dazal

Hi all

Have a question. I was just wondering and this is just out of curiosity really (or nosiness!) but what brings you out here to this wonderful country. I know why I came and its only because my hubby is a kiwi, dont think I would have been brave enough to do it otherwise. I dont regret it at all though and love it here, the good and the bad. But just wanted to know what makes other people want to leave their homes and come to the other end of the world.

Thanks

Darryl

sky

Just fancied a change

Hang11

Took a wrong turn off the M25 at Heathrow, was only supposed to be going to Tenerife for a week, and ended up on the wrong flight

cherry

I was up to my neck in debt and I shot the loan shark guy and had to get somewhere far away fast
Seriously we just fell in love with the place when we had 2 hols here and decided that we should apply for residency,never thought we would get it but hey were here now and for all the bad bits you hear of the good makes up for it far more.Plus its cheaper for us now for a holiday here in the south island without the jet lag
We have met some great peeps and had some fab times and bbq`s since we got here ,we picked our house out before we moved here on open2view and it was still for sale when we arrived so we put an offer on it and got it .Seen in the UK bought in NZ what more could you dream for with the views we have its like a holiday each day

dazal

Ha ha - does that mean you think I asked a silly question. (Most probably did ) Made me laugh though

donnaf

We wanted to change our lives for the better, have less stress and pressure and provide a great childhood for our 3 kids, which they weren't really getting in Liverpool. We've only been here a short time but our expectations are being met to date!

phil01

We came because we had been told it was like the UK but going back 30 years...not meant as an insult. I'm 39 and as child I used to go blackberry picking down the woods, mess about with mates on the common, go on adventures with my mates on our bikes for miles on end and my mum never worried about me, I never worried, just had fun. I now have a daughter who is 9 and the thought of letting her trundle off down the woods without an adult in tow with a mobile phone and where we came from a piece of 2 by 4would fill me with fear, when she was out on her bike I wanted her coming back every 15 minutes so that I knew she was OK and the final straw was being contacted by the primary school she was at saying make sure you are not late to pick your child up as we have been informed there was a known paedophile spotted hanging around outside the school. So for me it was being able to give my daughter a childhood and here she has it. Other than that the fabulous scenery, beaches, better than UK climate and the laid back way of life.
Debbie

donnaf

Couldn't have put that any better

uk+kiwi

But are the chances of that happening in NZ not just the same? Is it perceived to be safer (ie a feeling) or actually safer (ie a fact) in NZ? I really don't think I would let a 5 year old walk to school alone in any country of the world as I have read being the case in NZ and in fact hubbie did this when he was 5 in Auckland. In this instance, I actually like to take them into school, see the other kids, chat with the mums, get a feel for what's going on etc etc.

Just curious. My childhood too was going blackberry picking, riding bikes out on the green and lots of outdoor play (well the non-expat bit was). My kids do that too in the UK. I didn't see my 5 year old for hours yesterday, she was off playing around the cul-de-sac in and out of houses, trees and gardens. Now I know that this isn't the case for everybody because it all comes down to where you live and what type of house/flat you live in, but comparing like with like, I'm sure this happens just as much as it used to in England. I do think though that roads have become busier and houses more crammed in to tinier areas sometimes making it more difficult in certain places, city centres being one.

Thoughts?

phil01

Perhaps like with like it does, but with 70 million (not including illegals) people living in the UK and only 4 million in NZ for countries of comparable size there are few opportunities to compare like for like. Here we live in what I would class as a very safe area, a small village, we get the occasional tourist but thats about it. In the UK we lived bordering Sherwood Forest so again visitors were around, but the mere fact that the population was so high naturally means that there is a greater chance of something untoward happening. Unless you live somewhere very remote in the UK you would struggle to know a quarter of the people living in your area so less of a feeling of safety.

Overall there are more open spaces, less crime, far less serious crime and less threats of crime (terrorism) in NZ so the risks are lower.

