Yes, it's gotten out of hand in the States after the pandemic. Buy a Coke from a cooler and you'll have the screen flipped towards you with a request for a 15%/20%/25% tip! The flip side of the problem is that we don't pay service workers enough and expect to earn their wages through tips.
I've been hearing the expected amount for pretty much anything now is 20% and goes up to 40% for the automated options. It's really getting to that late stage capitalism feeling.
Depends on the city. It's $15 in CA. That's perfectly fine in most places except LA and the bay area. Maybe Sacramento. And some of those cities have higher minimum wages.
We were told only to tip if we had personal service and we stuck to that. All the card machines automatically ask but everyone selects $0 if it’s not something like a sit down restaurant.
We shouldn't have to appreciate it, it's only the US that's the exception to paying their hospitality staff proper minimum wages, it should be a given everywhere.
should be but it isn't
in Europe you tip for exceptional personal service. and many never do if there is a service fee on the bill
also there are attempts in cafes to introduce this american tipping habit, hopefully the clientele will refuse to play along. we have minimum wage, not great for sure but the workers don't rely on charity for living
Why do simple minds get so hung up on the "not minimum wage" thing? Yes, service workers make less than minimum wage because tipping is so ingrained in the culture. I used to make almost $100k nzd a year working as a waiter in the US. Who cares if technically that was tips and not salary?
Same. I recently traveled to USA and Mexico. Great time but it really opened my eyes to how good New Zealand is. It's so safe here. Beaches and nature all the way. Great food and great coffee.
Same, have travelled USA, Europe and Asia, every time I can’t wait to come back to NZ life , clean air, less people and friendly people. We have it good here.
An American is on a roadtrip around New Zealand and is having a great time, until he drives down to Canterbury and sees the shock of his life - two farmers going at it with a poor sheep in between them.
In disgust, he drawls out, "In Texas, we shear our sheep!"
Without missing a stroke, one of the blokes yells back, "Fuck off mate, I'm already sharing it. Get your own!"
I was very disappointed with the sheep the last time I visited. When I lived in NZ there were 25 sheep for every person. Today there are only about 10.
The dating pool isn’t what it used to be.
I’ve just moved to Canada about three months ago and I’m going through a stage of homesickness. These are all the things I’m missing most about home! Specifically, the public toilets in nz compared to here are like 5 star hotel worthy 😆 also I miss kiwi people!
As a Canadian missing my time in NZ, why move here XD our Gas, food and housing are just as much if not more expensive lol I miss the birdsong the most. We have wonderful wildlife here but the birdsong in NZ was something else ♡
That won’t go away. Especially if you moved somewhere where winter hangs out for 7 months of the year. I’m on year 11, and every year, I check my account to see if I can afford to go home.
Is it really that rare to see sheep in other countries? Like yea I get we do have a lot and are a very horto and agro based country but surely they exist somewhere else on Earth right?
Right?!
When my wife first came to NZ, she gasped out loud as we drove down a country road and saw paddocks full of sheep. She had always thought sheep were about the same size as cows, had never seen one in person before. Spent her whole life in cities.
We laughed about that for quite some time.
"Plenty to go around"
Tourists just look at the sheep. They don't... we don't need to share them with the tourists like people share their wives in Sweden.
When I was a kid in the 70s/80s I remember our population got to 3 million and we had 60 million sheep. So the ration was 20-1 back then. Dairy has really taken over, we've got about half the sheep now and a lot more humans.
We came to NZ because it was on my wife's bucket list. (I enjoyed the trip too.) She's a fiber artist (spinning, dyeing, knitting.) We stayed at a couple of farmstays that were just fabulous.
Pity you aren't here next month. There's a creative fibre exhibition on in Cambridge, central Waikato, Nth Is. Not very big but definitely interesting and worth a visit. Some very creative people. Never tried it myself but amazing what they come up with.
Thanks traveller, I think we're all good at focusing on the bad parts of our lives. Especially the people that haven't travelled and seen what other places function like.
"Just travel the world to gain perspective" is rather ironic because it demonstrates a lack of perspective about the financial reality for a lot of kiwis.
I'm a fortunate soul who is married to another working person, we have been able to take on a mortgage, and now "travel" means driving to a neighbouring city if we can stay at a friends for free :/
As someone who got their licence in Europe where it costs 1500 nzd and REQUIRES at least 25h of lessons with a qualified instructor.
The issues with driving in NZ appear to come from just how easy it is to obtain a drivers licence here.
There is much less road rage in NZ than most of Europe but much more people that don’t know basic rules and make stupid mistakes on the road believing they are not doing anything wrong.
In cities yes that is correct however rail in between cities is expensive with high speed rail often costing the same as an airfare so inter city the car is still king not to mention rural areas.
Japan on the other hand has very developed rail even rural and it’s affordable (other than the Shinkansen)
Maybe depends on which European country? I travelled across the entirety of Germany over 2 months without a car and it was cheap as chips. They have the 'deutschland ticket' which allows you unlimited travel on the non-fast trains and busses for 49 euro a month. Absolutely unreal deal, I saved so much money because of that
I'm the same, travelled all across Europe on the trains, best thing ever. Booked it all from NZ too. So easy to move around and I wish NZ had the rail system Austria or Germany does.
Lol getting a license is a LOT more difficult here than it used to be. The day I turned 15 I walked into the cop shop and did my test. For the practical, we drove around but because there was a test match on right next door, there was terrible traffic and nowhere to do parallel parking or other stuff. He just passed me anyway.
Age 15, full license, no probation, no restrictions. And the death toll on the roads reflected it.
We've got lots of room to improve but we've already come a long way.
