The Harsh Reality of Emigrating to New Zealand
It's not all a bed of roses, you know. It's expensive to live and expensive to be unhealthy. Wages are low and benefits are few and far between anywhere outside the largest cities. Standards of Health and Safety are low in general, with a few bizarre areas where the safety police have gone overboard. You can drink and drive your power boat, and let fifteen year olds drive themselves to school.
You can walk on tracks no wider than your arm on the edge of crumbling cliffs and throw yourselves off buildings and bridges - but don't even think about having an open swimming pool in case Johnny from the next road decides he wants to take an uninvited dip. Food hygiene is best described as random and food prices are bumped up from being just not good value for the amount you have to fork out, to downright unbelievable on Public Holidays.
Driving on the public roads is an amateur sport here. It's enjoyed by many. Corners are for taking at any speed at which at least two wheels will stay in contact with the gravel (yes gravel, don't expect all the roads to have tarmac) and indicating before you turn simply means you're scared or have no license. Trucks own the road, argue at your peril.
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What About the Fantastic Scenery and the Clean, Green Image?
Okay. As much as there are bad things, there are plenty of good things to balance them out. Generally, New Zealanders are very community minded and respectful, both of people and property. Your kids will be safer, and you can find a beach to yourself if that's what you want. You can lose yourself in the woods, hide in the valleys and live off the land if that's what floats your boat. Saturdays are for sport. Watching it, playing it or just sitting round and re-living it.
Summer in a country with this many beaches means that all other worries just melt away. The fishing is sublime. In boats, in kayaks or from the rocks. In less than a year you will be an expert and can safely catch enough to feed your family. You know when you've cracked it when the value of fish you catch is more than the amount you've just spent on bait!
Life is slower here, but you can stay busy all year round. Tourism is a major part of life and is actively promoted, but it can be very seasonal. The scale of events and attractions is the one point you have to make an early decision on. An “international” attraction may be less than the size of your double garage. All the rides in some Theme parks can be done twice in two hours.
But put the commercial tourism aside, walk and talk with the locals and enjoy what they enjoy, and it soon becomes clear exactly what the attraction of New Zealand is. It's the variety, it's the plain speaking and if you're not too naïve - the opportunity.
