If cost wasn't an issue - NZ or Australia?

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GeekGuy

593 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2025682 30-May-2018 13:52

I lived in Oz for years and first went there when you did not need a passport to enter the country and loved it over there but now prefer NZ.

My son has an Australian passport and a NZ passport (citizenship by descent) and lives there for the better opportunities but would prefer to live in NZ.

One time I had to go the Australian Consulate in Auckland to renew his passport when it expired and had to show my NZ passport for ID purposes.

They said I should get an Australian passport as well but I could not be bothered, if I was younger I probably would.

Unless things have changed, I could vote over there and 2 weeks I could be getting the dole which I loved stirring up aussies about.

dafman

3928 posts

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#2025897 30-May-2018 20:20

dejadeadnz:

You couldn't pay me to live in Australia. As a socially liberal person, I find Australians' attitudes towards minorities and refugees to be fundamentally offensive to humanity -- NZers aren't perfect but we are far more enlightened in comparison.

I visited an Aboriginal cultural centre in Kakadu yesterday (Northern Territory). On the wall, there were two short testimonies from two Aboriginal children taken from their families into mission schools - one from a boy, the other from a girl. The boy's story was of constant beatings at the hands of the priests; the girl said that the nuns were kind and they learnt english and had lots of free time to play. After reading this, an Australian woman commented that it was good that they put up a positive story to provide balance, that not everyone's experience was negative.

The thing was, it wasn't a positive story. The girl also said that denied her family, she forgot her language and the stories from her culture. As an adult she had to re-learn these.

dafman

3928 posts

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#2025898 30-May-2018 20:23

It's 6pm and 29 degrees in Darwin as I type this. It's topped 30 degrees every day for the past week I've been here.

For climate alone, I would move to Australia in a heartbeat.

Everything else, I'm happy with Aotearoa.

Aredwood

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#2026038 31-May-2018 00:36

Fred99:
Aredwood: Main issue for me is snakes and spiders. As my job involves crawling into roof spaces and underneath houses. (plumber) So more likely to encounter them.

You've been sucked in by Aussie overstatement of PHO (potentially hazardous organism) risk. They do this to take the p*ss out of foreigners:

Example of typical exaggeration:

See? It's only about 86.32% as scary as they say.

I would still have a higher risk than the general population. Which makes researching the risk harder. As the risk per head of population will be skewed lower by people in low risk jobs.

My understanding is that compliance costs of being self employed in Australia are also higher than in NZ.

Smithy100

180 posts

Master Geek

#2026082 31-May-2018 09:05

I'm a born & bred Wellingtontonian - and ended up living in Brisbane when I was 30, after a few years in Auckland; and enjoyed living there until my early 40's.

I got career opportunities there I wouldn't have received here - they're much more open to giving people the opportunity to step up or across into different roles; notwithstanding the clear consequences if the step is too great. Here in NZ; unless you've got the degrees/s and experience a career change can be very difficult. Of course that's exacerbated being in a smaller labour market.

The lifestyle was the big one for me. The climate, and the ease of getting around a city (and the Gold/Sunny coasts) is pretty easy for the most part, as long as you have a car. Also the commute into town was easier with a good train/bus network which is more widespread than Wellington and Auckland.

Big infrastructure - bridges, tunnels, busways, stadiums, railway, etc... just gets built. Unlike here; I remember Tranmission Gully from when I was a wee kid. 40-odd years later it's finally being built.

The spiders and 'roaches - nah, not for me... absolutely HATE them... though being back home they now don't bother me. Even our "big" ones (haha).

The people; in SEQ (broad generalisation alert) are bordering on jingoistic. But in some ways I admire that - misplaced though it can be. That aside, yeah - there's some casual racism, and some less casual racism too. And that extends across all levels of their society (and most others to be fair, including ours).

Cost of living for me was swings and roundabouts - the thing for me was getting the career opportunities to move up the earning foodchain that are more difficult to achieve here. Particularly for those of us who aren't university educated.

Anyway, I could go on but I won't - that was my experience; I appreciate it isn't everybody's.

Oh - and why'd I come home? Well, I arrived in 2001 - a couple of months after the "automatic" citizenship process was removed. I needed some major medical care and whilst it would have been covered under medicare - I was likely to need 6-12 months off work to recover, which of course wasn't covered; so I made the decision to come home to Wellington.

Which turned out pretty good - met my wife, built a house, and are in the process of living happily ever after.

Would I go back? My wife is pretty keen - she's always lived in NZ and loves SEQ also. So we'll see :)

dafman

3928 posts

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#2026518 31-May-2018 20:32

Fred99:

Aredwood: Main issue for me is snakes and spiders. As my job involves crawling into roof spaces and underneath houses. (plumber) So more likely to encounter them.

You've been sucked in by Aussie overstatement of PHO (potentially hazardous organism) risk. They do this to take the p*ss out of foreigners:

Example of typical exaggeration:

See? It's only about 86.32% as scary as they say.