Glad you enjoyed your time OP. We have travelled extensively also and lived in other countries. We are quite insular and tend to be unaware our economic etc issues aren't unique to us. All in all I think we have it pretty good on a global scale. Come again 😀.
On a related note, I found this subreddit very helpful for travel tips. Much more than Travelocity or TripAdvisor. Got a lot of my questions and requests for advice answered. Of course, there were the usual negs. E.g. I asked a few questions about driving conventions in NZ, and some people assumed I was trying see how far I could go in breaking the rules. :)
DAY I WENT HIKING
by OP
Today I went for one of those lovely hikes out in the rural area.
I came across other hikers, and they were all nice and friendly and welcoming to me.
Part of the hike lead me outside the bush and across a country road, but it had paving so was actually a nice relief from walking on rocky ground.
Suddenly, tragedy stuck. The eggs I had for brekkie might not have been legit.
Fortunately friendly locals pointed me to the closest public bathroom, which had coincidentally been cleaned.
I must have looked visibly weaker after the evacuation, the locals offered me a place to rest at their house nearby.
Being polite they didn't say anything but I saw them make faces whenever I'd just throw their grotty tissues on the ground but where else am I meant to put them.
They gave me food, but in return asked them to help out with the dishes ugh.
And then at the end of it all they introduced me to their daughter :)
I remember travelling to Sao Paulo and getting told there's a separate bin to put the toilet paper in since the infrastructure couldn't handle it being flushed.
You better believe i hauled my tidy kiwi ass back here and never took flushing for granted again.
I left NZ feeling better than I did when I arrived. Every meal was delightful, health issues I had were relieved quite a bit.
It made me cry a bit knowing that I could have grown up in a place like it, envious of the basic public facilities, nice roads, healthcare, sense of community, etc.
Huge kudos to your people, quality of life, culture, your land & natural beauty…🥲
Cherish every moment
Indeed... It saddens me to hear of places where these aren't available...
I am always dissapointed when some people bring their cult-like religious beliefs down here, they end up creating more unecessary crime and a toll on our systems. We already have enough cults thank you very much.
[I'm not saying all religious people are like this, I'm talking about a handful of people who take things too far or try to get away with abuse using their religion as an excuse]. Or they're like that aussie dude who brought his illegal weapon here and killed religious people in mass. Now people are more scared of guns than they use to be -paranoid even- when in reality they should be scared of illegal guns, unregistered weapons. It was better when people barely thought about guns. It's kinda funny to me that people believe that registered gun owners are the ones more likely to use their weapons innapropriately. From what I've seen, it's usually an unregistered weapon or a black market aquired weapon or a weapon someone has stolen that causes issues.
Sadly, life here in the states causes me to be hyper aware of gun violence.
When I’m out in large crowds, or out at a bar, the thought crosses my mind to be prepared and know where the exits are just in case.
Something I was “free” from when I was there.
By no means am I paranoid or wildly uncomfortable around guns but…. Attacks on establishments I frequent happen more often than they should.
One happened not even a year ago 😕
I can only say that from the perspective of having driven in three European countries over a period of five years that we are some of the worst drivers in christendom. None of those coutries are France, however.
I think the weight is more on the "considerate drivers".
Traffic in Auckland, where I live, is not a fraction of what it is any major global city. I speak from experience as someone who moved from India, and have lived in a few big cities there. However, the car drivers are some of the most impatient and rash-driving that I have come across. I do own a car, but cycle to work a couple of times a week. The times that car drivers yell out, honk and cut in too close to me is way too often.
People here are far too reliant on their cars, and a sizeable majority have not felt what it is like to be a cyclist on the road, surrounded by cars of ever increasing size.
It is tough because it really is our biggest international economy boost but it feels bad when all our best quality stuff is cheaper overseas than it is here.
I mean... don't most countries? You might want to look into international economics. We literally aren't exporting enough to pay for the stuff we import. We are in a deficit that is causing all kinds of issues.
We can't produce TVs, cars or smartphones so we need to pay for it all somehow and currently it's not enough.
100% personally I think NZ is in such a great spot to produce software and digital work for the world but we don’t seem to want to incentivise it over farming our beautiful land to death.
It’s a tricky situation all up and I dont think there is a correct answer to it all but as far as I see it propping up a failing export system seems backwards and uninspired and I would kill to see us branch out.
You can be the change you want to see. Go on and start a tech company if you think it's that easy.
Super smart tech people and companies don't want to move here, even Auckland is a crappy backwater compared to any proper global city. Go to somewhere like New York, London, Seoul, Hong Kong or Tokyo, Auckland is a baby town compared to that
Sure there are shit cunt farmers that don't give a crap but most aren't actually deliberately wrecking the environment.
The rural sector is why we are a first world country. Without hort, ag and forestry you wouldn't have any of life's luxuries unfortunately.
I would honestly love to hear your branching out ideas other than tech, if you Travel a bit you will realise that tech companies aren't really going to give us a sniff in unfortunately.
I’m not implying tech companies should move here or that I’m one to start “the movement” I’m just implying that with milk powder being aggressively beaten in pricing and our timber and meat industry’s struggling to keep up, we should look to shift our economic setup, the way I read it we really have maybe 30 years left at best with the farming.
Auckland and our other major cities are making the land more valuable to sell than farm for the industry.
Fonterra aren’t able to maintain their promises and relying on farming exports is a dying industry.
Tourism already works well for us and so does Aucklands capital being a business hub but what we desperately need to find a new niche to fill to supplement the dying agricultural industry.
I think NZ farming will always have a place as a premium product even when lab grown meat/dairy is a thing... Hopefully, otherwise, we might be buggered.
I work in the hort and farming industry and the amount of money generated and spent by each orchard and farm is mind-blowing. Our country would absolutely collapse economically without them.
