Following on from a discussion about how everyone thinks New Zealand is better than Britain. This isn’t exhaustive and isn’t meant to be biased as I am a hugely patriotic kiwi, but this will give a bit of an idea why I was quite happy living there. What I have done here is just compare random stuff like for like-ish
Wimbledon-ASB Classic
Shakespeare-Barry Crump
Coleridge – AK Baxter
Aston Martin – Holden V8
British Airways – Air New Zealand
The Scottish Highlands – Central Otago
The Lake District – Rotorua
The CLA Game fair- Field days
The Royal Show – Field days
Tea at the Ritz- Coffee at a coffee shop
Soho- Manners Street
The Palace of Westminster – The Beehive
Royal Marines Commando’s – no equivalent
1000’s of castles, palaces and beautiful buildings – ummm, a nice homestead or two and many architectural monstrosities
The river Thames at Richmond- The Waikato river
The Royal Opera House – Aotea Centre
Glyndebourne- concert at the mission
Glastonbury festival – The big day out
Glorious Goodwood – Ellerslie
The Festival of Speed at Goodwood – V8s at Pukekohe
British Grand Prix -V8s at Pukekohe
Royal Ascot – Ellerslie
The Henley Regatta – rowing on the Waikato in Hamilton
The Veuve Clicquot gold cup – Polo-Cross in a field somewhere
London – Wellington
Twickenham – Eden Park
Lords – Basin Reserve
Kew Gardens -Botanical Gardens
English Rose – Kiwi chick
Kate Moss – Kylie Bax
Alexander Mcqueen – Zambeze
Millenium Stadium Cardiff- The cake tin, Wellington
Wembley Stadium – ummm do we have a football stadium ?
Manchester United – Wellington Pheonix
Ben Nevis – Any number of bigger hills and mountains
Lochs -Lakes
Fishing on the Test – fishing at Turangi
The New Forest – any amount of incredible bush and wilderness
Brighton – Mt Maunganui
British Music – Kiwi music
The Telegraph – The Dominion
The Times – The NZ herald
02 centre – Aotea centre
Harrods – Kircaldy & Staines
Harvey Nicks – Farmers
Selfridges – ummm
New Bond St – Newmarket
Hoodies – hoodies
Terrorists – French secret agents, (look it up)
Chavs – boguns
Oxbridge Universities – Victoria University
Feral kids- feral kids
Street gangs – Mongrel mob, Black Power etc etc etc
Europe on the doorstep – Australia
Heathrow airport -Auckland airport
Traffic jams – no traffic
Overcrowded in places-under populated
Richmond Park -Cornwall Park
Wimbledon common -Cornwall Park
Hyde Park- Cornwall Park
The Severn Bridge – The Harbour Bridge
Golden Eagle – Harrier
Osprey – Harrier
Puffins – Petrels
Otter- Possum
Badger – Possum
Fox- Possum
Hedgerows- wire and batten fences
Stone walls – Wire and batten fences
crap beaches-good beaches
Lunch in Paris by train- ??
That will do for now, let me have any further thoughts.
And look at what was within an hour of my house!
London, Brighton, Portsmouth, Southampton, Chichester, Guildford, Goodwood Racecourse, Ascot Racecourse, Epsom Downs racecourse, Goodwood Racetrack, The Festival of Speed, Mercedes Benz World, Brooklands race track and museum, The New Forest, Southdowns National Park, Arundel Castle, Amberley Castle, Hampton Court, Richmond Park, Wimbledon, Heathrow, and Gatwick Airports, Southampton Airport, Petworth House, Petworth park, Losley House, Farnham Castle, The Surrey Hills, Guards Polo Club, Kew Gardens, Wisley Gardens, Broadlands Estate, Cowdray Park Estate, Bisley, Farnborough Airshow, Sunningdale and Wentworth Golf clubs, Twickenham Stadium, Goodwood Sculpture Park, The South of England Show, The Henley Regatta, Winchester Cathedral, Farnham Castle. Marco Pierre White’s Wheelers of St James at the Kings Arms. Thousands of excellent Olde Worlde Pubs.
That’s just off the top of my head without looking it up
Whats within an hour of your place?
