nickychris67

What is the one thing you know now, that you wish you had known before you left the UK?

lardyl

That house prices were going to fall further and faster there than here..........

luvwelly

That not only is NZ isolated from the rest of the world (I knew that) but that towns within NZ are very isolated from each other...you have to like where you live because you are ..well....pretty stuck there.

GoogleEarth would probably help make this clear but what you won't realise is the time it takes to drive to the next conurbation because of the roads mainly being like UK B roads.

P2L

That generally kids shoes are cr*p here

Bellasmum

I agree with you there.

When my sons were at school Clarks shoes were made here and they had a factory shop in Papatoetoe.

The shoes were still in good nick when they grew out of them and they could be passed down.

Now we have all that cheap imported rubbish

shirl

I wish I had known that trying to make Kiwi friends was going to be extremely difficult. I thought they would just accept us and welcome any friendships. How wrong can you be. Also that it would be the school of hard knocks where jobs are concerned with employers always wanting "Kiwi Experience". Arggg!!!

P2L

Shirl

I have been reliably informed that it's a South Island thing, funnily enough by some North Islanders

Any consilation, it's the same up here, I have given up trying to figure it all out now

shirl

Me too. When the time is right the perfect kiwi friends will come along I am sure !!

Catkin09

Just how cold it is at times.

Especially in the houses, being cold and damp is not good. When you go outside you take your coat off and put it on when you come back in the house.

It has made me realise why the population in NZ is so low, it's because the bedrooms are only warm enough for a bit of how's your father 3 months of the year

Catkin

Am Loolah

The hole in the ozone layer is a fact and Factor 30 doesn't even cut it ...

Browner_

..that NZ was not really ever likely to provide something better (or even nearly as good) as what I was leaving behind.

SavBlancGal

I wish I'd known just how much time and money is needed to make visits home.

sonandbill

that it would be so difficuilt to get a teaching job in bay of plenty and that it would be so stressful leaving our families. Also I probably would never have left uk as we both had good jobs and a decent salary. As it is now i am returning on my own to uk to live with my daughter and look for teaching job while oh stays in nz to sell our flat.On reflection though nz is a beautiful place to live and i should be grateful to have had that experience. Just now feeling anxious about returning to uk and leaving oh here on his own. I know he will cope but i will miss him so much but will have grand kids to cuddle..

sonandbill

can totallly agree with that one !!!!!!!!!11

lapsed kiwi

ditto that - would have tried harder to sell the UK house