My wife and I moved to NZ (from Russia) 2+ years ago. I work in IT (Software Developer). We live in Auckland. My impressions are: PROS: - very beautiful count

My wife and I moved to NZ (from Russia) 2+ years ago. I work in IT (Software Developer). We live in Auckland. My impressions are: PROS: - very beautiful country. Really, nature here is amazing! - people are very friendly - everything is quite simple and small, people know each other. It is more like a village, not a City - climate is fine (in Auckland). Humidity is high - that is why it feels hot in summer and cold in winter - no earthquakes (Auckland) - very safe country - coffee and beer and foods are amazing! - it is clean - lack of stress, slow pace of life CONS: - NZ is unreasonably expensive country to live in - you can't really make money here. All salaries are pretty much the same. You'll get enough for living, but not much more. - job market is small and weird (hence, limited career opportunities) - rent is very high. You'll spend 40-60% of your salary on a rent. - house prices are unreasonably high. It will be very difficult to buy a good house/apartment here - quality of houses/apartments is very bad. They are tiny, old, ugly. Well, there are some nice houses, but they are far from CBD - it is far far away from the rest of the world, hence it is expensive to travel from NZ to other countries - it is boring here. Nothing is going on. About 4-5 good concerts/exhibitions/shows per year and that's it. The only ways to entertain yourself are: food (pubs, cafes, restaurants etc. But choice is very limited) and nature (hiking, camping, surfing, caving etc.) - almost all cafes and shops close at 4-6pm. Yes, not many places to go after work. - if you (or your wife) like shopping, then you'll be disappointed. Again, choice is very limited, quality is quite low, prices are unreasonably high. - IT: it is just my opinion, but I would say that average IT specialist in NZ doesn't know much. I see a lot of IT people here who, for example, don't know how to use Git. Who never heard about Rust. Who never heard about LISP. Who have 8 years of Java experience, but don't know basic Java stuff. And so on. Honestly, this is quite disappointing - companies don't hire you for your skills. They don't usually ask any technical question during interviews. Most probably they will just check if you are kind, polite, if you smile, if you can sell yourself - employers here often require mythical 'New Zealand Experience'. Which means that if you've never worked in NZ, then it will be difficult for you to find your first job here (because you don't have NZ experience yet) - people don't work hard here. They come to work slowly, relax, read news, drink coffee, work a little bit, then have lunch, then work a little bit again. When it's 5pm - they just go home. - public transport is bad Overall, NZ is a very very nice country, but it has some REALLY annoying and weird stuff. If you _don't_ really want to make a Career and Money, just want to relax, want to have no stress and anxiety, if you enjoy nature, then it would be great for you. If you are more a 'city guy', who wants things to happen all the time around, who wants to make a career, have opportunities, who wants to live in a big modern city, then honestly, I would recommend Australia (Melbourne/Sydney) over New Zealand. My wife and I are planning to move to Australia in the future.