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some info about New Zealand please...
Arboreal Snowman
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Hey, I am going to start college this year, and after that, am looking to move straight to New Zealand. I have been researching it for a while, but there is some information I don't know, stuff only people who live there would be able to tell me about.
I'm calling all Kiwi's! :P
So here are a couple of questions I would like to ask, and please feel free to add more information that you feel I might need.
-I'm planning on moving to Auckland, because I want a place that is urban with all the new technologies but still a few minutes from beautiful sights and fun things to do. I hear that Auckland has some beautiful beaches, and then there is the volcano out in the harbor, which would be fun to kayak out to. Is Auckland a good place for me to live, or is there another city that fits that description?
-Video games are a big part of my life. Are they prominent there? Do games that come out in America get released in New Zealand, and if they do, are they delayed?
-What is the crime like?
-What area of Auckland (or other city that you suggest) would be a good place to live? It has to be relatively inexpensive, and in a safe, nice area.
Thanks.
I'm calling all Kiwi's! :P
So here are a couple of questions I would like to ask, and please feel free to add more information that you feel I might need.
-I'm planning on moving to Auckland, because I want a place that is urban with all the new technologies but still a few minutes from beautiful sights and fun things to do. I hear that Auckland has some beautiful beaches, and then there is the volcano out in the harbor, which would be fun to kayak out to. Is Auckland a good place for me to live, or is there another city that fits that description?
-Video games are a big part of my life. Are they prominent there? Do games that come out in America get released in New Zealand, and if they do, are they delayed?
-What is the crime like?
-What area of Auckland (or other city that you suggest) would be a good place to live? It has to be relatively inexpensive, and in a safe, nice area.
Thanks.
Arboreal Snowman on
0
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If you're talking about IT R&D when you mean "new technologies" you're going to be disappointed, the big companies that maintain a presence in New Zealand are mostly here to sell stuff.
The big games usually come out in the same week or so. I've never had a problem.
Auckland has it's fair share; usually violent domestic, if the news represents it accurately. New Zealand drivers are also terrible, so there's usually a crash or two.
I would strongly consider why you want to go to Auckland. Everyone I know here in Wellington very much dislikes it; it's an urban sprawl without heart. Wellington is very nice, compact and arty/lively, with the wonderful bay. I really like it here (having moved from the UK). I wouldn't want to live in Auckland. It's also much easier to get a work permit for Wellington.
Let me start by saying that I am not a Kiwi (New Zealander). I come from the West Island as it is known. Australia.
New Zealand is our closest English speaking neighbour. We love 'em but like a backward cousin rather than like that girl that lives across from you and undresses with the shades up. They fall somewhere between Canadians and Mexicans, depending on who you ask.
Having lived there twice for relatively short periods now I can say I know a little about the place but I am by no means an expert, but here goes.
Auckland is very nice but I would suggest you start in Wellington. The reasons are many and illdefined but if you bare with me I will try to explain.
The biggest culture shock people run up against when visiting New Zealand (and some parts of Australia for that matter) is the isolation. The next most populous city to Wellington for instance (Melbourne), is over 2500km away (1600miles).
It is hard to describe the effect that being so remote has on people. It makes them resilient, surely but it also makes them a little reluctant, even recalcitrant toward outsiders.
Wellington has a population of around 160,000 and if you were to use the most liberal definition you could find of cosmopolitan, Wellington would, perhaps slip into that definition compared to other cities in NZ.
Find your feet in Wellington first. You can travel very easily around the country from there and see the lay of the land, so to speak.
Make sure you find employment before you go. NZ is a small country with a small specialised economy. Locals are given preference for jobs and the labour market is tight. It may be harder than you think to get a job. Make sure you save your pennies and keep aside an emergency stash.
Don't expect fibre to the node anywhere in NZ. You will be lucky to find it in Wellington. Say goodbye to double digit ping times.
That said, NZ has a small but active gaming community who are a great bunch to get to know but again because of the isolation you will find your on-line gaming options limited in number. You can usually find a game on Aussie servers (say hello triple figure pings) but you will be limited in NZ to the more popular titles and home servers only (CSS anyone?).
As far as gaming releases go you will find that pretty much all the games released in the U.S. are released in NZ. Mostly. Don't go looking for 'Manhunt' on the shelves.
Compared to the U.S. crime is almost non-existent. There is however drunken buffoonery in every corner of the globe and it is recommended that you watch your step till you get to know the various social forces alive within the country.
Good luck. Take what you can. You may not have as much choice as you may think. With a small, mostly stable population vacancy rates amongst rental housing may not be as varied as you may be used to. Don't despair. Take people and places as they come not by the area they live in.
One final word of wisdom. Don't tell sheep jokes.
Not wanting to subject his breeding ewe to the discomfort of an eight hour truck journey over rough terrain he asks his neighbour to fly them both to Wellington in the neighbours plane. His neighbour agrees and they load the sheep aboard and begin the flight to the capitol.
About half an hour into the flight the neighbour runs from the cockpit screaming that the planes engines are failing and they will have to don parachutes and jump for their lives. The farmer is grief stricken and asks "...but what about me sheep?" The neighbour, pulling on his parachute says, "FUCK THE SHEEP!"