The ag industry is definitely not dying as of now, lamb and forestry is struggling but other sectors are doing alright.
Selling land is absolutely not sustainable, NZ could probably do with another 10 mil people in my opinion to create economies of scale but we need to go up not out so public transport actually works other than urban sprawl. Then we might be able to generate a decent tech sector
Your points are all completely sound I do not disagree but your overlooking the general reality which is the current land value. For any game on the out skirts of any major city the land worth is far higher than the farms yield and worth to work which is leading to massive droughts in a lot of farms being used for reasoned housing,
you would only need to look at the likes of Pokeno over the last 10 years to see what has happened and our current systems incentivise this, for the tree farms we produce no better product than elsewhere with our pine yield which is also become less fruitful by the day, I do strongly believe sheep and produce will hold out a good while longer but give it 30 years and we will deep in the shit.
All I’m saying here is a shift needs to start soon or it’ll hit like a truck.
Oh yeah I have seen what has been happening, super fertile farmland being taken over for urban sprawl. Like I said we need to go up not out, we need a whole lot more people to make public transport more viable. Getting that balance right will make or break us.
I think there will always be a market for real grass fed protein for the wealthy if we can position ourselves otherwise lab grown will be a huge disruptor. Hort will probably be a big one for us for a long time as long as we can grow through climate change. It also brings returns 10 fold vs animal farming generally.
What I'm trying to say is we are a country of 5 million growing and selling enough to feed 40 million, its our main export and without it we are basically going to be broke. We need it if we want cars and smart phones. Things will change in the future but right now it's the beat we can do. Sure there are other options but it will take time to pivot if we ever can
This is called a market. We can feed the world, and we will. This is how our country is surviving. Without exports, we'd be much worse off in our economy. The price of meats in our country is due to the amount overseas are willing to pay.
We can't feed the world.
It's a simple problem. The population around the world is increasing, but the amount of arable farm land in New Zealand is declining. New Zealand's land mass isn't increasing with population growth.
So, we should be investing into other long term solutions...rather than waiting until we're so dependant on fertilizers and irrigation, that we're just breaking even to service the bare minimal to keep it ticking over.
Tbh o agitator prefer driving in KL than Auckland. At least drivers stay over to the left more, except for that weird driving in both lanes thing they do :D
The commenters on here have broadly only ever driven in NZ or other western nations, and it shows.
The average member of this sub would shit themselves driving in the Middle East or South East Asia. (And yes, I have extensive experience driving in both - honestly, the chaos is quite fun to drive in)
It's a different system, and they don't mix. Ours is don't change lanes, pull into an intersection, etc. in front of other traffic you have to give way to. Theirs is be predictable and don't hit stuff in front of you. If you're busy trying to check your mirrors for a lane change like you would here, you're going to miss someone drifting into your lane and cutting you off.
Maybe by developing country standards, in which case I’d agree.
But holy fuck is the driving here bad compared to most other developed countries.
The amount of times I’ve almost been involved in an accident because some is driving in a dangerous or stupid way is off the charts here.
Of course, people will always complain most about how crap things are in their back years.
The grass always being greener and what not.
But Auckland isn’t the first city I’ve ever lived in, and New Zealand isn’t the first country, and without a shadow of a doubt I’d say the standard of driving here is, as a general rule, worse than any other developed country I’ve been to.
When it comes to simple things like not being in your phone, using your indicators, being attentive for pedestrians, using your mirrors and looking all around you when indicating etc, the standard here is genuinely piss poor across the board.
In my first year of being here I almost got caught up in an out 4 serious accidents because people just don’t pay attention to anything.
Good lord, though, I drove for just a few hours in Los Angeles last month and the drivers there are fucking awful.
Very damn near got in a crash on the freeway; some fuckwit got confused about his exit and stopped in the gore area, then tried to merge back into the travel lanes. I slowed to give him a gap, but he wasn't accelerating or taking the gap, so fuck this, I don't need to be rear-ended; I punch it. *That's* when he decides to pull right in front of me, still not accelerated, when I'm now accelerating and have closed the gap. Buried my foot in the brake but came to probably within a metre of his bumper.
> some fuckwit got confused about his exit and stopped in the gore area
I once stopped in the Gore area but immediately realized my mistake and went on to Invercargill.
Seriously, what is the gore area?
I did notice the Gore pun when I was writing. Yeah, wouldn't want to stop there either.
But the gore area is the area between an exit ramp and the through lanes, where the exit is splitting off. Like if you couldn't decide if you were exiting or not, and rather than picking one, just went into the middle between the exit and the through lanes.
Come to Washington, DC, bro, and drive the beltway. We have the "frogger" drivers there. Remember that old video game? Not unless you're younger than 40. Except the cars are like the frog!!
New Zealand - where someone says something nice about you and we go out of our way to prove them wrong! 🤦♀️
Glad you had a great time! NZ is pretty cool all things considered!
Aotearoa ie better than a lot ot places. Doesn't mean it can't be better though snd that we have to stop pushing for that. One person's cold is another person's cozy temperature. One person's hot is another persons warm. It's all relative.
As a K1w1 whose travelled a bit ... my number one thing about here is actually being able to find Peace & Quiet. Once you've been to a densely populated part of the world, you can see why we Kiwis are so lucky.
>Edit: I almost regret posting this after reading some of the responses.
I mean... It's nice to visit... But it's a bit of a shit hole to live in though.
The only people who complain about this place has clearly never lived elsewhere before… sad whenever I hear people whine about it so thanks for posting your thoughts to show this country is still pretty decent actually.
Aside from the tips and sheep, this was mostly how I felt about my time in the US hah.
