Well as always its always quite amusing going home after being overseas a while. Leaving Australia after nearly three years – I am back in New Zealand. Moving to New Zealand after not setting foot in the country for 18 months has been interesting. Here is my entirely non-scientific first impressions of living in New Zealand compared to living in Australia – well actually its about moving from Perth to Wellington - as always the devil’s in the details -your mileage will vary depending on where in Australia you are familiar with and where in New Zealand you are moving to!
Wellington on a Good Day
New Zealand Weather Compared to Australia’s
Eastbourne, Wellington
Crap – totally un-redemmed crap – well its probably better than the UK or Ireland – but only the Poms would believe that New Zealand has a decent climate. It should be a hint when the TV weather calls an expected maximum of 25C – as “warm”!
On the plus side – there is a lot more daylight than in Australia – in Perth, thanks to not having daylight saving – it was light before 5am and dark at 7pm – in New Zealand its light before 6am and dark at about 9pm - New Zealand has daylight saving – and I was really, really missing it in Western Australia
Wellington has stunning beautiful beaches and coastline – but unless you are insane ie. have never swum elsewhere – 14C water temperature is unacceptable. When we left Perth the water temperature was a pleasent 20C odd. More to the point unless temperature hits 30C ( global warming where are you?) – who wants to go swimming anyways?
Standard of Living in New Zealand Compared to Australia
Historic Pub, Thorndon, Wellington
Impossible to call IMHO – there is no one size that fits all – it depends on what is important to you and what is not. My partner is earning more money here than he was in Australia for the same job. – but if you are unskilled then the wages are definitly higher in Australia. If you are preapred to work in the remote mining areas and you have the relevant trade skills – the money is a lot better in Australia.
Food and all things electrical appear a lot cheaper here. In the last couple of days we have bought items such as a microwave, electric frypan and restocked a kitchen – prices for food are the same in NZ in $ as they are in Australia – with the curent exchange rate that makes them 25% cheaper.
Eating out in Perth is outrageously expensive – you will often pay $10 for a beer in a pub – in New Zealand a beer is NZ$6.50 in a restaraunt. We bought Western Australian wine in New Zealand supermarket for the same $ price as it is in WA – again 25% cheaper – there must be a lot higher sales tax on it in Australia. Oh yes you can buy beer and wine in the supermarket in New Zealand – and the supermarkets are open seven days usually to at least 10pm – sometimes 24 hours. In Perth there is one (!) late night shopping night a week – no big shops open on a Sunday – its a crazy system which favours some retailers and almost certainly keeps the prices high. Why electronics are cheaper in NZ is beyond me – they have further to come (from China)- and its a smaller market - 34litre microwave cost me NZ$140 – enough said.
Anyway back to the eating out: Indian sit down meal -very nice two mains, rice, bread, 2 beers – NZ$48 – it would have been at least A$60 in Perth. I believe you can also get fish and chips for two at around N Z$10 (A$20 in Australia) – haven’t tried that yet – too much Christmas eating.
In Perth we were paying $320/week for a 2 bedroom flat 15 minutes walk from the beach and 10km from town. In Wellington we are paying $225/week for a 1 bedroom flat 5km from town but further from the beach and poorer quality property. In Wellington I own a very nice home 5km from the CBD in one of the best suburbs – its valued at around NZ$600k – the same price (say around A$480k) in Perth would get me a new home 3 bed/2 bathroom 25km from the CBD. To buy the equivalent home in Perth – we would have to pay at least A$800k – say around NZ$1 million. That said a basic home in Perth is brick, well insulated and has air-con. In New Zealand you don’t need the air-con but you definitly need heating and as the typical home is wooden and built at least 30 years ago you will probably need to bring the heaters with you. The old wooden houses make for quaint streetscapes – but they cost a fortune to maintain and are definitly not so comfortable to live in.
Telecommunication Connections in New Zealand
Wellington Waterfront
Local hint – if you are talking to teleco provider in NZ and they ask if your modem has a telepermit sticker on it – the correct answer is YES! You will need a different modem connection cable to fit the hole in the wall – and you will need to change some obscure settings – but my Australian adsl2+ modem is working just fine in inner suburban Wellington (like Australia, New Zealand rural areas don’t do broadband ) – about the same cost – and although the claimed speeds was slower – I am not noticing any difference. Still have the bullshite about needing a phone line to have the broadband – but I went with the existing provider to our current rental place – haven’t phoned around yet.
Also my existing cell phone -charged up and remembered who it was after 2 years in a box – retained the number and even the credit – amazing – in Australia you lose the number if the phone is not used for 6 months.