In terms of taking children to school, I would never let a 5 year old wander around on her own, if I knew she was in the care of friends fair enough but the location has no relevance for a child of that age, they simply don't have or shouldn't have the mentality of the kind of danger that their parents need to be concerned about. I recall a UK case not so long ago where a 6 year old was taken out of her own bath by a stranger, sexually abused and left in the street, of course this can happen anywhere but less people does equally less crime you only need to read the stats to confirm that. In terms of my 9 year old taking her to school here I have the choice and that is the difference - choice.

Debbie

sky

There was a story on the news here in NZ the other night about a twelve year old girl who walked out of her class in frustration and out of the school grounds and was immediately enticed into some pervs house and sexually molested!
There may be less people but there are still going to be monsters out there so you still have to be aware and make your children aware too.

phil01

I know there are still dangers out here but on a lesser scale. In the UK it wasn't the occasional attack, it was something every week. We came from Nottingham known as the gun capital of the UK. Guns, Drugs, Rape and crimes against children became less shocking and more common place. We didn't live inner city we lived on the outskirts in a beautiful little village. But every day there was something sections of the City being cordoned off due to bomb threats or crimes became less of a fear and sadly more of an inconvenience and when crime becomes an inconvenience...e.g. peoples thoughts aren't for the victim more for the amount of time it has added to their journey home, that's when it's becomes common place but when you are living in it as much as you feel saddened it is far less shocking, out here there is still shock horror outrage and community support...look at the Dutch couple that were kidnapped whilst camping in Northland..such outrage and support. Two bodies found in a warehouse in Nottingham wouldn't even make the national papers. Mother shot in front of 5 year old daughter, 13 year old girl shot on way home from fair...it has become a way of life.

Of course the bad things still happen out here but on nowhere near the same scale as in the UK. The turf wars, the children being shot because someone from St. Anns mob dared to stray into the Meadows. The council estates with people terrified to leave their houses, petrol bombed cars, my mum was in her own back garden when a group of young children decided to start harassing her, they couldn't of been any older than 8 or 9 but they threw bricks and bottles at a 61 year old woman! The yob culture is virulent in the UK and it isn't here.
Debbie

sky

I used to live on an estate like that when I was seventeen I moved to a nicer area when I could. I can't imagine the whole of the uk going so badly down hill in the three years I've been away so you must have lived in an awful area

shell and mark

Debbie
i had a coversation with my sister the other day and we were talking about excactly the same thing,remembering when we all used to go off for bike rides all around the country lanes and our parents wouldn't have a clue where we were, we loved blackberry picking aswell and our Nan would make blackberry and apple pie...
They were the days Eh !!
shell

phil01

No I didn't as I said I lived in a beautiful little village that bordered Sherwood Forest, but like you I could afford to move further out of town. The inner cities are like that and you don't need to live there to be aware of it and afraid of it...if it only took me 45 minutes to get home by car it would only take the same time for the yob element to do it too. I'm certainly not saying that the whole of the UK is like that, but with 70 plus million people crime is far more likely to happen than it is with 4 million people.

The UK has bred a benefits culture, they have the highest teen pregnancy rates in the EU, they have relatively high unemployment it may be dressed up in various ways, incapacity etc..etc... but the yob element exists because of the lack of opportunities for younger people, teen pregnancies happen because of the lack of opportunities for younger people and crime happens again for the same reason. The country is overflowing and competition for the good life is high, more people doesn't equate to more opportunities it equates to more competition.

I know there are some nice places in the UK but there are far more unpleasant places - hence huge numbers of migrants in search of a better life, but for some choices do not exist, some people can't up sticks and move away they have to suffer the inner city lifestyle. For me NZ is may be the same land mass as the UK but has nowhere near the same problems, be it partly due to politics, open door policies, overcrowding whatever the reason those that can get out clearly choose to and if the UK was such a fab place they wouldn't even consider leaving.