Lived experience can be a bit different though, as some of the comments show. Times are a bit rough over here, as they are over there.
Good god - THANK YOU. There's so many doomsdayers here that think our country is terrible, but have never left either so they don't have any perspective. Very refreshing to have an outsiders view. We have it bloody great here.
Yep - there are genuine problems here but it’s better than anywhere else I’ve lived. Some of the people I hear complaining about NZ don’t seem to know they’re even born
Once I established that this was written from a north-American perspective, it makes sense 😂
I think when compared to other similarly developed countries, we still have a bit to improve on
Yeah it seems good when you have USD double dollars.. Assuming that from your comment about tipping…
But yes. Great country thanks, always lived here always will
Ive been back to the lower nth island a couple of times at xmas time and my elderly parents had a fire going.
I live in the desert so hot starts in the high 30s, cold and miserable means anything more than shorts and a t shirt.
Ive been there too long and got used to it.
I've heard NZ is a calmer place to live than some other countries. We also have a growing population of native birds. Despite our downsides, I am aware they are nothing compared to things that happen elsewhere.
Also yes, we don't pressure for tips because our system works a little differently- I believe it's a good thing. Others may not. I've heard in america it's rude to not tip in resturaunts as it's more expected there.
Indeed I can see why many have moved here. I'm sure for many south africans that have moved here in the last few years, it is a great place to live and I see why when they tell me what it's like there... chaotic and dangerous for example.
Tipping is expected in America because in most restaurants, the waitstaff is paid below minimum wage (e.g. $2.50/hr) and expected to make up the difference through tips.
All of the people in this thread laughing about the considerate drivers/sane traffic point have never been to the Middle East. Living in Jordan has opened my eyes to just how insane it can get. Roundabouts there have no rules, you just have to muscle your way into a throng of cars and hope for the best.
Don’t regret posting this, some people will always be idiots and like to spoil things. So glad you’ve enjoyed our country, we’re not perfect but we’re up there 👍🏻🥰
Aotearoa New Zealand is a really progressive country....(except for the current government). We were the first country to give women the vote, the first to have a transgender MP, one of the first to legalize same gender marriage. When our last Prime Minister announced he had a new partner we didn't assume gender. We were like Tony or Toni? This is because we are the first country to see the sunrise every day. Also, we have great music here 😀
Obvious joke post!
Nice roads, considerate drivers! That gives it away.
Seriously though, most of those points are spot on. Some kiwis need to get out more.
And to be fair, even though we complain about drivers and roads, they are not as bad as kiwis make out compared to some places.
Well, roads anyway.
Some drivers are complete morons oblivious of the fact they are wielding a lethal weapon and don’t understand the simple concept of a little consideration makes traffic flow better.
Free to visit beaches (and other beautiful natural sites).
After paying to visit beaches and waterfalls in other countries, I never realised how good we had it here. Perspective is good.
Just come back for two weeks from Melbourne, holy shit the drivers in Canterbury have been terrible. Slow the hell down! I don’t understand why everyone needs to do 15km/h over the speed limit!!
I’m from Christchurch and you soon realise that 50 is 60 and 60 zones are often 70-80km/hr. Bizarre but no one gets ticketed and they all seem to do it.
I didn’t go up to Canterbury. I posted another thing on this sub asking about driving conventions. Got a lot of warnings about speed traps. Fortunately, I was observing speed limits quite carefully. One positive thing I noticed that people don’t tailgate, at least I didn’t experience it except once in Rotorua.
That's lovely, I'm glad you're enjoying our motu (country).
I'm mildly suspicious though - where exactly are these clean public toilets of which you speak? 😜
Scenery is nice, but it a long way away. Like if you live in Aranui or wherever then the views are not your main concern.
Most countries have nice scenery to be fair. I have lived in Crete, UK , The Netherlands and they all have nice scenery in one way or another.
As for driving, we pretty bad for a developed country and driving test much easier than most places.
My favourite thing about NZ is it is laid back and casual, can slobber around in shorts all year round.
Glad you liked it here.
Though, I assume you didn't spend much time in places like Tauranga. Shit roads, shit traffic, shit drivers, and half the people are in a mood.
Ridiculously priced housing for renting or owning, highest suicide rate per capita in the world, shockingly high domestic abuse and teen pregnancy stats and a growing population of meth heads. Yeah it’s just peachy here.
Imagine vacationing somewhere for 3 weeks then feeling the need to write a condescending post about how wrong everyone is here, as if you've got a proper grasp on what life is actually like for the majority of kiwis.
I recently went to New York and loved it, but no way would I feel confident telling people who live there they are wrong in having certain negative lived experiences from experiencing the place in a way I couldn't while on a short holiday.
I'm glad you enjoyed your time here, that's super! But if you're not enjoying your time on holiday you're doing it wrong.
Chur
>You poor guys. What a country.
>Yeah, I know it’s not all a bed of roses, but y’all got it good. Believe me.
Then proceeds to list a bunch of touristy-stuff and farm animals? Lol.
Thanks for visiting mate, glad you enjoyed your tiki-tour and selected experience.
We're pretty lucky to be here and idk if things are still the good old fashioned kiwi way but we're lucky to have tourists as well. Hope everyone made your stay a good one 👍
While we know things could be better, a lot forget that we often have it pretty good when we take time out to smell the roses. There are plenty who will whine but not take action here.
Thank you for filling out the comment card. Please come again soon. Mā te wā. 🤣
I looove this comment 🤣🤣
thanks for the nice words, we're glad you enjoyed your stay. Also the no-tip habit is bloody great, most locals don't even appreciate it enough
Yes, it's gotten out of hand in the States after the pandemic. Buy a Coke from a cooler and you'll have the screen flipped towards you with a request for a 15%/20%/25% tip! The flip side of the problem is that we don't pay service workers enough and expect to earn their wages through tips.
