ScottishRose1971

because NZ ships it overseas! Can't comment on prices really been too long since i was in the uk. Pies are cheap here! Tasty too! and they come with meat...

dreamfish

I was thinking about Freeview too. My TV (being shipped over) can receive freeview, and i seem to recall the set up function allowed you to select PAL, NTSC, SECAM etc etc so I hope fingers crossed I can get it to pick up this freeview.

I went onto the freeview site and I was a bit confused. When it refers to Freeview satellite, that mean i need to buy a dish? I dont think this house has a TV aerial and the site seemed to suggest that freeview through the aerial will become available through 2008. So either way i need to stump up for a receiver of some form!

RobClubley

Freeview here is satellite only I think. TV aerial reception is pretty poor everywhere I've been here - presumably 'cos of all the hills.

Batty

Dairy products have gone up all over the world in recent months CAN2NZ - my family says the price of butter for instance has become extortionate.

From the Sunday Times last week

Millions of families have seen their cost of living rise by up to three times the government’s official rate of inflation because of record hikes in fuel bills, soaring school fees and a rise in food prices on the supermarket shelves

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article...545736,00.html

If you WANT to spend $30 on a bottle of wine you can with no problems whatsoever but Villa Maria's Riverstone is often on special for $8.99/$9.99 and this winery has been voted one of the best in the world by a very influential critic in the US.

I used to pay at least €50 3 years ago in Dublin to have my (short) hair cut - now I can get it done for $35 - by any comparative measure that is cheaper.

I'm with Dreamfish on the choice issue - I too end up dazed and confused when presented with too many choices. Oh, one 'funny peculiar' thing here - it's often more cost effective to buy, say, 2 x 100ml of something rather than 1 x 200ml. It's often because the 100ml size is on special

I'd really recommend anyone with the space to do it to have a veggie patch. Especialy if you like those items that become very expensive out of season. Apart from the savings you'll make, the sense of achievement is seeing something come to life that you have grown yourself is wonderful

Nerine

Umm...no I wasn't, I was comparing it to what it was when we first arrived and how much it was costing me to fill up my car every 5-7 days, well over 80 dollars. I hear it's gone up even more since I left. By the end of our time in NZ the high price of petrol was starting to curtail many people's lives, not just ours.

Batty

Not just in NZ

http://actnow.com.au/Issues/Petrol_prices.aspx

pioneer7

Lived here long enough now to think everything is expensive

The increase of Vehicle Licensing in July by $50 is going to hit hard with two cars which I guess in comaprison to the UK I would not be owning a 2 ltr let alone two cars. Although the cost of initially buying a car can be expensive there are some bargains around, shot paid $1k for a Backpacker car to last 3 months still got it a few years down the line.

Petrol is a weird one it swings like a yoyo up and down lived here long enough to have seen it fluctuate from $1.30 to under a $1 then up to $1.80 before back down to a $1.40 now up again $1.70. Enough to know to ignore the doom sayers who keep saying its always going up!

No point in comparing to other places I dont live there, I live here and have damn sight better quality of life.

cypherpunk

Freeview satellite is available now but Freeview terrestrial (aerial) is going to be available around April this year. The Terrestrial service will be high definition (HD). Satellite coverage is obviously over the whole country, terrestrial is only going to be 75% initially (see the map here). Either way I'm pretty sure your UK Freeview tuner won't work, sorry!

Maz

That tells me 2 things:

1. You drive everywhere
2. You have a big gas-guzzler (big tank)

Precisely! It took me a little while, but I don't even compare prices to what I paid in the US, France or England anymore.

Dustybin

my sanity was costing alot.. so i just let it go....

RobClubley

Interest rates are high too.

Maz

Good man ace!

irnbru14

Internet/ADSL/Broadband (ye right!) is expensive for the download limits you can get, alas we all need to it to keep in touch with everyone!

Food is variable, fruit and veg varies wildly, even from supermarket to supermarket! I love New World ( as I think its the best selection and most british style of the NZ places) but the its cheaper buying some stuff at some of the other places, shop around, same goes for electrical stuff, you just bounce between HArvey Norman, Bond & Bond and LV MArtin (I hate Dick Smith, reminds me of Tandy!) and see what deals you can get...

Magners Cider is expensive as they don't sell it here apart from one place in Welly, where its $15 a large bottle! Buy your alcohol coming through duty free

CAN2NZ

My wife buys our produce from New World. We have found it to be a better quality than that found at Countdown. We have a big Countdown at Church's Corner but the veggie section seems under sized compared to the store size. I like the Fendalton NW store here in Christchurch. It seems a nice clean store. Shopping around helps as was pointed out.

Nerine

Aren't they just! and our money is earning good interest in NZ, I was hoping the rates were going to go up again in the near future but the reserve bank is playing coy again.

Since you mentioned it Ned......petrol is cheap here, can be well under 1.30 a litre, sometimes around 1.24, less if you buy something from the garage shop. $50 to fill up. When I don't feel like driving up to somewhere like Brissy there's an excellent, cheap, integrated public transport system -trains, buses, river cats. Just wonderful.