Jan n Neil

$9.50 a pint here

Justcol

Never let money get in the way of a good time !!

Thats easy for me to say, it only takes about 4 pints to have me falling over !!

Mrsbrightside7

Only about 2 for me! Cheap night out! Haha
Are there any decent pubs in wellington or is it mainly bars?

BEVS

Crike ! Lost and found sisters then which sounds lovely to me.

For me on visiting , maybe like your sister, there are no pubs worth it as such.


Um. May be worth looking at quality first TBH regardless of it seeming the same but having said that we are after bikes so can you give me a linky purlease.

Mrsbrightside7

Sure...
http://www.evolutioncycles.co.nz/

They are based in Hamilton but deliver all over NZ for free.
They were having big sales when I got mine so I got a very good price. I think they still have some sales on. I'm going to get my sons bike when we get there incase he has any growth spurts! Haha

Mrsbrightside7

I shall have to get my sis to show me some nice cocktail bars then

The Weezer

Hello Mrs. B., I wish someone had told me how cold it can get in Auckland, which holds true for Wellington too. Not so much outside temperature - my husband wears shorts year round (he is a NZer, mind), but the indoors temperature. Make sure to rent or buy a properly insulated house, although these seem to be rarer than you'd think Even when you get a house with double glazed windows, they tend to be thermally unbroken aluminium framed. These will weep at the edges and their insulating qualities aren't that great, but they're better than single glazed aluminium (which you should avoid at all costs if at all possible - the condensation that collects on them is shocking). Please don't take estate agent's word for how well insulated a property is. Kiwis have a different frame of reference about these things. Also, don't let anyone convince you that you won't need heating. Even a well insulated home will need some in the winter. Our house is warm now, but it took lots of money to get it to that state. What is an annoyance is that some malls, cafes and restaurants tend to be cold inside too. I don't enjoy eating my meal while shivering.

I have to agree about how isolated NZ is and how expensive it to travel abroad. I've lived here 10 years, and I've enjoyed exploring the country, but even though it takes a lifetime to really see and explore what NZ has to offer (true for any country, btw), you do get the urge to see something different after a few years. We're currently on a grand tour of Australia, and enjoying it immensely. It's so different than NZ, and has much more varied landscapes. As Assanah pointed out, NZ has no city life. Australia has vibrant cities with culture and interest. I personally enjoy cities but also crave empty wilderness, and Australia's outback is immense, with a much sparser population than NZ, and it feels emptier and wilder than any part of NZ (and there's tons of wildlife). I can see why so many Kiwis live in Aus. instead, with all there is within it's borders, comparatively.

Anterograde

As a person that has "done" Australia I can say it is actually more isolated than NZ, it can take SOO long to get between places you may want to visit in Aus. It actually takes longer from Sydney to LA than Auckland to LA, although Europe is a little closer in Australia's case.

Neither NZ or Aus have a dozen or so countries on the doorstep you may want to visit and can do so cheaply unlike living in Europe. From NZ you can often get very cheap flights to Aus and in reverse but beyond that you are stuck doing maybe Barli and Fiji etc.

As for Australian City life, if you want City life stay in London , Aus cities don't compare.

Some Kiwis live in Aus for economic reason such as better job opportunities due to the larger economy and moving between NZ and Aus is as easy as moving between cities in the same country, its not because its a better place to live, that's often a over played myth. Recent polls show Kiwis are the least happy immigrants in Aus what's more interesting is recent immigration trends show it may reverse due to a weak Aus economy and strong NZ economy.

Many Brits choose NZ due to it being smaller and realise there is a trade off between quality of life and the benefits of a larger economy. Aus will be better for some, NZ will be better for others.

Mrsbrightside7

For some reason oz has never really appealed to me but have friends in Melbourne so would like to pop over for a visit.
Stuck with places like Bali and Fiji? Hmmm I think I could cope with that
Can you get reasonably priced flights to these locations from NZ?
I don't live in London so don't crave the city life, I just like to visit once in a while. I know wellington is nothing like London but I'm hoping it will give us a bit of everything, not too quiet and by the sea, a bit of cafe culture. I'm a bit of a coffee lover!

The weezer - I'm really going to miss central heating! I think that will take a long time to get used to!

Justcol

No it doesn't, you just get it in your new place down here.
my house has it as have my 2 previous ones. I hate heat pumps and for the cost
of two of the horrible things you can have central heating fitted right through.....toasty

Bo-Jangles

Actually wish someone had slapped me round the face and told me just how inaccessible and far away some of those dreamy honeymoon places are from NZ (9 hours flight and an arm and a leg to Bali). I was so looking forward to 'popping over' to Ozzie, Fiji and the likes for weekends away

When we lived in the UK we had more holiday time and could actually afford to go to Bali without needing to resort to selling body parts or drug smuggling to fund the trip.

Northern Henry

Bali's nowhere near NZ! Its in Indonesia.
Simple geography should show that this would be a long flight and likely pricey. You're basically near enough in Singapore..
Polynesia, Fiji, Cook islands (now they are a pain in the upper leg to get to from the UK and are the ones on most UK honeymoon brochure covers), compared to NZ's reasonable circa 4hrs. Although admit you would struggle to "compare" with low cost carriers that flit between European destinations (i.e. Ruinair/ Jet2/ etc) but they are vastly populated and justify a much larger demand.

Mrsbrightside7

Yes I would definitely expect a long flight to Bali, not that I would mind! Just checked prices on skyscanner and the cost isn't that bad. Would love to give Fiji and the cook island a go too, looking forward to exploring that side of the world

Persephone

Rarotonga is lovely. We hired a scooter and drove round the island, went snorkelling, hiked across the top of the island and sat drinking wine at the bar in the evenings and watched whales swim past

Mrsbrightside7

Wow sounds perfect