The worst 9 months of my life in NZ
Sep 14th 2011, 7:33 am
#61
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Posts: 4,298
Re: The worst 9 months of my life in NZ
Interesting - Moving to NZ has to be a life style choice not for the money, having said that we are praying the exchange rates will improve between now and when we plan to come (18-24 months)!
But remember how things are in the UK right now and if you think you can come back and it will be cheap - forget it! Air tax is going up 25% in a couple of months, CPI is 4.5% this month (NOT RPI!) the unions are going on strike, Greece pulling the Euro down and effecting the UK businesses, riots, phone hacking, robbers now snatching clothes left out for charity off your doorstep as there is not much else to rob, and then our rugby team
- its really important, I think, not to look back at the UK through rose tinted spectacles and think because it used to be better it isn't - good luck and chin up to everyone in NZ, we cannot wait to get there!
But remember how things are in the UK right now and if you think you can come back and it will be cheap - forget it! Air tax is going up 25% in a couple of months, CPI is 4.5% this month (NOT RPI!) the unions are going on strike, Greece pulling the Euro down and effecting the UK businesses, riots, phone hacking, robbers now snatching clothes left out for charity off your doorstep as there is not much else to rob, and then our rugby team
- its really important, I think, not to look back at the UK through rose tinted spectacles and think because it used to be better it isn't - good luck and chin up to everyone in NZ, we cannot wait to get there!
Sep 15th 2011, 10:56 am
#62
Just Joined
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 3
Re: The worst 9 months of my life in NZ
Been here 7 years now,and I still find it tough.Life can change in a year but have to agree with an earlier post,in that if you are truly unhappy make plans and move on.Life is to short.Good Luck in whatever you decide and hope your luck changes.
Sep 15th 2011, 7:57 pm
#63
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Joined: Sep 2009
Location: thatcham berkshire england
Posts: 432
Re: The worst 9 months of my life in NZ
Interesting - Moving to NZ has to be a life style choice not for the money, having said that we are praying the exchange rates will improve between now and when we plan to come (18-24 months)!
But remember how things are in the UK right now and if you think you can come back and it will be cheap - forget it! Air tax is going up 25% in a couple of months, CPI is 4.5% this month (NOT RPI!) the unions are going on strike, Greece pulling the Euro down and effecting the UK businesses, riots, phone hacking, robbers now snatching clothes left out for charity off your doorstep as there is not much else to rob, and then our rugby team- its really important, I think, not to look back at the UK through rose tinted spectacles and think because it used to be better it isn't - good luck and chin up to everyone in NZ, we cannot wait to get there!
But remember how things are in the UK right now and if you think you can come back and it will be cheap - forget it! Air tax is going up 25% in a couple of months, CPI is 4.5% this month (NOT RPI!) the unions are going on strike, Greece pulling the Euro down and effecting the UK businesses, riots, phone hacking, robbers now snatching clothes left out for charity off your doorstep as there is not much else to rob, and then our rugby team
- its really important, I think, not to look back at the UK through rose tinted spectacles and think because it used to be better it isn't - good luck and chin up to everyone in NZ, we cannot wait to get there!
Sep 15th 2011, 9:04 pm
#64
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2002
Location: Christchurch NZ
Posts: 179
Re: The worst 9 months of my life in NZ
they have these things in newzealand as well , every thing is going up not just in uk across the world remember not to look at newzealand with rose tinted glasses, because unless you have a job its going to drain your resources, loads of people have moved to nz with PR could not get a job and came back i would like to be in nz but theres also nothing wrong with uk only the recession cant see that moving for a few years
Concretepump, no offence intended, but if you think there isn’t anything wrong with the UK bar the recession, I would say that you have a pair of very large rose tinted glasses yourself.
The fact that the UK is overflowing with euro-dross, overflowing jails, out of control young thug culture, morons roaming the streets who think society owes them a living, dangerous religious fanatics hell bent on destroying the country from within, a government who have completely lost control and who are afraid to say enough is enough in case they lose votes, old folk who have worked and paid tax all their lives and who can now bearly live on a piss-poor pension… I could go further.
