless you earn big bucks Europe is a long way off. The driving over here is pretty dire, the roads are crappy..uncrowded (outta Auckland!!) but crappy..and everyone blames the poor roads..utter bollox..the problem is the break neck speeds too many Kiwis travel at and possibly letting 15yr olds drive on public roads..how daft is THAT??? NZ is alas fast coming into the 21st century re violence, drunkeness and drug problems. Can't think of much else really..apart from the fact that you will miss friends and family, familiaraity of the UK and you will undoubtedly suffer from culture shock. So there you go..what you have to do is suck it and see..only time will tell if the pros outweigh them cons. I feel homesick, sometimes I feel like I don't belong...BUT on the whole when I compare what we have here in relation to what we left in Inner city Northampton....there ain't no going back. For us generally the standard of living herre is such that i could not return to the UK......some go on about the importance of families, relatives etc..in reality...for me anyways...98% of our lives is with myself, Kate and the kids...and what we have in NZ would be impossible to replicate in the the UK. Furthermore I personally would not be prepared to swap the house and neighbourhood I have here for what I would be able to afford in the UK. I am not being shallow..having lived in a really crap neighbourhood and ALL the grief it bought right to my very front door means that I would not return to it!!

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

All the added sugar in the food.

No in depth news unless you can afford Sky (we can't) or stay up till all hours to watch the world news.

The cold houses.

The price of a weekly shop.

The low wages.

The problems caused by the evil weed.

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

We cured our cold house by installing real CH and then some dehumidifiers. In depth news is via the NZ Herald, as for shopping some find it more expensive, others cheaper. Wages are not up to UK standard but then things like houses can be almost three times as cheap (plywood and polystyrene houses built on either a fault line or within the 'lava zone' of a live volcanoe are never gonna be expensive :eek: !!!!) So there is some balance!!!! As for the weeds our garden has loads of them. :D

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

You wanna see our garden then!! :D

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

We are building our own house and it will be fully insulated and double glazed .... we're in a rental at the moment.
Dehumidifiers use lots of electric that we can't afford.
In depth news does not exist in the NZ Herald IMO
I feed a family of five on $300 a fortnight, could you?
The old villas are lovely but there is some complete crap built in this country so watch out folks.
I'm talking about cannabis as you well know.

I tell it like it is sorry if you don't like what you're reading and feel the need to go on the defensive.

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

Anyone mentioned the TV yet ? And the sausages ?

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

what is it about the sausages? can you not make your own? can you not go to the butchers and get some sheep gut or summit? just wondering...

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

Never tasted them personally, it´s just i have read that we Brits always complain about them. I have just read that Marmite/Vegemite has been banned in US
http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/vegemite.asp
Having scanned Kiwi migrant forums for the last year from the other side of the world, the worst things about NZ seem to be

1 The low salaries and high cost of housing
2 Cold uninsulated Houses
3 Mad hoon drivers
4 Crap TV

The obvious things such as isolation and families, i am not counting as they are not unique to NZ, maybe whingeing poms should go on that list too, lol (yes i am a Brit) !

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

feels a commercial opportunity coming on....

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

Sound like Utopia to me :)

Now STOP being so positive and give me the real crap :D

PS It is good to have these negative. It also me to have a balanced argument with the missus about getting my arse over there :)

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

OMG!!!! i am thinking of coming to New Zealand and i am thinking eh should i?? :rolleyes:

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

Show me anywhere in the world thats perfect.

I just think that NZ still has some positives,( like controlled immigration ) whereas here the negatives are growing on an almost daily basis. I look into the futre and don't see much there for our kids, or us, when we reach retirement

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

What are they? :)

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

The fact that my children are allowed to be children for a start.

My husband gets a promotion because he's the best man for the job, not because he's one of the minority that seem to be the majority round here.

Or the fact I can go into a shop and be served by someone I can understand

That my OH can sound off at someones bad driving and I'm not terrified what it might turn into

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

LardFish has a great ring to it.

Come and get your Cumberlands 'ere!!!

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

On the spot fines, abuse of immigrants (I'm of immigrant to UK stock, and will be NZ immigrant), increased racism, flouting of the laws of the land, lack of respect for your fellow man, increased bills with no increase in income, old folks dying of hypothermia, seperation of couples/families due to loss of nursing staff in badly run hospitals, increased intrusion into your personal life, overdevelopement of the countryside, over pollution of the land..........end of rant.

