What's New Zealand like

[QuakerBear]

Mr. QuakerBear has decided we're going to move to New Zealand

However we know nothing about the county. Which does make me wonder why he decided so... But anyway, I'm getting books out of the library but they're not as good as talking to real live Kiwi's. So if it's not too much trouble I'd like to ask a few questions to try and get a feel for the place.

1. What's best about your country?
2. What's worst about your country?
3. What institution would you like to reform?
4. Give a brief outline of what you believe your countries ethos to be.
5. Describe a contrast within your country?
6. What were the causes of WW2 (not really)

Thank you.

[Stonehead]

Mr. QuakerBear has decided we're going to move to New Zealand

However we know nothing about the county. Which does make me wonder why he decided so... But anyway, I'm getting books out of the library but they're not as good as talking to real live Kiwi's. So if it's not too much trouble I'd like to ask a few questions to try and get a feel for the place.

1. What's best about your country?
2. What's worst about your country?
3. What institution would you like to reform?
4. Give a brief outline of what you believe your countries ethos to be.
5. Describe a contrast within your country?
6. What were the causes of WW2 (not really)

Thank you.

As an Aussie with Kiwi "friends", I know what their answers will be:

1. It's not Australia.
2. It's next door to Australia.
3. The Government, but at least it's not Australian.
4. Not becoming Australian.
5. There's Kiwis, everyone else, and, oh, Australians.
6. Australians.




That's the serious, honest answer. I'll let the Kiwis tell you the rubbish ones...

[farmerdrea]

Hiya -- as an immigrant to New Zealand (have been here 5 years now), we're still figuring a lot of this out. But, we know for certain we've made the right choice for our family, and that we would never move back to the states (haven't been back in 5 years in fact!). You might want to have a go with the expats-in-New-Zealand group on yahoo groups. It's a wealth of info between the people who are already here who can answer specific questions, and the people who are in the process of doing it, or just those who are thinking about it.

Cheers
Andrea
NZ

[Jack]

Gidday

The old stone head got it right.

I have to get to work now but will answer this a bit more fully later.

The only thing that the stone head got wrong is he should have said Poms and Aussies to all those answers.

[Chickenlady]

I can only answer this from a visitor's point of view. I visited for 3 months and hitchhiked from north to south and back. It may have changed a bit in the past 20 or so years since then, but I loved it. Very beautiful country, amazing scenery, and so much variation. The very north was almost tropical, whilst the south had glaciers! Good people too. Fantastic wine. Rather a lot of sheep. The pace of life then seemed a bit slower than the UK, but this may have changed now.

I would love to go back one day, but it is just too far away from family to emigrate. You have to visit before you decide to leave the UK for good!

[Annpan]

Isn't it a bit dangerous, what with all the orcs and ring wraiths?


*ducks to avoid thrown objects*

[Wombat]

Damn! Stoney beat me to it!

Nev

[frozenthunderbolt]

lol go AnnPan its the hobbits you gotta watch out for ;-)

i'll write a full post tomorow of the next day for y'all

[Jack]

Gidday

Well first off, I have been here since 1842, or at least my family has as they were on the Mary Ann, the first ship of Edward Gibbon Wakefield's New Zealand company boats to sail with new immigrants, but the poor buggers hit bad weather so got here second. I just feel that old sometimes.

I personally would like to welcome any new immigrant who can communicate in a language that I could understand, and not like what our cities are being filled with.

Before I can give you a really good answer I really need to know a few things, like why have you picked New Zealand?

What are you wanting to do, like do you have qualification for some fancy and rare job or are you just wanting to come ansd take what you can get or perhaps invest in land for farming.

Like Chicken Lady said, this country, even though it is small, is very varied and you can almost choose what sorta climate you want to live in. If you like big smelly cities then you may like Auckland and if you like old Scottist towns you would like Dunedin.

Our sheep numbers are really down lately, from about 70 million down to close to 50 million, and we still only have just over 4 million people so Nev is going to make a smart remark about that.

So, if you can tell me what you would like to move to, I will probably be able to suggest the part of the country you should look at. The more you like lots of people the further north you should look at. Down here it's a 100 kilometre round trip to town and bugger all houses on the way.

[Annpan]

In all seriousness, I am a big LOTR fan and we have been watching the extras on the extended DVD. They show amazing views of all over New Zealand, the character of the people, and the climate.

It looks like the most fantastic country, and if we were ever to leave Scotland (which I doubt, as I am embarasingly patriotic) It would probably be to New Zealand.

I also have a very good kiwi friend who is 1/2 mauri, and she tells me of all the characteristics of the people from New Zealand.There will obviously be some exceptions but in general - straight forward, honest, loyal, dry sence of humour, sarcastic, hospitible, and for some unknown reason there seems to be a like of keeping your feet cold at all times??? (might just be the few Kiwis I have come across, but it is very strange)

[QuakerBear]

Dear Jack,

There's a couple of reasons we've got for wanting to go. Every generation of my family has emigrated and I've got itchy feet so I think it's my turn. We're getting fed up with the UK, too much state interferance, too clostrophobic and far too expensive. We fancy an adventure. We thought about Australia but Mr. QuakerBear said no becuase their prime minister is a loon. We're excited by the flora and fauna.

We'd only move if we were moving for Mr. QuakerBears job. He's a scientist and he's already found some universities which do the kind of thing he's into. He's introducing himself to the research groups there as we speak.

I don't mind hobbitts as I have unusually hairy feet myself.

Thanks guys.

[Jack]

Gidday

HGood onya mate. Sounds like you will need to be near a big city for a university with the exception of Massey Uni, which is at Palmerston North and it aint toooo big. But even the likes of Dunedin which to me is big, you will probably think is only a quaint little Scottish village. Massey and Lincoln are the two main universities that are more agriculturual based and I would think a selfsufficientish sorta person would be right at home there.

What sorta research stuff is your man into?

As for flora and fauna, I think you would find ours the most diverse and often uneque with many things found only here. It is claim that our sea life, for instance, that 60% of the species are found nowhere else. Even the people can be quite strange, just look at me.

[farmerdrea]

When we first arrived, fresh from the forests of upstate New York (where we'd had a small farm), the absence of so much "wildlife" was disconcerting, but we quickly adapted to not having to house livestock from bears, coyotes, bobcats, cougars, skunks, raccoons and foxes! I was petrified to go in to the woods at night and we had to be sure all the livestock were locked away at night, horse and goats in the barn, hens and ducks in their predator-proof houses.



Cheers
Andrea
Oxford

[Jack]

Gidday

Andrea, we do not have any native land mamal, just marine mamals. That is why so many of our native birds are flightless. Our bush, or as you say woods, are safe as to sleep any night but stupid man has been trying to bring in all sorts.

[farmerdrea]

Isn't one of the bats in New Zealand a native? It's nice to not to have to worry about the wild things eating my smaller livestock, though I know there are stoats and ferrets about (we haven't seen any sign, but I think the dogs deter them). The magpies chase away any hawks that stray near the boundaries.

Cheers
Andrea
NZ