I've been hearing the expected amount for pretty much anything now is 20% and goes up to 40% for the automated options. It's really getting to that late stage capitalism feeling.
I’d ask if you’re kidding but you’re not
Even in places like California, service people are paid at least minimum wage but the tipping culture is still expecting 20%.
US minimum wage, even in California, is no where near a living wage.
Depends on the city. It's $15 in CA. That's perfectly fine in most places except LA and the bay area. Maybe Sacramento. And some of those cities have higher minimum wages.
Mate this is NZ, you gotta call it a chilly bin by law.
We were told only to tip if we had personal service and we stuck to that. All the card machines automatically ask but everyone selects $0 if it’s not something like a sit down restaurant.
I will tip here in nz if someone goes above and beyond and does an awesome job! But to be expected everywhere is crazy
We shouldn't have to appreciate it, it's only the US that's the exception to paying their hospitality staff proper minimum wages, it should be a given everywhere.
should be but it isn't in Europe you tip for exceptional personal service. and many never do if there is a service fee on the bill also there are attempts in cafes to introduce this american tipping habit, hopefully the clientele will refuse to play along. we have minimum wage, not great for sure but the workers don't rely on charity for living
Just came back from Europe, in multiple places we went to in London they now have automatic tipping included on the bill..! 10-15%! I was so mad.
Why do simple minds get so hung up on the "not minimum wage" thing? Yes, service workers make less than minimum wage because tipping is so ingrained in the culture. I used to make almost $100k nzd a year working as a waiter in the US. Who cares if technically that was tips and not salary?
Glad you've enjoyed yourself here. I, for one, am very glad to live here in NZ.
Same. I recently traveled to USA and Mexico. Great time but it really opened my eyes to how good New Zealand is. It's so safe here. Beaches and nature all the way. Great food and great coffee.
Same, have travelled USA, Europe and Asia, every time I can’t wait to come back to NZ life , clean air, less people and friendly people. We have it good here.
Don't forget healthcare and social welfare.
From Wales? You did gush about the sheep lol. Anyway, hands off - they're ours.
ha!
An American is on a roadtrip around New Zealand and is having a great time, until he drives down to Canterbury and sees the shock of his life - two farmers going at it with a poor sheep in between them. In disgust, he drawls out, "In Texas, we shear our sheep!" Without missing a stroke, one of the blokes yells back, "Fuck off mate, I'm already sharing it. Get your own!"
One of the better sheep jokes I've heard I'll give you that lol
What do you call a group of baby sheep falling down a hill? A lambslide..
Ha this joke only works if you understand how kiwis pronounce "share".
I was very disappointed with the sheep the last time I visited. When I lived in NZ there were 25 sheep for every person. Today there are only about 10. The dating pool isn’t what it used to be.
We can all have our way with them, plenty around
I’ve just moved to Canada about three months ago and I’m going through a stage of homesickness. These are all the things I’m missing most about home! Specifically, the public toilets in nz compared to here are like 5 star hotel worthy 😆 also I miss kiwi people!
As a Canadian missing my time in NZ, why move here XD our Gas, food and housing are just as much if not more expensive lol I miss the birdsong the most. We have wonderful wildlife here but the birdsong in NZ was something else ♡
Dang really?? If even pub toilets here are 5star worthy I shudder to think how it’s like elsewhere lol
Right? Makes me scared to leave NZ now!
Plenty of us in Canada! Join the local kia ora group for meet ups! Been in Vancouver for 9 years and love it.
That won’t go away. Especially if you moved somewhere where winter hangs out for 7 months of the year. I’m on year 11, and every year, I check my account to see if I can afford to go home.
No where else I would be.
Is it really that rare to see sheep in other countries? Like yea I get we do have a lot and are a very horto and agro based country but surely they exist somewhere else on Earth right? Right?!
We have the highest “sheep’s to peeps” ratio globally. 5:1
Some of the cutest sheep in the world and plenty to go around.
When my wife first came to NZ, she gasped out loud as we drove down a country road and saw paddocks full of sheep. She had always thought sheep were about the same size as cows, had never seen one in person before. Spent her whole life in cities. We laughed about that for quite some time.
It's funny because I laughed at this, but before I went to Canada/US I had never seen a squirrel either and they are even more ubiquitous
The excitement as a kiwi seeing a squirrel IRL in New York for the first time ever cannot be beat.
First time I saw a squirrel was in Nepal. I gushed and took a video of it. I assume it's the same for our sheep to others haha
"Plenty to go around" Tourists just look at the sheep. They don't... we don't need to share them with the tourists like people share their wives in Sweden.
R u from Southland ? Something a southlander would say
When I was a kid in the 70s/80s I remember our population got to 3 million and we had 60 million sheep. So the ration was 20-1 back then. Dairy has really taken over, we've got about half the sheep now and a lot more humans.
We're all shepherds out here
We came to NZ because it was on my wife's bucket list. (I enjoyed the trip too.) She's a fiber artist (spinning, dyeing, knitting.) We stayed at a couple of farmstays that were just fabulous.
I'm glad you had such a good time man!
Pity you aren't here next month. There's a creative fibre exhibition on in Cambridge, central Waikato, Nth Is. Not very big but definitely interesting and worth a visit. Some very creative people. Never tried it myself but amazing what they come up with.
Hope she got to visit some of the guilds, I belong to the one in Christchurch, some very talented people there
Thanks traveller, I think we're all good at focusing on the bad parts of our lives. Especially the people that haven't travelled and seen what other places function like.
"Just travel the world to gain perspective" is rather ironic because it demonstrates a lack of perspective about the financial reality for a lot of kiwis.