The recession is worldwide, and if that is the only reason someone is leaving the UK, well they should think carefully. The UK has issues that go deeper than any recession, yes on the surface it is the thing that is at the front of most peoples mind, and a general lack of money does fuel many other problem areas I grant you. However, it isn’t the UK’s biggest problem, it is just the tip of a very large iceberg.
Sep 15th 2011, 11:16 pm
#65
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Location: Queensland, Australia
Posts: 1,010
Re: The worst 9 months of my life in NZ
Kevin then you must be suffering from the opposite of rose tinted glasses syndrome and have probably been reading too many rags like the Daily Mail.
I have plenty of friends and family who are living very happily all over in the UK, very content with their lives - even the ones in SW London who weren't burned out or looted.
Three of them are living very well on their "piss poor pensions" and take more foreign holidays than we do here in Australia.
I have nephews and nieces who have good jobs, one of whom has just finished an apprenticeship that would make the average kid in Christchurch give up his life on the dole, pack his bags and head for the north west immediately. He's now earning more than his dad and living the life of Riley
.
The fact that the UK is overflowing with euro-dross, overflowing jails, out of control young thug culture, morons roaming the streets who think society owes them a living, dangerous religious fanatics hell bent on destroying the country from within, a government who have completely lost control and who are afraid to say enough is enough in case they lose votes, old folk who have worked and paid tax all their lives and who can now bearly live on a piss-poor pension… I could go further.
Three of them are living very well on their "piss poor pensions" and take more foreign holidays than we do here in Australia.
I have nephews and nieces who have good jobs, one of whom has just finished an apprenticeship that would make the average kid in Christchurch give up his life on the dole, pack his bags and head for the north west immediately. He's now earning more than his dad and living the life of Riley
.
Sep 16th 2011, 12:36 am
#66
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 613
Re: The worst 9 months of my life in NZ
Kevin, much of what you say about the UK makes sense. But, it is not all doom and gloom. There are places there untouched by yobs, or many of the negatives you mention. The scenery in the UK in some areas in much, much better than anythings here. The weather is crap - that's a fact. However, you see the changes in seasons which you don't see here.
However, the difference between here and the UK is that there are vest differences in areas, house prices, standards of living and you also have vast choices in shops not available here. Whereever you go here the towns seems alike, the shops similar, the prices standard. Don't ;you think there are crime areas here, areas you wouldn't want to live in, pensioners who are poor, families struggling to get by week by week. I've seen more poor living conditions here than I've ever seen in the UK. I don't think anyone ever, ever sees the UK with rose-coloured glasses. But, at times it's the little things that are missed. Personally, it's the choice of newspapers, the choice of shops, the lack of an intellectual response ro things here, the lack of crticism, naivety dressed up as good nature, and the emphasis on sport here with makes me remember the UK.
However, the difference between here and the UK is that there are vest differences in areas, house prices, standards of living and you also have vast choices in shops not available here. Whereever you go here the towns seems alike, the shops similar, the prices standard. Don't ;you think there are crime areas here, areas you wouldn't want to live in, pensioners who are poor, families struggling to get by week by week. I've seen more poor living conditions here than I've ever seen in the UK. I don't think anyone ever, ever sees the UK with rose-coloured glasses. But, at times it's the little things that are missed. Personally, it's the choice of newspapers, the choice of shops, the lack of an intellectual response ro things here, the lack of crticism, naivety dressed up as good nature, and the emphasis on sport here with makes me remember the UK.
Sep 16th 2011, 4:16 am
#67
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Joined: May 2002
Location: Christchurch NZ
Posts: 179
Re: The worst 9 months of my life in NZ
Kevin then you must be suffering from the opposite of rose tinted glasses syndrome and have probably been reading too many rags like the Daily Mail.
I have plenty of friends and family who are living very happily all over in the UK, very content with their lives - even the ones in SW London who weren't burned out or looted.
Three of them are living very well on their "piss poor pensions" and take more foreign holidays than we do here in Australia.
