fiona i

hi
after years of wanting to come over and then finally making the move we are really disppointed in what we have found - nz is a third world country - the high level of non-english speaking immigrants is awful -what was the nz government thinking opening the flood gates to any asian with money dont worry about being able to speak the language of the country which to the best of my knowledge is/ was english ?
the drivers are absolutely horrendous especially if its been raining it doesnt help that they can collect a licence at just 15 years of age and practice skidding, racing and general out of control driving in built up areas.
we opted for howick - close to work close to beaches close to auckland - the roads are so conjested at all times of the day our theory of 20mins to work has evaporated and is now 30 + on a good morning with the enevitable loonies cutting up your left hand side and then weaving back in to beat the lights. dont even get me started about the left turn rule that is shocking. they then have the cheek to say i need to do a theory test to get a nz licence - no thanks wont be here more than a year at this rate so wont need it. - i do wonder where they filmed the 100% NZ tourism video? no houses to be seen just greenery and rivers etc - must have been the south island eh?!or maybe they went to scotland to film it!
there are so many houses here that this part of the island must be in danger of capsizing! thats not bad enough- kiwis have an obsession with selling off their back gardens so that some one else can build a house there. why? for the short term gain of nz dollars!$ which are worthless everywhere else in the globe!
we actually did have a better quality of life in the uk and actually on reflection the grass is not always greener and we have learnt a very valuable lesson here - its taken a lot of money to realise that though but at least we know and now we will enjoy our year out and will appreciate everything we moaned about at home as it simply will not and will never be as bad as new zealand.
we now have decided to look on this as a working holiday for 1 year - if it lasts longer thats fine but if the kids arent happy, we're not happy what is the point.

hubbard

To be fair to NZ ( and we didn't like it either) you are judging the whole country on Auckland which is not exactly an inspiring place. The issues you have mentioned traffic congestion, proximity of houses to one another, large influx of asian migrants will not be as prevalent in other parts of NZ. Have you thought about trying another area? Christchurch is quite nice, and Wellington is far more vibrant than Auckland but both are colder than auckland. If you travel round NZ you will see that the NZ lifestyle that so many are shown by the tourist office does exist but just not in Auckland. Shame auckland is where the majority of the work is though.

livewire

Fiona, I recognise much of what you say about Auckland, where you live isn't called "Chowick" without good reason; but this is the Asia Pacific region and NZ is a desirable location for many Asian people.

Sub division isn't just an Auckland thing either, it goes on all over NZ - its other name is "personal pension fund investment" Parts of the North Shore are just as bad - it could be worse though, you could live somewhere like Glenfield and have the whole of Wairau park on your doorstep

I agee with a lot of what Hubbard says too, except that the driving seems to be bad wherever you go.

Is there any way you can move away from there at all? Where I am up on the west coast is heavenly. Ok, the stags are rutting at the moment and making a bit of a din, and the track was a bit muddy this morning and it's a bit of a hike to the mailbox but I can't see another house from any of my windows and it is silent at night.

Biddy

Fiona - sorry to hear things aren't brilliant for you. Suggest you experience life out of Howick.
We're 50ks N of Welly and haven't met a non English speaking immegrant.
Fair bit of subdivision here but still plenty of wide open spaces and greenery. In fact we've bough some of it.
No probs with driving - no more than UK anyway. No traffic jams up here apart from public holidays when SH1 can be chockablock.
We did plenty of research before we arrived an new that places like Howick were not going to be 'for us'.
Good luck with the future.

Tooanfrom

Agree 100% on the driving especially the Asians-my wife works for the Police, any bad driving is excused with the acronym D.W.A--on their own Kiwi's are lousy drivers-Asians have turned it into an Art Form and Olympic Sport.

D.W.A=Driving While Asian

We live in the Auckland region--have just put the house on the market today-going to the South Island. A lot has happened to NZ since I came here 25yrs ago.

southerner

I'm sorry that NZ has so far been so disappointing.

Hope you get the chance to see the rest of the country - if it was the unpopulated scenery that attracted you here then most of the South Island does indeed live up to the advertising, if anything it surpasses it.