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

#

Sky, don't take it so seriously, I was slightly tongue in cheek and was also pointing out that some of the negatives can be overcome...unlike crime, drugs and the driving..there is not much that we can to do irradicate that. Its relatively easy to make your house warmer....you are taking your own measures in your self build. We have a night taffif..we get the leccy at almost a 60 % saving during the hours of 11pm.7am. :D

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

I thought you meant New Zealand negatives that are growing daily. Sorry :)

I know they are here :D

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

Sorry for hijacking your thread to let off steam!!! (one of those days)

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

No worries ;)

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

This is the UK you're talking about, right?

K.

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

I bloody hope it is :D

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

Yea must admit Im having trouble telling whether the previous posts are about nz or uk lol

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

Well, exactly. Over on the Canadian forum (long story) there are a number of Brits wanting to immigrate to Canada fro the UK because (and I do not joke here) "there are too many immigrants". Sheesh.

K.

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

Bad drivers
Low speed limits
Expensive electric bills
Awful supermarkets
Rubbish tv
Low quality clothing
Funny tasting chocolate
Low wages

Its not enough to make me leave though, we are enjoying our new life in Nz, I think the good outweighs the bad...IMO :)

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

Sorry, yes that was my "state of the nation" speech for UK au moment. :scared:

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

The chocolate all tastes like cheap easter egg chocolate to me, but then mum sent me some from the uk and it made me ill :scared:

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

Its weird actually because its now beginning to taste kinda normal to me, if I got to taste the Uk chocolate again I wonder if it would taste better or not???
:rolleyes:

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

Same thing happened to me in Sweden. Maribo chocolate tasted weird at first, but I got a taste for it in the end and rather like it now.

But this will NEVER happen with Hershey's chocolate.

K.

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

Same thing with Bisto gravy granules, I thought I missed them but mum sent some and they were awful.
If I went back to the uk now I'd be moaning about the funny tasting food there lol.
Especially now that we hardly eat any processed food at all

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

actually came up with the name for a business I am toying with starting when (or should that be "if") we arrive...quite catchy but I am NOT posting it in a public forum :cool:

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

I really don't want to be antagonistic, but if you're currently paying rent I assume and building your own house, so must have brought a section. The fact you're raising a family of 5 on $150 a week I find very hard to comprehend? Is your budget based on the capital invested/tied up in your new build, which perhaps makes your budget not realistic to people emmigrating? Like I said more a please clarify - don't rip my head off!! Merely, trying to ascertain the facts!

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

Don't really understand what you're asking :confused:
Hubby earns a ridiculously small wage here :). we bought the land outright and have some to put towards a house yes (with the money we originally brought over from the uk) and then we'll be mortgaged up to our necks, like every one else seems to be here, in relation to our earnings.
We're paying more rent than our mortgage will be though thank god and also we are saving for when we'll be paying mortgage and rent together towards the end of our house build soooo that leaves hardly anything for anything else.
I actually quite enjoy the challenge of shopping on such a tiny budget and I buy bulk flour, rice, sugar, pasta ... everything dried basically, and then I buy only what is on special after that. If I see toothpaste on special at $1 a packet I buy loads, stuff like that.
When my youngest is a bit older I will find work and then we'll be a lot better off, we'll feel like millionaires after having to get by on so little for so long now :)

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

You Italian? :p

:D

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

Nope lol

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

I'm trying to get in the habit of cooking from scratch again. Got lazy in that department over the years. Its suprising what you can do when you don't have the money. Its a pity you can't fill the gaps in your container with buy one get one free offers!!!!

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

I know lol but you may as well not bring stuff and just do cold turkey.
I brought a huge jar of coffee and bisto gravy granules over with me when we first came and it seems ridiculous now :)

Re: The negative New Zealand thread
 

Thanks Sky, a civiled response, not a "you must die for asking" like on the Oz forum!!
/Blimey, I purchased flour, sugar, butter etc for half term to "play" with the kids. They we re so scared when they saw the contents of the trolley, knowing my minimal level of patience!! Needless to say, no "baking" has taken place thus far!!!