Hazelnut

Something I do with my mother to help with her miseries (she's elderly, disabled and terminally ill so finds life a bit hard right now) is to do the three positives game. Basically she logs three things about each day that were pleasant whether they were a flower coming out in the garden, sparkles on the snow, an interaction with a person or just a good cup of tea. She then tells me about them over the phone when we chat. It's a useful strategy for other things too.

So here's a question for those of you already living in NZ. Don't think about it too hard, type the things that come from your brain to your fingertips first.

What three things did you only discover since you moved to NZ that you think are great? What are your

On the flip side what three things did you only find out about after you'd moved that you find not so good? What are your

Thank-you.

Persephone

Good stuff first:
1. How easy it was to buy a house. We viewed it and 4 days later had signed the contract
2. Cheap car insurance
3. How easy I found it to fit in at work, I found very little difference between work practices in the UK and NZ and have worked in 3-4 places since I got to NZ. I found them willing to change their methods as and when necessary, a striving to improve and drop old practices when they were proven not to work as well as it was previously believed. I do realise that this may be specific to my occupation as others on here have said the opposite.

And a special mention to:
4. Whittakers chocolate, Jet Planes and Grain Waves, and
5. Having pukekos living in the city!

Not great:
1.Earthquakes-I knew they happened but didn't expect to go through so many. Aftershocks were a very nasty surprise and something you never really hear about on the news after a major quake...
2. Houses- our house was often colder inside than it was outside. That was my first experience of houses in NZ-my partner had owned it for 10 years. The house we own now is completely different. Be careful and do research on what you buy.
3.Books are very expensive-I always buy from the Book depository or Amazon now

AndyEvs

Timtams
Owning an axe
Students thanking me for the lesson

Crap houses
Isolation
The ridiculous belief that kiwis are somehow more ingenious than the rest of us (and invented the upside down ketchup bottle)

trafford

I haven't moved back to NZ yet, but just wanted to tell you I that I love your "3 positives idea" - simple but effective. I just did my 3 positives this evening, and I am going to start doing that every day, to help me through some tough times here. Many thanks Hazelnut.

Tom1983

Three things..

Great
1: Cheap car insurance - there's more chance of me winning the lottery than ever having that sort of quote back home
2: Society - feel so much safer here, even around the odd drunk
3: Being able to commute to work in only 20 minutes. So nice not being stuck on the M**********25 for 6 hours because its too congested or a lorry has broken down

Three negatives:
1. Cost of flights. $9,000 for 2 adults and one child to get back to England, wow! Unaffordable
2. Cold housing. Sorry politicians, I know you want me to have all heaters on 24/7 to blast up my electric bill to get money into your companies but after a bill of $367.00 last year in July, I have no choice but to freeze unless you make it affordable
3. Public transport. You know you could get people out of the car if you had a decent transport system in Christchurch. For a city, the transport system is shockingly bad

Hazelnut

Thanks to whoever did it for moving the thread to the right place

I already own an axe which tends to cause a freak out moment in most of the people I know Very good for your leg muscles when chopping up timber for the fire and means the wood warms you up twice.

Good to know about house buying and job settling in too

pricklykina

1. Eating fish and chips with my fingers
2. A relaxed Christmas period
3. Finally, a sense of who I am in the world


1. That home isn't "just" a flight away
2. That the road rule are open for interpretation
3. That books are really, really expensive (never appreciated that books in the UK had no VAT until I moved here

Charismatic

Working class? I prod fun but I enjoy being liberated from the need to use a fork. That said it's a slippery slope between not using a fork and walking around pak 'n' slave in a onsie and slippers.

Mi tree tings:
1. Freedom from of the pressures of social conformity.
2. The back country roads on a sunny afternoon.
3. Living quietly and simply, near enough to work that I can walk in and far enough away from other people that I can avoid time consuming and unwanted social interaction.

Free fings:
1. Wages here where shocking, however as the rest of the developed world has stagnated NZ has started to look better.
2. Houses are expensive glorified sheds, there is just no quality or spending on insulation. It really does make you wonder how you can spend so much money and get something so rubbish.
3. New Zealand is a long way from the rest of the world.

downunderpom

Silly billy! I get paperbacks (novels) delivered to my door for $9. Reference books are equally so much cheaper than any available in NZ. AND they're available as soon as published. No waiting.

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/

pricklykina

Silly Billy indeed. I have used book depository. Prefer fishpond as it keeps the money local and doesn't package things one book at a time. But sometimes, I wanna browse and buy in a real book shop and that is not cheap

Stormer999

+
Fantastic public transport in Chch.
Catching fresh run Salmon without a second mortgage.
Big big Chch blue skies.

_

Straight Canterbury roads.(motorcyclist)
Whinging Poms.
Not being able to find things to moan about.......

Hazelnut

I like your style Stormer999 and thank-you for the book pointers. I hadn't thought about the VAT on books and I'm a real book hoarder at home and a librarian in my work life. Thanks for the tips about cheaper places to buy them

jmh

I'm a bit different because I was brought up here, and moved back after 24 years in the UK:

Likes
LOVE the way you can order books from any branch of Auckland Library service via the internet and have it delivered to your local branch for FREE.
More sunshine in the winter months
Relating to my fellow kiwis (like many Brits feel when they go back to the UK)

Dislikes (mostly things that have changed since I left)
Poor quality TV (including Sky)
Poor quality of items in the shops (for many years I have travelled back and spent up large - the drop in quality have been over the last few years)
Kiwi driving (ok, this was bad when I lived here as a youngster!!)