Don

Who agrees?

Slipper, you eloquent quillster, any thoughts?

My reasons - a sad old fart like me was too old to get into Aus (points) and I retired too young too (no recent work experience).

Aha! But we Kiwis-to-be can go to live and work in Australia after 3 years! I'll be back. If we want to.

Cheers - Don

terryg

It all depends what you are after........

I would love to retire there later on in life

scoobydooathome

Nice one Don,

You have choices

enjoy,

N.Finn Fan

Yeah come on you lot.....Whose heading to Kiwiville?

Slippers

When I read the title of your thread this morning after rising from my blameless sleep - filled with dreams of days gone by, of electricity and trains - ready and raring to face another day in the land of the long white cloud and short supermarket queue, I thought "Oh no, someone has fallen asleep in the Ozzie sun and gone wire happy. Now they are gonna go over the wall, cross the Tasman to NZ and make it even more bizarre." Luckily, though, I then noticed that it was started by that eternal optimist and future NZ tycoon, Don, and breathed a sigh of relief.

I will do my best to give a full and fair answer.

My experience of Oz is limited but, for me, sufficient - episodes of the Young Doctors, The Sullivans, and Rolf Harris's Cartoon Time - and from that I deduced that Oz had only one restaurant called Bunnies that only ever served "your steak and salad, doctor", that they are a belligerent people at war with the world but still finding time for baking and a little romance, and that the Moog synthesiser has yet to hit their shores but the wobble board is all the rage and they spend much of their time asking "sports" to securely fasten their marsupials "down". After a brief visit to God's Country, I saw just what an accurate picture of life there my researches had given me. My 2 hour stay at Sydney Airport was plenty for me and in that sense Oz has given me 100% satisfaction in helping me to quickly leave it.

Turning now to Godzone (God was very keen on real estate in this part of the world, it seems, which just goes to prove how even the great architect can't spot how things are gonna turn out in this world of ours), I would have to say that, in general, I agree with you Don, but with a number of reservations. NZ is the only place I have been so far where the telly is so bad I sit glued to the adverts and then rush out to make a cup of tea when the programmes are on, the saturation coverage of rugby is so dull I am starting to miss Jocky Wilson and Eric Bristow, and the national debates about getting something done to improve the ailing economy or improve its international business image are so long and unproductive half the time you feel like going down the post office, getting out your nest egg and saying "for christ's sake, here's a monkey, get TWO hydroelectric plants".

In summary, Don, I would have to say that although my experiences of God's Country and Godzone have made me realise why I am not religious, I would have to say that NZ is a "cracker", as John Clarke used to say, in a lot of ways and I am very glad that it exists for those who like that sort of thing, and if they got their few scientists to work on creating the biggest multi-socket distribution board the world has ever seen and ran an extension lead over to Oz, then it would suit many even more.

Cheers and thanks for the good wishes (I can read between the lines).

Slippers

valleygirl

Slippers!!!

For people like me moving to NZ you are a bloody star!!

Thank You!!

Slippers

Thanks very much valleygirl.

Judging by your fine taste and superior intelligence, I bet you are a graduate of your local uni, one of the world's finest seats of learning, and if you are not then it just goes to show that it must be in the cambridgeshire water.

Good luck with the move. Don't forget your batteries and could you bring a bucket of clean water for those poor devils on the Kapiti Coast who are having to boil up their water cos of it being taken from poisoned bore holes (sadly true)- the red cross has let us all down over here again after getting a flat tyre when administering aid in my old manor in London. They even forgot my chocolate and letter from mum.

Slippers

valleygirl

Hi Slippers

I like the comment about batteries!! It just so happens that my hubbie is hoping to get a job within the power industry of NZ

I have seen from you past comments on the situation with NZ power supplies you find them laughable!! So just hoping and praying that if the power industry are so desperate at the moment they might appreciate a power engineer with extensive experience in renewable energy. Because hey!! Renewables are the way to go

Amanda

TimEh?

I wouldn't normally post here being as wot I'm in Canada an' all, but the title of this thread caught my eye. Reading your post Slipper, I was wondering why an eloquent chappie like yourself doesn't visit the lounge now and again - or does nothing interest you in there?

I enjoyed your comments by the way.

Slippers

I suppose the main reason is that although the lounge seems busier today, when I look it generally seems a bit quiet. However, I have often looked at the returning to the UK section, as anyone who has emigrated to this side of the world will understand, and there are some very interesting posters there - notably your good self.

Cheers, Slippers

Slippers

With your husband's experience, one would think that NZ would send out Helen Clark's leopard skin seated Rolls Royce to meet you off the plane, but you may be surprised. Good qualifications do not always cut the ice here and you might tell your husband that he should brush up on his pakeha NZ accent more than on Maxwell's equations. Truly, I have been told and given the impression time and time again that to be "kiwi" is more important than being qualification-laden and housetrained when you are trying to get a job here and so it might be better to be less "Look what I can do for you" than "Look how much I like NZ". I sometimes feel that NZ would rather not have something than have a non-kiwi version of it.

I agree that renewables are the way to go, for the long term, but I just worry that NZ is gonna look foolish in the short term and, as someone else pointed out, lose the confidence of the business world. I am also not yet sure that the developed world is ready for the drop in energy consumption that will result, at least in the short term, and the lower powered (as in rate of energy consumption) life we may need to lead. Personally, I wish the world worked to a difft set of rules, but, for the time being, it does not.

Slippers

Don

Haha! Nice one, Slipper, you passed the test.

Cheers - Don

BritboyNZ

Depends on what you're defining as better Don!

My thoughts about NZ are that it is indeed a very beautiful country, the climate better (for me anyway - not too keen on baking heat...I would be miserable in Perth!) the locals friendlier (PB's comments about Australians are true to a certain degree!) and its compact size means it is very easy to just get in the car and go somewhere for a weekend. IMO NZ is among if not the best place to settle down & bring up kids.

For me though, I'm a city boy...compared to Sydney, Melbourne & London, Auckland is a quiet backwater. Maybe it's because I've spent all of the past 2.5yrs solely in Auckland (have travelled extensively round the country, but live in Akl) and am now beginning to get fed up of it. I'm still (relatively!) young and want to do more travelling and spend a few years in oz (probably Melbourne) though I expect I'll come back to NZ one day

Russ

TimEh?

Thank you. You're right, it is quiet compared to this section. I can't believe the number of postings - and that's just today.

Don

Wish I were 27 again! True enough, partly it's my perspective because now I'm a sad old fart with 2 young kids and a wife with a shopping obsession, the idea of living in a relative backwater (say, 30 mins outside Christchurch?) becomes more appealing. And NZ is a wonderful place if you like sad old fart pursuits like gardening and tramping.

Tell you one way where NZ clearly scores over Aus: no capital gains tax and more generous rules about immigrants leaving their finances in place outside the new country.

Cheers - Don