brussels_sprout

The first 3 months you feel as if you are on holiday, everything is so new, so different, but all that starts to wear off when you start the daily routine of work, shopping. "train train quotidien"" as the french say. Gradually everything starts to be normal, routine, Warehouse no longer seems as tacky, but becomes a shop where you do get a bargain, you stop comparing everything to your previous land and ways. That is when you are really here to stay !

banshigirl

That is such a great response!

Trepidation at the moment looking to our move, but feel as you have spoken how I 'may' feel when we get there.

Nice one Brussels. Have some karma!

Marika 38

I think you are so right about the 3 month holiday feeling, we have been here nearly 3 months now, and OH started work this morning, so it already feels different for us not having him around. Our holiday period has come to an end. We are only renting, we have our things now and thats been lovely, neighbours on both sides are kiwi's and the one family one side have been really lovely, and we think nothing of popping next door if we need anything, and Shelley pops in here too, so thats been nice, will be sad to leave them when we eventually buy and move on, maybe then it will really feel like home, when we have a home of our own that we can do what we like to. But apart from not owning our own home yet, we do feel settled and happy, no major homesickness yet !!!

Andrew Cross

Pretty much spot on, for us more so when we bought our own house too, the map thing too, I know my way around most places. Only get the map out on the odd occassion. Also the converting $ to £ to see if things are a good buy, dont do that anymore either...

Nerine

Odd question. No, not a bit. Just the opposite, the diversity was quite refreshing

I think it does the area a lot of good: pulls the standards up. It was just a surprise that's all, I expected more dyed-in-the wool Kiwis. NS isn't exactly what you'd call traditional NZ.

bourbon-biscuit

I think the trend with most Australasian cities is an increasing Asian population and that doesn't surprise me at all given the location of NZ and Oz! Smaller towns and cities (the ones that aren't really cities by a UK definition, lol) tend to a more white-English dominant ethnicity, like the 'cities' here in Hawkes Bay. My husband is a music teacher and lost a sibling pair of students recently to Auckland as the family felt they couldn't fit in in Napier (they were from South Korea) after their son had been subjected to bullying that his school failed to address, although the ignorant little twerps (the bully kids) called them 'chinese s***' .

I thought the quoted post above was spot on: I know so much of what we disliked or found different in those early weeks became normal and quite acceptable and it makes me laugh when I see my in-laws faces sometimes!

The Wearhouse was indeed the most horrendous, grim shopping experience imaginable and PakNSave nearly made me throw in the towel but now we go to the Wearhouse for 'a bargain' and my husband happily shops in PakNsave, albeit with his iPod on, ignoring the 80s music that is played on a loop there!

carriem41

Took about a year for us, just after we`d moved into our own house, I remember flying out of Welly for a short trip to Oz and feeling I was leaving home behind...was a reassuring feeling that finally we were somewhere we could call `home`.

garryhg

hi,for me it was when we first went away on holiday whilst living in nz.......it didn't feel like home after a few months of living here, and the thought of going away on a holiday while here felt wierd,but we decided to go anayway.....

went to the coramadel for a week in october,and when we came back it was the first time we felt like we were coming homethis helped us settle a bit more....jacky

Nerine

I hope they didn't move to Auckland believing that the bullying would stop because is something that's all pervading in NZ culture. There are however a great deal of Korean students in Auckland and they should feel a bit more that they are amongst friends. I found the anti-Asian sentiment quite shocking, it constantly washed over my kids at school and I pulled them up for it, their mates too.

The Warehouse was begining to update one ot two of their stores to make them less gruesome - the one at Westgate was starting to look almost urbane by the time we left. However, nothing could ever redeem PakNSave!.....except a large platoon of Asda executives.

Thank goodness we never got to the stage when we grew to accept what we disliked, or think that any of it was normal . (I think frequent trips to Oz helped to remind us of what things are supposed to be like )

happynz

Whatever, Nerine. FFS, let's sum up your argument -- NZ blows and Aussie doesn't. Even people's farts smell sweeter on the Gold Coast. Sheesh...

Nerine

Can't say I ever get close enough to rear ends to analyse farts, I'll take that on advisement from someone who obviously knows.

As you said...NZ blows

Dustybin

After spending some time in Oz, I'll never see what the appeal is..
The main thing is has going for it (apart from the fab NT) is that the ozzies love it there and think it is the best place with all the best beaches, cities, houses, lifestyle etc.. This should ensure than most of them stay there!

Andrew Cross

Yeah, for someone who thinks Oz is so fantastic, she spends alot of time on the Nz site..

Nerine

Yep!

Along with about 400,00 kiwis who had the good sense to agree with them!

(p.s. sorry to the OP, some are turning this thread into a NZ v. Oz pi$$ing contest, keep it on the tracks m'dears )

Ted Logan

The reason why many kiwis move to Australia or even Europe is to get a feel of a bigger country.

New Zealand is small, kiwis here find it quiet and want to experience something different, likewise the many other immigrants that come to our and other shores.

Australia has it's plus' and it's minus'.

To me the NZ climate is more suitable than the Australian climate as well as being a smaller country I feel more comfortable living here than say Sydney. But than again I'm a returning kiwi (yes we do come home) so coming home is more of a reason than off to Ozland.

I can see why Australia is a better propect, but sadly Aussie immigration are a bit tighter than NZ so many expats choose NZ as there second best. Plus our scenery is far nicer (Thanks PJ)


Getting back of the thread, I'm sure where ever you settle down you will enjoy it. Try looking for big towns / cities as they will have more things to do than the smaller ones.