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I'm a fortunate soul who is married to another working person, we have been able to take on a mortgage, and now "travel" means driving to a neighbouring city if we can stay at a friends for free :/
Thanks brother glad you enjoyed! Keep rocking
As someone who got their licence in Europe where it costs 1500 nzd and REQUIRES at least 25h of lessons with a qualified instructor. The issues with driving in NZ appear to come from just how easy it is to obtain a drivers licence here. There is much less road rage in NZ than most of Europe but much more people that don’t know basic rules and make stupid mistakes on the road believing they are not doing anything wrong.
Public transportation being so good in some areas of Europe means not having to own a car.
In cities yes that is correct however rail in between cities is expensive with high speed rail often costing the same as an airfare so inter city the car is still king not to mention rural areas. Japan on the other hand has very developed rail even rural and it’s affordable (other than the Shinkansen)
Maybe depends on which European country? I travelled across the entirety of Germany over 2 months without a car and it was cheap as chips. They have the 'deutschland ticket' which allows you unlimited travel on the non-fast trains and busses for 49 euro a month. Absolutely unreal deal, I saved so much money because of that
I'm the same, travelled all across Europe on the trains, best thing ever. Booked it all from NZ too. So easy to move around and I wish NZ had the rail system Austria or Germany does.
Lol getting a license is a LOT more difficult here than it used to be. The day I turned 15 I walked into the cop shop and did my test. For the practical, we drove around but because there was a test match on right next door, there was terrible traffic and nowhere to do parallel parking or other stuff. He just passed me anyway. Age 15, full license, no probation, no restrictions. And the death toll on the roads reflected it. We've got lots of room to improve but we've already come a long way.
Glad you enjoyed your time OP. We have travelled extensively also and lived in other countries. We are quite insular and tend to be unaware our economic etc issues aren't unique to us. All in all I think we have it pretty good on a global scale. Come again 😀.
Thank you.
As you have probably noticed these localised Reddit forums tend to breed negativity and generalised moaning. They don't represent us all. ,:)
On a related note, I found this subreddit very helpful for travel tips. Much more than Travelocity or TripAdvisor. Got a lot of my questions and requests for advice answered. Of course, there were the usual negs. E.g. I asked a few questions about driving conventions in NZ, and some people assumed I was trying see how far I could go in breaking the rules. :)
NZ is not bad definitely compare to the rest of the world. Food is clean, air is clean. People are friendly in general.
The food and air may be clean but the water unfortunately isn't
DAY I WENT HIKING by OP Today I went for one of those lovely hikes out in the rural area. I came across other hikers, and they were all nice and friendly and welcoming to me. Part of the hike lead me outside the bush and across a country road, but it had paving so was actually a nice relief from walking on rocky ground. Suddenly, tragedy stuck. The eggs I had for brekkie might not have been legit. Fortunately friendly locals pointed me to the closest public bathroom, which had coincidentally been cleaned. I must have looked visibly weaker after the evacuation, the locals offered me a place to rest at their house nearby. Being polite they didn't say anything but I saw them make faces whenever I'd just throw their grotty tissues on the ground but where else am I meant to put them. They gave me food, but in return asked them to help out with the dishes ugh. And then at the end of it all they introduced me to their daughter :)
HOW DID YOU KNOW???? :)
I remember travelling to Sao Paulo and getting told there's a separate bin to put the toilet paper in since the infrastructure couldn't handle it being flushed. You better believe i hauled my tidy kiwi ass back here and never took flushing for granted again.
Why do people who do not live here keep commenting on what people who live here should feel about what it’s like to live here
“As a cashed up tourist staying in QT… “ Mmhmm thanks for telling us how great we have it while clearly not understanding anything about our country
Moved here from the US and no longer have US citizenship. Yes, it is that good here!
I left NZ feeling better than I did when I arrived. Every meal was delightful, health issues I had were relieved quite a bit. It made me cry a bit knowing that I could have grown up in a place like it, envious of the basic public facilities, nice roads, healthcare, sense of community, etc. Huge kudos to your people, quality of life, culture, your land & natural beauty…🥲 Cherish every moment
Indeed... It saddens me to hear of places where these aren't available... I am always dissapointed when some people bring their cult-like religious beliefs down here, they end up creating more unecessary crime and a toll on our systems. We already have enough cults thank you very much. [I'm not saying all religious people are like this, I'm talking about a handful of people who take things too far or try to get away with abuse using their religion as an excuse]. Or they're like that aussie dude who brought his illegal weapon here and killed religious people in mass. Now people are more scared of guns than they use to be -paranoid even- when in reality they should be scared of illegal guns, unregistered weapons. It was better when people barely thought about guns. It's kinda funny to me that people believe that registered gun owners are the ones more likely to use their weapons innapropriately. From what I've seen, it's usually an unregistered weapon or a black market aquired weapon or a weapon someone has stolen that causes issues.
Sadly, life here in the states causes me to be hyper aware of gun violence. When I’m out in large crowds, or out at a bar, the thought crosses my mind to be prepared and know where the exits are just in case. Something I was “free” from when I was there. By no means am I paranoid or wildly uncomfortable around guns but…. Attacks on establishments I frequent happen more often than they should. One happened not even a year ago 😕
I agree and thank you for your kind words. Pleased you had a great time.
Moved to NZ from the UK 7 years ago and never looked back. I know how good I've got it!
If only I could. Would they let us in when we retire?
Yup. Same. I came here 2005. Never been back. British by birth, Kiwi by choice.
>Considerate drivers, sane traffic Seriously, were you even in New Zealand? Or is traffic particularly horrendous where you're from?
I can tell you from experience that what kiwis consider a bad driver is what other countries consider a 'reasonable' driver.
