lardyl

there's a grain of truth there.....and of course the opposite applies, I want to justify to myself/family/forumites the decision to leave so NZ is crap, NZers are thick, etc, etc....

if the apple fanboi and Samsung fanboy are not going to agree over a smart phone/tablet then what chance have the UK-fanboi and NZ-fanboi over a decision that affects the rest of their lives and that of their nearest and dearest?????

anyway on the subject of should I/shouldn't I?
my boss in the UK said something along the lines of..... if you go it might be the wrong decision but if you stay you'll always be wondering if that was the case, remember you can always come back......
he got the last bit wrong (for me with unusual circumstances) but the first part was spot on.

shocked kiwi

The main thing I used to do on my days off were shop in the uk - god its amazing over there, my sth african friend and I would window shop all day long for about 6 hours (as girls do) and then go into a cute little pub for a drink and to go through our purchases. If your wife likes shopping that way then she won't like chch at all - basically 2 malls(small ones). She could to aussie like we do for girls weekends and spending sprees. Auckland has better shopping but the best shopping is in the uk.

chippy64

ChCh has several malls - the biggest is Westfield Riccarton with around 190 stores. The 2 other main ones would be The Palms (around 110) and Northlands (around 100). There are other smaller malls and there is also Re Start, the container shopping centre with more of the boutique feel to some of its retailers.
No, they are not like Bluewater in the UK, but they are shops and you can still spend your money in them .
Or, you can windowshop online and get your stuff sent over

shocked kiwi

Oh yes I forgot about the container mall in the cbd thats true.That's actually really cool. All I know are westfield riccarton and northlands mall. After one hour I am bored shopping in chch, that's all I'm saying but in the uk it was large enough and with enough variety to shop all day long but hey you are right that you can't compare and you can always shop on the internet which is very common these days!!

Tom1983

I see where your coming from with that

We used to live 20 minutes drive from Lakeside and would go there (just to shut the wife up before she goes whinging about my morning round of golf). Lakeside shopping centre is fantastic, my goodness she does miss that place - well actually I think its more misses New Look, Miss Selfridges, Juice Bar and Top Shop

The ones here are mainly Farmers, K-Mart and Glassons that she goes into every time and picks the same shirt that hasn't been sold for 29 weeks now to have a look.

Northlands I can tolerate, Westfield is like walking through Central London, The Palms is bearable as it can be quiet on the odd occasion

I do prefer the choice of foods in the malls here than I do back at the likes of Lakeside, Bluewater, Meadowhall, Saddlers and The Bull Ring. Give me an all you can eat Hungry Wok any day of the week. Shamiana, urgh - but the Indian place in Eastgate is yummy. I do wish there were the Sushi places that had the moving thing here. That used to be fun

TommyLuck

If grossly over priced.

Dashie

I'm sorry, but this made me laugh

We're in Canada but would love to move to New Zealand. The majority (not all but most) of the Brits we've met here don't like it and would like to either move elsewhere or back to the UK.

Trying to compare the different countries is like apples to oranges, they're both fruit but completely different. Countries that are English speaking are somehow expected to be similar, but they're not. And it's not that one or other is bad or worse, it's that they're different, and will suit some better than others.

Snap Shot

What an intelligent comment. Thank you.

Browner_

I cant imagine anyone coming to Christchurch for shopping.
If you are worried about missing East Enders definitely don't come - I haven't heard anyone mention it in 10 years.
I guess there will be plenty of building work in ChCh, if you like heading off into the mountains at weekends , then maybe youll like it.

Bo-Jangles

Actually made me wonder if it's still on, I have not seen or heard anything of it for yonks and nobody ever mentions it. When we came here it was eighteen months out of date so I simply stopped watching it.

moonie2011

It's still on the UKTV channel and only a few weeks behind England

pixiewink

but they all contain the same boring shops selling the same boring stuff....oh and you forgot The Hub & Dressmart at Hornby

chippy64

Then she will feel at home

pixiewink

We all have a story to tell, most of which I am sure have already written posted on here...

At the end of the day....you have to really think WHY NZ? WHY CANADA? WHY MOVE? Think about that question first then go from there....

NZ has its own problems....same as any other country in the world; child poverty..yes free breakfasts in low docile schools on the cards....financial imbalance between cost of living & wages...crime....no ReadyBrek or Flumps...

Seriously though you need to look within yourself if you really want to live on this remote island...if you both will cope with the change of lifestyle - cos if ones not happy it can make the others life miserable....just ask my OH..

Stormer999