The farmer, puzzled asks, "Do you really think we have time?"
Hope this helps.
In the land of the blind the one eyed man is a heretic.
Regarding videogames, its fair to say that the majority of title releases are delayed behind the initial US release. We are a PAL territory, so the versions we get usually have to undergo localization for Europe before we get our hands on them (though its getting better slowly and a number of big titles are simultaneous release). Probably the biggest NZ gaming website and community is www.gameplanet.co.nz
Crime rates are generally much less than the US.
I'm a Kiwi.
I'm from Auckland.
You're doing the right thing.
After living in London (a city with roughly three times the pop'n of NZ!) Auckland will be where I go back to. (sure I'm from there... but I cant possibly be biased right?) - Wellington is smaller, quite compact. fine if you like that sort of thing I guess.
Crime is like any other city. South Auckland is the easy stereotype on where its more rampant, or possibly west... but I wouldn't suggest that its quite that simple - and I'm not going to endorse that stereotype.
I like the North Shore. Mainly residential areas and across the harbour from the CBD. But the other thing to realise is that it may be small population wise - but its actually one of the largest cities in the world geographically. (top 3 in the world I think). Plenty of choice ;-)
Games you'll be fine - some things like movies, get released before the UK. Australia bans more things in general than NZ. I wouldn't worry too much about the above post (never looked into manhunt though - to be fair) and my knowledge is more on banned movies that make their way to the shelves in NZ - hell, "banned in Australia" is almost a selling point... NZ had one of the highest uptakes of the internet (percentage-wise) in the world early on. The problem they had was that in being a smaller country, they didnt have the competition for the telecoms in terms of Broadband infrastructure. There's been a real backlash recently and a recent poll by the NZ herald newspaper actually showed surprisingly good speeds. It will get better now that Telecom has been forced to invest some more.
Generally speaking - the market in NZ is small, but just as sophisticated as any western country. In fact, coming to the UK made me realise how advanced some things are. Smaller population has lead to pretty rapid uptakes of certain technologies.
To rebutt the Ausie above (I kinda had to right?). Australia is like an annoying, slightly embarrassing older brother. Yes we're related in the strictest sense - but we've grown up trying to distance ourselves from them and their actions ;-)
(You'll find that all the joshing is pretty good natured between the two - unless you're talking sports of course... It that case? Its on.)
Here are my points.
1. If you want urban then choose Wellington over Auckland. It's prettier and more fun IMHO.
2. I saw plenty of cyber cafes with PC systems built for games so it is popular there. A concern would be lag when trying to get into larger servers that may be hosted in the more populated States.
3. There isn't much crime however there is a lot of drinking that can lead to some brawling and other stupid behavior.
...yeah.
Good luck finding somewhere inexpensive but in a good area to live in Auckland, it's one of if not the most expensive parts of the country to live in.
(I have to note though, I've never had to support myself in Wellington. Discussing it with friends however,
it sounds like Wellington is more expensive than Dunedin (where I'm living now) but a lot cheaper than Auckland)
Games are relatively prominent here, but a pretty large portion of society will look down on you for indulging in any non-rugby related pastime. Fuck those people though.
We do miss out on the occasional game, such as Katamari Damacy (we did get We
On the other hand, we often get stuff before the UK. There was almost no controversy* over GTA San Andreas, it was rated R18 from the beginning - a rating which is not the retail kiss of death it seems to be in America. They've only ever banned 2 games here, the aforementioned Manhunt, and Postal 2, albeit years after it was released.
Wellington is the biggest city I've ever lived in, so I don't have much perspective on this, but
I'm not really sure where you're going with the treatment of "outsiders" bit, then again you are from Australia, so if there was anyone a Kiwi would be recalcitrant towards...
In my (limited) experience, there's a lot more resistance to outsiders the further south you go. Wellington and Auckland would both be pretty relaxed about someone from overseas, places in the South Island can get uppity about people from other parts of the country.
Well, and a country-wide distaste for Auckland/Auckland-wide distaste for the rest of the country.
*I'm saying almost to cover my arse. As far as I can recall, there was no controversy at all.
Just to help, for an outsider... Auckland is the London of NZ. What I mean by this is that its the largest city by far. About a third of the populaion is there, so it gets the most attention. Just like London is viewed by the rest of the UK - people that dont live there get sick of hearing about it.
So, just to provide context:
People from Auckland will tell you its the best. People from outside Auckland will say that its just a big city, impersonal etc. You'll kind of need to think of where you're coming from.
Having visited Auckland again over Christmas after 4 years in the UK - I will personally never think of Auckland as a "Big City" again. Its got a fantastic culture, as does the rest of NZ. The benefits of it will be either the weather and location and the usual stuff to do with population. The benifits of elsewhere in NZ are the same; location (depending what you like) and the benefits that come with a smaller population.
People in NZ will talk about huge differences in the cultures of different areas - but the hard truth is that if you're coming from another country, you can expect:
Friendly people (wherever you go)
Great food and service
Relaxed lifestyle
Outdoors (sporty) culture (read: "healthy")
Try not to get bogged down in the local jibes about each area just yet
EDIT
And now all my home-based Kiwi friends have gone to bed While I'm at work in London-Time. There's nobody here to question my authority! ;-)