I believe you can retain your cell phone number between provders now and even your home phone – but too late for me – I use a SkypeIN number now which is portable anywhere in the world.
Driving in New Zealand
Historic Houses, Tinakori Rd, Wellington
The left hand turn rule is different – the standard urban limit is 50km/hr not 60km/hr. The open road is a maximum limit of 100km/hr – not 110km/hr. All of these lower limits make a lot of sense when you realise just how narrow Wellington’s roads, and how little shoulder there is – you can hardly ever pulloff the road entirely even on the motorway (that’s what we call freeways).
The drink driving limit is still a reasonable 0.08 – unlike the revenue gathering one of 0.05 in most (all?) Australian states. You don’t lose your licence for a first offence on a holiday weekend either! The driving is pretty much the same level of competance as in Perth i.e. not very. The cars are smaller – but you’d struggle to get Holden Commodore around quite a few corners in Wellington suburbs – that’s because Wellington has hills – Perth doesn’t have very many – and they rarely build homes on the top of them. BTW if you are booking for the 2012 World Cup – check the number of steps from road to front door – I’m not kidding.
The price of petrol is about the same $1.65 in New Zealand – it was A$1.21 when we left Perth. Cars are a fraction of the cost – that’s because we don’t support a domestic car industry - the 1996 Commodore we sold in Perth for $1800 – wouldn’t have been worth NZ$500 here – if you could give it away.
New Zealanders v. Australians
Pretty much the same – the odd term is more American in Australia. Perth was a very white city – most of the immigrants are Poms and (white) South Africans and New Zealanders. Wellington has a substantial minority of Pacific Islanders and Maoris – and a useful range of minorities who can cook (Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian to name a few). Seriously the differences between the two countries are pretty darn trivial. On balance if I was gay or black/brown I would probably feel more accepted in Wellington than Perth e.g. – there was no gay dance scene in Perth -there’s a big one in Wellington.
New Zeland Economy v. Australia
At the moment I can get a better deposit rate with a bank than the mortgage rate I pay in New Zealand - a situation I can’t recall happening- ever really. The Australian economy took a breather last year -but is set to take off again – welll at least in Western Australia and to a lesser extent South Australia and Queensland. Unfortunately most New Zelanders move to Sydney – don’t would be my advice – well not if you want a job anyways.
The New Zeland economy seems to be muddling along as it generally does - its primarily service and agriculture based and that hasn’t changed – probably never will. NZ will never be the big player that Australia is set to become over the next 10 years or so – frankly it doesn’t really matter so long as New Zealanders have the right to live and work in Australia (and vivce versa) – the free flow of people between the two countries will even it all out.
Making Passive Income Online – Which is Best Australia or New Zealand?
The NZ$ is always weaker against the US$ than A$ – so my US$ (which almost all my earnings are in) – in effect I have had a 33% payrise for just moving country… Yes the NZ tax rates are slightly higher than the Australian rates (if you earn less than around $100k) – but the tax system is a dream of symplicity – I am almost looking forward to dealing with it. The sales tax issue (GST) here is simpler than in Australia too. As I still run paypal accounts in US$ the banking system here is irrelevant – but they are very comparable (in fact most of the banks are the same). I am booked in for some major dental work which will cost me 1/2 what I was quoated in Australia 18 months ago.
The downside is that medical insurance is not transportable – invariably if you move countries a lot you will lose your medical insurance – I refused to pay A$400/month in Australia (because we hadn’t been insured since we were 30 in Australia) – the NZ insurance you could only put on hold fora year.
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{ 46 comments… read them below or add one }
This is great to read about. Thanks for the travel tour.
I’ll be looking forward to more pics. *Very cool.*
We were back a couple of years ago and the weather was stunning – hence the pics! Still raining today!
Cool and interesting. Nice to know that you didin’t pay medical insurance! – And it sucks to know that people in the US now have to. Why pay for someone else’s care when he eats junk food and smokes while you take care of yourself? happy new year lissie from bob in Canada – first time commentator but long time reader!
Medical insurance in this part of the world is a convenience – particularly for “elective” surgery like joint replacements – if you are urgently ill you end up in a public hospital anyways – my mother-in-law has just spent nearly 6 months in hospital – no charge. Now I am off to eat some more Xmas chocolate
Nice comparison of the two countries. My wife is from Brisbane and we hope to make a trip back there next year. It will be my first trip to AUS and I’m really looking forward to it. They have family in Perth as well, but I don’t think we will make it to the other side this trip.