I have nephews and nieces who have good jobs, one of whom has just finished an apprenticeship that would make the average kid in Christchurch give up his life on the dole, pack his bags and head for the north west immediately. He's now earning more than his dad and living the life of Riley.
I have plenty of friends and family who are living very happily all over in the UK, very content with their lives - even the ones in SW London who weren't burned out or looted.
Three of them are living very well on their "piss poor pensions" and take more foreign holidays than we do here in Australia.
I have nephews and nieces who have good jobs, one of whom has just finished an apprenticeship that would make the average kid in Christchurch give up his life on the dole, pack his bags and head for the north west immediately. He's now earning more than his dad and living the life of Riley
.Ummmm… well I can only speak from my own experience I have to grant you that. But, also the feedback I get from friends and family all seem to confirm my own views of the UK, but I’m not saying you are wrong, there are many folk who live a good life back there, and may well feel isolated from the day to day crap.
My response to concretepump was just to really say that the recession isn’t all that’s wrong with the UK, it does have some real big issues apart from that.
As for pensioner friends taking holidays abroad, well there are many UK pensioners who can’t afford a holiday anywhere, let alone overseas as for Aus, I couldn’t comment.
As for the racial tensions…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AumLIxb0ye0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBtct...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6cLa4xoRo8&feature=related
And this isn’t just me scaremongering, I have seen first hand some of the violence, also my friends son who courted a Muslim girl was attacked and nearly killed by her parents and two brothers. They actually went to the trouble of welcoming him to their home in what seemed a gesture of getting to know him (him being a non muslim white man). It was a trap, he was welcomed in, the door shut behind him, and the next thing he was attacked with a bat by the “mother”, kicked, jumped on, as was his girlfriend… their own daughter. He managed to get out the door, someone called the police and an ambulance… he nearly died!
Subsequently the family were arrested but little was done as “racial tensions” were being avoided as far as possible. Things would have been so different if it had been “him” doing the beating however. In the meantime the girl has been told that she will be killed (by her brothers), a honour killing if you can believe that!, which they are within their right to carry out they would have you believe. Since then the couple have married and have had to move away from the area and go into self imposed exile. The police were actually the ones who suggested it, as by their own admission, they had little or no power to protect them.
I could go on and tell you more, even about my own experiences, but I fear you wouldn’t even believe me. So excuse me if I appear to have my “negative” glasses on when I speak of the problems in the UK, believe me, if it wasn’t for the “problems” I wouldn’t have left. We had no money problems as such, a nice house (owned a few houses actually), Mercedes, plenty of holidays…….all from years of hard graft. But to see how others suffered, how the country was being slowly torn apart by inbred ungrateful bastards, extremists, wasters…. Well, that’s why we left. I made the usual excuses like wanted to travel, experience life afresh, a new start….. but that’s the truth of it, I hated what I could see happening around me, and there was nothing I could do about it.
Sep 16th 2011, 4:23 am
#68
Forum Regular
Joined: May 2002
Location: Christchurch NZ
Posts: 179
Re: The worst 9 months of my life in NZ
I’m not totally enamoured with NZ, and for many of the reasons stated by Whitesand, but the racial tensions or seemingly lack of by comparison, well, that is a huge relief just by itself.
I have said before that we don’t know whether or not we have made the right decision moving here, but I think for all that the UK still has to offer, it had to be the right thing to get away. We could have taken ourselves off to another part of the UK, but how long before that gets infested with lowlife parasitic scum?
I have said before that we don’t know whether or not we have made the right decision moving here, but I think for all that the UK still has to offer, it had to be the right thing to get away. We could have taken ourselves off to another part of the UK, but how long before that gets infested with lowlife parasitic scum?
Sep 16th 2011, 11:58 am
#69
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Joined: Sep 2009
Location: thatcham berkshire england
Posts: 432
Re: The worst 9 months of my life in NZ
Concretepump, no offence intended, but if you think there isn’t anything wrong with the UK bar the recession, I would say that you have a pair of very large rose tinted glasses yourself.
