UK biker (stormerUK)

[freshair]

new zealand is new zealand, england is angry, look how full this thread is with happy albeit (some whinning poms) here's my take on it, now keep in mind i'm a kiwi who spent some time in - london -

pro's

you can buy a house instead of an apartment or flat and have a lawn full of grass
minimal pollution/smog
small population
the exchange rate on your pound is great
no beggars
most of the people here speak the queens english !
you can travel by car or bike with no congestion tax (and it's enjoyable)
nowhere near as much crime
nature's on your door step with plenty of reserves, parks, gardens
amazing roads (with no one on them) no traffic jams
better weather
we're not involved in wars and politics like the u.k
people smile at you when you pass them
cheerful and friendly customer service everywhere (mostly)
wherever you live, its only a small distance to snowy mountains/beaches/forests
i can't imagine raising kids over there

cons

you have great history/art/achitecture
your next to europe


anyone else ??

[McJim]

new zealand is new zealand, england is angry, look how full this thread is with happy albeit (some whinning poms) here's my take on it, now keep in mind i'm a kiwi who spent some time in - london -

pro's

you can buy a house instead of an apartment or flat and have a lawn full of grass-Same in Scotland
minimal pollution/smog-Same in Scotland
small population-Same in Scotland
the exchange rate on your pound is great-N/A
no beggars-we have them in Scotland but they have really good jokes they can tell you.
most of the people here speak the queens english !- Achtung mein froind!
you can travel by car or bike with no congestion tax (and it's enjoyable)-Same in Scotland
nowhere near as much crime-We don't have Mongrel Mob, Black Power, Nomads, Road Knights....
nature's on your door step with plenty of reserves, parks, gardens-Same as Scotland
amazing roads (with no one on them) no traffic jams-You never been to Christchurch, Auckland or Queenstown bro?
better weather-No such thing as bad weather - just the wrong clothes
we're not involved in wars and politics like the u.k-got me there - we've been at war with whoever was English for the past 6,000 years
people smile at you when you pass them-Just like in Scotland
cheerful and friendly customer service everywhere (mostly)-It's actually better in Scotland-much better in fact.
wherever you live, its only a small distance to snowy mountains/beaches/forests-Same in Scotland dependant of time of year (no snow in the summer)
i can't imagine raising kids over there-I was raised over there didn't do me any harm did it?

cons

you have great history/art/achitecture
your next to europe


anyone else ??

Ah the comparing New Zealand to London ploy eh? remember that London is completely unlike the rest of the UK.

Most Brits avoid London like the plague if they can get away with it.I've compared it with home so you can see why I want to go back - my wife and kids are Kiwis though and I love them more than I dislike NZ so at least I can provide a little balance rather than the "New Zealand is fantastic in every way" spiel I received and then, once committed, found out wasn't so true after all - too late!

[freshair]

here's a new list for england in general, i've had many talks on the topic with english people living here or thinking about immigrating

pro's

you can buy a house instead of an apartment or flat and have a lawn full of grass
minimal pollution/smog
small population
the exchange rate on your pound is great
no beggars
most of the people here speak the queens english !
you can travel by car or bike with no congestion tax (and it's enjoyable)
nowhere near as much crime
nature's on your door step with plenty of reserves, parks, gardens
amazing roads (with no one on them) no traffic jams
better weather
we're not involved in wars and politics like the u.k
people smile at you when you pass them
cheerful and friendly customer service everywhere (mostly)
wherever you live, its only a small distance to snowy mountains/beaches/forests
i can't imagine raising kids over there

cons

great history/art/achitecture
next to europe
you could have alot of grass but it will cost you $$$
you can have great customer service but only in your villiage
you can travel by car or bike with congestion tax (and it's enjoyable)

please feel free to add to the cons

[freshair]

Ah the comparing New Zealand to London ploy eh? remember that London is completely unlike the rest of the UK.