Bloody Hell Lis, if you wanted daylight saving you could have stopped in Adelaide, you sure as hell didn’t have to go all the way to NZ! And if you wanted warmth, don’t you think you should have moved further up the island?
Oh well, at least you didn’t choose Invercargill.
All the best for the new year Lis
Actually I was in Adelaide about this time last year – we drove from Perth -went back on the train – via KI – it was fun – sorry I hadn’t “met” you at that stage! Yeah well I was looking for something postiive to say -but giving that its still bloody raining – with snow forcaste for the South Island – all I can say – thank god for cheap airfares to warm places! Thanks for stopping by!
No worries Lis, I reckon I will still pop in occasionally, even though you’ve left our lovely shores lol
KI is pretty cool isn’t it? Did you see much?
KI – Kangaroo Island – was gorgeous – we underestimated how long to spend there though – we only had 3 days which wasn’t enough to get right down the far end – well it might have been but we were busy in the wineries …
How about Seal Bay, did you manage to fit that in? I can’t remember which end of the island that is on.
If it was where all the seals are … yes we made it there – on the south side from memory ..
Cool, that was a favorite spot of mine. It was great getting so close to those guys.
Most importantly it seems you have arrived safe and sane “back home”
How many boxes do you have still to unpack? I am impressed how quick you got back online again, it took me two weeks after my last move. Well done you! SY
PS Happy New Year btw
I unpacked the modem and the laptop – was there something else I was supposed to unpack? We are only in this place for 2 months and all the whiteware was here – so very little is unpacked – fortunately – unlike Europe – the kitchen stays installed! And I was a previous customer of the ISP connected at the flat – so it was easy enough to get signed up with them – having a local skype IN number has been very handy
Not really
And I am sure it also helped that you moved to a country whose language you speak But I think, you forgot one major difference between Australia and New Zealand > less dangerous animals in NZ 
SY
Hmm – you have never seen the driving habits of New Zealanders then…
I am renting a house in Bali for around US$1,500 for the whole year.
Yeah but we have power 24/7 – sorry couldn’t resist… But yes I take your point – could you just persuade my partner he doesn’t need a job if we moved somewhere warmer and cheaper?
Happy New Year! I live in Auckland and it’s nice to know that even though a small percentage of our country emigrates to Australia every year, that in reality…it’s not so bad here after all.
There’s pluses and minuses to each country – at least you don’t continually here about how well the other country is doing in Australia! Though they were quite impressed when the All Whites qualified !
Wow, quite the comparison. I have to admit I haven’t been to either. But I do have both on my list of places to visit on my way to Bora Bora
. Now where is the best deal for plane tickets…
Bora-Bora is an out island in the Tahiti group – connections to NZ and Australia are via the capital – you should be able find fairs on Air Pacfiic, Air NZ or Qantas – I am not sure if any American airlines fly the route – I know AirNZ used to go via Cook Islands ex Auckland and onto LAX (Cook Islands worth a look too ) Alternatively do something really interesting flight ex Santiago, Chile via Easter Island to Tahiti flown by LAN Chile with possibly a Tahiti Nui code share. Assuming you are coming ex West Coast USA you might even look at a circum pacific fare which iwll stopover in Asia on one leg – ex east coast it might be cheaper to get a RTW rather than a return with stopovers.
For a complex route like this I still find that a competant travel agent can generally under cut any Internet price – but that’s in Australia or NZ where expedia et al are useless – your mileage may vary
Also don’tget caught flying into and out of Auckland – fly in/out one leg and in/out Christchurch if proceeding onto Australia – the airfare will be the same but saves a lot of back tracking – and you will need to come via Wellington – which is where I am (which is approx 1/2 way between the 2)
Thanks for the awesome info. We are thinking of a trip sometime in 2010 and definitely love the inside scoop from locals. Now I’m excited
LOL I don’t want to confuse google into thinking this is a travel blog – email if you have more questions LOL BTW we should definitly meet up and I will find you some real Kiwi beer – not that Amercian stuff that Allyn goes on about LOL
Deal!
What an excellent blog, I have recently emigrated to New Zealand from the UK and it is the best decision I have ever made. The most common problem I have found with people wanting to emigrate is the lack of research they are prepared to do. Research is everything as the glossy brochures and websites only tell you half of the story, so read, read and then read some more, before making your decision. It has to be right first time as this is probably one of the most important decisions people will make in their lifetime. Oz ! far too hot ! but then what else would you expect from a pom.
