weejie

This was in the Daily Record and my dad just had to let me know!!


NEW ZEALAND has been voted the best place to live.
With average property prices at around £105,000 and cheap food, drink and fuel, it topped a poll for quality and costs of living.
The UK was only placed eighth in a list of 14 destinations which are favourites with expats.
Italy was second, followed by Australia, Portugal and Dubai.
New York was voted the worst place to live.
France was said to have the highest cost of living.

Hope it's true. Doesn't say which poll and by whom. I know,it was in the Daily Record but at least it has helped my folks accept our impending move a bit more

Phyllis x

eddie_nz

Dubai 5th best well thats crap

UKNZAUS

My mum was telling me about this this morning too... oh how I laughed!

Genesis

I can endorse the above..been here over 3 years and NZ is everything we expected and more. Full of problems just like any other nation, but fortunately virtually all the latter do not impact on our lives on a day to day basis. I have never lived soooooooooooo well with such a high quality of life in virtually all areas of my life..we have had lots of problems but we overcame them..life in NZ is not perfect by any means but for once in 50 years I can honestly say I am content.

mickey_d

Jules Europe

Read all the time that NZ is either the best country or one of the best countries in the world to live in. But since reading lots of threads in the NZ forum, there are more complaints about the NZ lifestyle than any other forum on here!!!! Problems with NHS system, crime, housing costs, dampness in houses, low wages, climate etc It seems the publicity it gets around the world is actually quite removed from the truth.

Genesis

Wages..you should know what you will be earning before you get here.

Damp houses...well sortable as we have done with our home.

The NHS system varies from area to area in the Manawatu we find it is excellent and we have had everything from A and E, 111 call operations and out patients etc....can't fault it.

Climate..if you want good weather you need to be going to Oz unless you choose one of the few places in NZ that have a micro climate,,Nelson, Northland or Hawkes Bay. NZ IS NOT the place to come to for good weather per se.

If you have UK equity housing cost are not such a problem..the median house price is way less here than in UK.

Crime ....well which county or town does not have it? Yes there is LOADS of crime in NZ..just like elsewhere..BUT here where we live crime exisits but does not affect us atall where as back in our old town in the UK we had it wall to wall daily seriously affecting the quality of our lives.

Yes NZ is FULL of issues..its how you deal with them and some of us DO have an excellent lifestyle here in virtually all aspects of our lives.

That said no matter how good things can be in NZ its not for everyone...its seen as backward, insular, remote, boring and many more besides...but some people thrive here because of the latter!! Like me.

Jules Europe

It very much seems that for somebody that wants to live in NZ a recce trip seems pretty much essential. Have visited Canada, USA and AUS and to be honest loved them all and they were exactly more or less how I imagined them to be so for me a recce trip wouldn`t really be need. Think though that NZ is probably more for a certain type of person, but it seem if you are that certain type of person it seems pretty much ideal. Know quite a bit about NZ from Kiwi friends over the years but have never visited buit it still holds a lot of interest for me.

Genesis

Yes I agree I think NZ suits the more quirky non mainstream type of person. It is not up there with forward nations like the US GB Oz etc..but if you are of that non conformist ilk it could be your thing. It has to be said I amsure there are many 'conformist' type people who are happy here too. Maybe NZ is more a kin to some hippy type commune..and all the issues that prevail amongst that type of environment.

Suffice to say you'll either love it or hate is as an emigree!! There's not much middle of the road going on!!!!!

UKNZAUS

I love it as a country, but not to live here right now, I'm an 'in-betweeny' Who knows, I may move to Oz and realise I'd made a huge mistake and ping pong back... I'm not discounting coming back here later on in life, it's just not for me right now.

southerner

Is the US really a forward nation? On at least a couple of fairly big issues they are frankly backward; eg. using resources efficiently (such as smaller cars) and having drinkable coffee.

I agree NZ has its own 'style' and depending on the individual that style might be seen as either fun and quirky, or bland.

Genesis

I think I meant technologically speaking..IMO in many non material ways the US is hugely backwards in relation to NZ.... ie I prefer the kiwi psyche to the US one, I think the kiwi way of approaching life is better and probably more sustainable long term. I once hankered after living in the US..but all that has changed since the Bush years!!!!!!!!

Jokerman

that's pretty much me too. There are things in NZ which I love like the outdoors, but other things I really can't stand like the tall poppy syndrome, the houses, the job market, etc etc etc.

On the whole I try to remain positive as cannot afford to leave right now (im studying) so not much point dwelling on the bad things. Will be leaving asap once qualified and able to do so.

UKNZAUS

This is me too I've just transferred my Teaching course to a degree instead of Diploma! I try not to dwell on the negatives too much, I am hoping to leave here with a nice taste in my mouth in case we do come back later on in life. As soon as the ink is on my certificate, it's off to be assessed

SarahB

I always thought Canada got one of the top places, if not the top?

We agree with Genesis, we love it here too.... been here over 3 years now, its great. Not everything has fallen into place for us, but we are getting there now.... I cant ever see us moving on or back to UK.... NZ has its faults like anywhere else but we feel happy here.