Also I could drive to Heathrow or Gatwick airport in 45 minutes from where I could fly to most of the civilised world in under 5 hours and direct to almost anywhere in the world. I could take the train to lunch in Paris and be home in time for dinner. I could drive my car to the Swiss or French alps quicker than the majority of Kiwis can get to the southern alps and I didn’t have to use a plane or a Ferry, which they do. I could drive my car to places like China, Mongolia, India or Thailand if I chose to. Or more sensibly it’s an easy long days drive to the French riviera or a short days drive to the Loire valley. I could easily have a night out in Amsterdam. In two and a half hours from my house I could be sitting in a wicker chair in a pavement cafe in my choice of three countries, drinking a continental beer in a foreign culture.
We may have the beauty and majesty of the Southern Alps, Otago, the NZ bush and places like Fiordland or Urewera. But I’m pretty sure none of my NZ based friends have actually been to many of the really good bits there as you all just go to work and then go to the beach for your summer holidays. Or you live abroad. What New Zealand has in spades is the worlds best scenery, fresh air and wide open spaces. But I had a whole lot more of all the stuff you can actually use during the week.
New Zealand is amazing and I can talk all day to anyone about why they must go and see it. it’s not so bad in England. But I’m thrilled to be back home.
Categories: General views, New Zealand
Sandysview 
ooh theres a challenge, what do i have within an hour of here…..the lakes, rotorua, rotoma, rotoiti, okataina, anawhenua, matahina dam. whale island, white island. mt maunganui, rotorua swap meet. maketu pies, pipis, gurnard, snapper, flounder, trevally, terakahi, trout. the best breakfast ever…eggs benedict at java man. ohope beach, papamoa, te kaha, awakeri hot springs, free public hot pools at kawerau. kiwi wandering, braemar water spring,
Cool ! Thats a lot of lakes, I do enjoy a good eggs benedict as well, funnily enough the last time I was in NZ, we went out and had eggs benedict in Parnell as about the first thing we did after getting out of the airport. Probably not as good as Java man though.
here in the UK I can have my career AND my hobby. Couldn’t do that in NZ. ‘Nuff said
Really? Do you have a strange hobby ?
ha, no, more like a strange job!!!! Limited to where I can work in NZ – pretty much Auckland and Wgtn the only places….
And you certainly wouldnt want to live there !!
exactly! Horrible places indeed…..
I’m new here Sandy so, I will look harder in time to come but, I really DO want to get my head around just WHY this place is better because, I would leave in a heartbeat but, we have my disabled Son to consider (He’s Autistic).
BRB!
Thanks for commenting and I am sorry about your son. But it is about why I live here. I will concede it’s not everyone’s cup of PG. Everyone has unique needs.
“Everyone has unique needs.”
Yes, he certainly does!
I think that here it’s deteriorating rapidly, I remember an England very different to the one we have now, and I suppose there is a sense of loss that is never ending for me.
Funnily enough England is a very different one to when I arrived here 20 years ago. I hated it for years but was married and ahh well long story, read about in my life story bit. I only recently realised about how much more civilised it is here than out in the colonies. I like all the stuff I can do that I have listed. I have never had to endure children let alone ones with needs such as yours. So I have no idea what other country’s offer that is better or worse, but NZ is by some margin not any sort of eutopia. Auz is even worse. It has Australians and millions of nasty bitey creepy crawlies. There is nowhere I would rather live than here despite all the stuff we know is wrong with the place.
Here’s a funny thing: I think it hurts more to see what’s going wrong with a country when it is YOUR country. That’s part of the reason I left England 15 years ago. I see things I dislike in Canada (where I used to live) or Austria (where I live now) and I’m sorry they’re that way, but I don’t feel responsible, or invested, in quite the same way as I do when I’m back in Manchester. Detachment is a blessing.
I would dislike living in Canada on account of the chance of being eaten by bears all the time. Austria? Isnt that like Switzerland but without the chocolate and watches?
Wow, very impressive.
I lived in England for 22 years, Canada for 5 years and 6 months, South Africa for thirteen months and been in New Zealand for thirty eight years. I have also visited over 70 countries. Living in New Zealand suits me – but I realize that what is one mans meat is another mans poison.