The fact that the UK is overflowing with euro-dross, overflowing jails, out of control young thug culture, morons roaming the streets who think society owes them a living, dangerous religious fanatics hell bent on destroying the country from within, a government who have completely lost control and who are afraid to say enough is enough in case they lose votes, old folk who have worked and paid tax all their lives and who can now bearly live on a piss-poor pension… I could go further.
The recession is worldwide, and if that is the only reason someone is leaving the UK, well they should think carefully. The UK has issues that go deeper than any recession, yes on the surface it is the thing that is at the front of most peoples mind, and a general lack of money does fuel many other problem areas I grant you. However, it isn’t the UK’s biggest problem, it is just the tip of a very large iceberg.
The fact that the UK is overflowing with euro-dross, overflowing jails, out of control young thug culture, morons roaming the streets who think society owes them a living, dangerous religious fanatics hell bent on destroying the country from within, a government who have completely lost control and who are afraid to say enough is enough in case they lose votes, old folk who have worked and paid tax all their lives and who can now bearly live on a piss-poor pension… I could go further.
The recession is worldwide, and if that is the only reason someone is leaving the UK, well they should think carefully. The UK has issues that go deeper than any recession, yes on the surface it is the thing that is at the front of most peoples mind, and a general lack of money does fuel many other problem areas I grant you. However, it isn’t the UK’s biggest problem, it is just the tip of a very large iceberg.
Sep 16th 2011, 1:03 pm
#70
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Joined: Sep 2011
Location: brum
Posts: 738
Re: The worst 9 months of my life in NZ
Concretepump, no offence intended, but if you think there isn’t anything wrong with the UK bar the recession, I would say that you have a pair of very large rose tinted glasses yourself.
The fact that the UK is overflowing with euro-dross, overflowing jails, out of control young thug culture, morons roaming the streets who think society owes them a living, dangerous religious fanatics hell bent on destroying the country from within, a government who have completely lost control and who are afraid to say enough is enough in case they lose votes, old folk who have worked and paid tax all their lives and who can now bearly live on a piss-poor pension… I could go further.
The recession is worldwide, and if that is the only reason someone is leaving the UK, well they should think carefully. The UK has issues that go deeper than any recession, yes on the surface it is the thing that is at the front of most peoples mind, and a general lack of money does fuel many other problem areas I grant you. However, it isn’t the UK’s biggest problem, it is just the tip of a very large iceberg.
The fact that the UK is overflowing with euro-dross, overflowing jails, out of control young thug culture, morons roaming the streets who think society owes them a living, dangerous religious fanatics hell bent on destroying the country from within, a government who have completely lost control and who are afraid to say enough is enough in case they lose votes, old folk who have worked and paid tax all their lives and who can now bearly live on a piss-poor pension… I could go further.
The recession is worldwide, and if that is the only reason someone is leaving the UK, well they should think carefully. The UK has issues that go deeper than any recession, yes on the surface it is the thing that is at the front of most peoples mind, and a general lack of money does fuel many other problem areas I grant you. However, it isn’t the UK’s biggest problem, it is just the tip of a very large iceberg.
Sep 16th 2011, 1:43 pm
#71
Life is what YOU make it.
Joined: Oct 2009
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Sep 16th 2011, 4:50 pm
#73
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Location: brum
Posts: 738
Re: The worst 9 months of my life in NZ
I’m not totally enamoured with NZ, and for many of the reasons stated by Whitesand, but the racial tensions or seemingly lack of by comparison, well, that is a huge relief just by itself.
I have said before that we don’t know whether or not we have made the right decision moving here, but I think for all that the UK still has to offer, it had to be the right thing to get away. We could have taken ourselves off to another part of the UK, but how long before that gets infested with lowlife parasitic scum?
I have said before that we don’t know whether or not we have made the right decision moving here, but I think for all that the UK still has to offer, it had to be the right thing to get away. We could have taken ourselves off to another part of the UK, but how long before that gets infested with lowlife parasitic scum?
Sep 16th 2011, 7:40 pm
#75
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