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Compare in which terms? The country consists of two islands, the North and South. The North is warmer and the South colder, especially when you go to the South

Compare in which terms? The country consists of two islands, the North and South. The North is warmer and the South colder, especially when you go to the South of the South island. New Zealand is extremely diverse in nature, you have everything from tropical jungles, to sand dunes, volcanoes, glaciers and amazing mountains. The North island is more populated than the South, but in comparison to the US or UK the whole of New Zealand is very sparsely populated. The country has more sheep than human and is geographically extremely isolated when you think that the closest neighbour is Australia which is a 4 hour flight and even Australia is extremely isolated when you compare it to an international melting pot like the UK. Like with everything in life this has pros and cons. Overall it's a beautiful place to be, stable and good economy, great work/life balance, amazing outdoor opportunities and a friendly culture. If New Zealand wasn't so far away from everyone else then I'd consider moving there myself, but not being able to quickly jump on a two hour flight to see old friends and family is a huge problem, especially when people get older they seem to value their relationship to friends and family increasingly more.

nopzor 6y ago
I agree with you on the melting pot comment, but (pre covid) jet age travel makes the whole 'isolation' point somewhat moot in my mind. you can be on a direct flight from Aukland to eg. San Fran that takes ~12 hours. is that really that much different than the ~9 hours it takes to go from eg. London to San Fran? Maybe I just like travel (and airplanes) ;-)
- telesilla 6y ago
  When you have a 2-week mandatory quarantine in Australia and NZ it makes the concept of easy travel a bit stretched. It's really shown how isolated they are.
  - yardstick 6y ago
    When considering moving countries, things like a 14 day quarantine that will be gone within 12-18 months aren’t something I would personally factor in. UK also has the same quarantine period- except no one takes it seriously and it isn’t enforced.
    - iso1631 6y ago
      No, the UK quarantine is not the same as quarantine in Aus, NZ, Singapore, etc. Nobody's moving to NZ now, but covid will be over in a few months and it will be back to normal.
- bshimmin 6y ago
  My brother moved from the UK to New Zealand a few years ago, and I've managed to visit him all of once - it's much more than a day of travel from here, with the added disadvantage that neither he nor I live near any of the convenient airports. Travelling to, say, New York from the UK is a lot more doable: I can get from semi-rural countryside in the UK to Manhattan in maybe 12 hours. There's also a considerable difference in cost. (To the poster upthread asking how it compares to the UK: I only spent ten days in New Zealand, but I thought it was great. Sort of like the Lake District here, but on a vast scale. I also recommend the beef and cheese pies - a lovely healthy snack.)
  - iso1631 6y ago
    NYC is the kind of place you can go for a weekend from the UK - especially if you knock-off at Friday lunch. With timezones as well, NZ takes 36 hours. But both of those are intercontinental trips 2 hours from London will put you in a dozen different countries 4 hours will get you anywhere in Europe, as well as Cairo, Morocco, Turkey, Jerusalem 8 hours will get you to East Coast US, middle east, India, and even the north parts of sub-saharan africa (Kenya, Nigeria, The Gambia) 12 hours will get you to the Carribean, the West Coast US, and much of the Far East 2 hours from Aukland will get you to other parts of NZ 4 hours will get you to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and the Great Barrier reef 8 hours will give you a choice of a few pacific islands 12 hours will get you to Singapore, maybe Hong Kong There's a lot more choice to see the world out of Europe.
Jedd 6y ago
The residents of Stewart Island would like a word. The northern tip of New Zealand is the same latitude as Sydney Australia, but because the country is relatively narrow (east-west) the climate doesn't have the variability that you get along the comparable latitudes of AU. No matter where you are on the planet, you're a long way from 'most everybody else' - it depends if your criteria for happiness are proximity to a vast number of people you don't know, compared to low cost of living, healthy environment, sane governance, low population density, good soil, gentle climate, etc etc.
- nullsense 6y ago
  >No matter where you are on the planet, you're a long way from 'most everybody else When I was a teenager I hated that aspect and considered it a bug. Now I'm in my 30s and have enough experience of the world, I love that fact and consider it a feature.

nopzor 6y ago

I agree with you on the melting pot comment, but (pre covid) jet age travel makes the whole 'isolation' point somewhat moot in my mind. you can be on a direct flight from Aukland to eg. San Fran that takes ~12 hours. is that really that much different than the ~9 hours it takes to go from eg. London to San Fran? Maybe I just like travel (and airplanes) ;-)

telesilla 6y ago
When you have a 2-week mandatory quarantine in Australia and NZ it makes the concept of easy travel a bit stretched. It's really shown how isolated they are.
- yardstick 6y ago
  When considering moving countries, things like a 14 day quarantine that will be gone within 12-18 months aren’t something I would personally factor in. UK also has the same quarantine period- except no one takes it seriously and it isn’t enforced.
  - iso1631 6y ago
    No, the UK quarantine is not the same as quarantine in Aus, NZ, Singapore, etc. Nobody's moving to NZ now, but covid will be over in a few months and it will be back to normal.
bshimmin 6y ago
My brother moved from the UK to New Zealand a few years ago, and I've managed to visit him all of once - it's much more than a day of travel from here, with the added disadvantage that neither he nor I live near any of the convenient airports. Travelling to, say, New York from the UK is a lot more doable: I can get from semi-rural countryside in the UK to Manhattan in maybe 12 hours. There's also a considerable difference in cost. (To the poster upthread asking how it compares to the UK: I only spent ten days in New Zealand, but I thought it was great. Sort of like the Lake District here, but on a vast scale. I also recommend the beef and cheese pies - a lovely healthy snack.)
- iso1631 6y ago
  NYC is the kind of place you can go for a weekend from the UK - especially if you knock-off at Friday lunch. With timezones as well, NZ takes 36 hours. But both of those are intercontinental trips 2 hours from London will put you in a dozen different countries 4 hours will get you anywhere in Europe, as well as Cairo, Morocco, Turkey, Jerusalem 8 hours will get you to East Coast US, middle east, India, and even the north parts of sub-saharan africa (Kenya, Nigeria, The Gambia) 12 hours will get you to the Carribean, the West Coast US, and much of the Far East 2 hours from Aukland will get you to other parts of NZ 4 hours will get you to Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and the Great Barrier reef 8 hours will give you a choice of a few pacific islands 12 hours will get you to Singapore, maybe Hong Kong There's a lot more choice to see the world out of Europe.

Jedd 6y ago

The residents of Stewart Island would like a word. The northern tip of New Zealand is the same latitude as Sydney Australia, but because the country is relatively narrow (east-west) the climate doesn't have the variability that you get along the comparable latitudes of AU. No matter where you are on the planet, you're a long way from 'most everybody else' - it depends if your criteria for happiness are proximity to a vast number of people you don't know, compared to low cost of living, healthy environment, sane governance, low population density, good soil, gentle climate, etc etc.

nullsense 6y ago
>No matter where you are on the planet, you're a long way from 'most everybody else When I was a teenager I hated that aspect and considered it a bug. Now I'm in my 30s and have enough experience of the world, I love that fact and consider it a feature.