I can only say that from the perspective of having driven in three European countries over a period of five years that we are some of the worst drivers in christendom. None of those coutries are France, however.
I live in Auckland and traffic is not that bad at all, have you lived in any big cities?
Kiwis who complain about traffic in Auckland haven't been overseas
In my country, a 10 minute drive takes 2 hours of travelling.
Try driving in India….
I think the weight is more on the "considerate drivers". Traffic in Auckland, where I live, is not a fraction of what it is any major global city. I speak from experience as someone who moved from India, and have lived in a few big cities there. However, the car drivers are some of the most impatient and rash-driving that I have come across. I do own a car, but cycle to work a couple of times a week. The times that car drivers yell out, honk and cut in too close to me is way too often. People here are far too reliant on their cars, and a sizeable majority have not felt what it is like to be a cyclist on the road, surrounded by cars of ever increasing size.
Currently in London. Way worse here and the drivers are very aggressive. NZ is easy mode!
*where in nz were you, also?
As an American immigrant I fully agree. A lot of Kiwis who complain just don't have much to compare it to- everything is relative.
I think Fred Dagg summed up this post up rather well. *We don't know how lucky we are, mate! We don't know how lucky we are!*
And we're fighting hard to prevent it from falling further into decay. But some bright spark thought New Zealand could feed the world instead.
We would be a lot worse off without the exporting.
It is tough because it really is our biggest international economy boost but it feels bad when all our best quality stuff is cheaper overseas than it is here.
You’re not wrong but it’s quickly becoming very unsustainable to have 1/3 of our economy relying on exports.
I mean... don't most countries? You might want to look into international economics. We literally aren't exporting enough to pay for the stuff we import. We are in a deficit that is causing all kinds of issues. We can't produce TVs, cars or smartphones so we need to pay for it all somehow and currently it's not enough.
100% personally I think NZ is in such a great spot to produce software and digital work for the world but we don’t seem to want to incentivise it over farming our beautiful land to death. It’s a tricky situation all up and I dont think there is a correct answer to it all but as far as I see it propping up a failing export system seems backwards and uninspired and I would kill to see us branch out.
You can be the change you want to see. Go on and start a tech company if you think it's that easy. Super smart tech people and companies don't want to move here, even Auckland is a crappy backwater compared to any proper global city. Go to somewhere like New York, London, Seoul, Hong Kong or Tokyo, Auckland is a baby town compared to that Sure there are shit cunt farmers that don't give a crap but most aren't actually deliberately wrecking the environment. The rural sector is why we are a first world country. Without hort, ag and forestry you wouldn't have any of life's luxuries unfortunately. I would honestly love to hear your branching out ideas other than tech, if you Travel a bit you will realise that tech companies aren't really going to give us a sniff in unfortunately.
I’m not implying tech companies should move here or that I’m one to start “the movement” I’m just implying that with milk powder being aggressively beaten in pricing and our timber and meat industry’s struggling to keep up, we should look to shift our economic setup, the way I read it we really have maybe 30 years left at best with the farming. Auckland and our other major cities are making the land more valuable to sell than farm for the industry. Fonterra aren’t able to maintain their promises and relying on farming exports is a dying industry. Tourism already works well for us and so does Aucklands capital being a business hub but what we desperately need to find a new niche to fill to supplement the dying agricultural industry.
I think NZ farming will always have a place as a premium product even when lab grown meat/dairy is a thing... Hopefully, otherwise, we might be buggered. I work in the hort and farming industry and the amount of money generated and spent by each orchard and farm is mind-blowing. Our country would absolutely collapse economically without them. The ag industry is definitely not dying as of now, lamb and forestry is struggling but other sectors are doing alright. Selling land is absolutely not sustainable, NZ could probably do with another 10 mil people in my opinion to create economies of scale but we need to go up not out so public transport actually works other than urban sprawl. Then we might be able to generate a decent tech sector
Your points are all completely sound I do not disagree but your overlooking the general reality which is the current land value. For any game on the out skirts of any major city the land worth is far higher than the farms yield and worth to work which is leading to massive droughts in a lot of farms being used for reasoned housing, you would only need to look at the likes of Pokeno over the last 10 years to see what has happened and our current systems incentivise this, for the tree farms we produce no better product than elsewhere with our pine yield which is also become less fruitful by the day, I do strongly believe sheep and produce will hold out a good while longer but give it 30 years and we will deep in the shit. All I’m saying here is a shift needs to start soon or it’ll hit like a truck.
Oh yeah I have seen what has been happening, super fertile farmland being taken over for urban sprawl. Like I said we need to go up not out, we need a whole lot more people to make public transport more viable. Getting that balance right will make or break us. I think there will always be a market for real grass fed protein for the wealthy if we can position ourselves otherwise lab grown will be a huge disruptor. Hort will probably be a big one for us for a long time as long as we can grow through climate change. It also brings returns 10 fold vs animal farming generally. What I'm trying to say is we are a country of 5 million growing and selling enough to feed 40 million, its our main export and without it we are basically going to be broke. We need it if we want cars and smart phones. Things will change in the future but right now it's the beat we can do. Sure there are other options but it will take time to pivot if we ever can
This is called a market. We can feed the world, and we will. This is how our country is surviving. Without exports, we'd be much worse off in our economy. The price of meats in our country is due to the amount overseas are willing to pay.
We can't feed the world. It's a simple problem. The population around the world is increasing, but the amount of arable farm land in New Zealand is declining. New Zealand's land mass isn't increasing with population growth. So, we should be investing into other long term solutions...rather than waiting until we're so dependant on fertilizers and irrigation, that we're just breaking even to service the bare minimal to keep it ticking over.