Original!

Taken with my trusty Galaxy S7 earlier this week. That said, several days later talking to rangers, I learned they were not big fans of the crocodile jumping tours. With good reason - we shouldn't be feeding wild animals. More importantly, we shouldn't be teaching crocodiles that it's ok to jump and attack at a man holding a pole. The Adelaide River is a popular fishing spot!

Click on thumbnail for full size

shk292

2858 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#2026527 31-May-2018 20:54

dafman:

It's 6pm and 29 degrees in Darwin as I type this. It's topped 30 degrees every day for the past week I've been here..

That's a good thing? I find 29-30 far too hot to do anything much except swim in a pool (can't swim in sea or river there due to wildlfe)

I kuch prefer Auckland's tempreature range of mostly 15-25

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dafman

3928 posts

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#2026589 31-May-2018 23:44

shk292:

dafman:

It's 6pm and 29 degrees in Darwin as I type this. It's topped 30 degrees every day for the past week I've been here..

That's a good thing? I find 29-30 far too hot to do anything much except swim in a pool (can't swim in sea or river there due to wildlfe)

I kuch prefer Auckland's tempreature range of mostly 15-25

Fair enough, you either love or you don't. I love the heat. Just in from dinner outside (I'm in Katherine, NT) - temperature dropped to mid 20's and, after a week of 30+, I'd have preferred it a little warmer. (Dreading my return to a Wellington winter).

In the Northern Territory this week, I've encountered some Victorian Nomads - retirees from Victoria who sell up, buy a thumping kick a** four wheel drive with huge caravan on back. They live half the year in Victoria, then come to the NT during the Victorian winter. And their caravans are designed for the Aussie outback with appropriate suspension, solar panels etc

Now, there's a thought for later in life ...

Wiggum

1199 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#2026643 1-Jun-2018 07:35

Agreed. I much prefer the hotter weather. In Wellington we only get a few months in the year where you can actually sit outside in the evenings. When we were in Queensland we found ourselves doing this nearly every night, throughout the year. Lots of time spend around the pool and in the garden etc.. Kids enjoy it more too and I can understand why. Here we can sit for most months in Wellington stuck inside. Its now wonder people here get depressed! Personally I would rather need to "cool off", than "warm up".

Don't get me wrong, we love Wellington and would not leave. The Summer days are good here but are limited and you make the most of them.

Maybe I'm just a lizzard and love the sun too much. Perhaps I should just relocate to the far north.

shk292

2858 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#2027266 1-Jun-2018 21:25

Wiggum:

Agreed. I much prefer the hotter weather. In Wellington we only get a few months in the year where you can actually sit outside in the evenings. When we were in Queensland we found ourselves doing this nearly every night, throughout the year. Lots of time spend around the pool and in the garden etc.. Kids enjoy it more too and I can understand why. Here we can sit for most months in Wellington stuck inside. Its now wonder people here get depressed! Personally I would rather need to "cool off", than "warm up".

Don't get me wrong, we love Wellington and would not leave. The Summer days are good here but are limited and you make the most of them.

Maybe I'm just a lizzard and love the sun too much. Perhaps I should just relocate to the far north.

I couldn't live in Wellington either - too cold. JUst looking at the weather forecast is enough to convince me, nearly always 4-5C colder than Auckland.

To answer the original question, NZ for me every time. Sailing is my thing and it doesn't get much better than the Hauraki Gulf

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek

#2027881 3-Jun-2018 17:31

dafman:

Original!

Taken with my trusty Galaxy S7 earlier this week. That said, several days later talking to rangers, I learned they were not big fans of the crocodile jumping tours. With good reason - we shouldn't be feeding wild animals. More importantly, we shouldn't be teaching crocodiles that it's ok to jump and attack at a man holding a pole. The Adelaide River is a popular fishing spot!

Click on thumbnail for full size

Yikes. Good shot. Stuff those things. The way they kill prey - including humans - then drag them away to a hole to rot until ~~they're~~ you're soft enough to rip into pieces...

Most hazardous aussie wildlife don't want to kill you for food - but those things truly do.

sleemanj

1490 posts

Uber Geek

#2027930 3-Jun-2018 19:15

If money is not an issue (and assuming no other problems that money can't solve)... split the difference geographically and move to New Caledonia.

---
James Sleeman
I sell lots of stuff for electronic enthusiasts...

Torque

379 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2027944 3-Jun-2018 19:39

@dafman - I lived in Darwin for 5 years and certainly miss the dry season! Visiting family in the Hutt Valley mid-winter was never fun.

Sadly my work in Australia fast progressed to the point where the writing was on the wall around needing Australian Citizenship/security clearance to keep going, so I left and moved back to in NZ at the start of 2016 (with a massive paydrop accordingly).

Ironically, if I'd pushed back and asked to extend the timeline for citizenship, I could have ended up applying for citizenship around a year after I left.

I found the people, money and lifestyle great.

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