Sounds like you picked a less than ideal spot from your viewpoint - at least from a traffic/ethnic neighbours/housing density view.

If you want a local to show you around Dunedin if you get down this way, please get in touch.....

nell m

Hi we live in Taranaki, it's out in the "sticks", few houses, yet only 35 minutes drive (you may see 3-4 other cars on the way) to the nearest city - New Plymouth, from my house I can see Mount Taranaki and the sea. I work 5.6k away in the next village (where the nearest shop is) and it takes me 7 minutes to get there. A few weeks back we were eating dinner outside and we could hear the candles flickering, it was so quiet - yet in just over 1/2 an hour you can be in the city - not all parts of NZ are like your area, dont give up on NZ yet, try another area!

fiona i

A lot more could be said about this backward country but we will save it for another day!!!!!

livewire

Fiona, we're here when you need to get it off your chest.

P18PPS

Oh dear, so sorry to hear things haven't met your expectations. Howick aka Chowick is just that - thankfully we knew this before moving out here. The traffic was no surprise to us either - we took the view that anything had to be better than the up to 4 hours per day my husband was travelling. Unfortunately most of the NZ business world is centred around Auckland, so the dream of living somewhere in the south island is just that for most people due to their professions. Driving is bad, however the fun side is that you are allowed (to a certain degree) to drive like a psycho and get away with it - and it is quite scary how quickly it becomes second nature !!

What were your aspirations to moving out here - the "better quality of life" buzz phrase aside ... what did you really hope to achieve?? I'm sure if you were able to work out what you want that you could find at least some of what you are after - at least for the next 12 months - rather than being miserable and longing for those 12 months to be up, it will be the longest 12 months of your life if you are unable to satisfy some of your dreams. Air your views and see if someone can come up with some ideas for you. Best of luck.

tottefan

I think that the problem arises because many people fail to research a place properly and are taken in by the excitement of it all.

You have to remember that Auckland is a city of over a million people. Therefore, it's going to be crowded, unfriendly, full of traffic jams. It's a major city - name me one that doesn't suffer from all of these problems! It's also going to have a large number of non-English speaking people - again name me a major city in the world that doesn't have large numbers of immigrants!!

The North Island has loads and loads of space but clearly this isn't likely to be the case in a major city is it? As for NZ being backward, that's a generalisation if ever I've heard one! That's the equivalent of me saying that all Brits are rude, arrogant and unfriendly.


Tottefan.

matthew111

Hi fiona and many thanks for your reply to my question.I am so sorry to hear that things dont work for you as you imagined.I hope you will get better in a couple of months.So as i understand you i will need a job offer to get a working visa.I will try to get in contact with a few agencies to sort it out,unless you've got any better idea.What do you think of coming as a tourist and while i am there looking for a job offer.Sounds to me like a better chance than looking through the net for a job offer.what do you think....ta
Matthew

bramptonbrian

Treat everyday like you are on holiday, get out and about. Try South Island it is 100% better (or maybe just very different) to NI. It really is hard for the first few months but after a while you'll drive like locals, wear the same clothes day after day and develope the ability to detect a sandfly and swot it without even looking. Life's too short to be miserable so get on with enjoying what NZ has to offer you.

babybella

[QUOTE=fiona i]hi
nz is a third world country - the high level of non-english speaking immigrants is awful -what was the nz government thinking opening the flood gates to any asian with money dont worry about being able to speak the language of the country which to the best of my knowledge is/ was english ?


Oh my God! I know that not many immigrants go to Glasgow 'cause it's too cold all year round but this has got to be a joke.
Ok so all you 'non English speaking people' out their who thought you would like to go to NZ, as a New Zealander I welcome you to my country, diversity is a good thing and I love the fact that non English speaking people have a wealth of culture and often wonderful food to be introduced to New Zealand. I suppose Scotland does do deep fried mars bars and Gordon Ramsey, not a great contribution to the culinary arts but better than nothing I suppose.
Oh and obviously lots of racists to be had up there too!
AZ

Buzzy--Bee

errr how can you welcome people to your country when you don't live there yourself???