As I write this I am looking for my winter clothes – it is raining in Wellington the forecast maximum is 17C – but it feels far more like 12C because of the wind chill – a lot of people take the temperatures readings as indicative – but I can assure anyone checking Wellington temps – take 5C off for wind chill! Hot is easy to fix – God invented Aircon so Australians could live LOL – but cold – its hard to avoid. I would lvoe to be in the UK at the moment – snow is fun and at least its not supposed to be summer! I used to like WEllington because of the sea – but I look at in now and know I will never swim in it again
Will be in Welly in a couple weeks and hope it will be a little bit warmer at that time
Lis, didn’t you think to move to Auckland or somewhere close to it?
Me too
Auckland is warmer but wetter – and I have priced moving before – basically we’d have to sepd quite a lot more on a property up there to get the equivalent of Wgtn and wages are the same or lower so it doesn’t make much economic sense. Frankly nowhere in New Zealand comes very close to having a good climate as far as iam concerned at the moment!
It is middle of the summer so should be better weather by now
May I ask, when one moves amongst countries in the Commonwealth, do you think of it as a “move to another country,” or is it not such a big deal– more like how Americans might view a move from state of state?
Just curious!
Interesting question JL – like moving state you need new drivers licence, new school system, but also moving country involves a new tax system, new insurances (well we have lost our health now no country recognises an international history of insurance), new credit record (which can make getting utiliites connected), generally new vehicles because you don’t generally ship vehicles between countries, credit cards can be tricky – but debit cards have sorted out that issue), new bank accounts (though I tend to leave an account behind now when I leave – which I can use via INternet banking so this is a lot less an issue).
You meet some oddities too – in Australia we are eligible for a first home owners grant from the government – we in fact currently own 7 properties between us but none of them in Australia – so we are elgible. On the flip side the medical insurance there was crazy because of some systme where you were supposed to be insured since you were 30 (even though we weren’t living there then) so the up the premium.
Also of course there is the issue of actually having the right to live and work in a country. There is not automatic between Commonwealth countries, only Australia/NZ have free movement of labour . What a lot of us have though is multiple passports – I have a British passport which gives me the right to work and live there but that was because I was born in England – if I had been born in NZ I would now be too old for a working holiday visa!
The better comapison for Americans would be moving to Canada or Mexico (though without the language barrer generally)
Thanks for the info, Lis. Who knew. LOL! I appreciate the peek into your world/s.
Very interesting comparisons. ive lived in Wellington but only ever visited Perth twice – never lived there. I think both cities have a few things in common but one thing that stands out about wellington is how multi0cultural it is…I really like that about Wellington.
Wellington is a awesome city from the multi-cultural side of things – and the eating out scene is the best and cheapest in NZ (and as good as Melbourne – the best eating out city in Australia) Perth has a lot of immigrants but they are mainly white Poms, white SA etc) – I really like the multicultural feel of Wgtn – but I am desparately missing the weather in Perth!
Very thorough post!
I make a living from my blogs, and I’ve often toyed with the idea of moving somewhere that the cost of living is low and the climate is great (AKA sun and palm trees and beaches year around, haha). It’d be hard to leave family and friends and the conveniences available where I live now.
Hmm.. quite interesting Lis, now you got me wondering where should be the better place for me to settle in. There are pros and cons, i can see that. How about you? Is it Australia or New Zealand?
Most definitly Australia as I shiver thru 12C in Wellington’s so-called summer – I want to be warm again!
25 degrees sounds practically tropical to me! (yes, I’m british lol…)
This really should be referenced by every travel site in Australia and New Zealand. Plus be provided to travel agencies in the US and Europe for those people looking to travel to these two countries. A great wealth of information.
Australia is great but New Zealand is my dream country!!
Jean I had to dig you out of askimet – apply to them for reinclusion!
“Wellington has a substantial minority of Pacific Islanders and Maoris – and a useful range of minorities who can gook (Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian to name a few). ”
I’m surprised no one noticed this racial slur in your post (gook). Racist much?
Typo “cook” – compared the majority white races in NZ (English and Irish stock) the Asians can cook – if you disbelieve you clearly have not tried traditional English cooking! I’m white I’m allowed to say my cultural heritage hasn’t much to offer in terms of food – what’s your point?
There are some great pictures of new zealand in your post. 25 degrees also sounds like a gorgeous temperature to me but this could be because I’m British!
Some great information here. Thanks for the post!
I personally rate Wellington as the most livable city in New Zealand. It has so much more vibe to it that Auckland and feels more like a real city when compared to Christchurch…