How is NZ these days?

[jasonu]

Ssshhhh - quiet, keep telling him its a shithole and that immigrants here already regret coming. That way we can keep it to ourselves and it won't get overpopulated too quickly.

Too late...

[unstuck]

I was there 3 yrs ago and found the general day to day cost of living really expensive. Stuff like milk, bread, cheese, veg, gas, smokes (if you do), beer, eating out all atleast twice the cost of Oregon and other parts of the states I have visited. Vehicles cost a lot as does insurance. You will pay a lot more mortgage interest if you take out a loan to buy a house. Generally, dollar for dollar you are better in Canada (or the states too). If you can get a high paying job then this shouldn't be a problem.
Having said all that I miss the place and would move home tomorrow if circumstances allowed.

The price you pay to live in paradise. Helps to keep SOME of the riff raff out.