Most Brits avoid London like the plague if they can get away with it.I've compared it with home so you can see why I want to go back - my wife and kids are Kiwis though and I love them more than I dislike NZ so at least I can provide a little balance rather than the "New Zealand is fantastic in every way" spiel I received and then, once committed, found out wasn't so true after all - too late!

how long has it been for you over here ? it was five years i think i read in your previous post, i find it hard to believe you would consider leaving but then again i dont know your circimstances, surely property would be significantly cheaper in invis than back home, i will agree with you about the wage thing but the pain in commuting to work over there should outweigh the lower wages ?

[McJim]

Maybe I replied in a way that was difficult to understand.

In Scotland you can buy a house with a lawn or even a mountain in it instead of a flat or apartment in Auckland.
In Scotland there is minimal pollutuion instead of the smog of Christchurch.
In Scotland the population is not too different to New Zealand
We use the pound too but don't have the English monarch's head on it! (Unlike New Zealand
We have beggars but thay tend to have great senses of humour.
Very few people in Scotland speak the Queen's English - I myself only know the most basic German phrases. (the Queen is German in case you didn't know)
The congestion charge is a London thing innit?
New Zealand allows gangs to parade their identity in public.
Scotland has a lot of parks and countryside too.
Fewer traffic jams than Auckland or Christchurch or Wellington or Queenstown.(due to better transport infrastructure)
No comment re the weather

[McJim]

how long has it been for you over here ? it was five years i think i read in your previous post, i find it hard to believe you would consider leaving but then again i dont know your circimstances, surely property would be significantly cheaper in invis than back home, i will agree with you about the wage thing but the pain in commuting to work over there should outweigh the lower wages ?

My experience of living in Auckland was that it took longer to commute from Botany to Ponsonby than it took me to commute from Hendon to Holborn.

In New Zealand I have been faced with the following decision:
Pick two of the following:

a/ Feed your family properly
b/ Clothe your family properly
c/ House your family properly

But we are only going to give you enough money to do two not three of these things.

If you have never lived somewhere like Glasgow where you have the Trossachs and the West Coast on your doorstep then I can understand your bleak view of the UK. A great many kiwis seem to do things that are strange to me like visit Edinburgh instead of Glasgow when they go to Scotland.

I used to go mountain biking in Scotland - 26 miles and you were in the mountains - you didn't even need to take a car. In Auckland and now Invercargill the decent mountains are f'n miles away - really inconvenient.

For me standard of living is defined by disposable income - if you have none then you can do nowt - just coz your doing nowt in a beautiful environment doesn't mean your still not doin' nowt does it?

I just wish I had known then what I know now and I would have made a lot of different decisions.

[freshair]

well i have no real come back for that, as i've never lived over there like you, i'm speaking of england and not the surroundings, my only experience comes from talking to many travellers over many years, these where people on their second or third visits here and pretty much sayin they are fed up with england, mostly with the crime, and want to live somewhere safer (watching alot of t.v will do that to you no matter where you live) so yeah your circumstances sound bloody annoying, maybe the new government will change things who knows.

sounds like a blast in scotland, especially the beggars havin a sense of humor

[McJim]

sounds like a blast in scotland, especially the beggars havin a sense of humor

The beer's good too...although Speights' Summit is a damn fine brewski! (when I can afford a bottle o'course!)

[stormerUK]

Redmoggy.....well done but what is it?????
Molly....thanks for the offer of info help.
Freshair and McJim......having a useful discussion there! Scotland is a beautiful country......because it is too far for the masses to travel to and invade. I have spent many quiet holidays from the Trossachs to Bonnar Bridge to the West coast, Skye, Arran, top of Ben Nevis and the Cairngorms...yes truly fantastic. I, however, live in England, the Midlands and this is totally the opposite of Scotland. Not many people here speak any kind of English never mind the Queens.....more Eastern Block nowdays. London suffers even worse as most of the population walk with veiled faces and do not communicate at all! The kids in Coventry schools are no longer allowed to sing Xmas carols as this is found to be offensive to the MAJORITY religions. The main roads in England are having their speed limits reduced to 50mph at an alarming rate by local authorities (not that you can go any faster in the heavy traffic anyway!)
Don't forget the Scottish weather McJim....Scotland didn't invent Whisky for no reason!......and if you are English get someone with a Scottish accent to order your beer at the bar!!!!!(and I,m Welsh!)
Keep the discussion going you two as it is feeding me plenty of food for thought!

[Redmoggy]

1966 Triumph Trophy. All exited about seeing her again!!
Sorry to hijack your thread hope my experience added more food for thought.

Rod

[Whynot]

these where people on their second or third visits here and pretty much sayin they are fed up with england, mostly with the crime, and want to live somewhere safer

I think you'll find that NZ isn't a lot better than the UK in terms of crime ....


link1


link2

oh i forgot to mention, how about ....

Much bigger biking community in the UK.
NO congestion charge and/or parking charges in London(even allocated bike parks), bikes allowed in bus lanes.
Higher speed limits on motorways.
Better condition roads.
Much less police enforcing speed limits (have yet to see one).
Speed cameras are painted bright yellow, have warning signs and also have lines painted on the road which gives them away.
When you go overseas your money is actually worth something.
You can ride from here to anywhere in Europe/Asia/Africa if you want to.
Most drivers had to actually pass a decent practical test to get their license.
No Maori activists trying to claim everything.
Silverstone, Brands Hatch, Donington Park .....
Oh and they have this funny thing called public transport, its not cheap, but at least it exists.

[Molly]

This is in danger of turning into a 'my country's better than your country' load of bollocks. Whichever is best is what's best for you at any given time in your life. Just be glad you have the choice to move as you want.

[freshair]

interesting stuff, i think with survey's like this statistics can be lost or numbers can be crunched wrong, i dont believe anything i read in the papers ! in fact i dont watch the news or read the paper anymore, i agree we do have horrific crimes in nz for our population stuff that really stands out like the Mia Glassy murder and the Kahui trial, whats up with this !! i dont know but it certainly needs to be addressed, maybe this new government will grow some balls and put some sort of cap on who can have children in this country, now the stuff i hear from travellers about crime in england is worse beacause its on the street and it's pointless it's the i'm better than you you sort of crime you get in over populated areas like 12 year old kids killing other kids with pistols with no motive in manchester, another guy i talked to said his mate was murdered with an iron bar just for standing on the street outside a night club, no motive, i've heard more..... it is a hard one to try and get my point across, i mean people killing children or kids killing kids. i still feel alot safer here than i did in london, you still need to have your wits about you here of course, but in london its around every corner and people just aren't happy maybe i have talked to all the sad ones !!

[Winston001]

McJim makes good points. If you are living in a scenic low population area of the UK and earning a good living, then the comparisons with NZ aren't quite so strong.

Also NZ has just experienced 5 years of economic growth such as we have not experienced since the early 1950s. One result is that house prices have skyrocketed beyond the average persons wages making life pretty tough if you have recently taken on a mortgage.

The good news is that mortgage rates have dropped dramatically and house prices are following. Not so good if you need to sell - but that's happening all over the world.

[stormerUK]

Just listening to the radio....a young woman in Aberdeen was attacked by two older men who overheard her speaking with an English accent....medics are trying to repair her face....Sad.
Good point Winston...Scotland like NZ is somewhere you go on holiday to get away from the rat race.
Freshair you are right.....the real violence in UK is not what you read about (I do not read newspapers) but what I encounter daily on the street.
Rod .....nice bike....wont find many like that in NZ I bet.
Now forget about crime.....what about our weather. Naturalists are pointing out that if we do not get a summer again this year(2 years without sun) then we are going to see drastic results on our bird/insect poulation.
Dylan