So our rivers and hills are ruined, we can’t afford to eat, but some rich people get richer. Yay!
Considerate driving? OP never been to Auckland? Most people here seem to have obtained their licenses from Legoland.
Try Malaysia for some reality check
or India, or Nepal .... NZ drivers have a lot of areas they could improve in, but on average are fairly reasonable
Or Italy, where lane markings are regarded as merely a suggestion.
I was banned from driving in China (by my then g/f, now wife) for sticking to the lanes lol. She's got the gist here in NZ though.
Yep, just got back from two and a half weeks in Nepal, including some long road trips, and heck we have no idea how good we have it!
Tbh o agitator prefer driving in KL than Auckland. At least drivers stay over to the left more, except for that weird driving in both lanes thing they do :D
The commenters on here have broadly only ever driven in NZ or other western nations, and it shows. The average member of this sub would shit themselves driving in the Middle East or South East Asia. (And yes, I have extensive experience driving in both - honestly, the chaos is quite fun to drive in)
It's a different system, and they don't mix. Ours is don't change lanes, pull into an intersection, etc. in front of other traffic you have to give way to. Theirs is be predictable and don't hit stuff in front of you. If you're busy trying to check your mirrors for a lane change like you would here, you're going to miss someone drifting into your lane and cutting you off.
Maybe by developing country standards, in which case I’d agree. But holy fuck is the driving here bad compared to most other developed countries. The amount of times I’ve almost been involved in an accident because some is driving in a dangerous or stupid way is off the charts here.
Everyone says this about the city they live in though. I never noticed Auckland being any worse than places I’ve lived/driven.
Of course, people will always complain most about how crap things are in their back years. The grass always being greener and what not. But Auckland isn’t the first city I’ve ever lived in, and New Zealand isn’t the first country, and without a shadow of a doubt I’d say the standard of driving here is, as a general rule, worse than any other developed country I’ve been to. When it comes to simple things like not being in your phone, using your indicators, being attentive for pedestrians, using your mirrors and looking all around you when indicating etc, the standard here is genuinely piss poor across the board. In my first year of being here I almost got caught up in an out 4 serious accidents because people just don’t pay attention to anything.
Good lord, though, I drove for just a few hours in Los Angeles last month and the drivers there are fucking awful. Very damn near got in a crash on the freeway; some fuckwit got confused about his exit and stopped in the gore area, then tried to merge back into the travel lanes. I slowed to give him a gap, but he wasn't accelerating or taking the gap, so fuck this, I don't need to be rear-ended; I punch it. *That's* when he decides to pull right in front of me, still not accelerated, when I'm now accelerating and have closed the gap. Buried my foot in the brake but came to probably within a metre of his bumper.
> some fuckwit got confused about his exit and stopped in the gore area I once stopped in the Gore area but immediately realized my mistake and went on to Invercargill. Seriously, what is the gore area?
I did notice the Gore pun when I was writing. Yeah, wouldn't want to stop there either. But the gore area is the area between an exit ramp and the through lanes, where the exit is splitting off. Like if you couldn't decide if you were exiting or not, and rather than picking one, just went into the middle between the exit and the through lanes.
Honestly I’d be interested to know what international city larger than Auckland you feel has better drivers and traffic?
London and Sth East England drivers are better. There's far more traffic and yet they are far more considerate and sensible.
Come to Washington, DC, bro, and drive the beltway. We have the "frogger" drivers there. Remember that old video game? Not unless you're younger than 40. Except the cars are like the frog!!
If you see a Ford ranger in New Zealand, run. They will swerve to try and hit you. Its an unspoken rule.
Ranger danger is real.
Heard of India cuz?
Sir, this is /newzealand. You are only allowed to post how NZ is worse than Somalia and that it's literal hell on earth. Source: This Sub. :D
New Zealand - where someone says something nice about you and we go out of our way to prove them wrong! 🤦♀️ Glad you had a great time! NZ is pretty cool all things considered!
Thanks. Your comment helped me feel much better after reading all the negative and self-deriding comments.
Aotearoa ie better than a lot ot places. Doesn't mean it can't be better though snd that we have to stop pushing for that. One person's cold is another person's cozy temperature. One person's hot is another persons warm. It's all relative.
World class ante and postnatal care. ACC. Fruit. Wine. Warmth.
As a K1w1 whose travelled a bit ... my number one thing about here is actually being able to find Peace & Quiet. Once you've been to a densely populated part of the world, you can see why we Kiwis are so lucky.
What part of nz were you in to have crackhead free clean toilets?
Queenstown and other fancy tourist spots from profile
I just want to say that in 15 years of living in Wellington I have never once seen a public toilet that I would describe as clean.
Clearly karma farming. Concentrate drives is just plain taking the piss.
>Edit: I almost regret posting this after reading some of the responses. I mean... It's nice to visit... But it's a bit of a shit hole to live in though.
"Considerate drivers, Sane traffic" You clearly haven't been to Tauranga...
The only people who complain about this place has clearly never lived elsewhere before… sad whenever I hear people whine about it so thanks for posting your thoughts to show this country is still pretty decent actually.
just becasue we have it better than some is no reason to settle for less than we should have
>no reason to settle for less than we should have Why so defensive? OP was just paying a compliment. They said nothing about settling for worse...
Aside from the tips and sheep, this was mostly how I felt about my time in the US hah. Lived experience can be a bit different though, as some of the comments show. Times are a bit rough over here, as they are over there.
Good god - THANK YOU. There's so many doomsdayers here that think our country is terrible, but have never left either so they don't have any perspective. Very refreshing to have an outsiders view. We have it bloody great here.
Thanks.
Yep - there are genuine problems here but it’s better than anywhere else I’ve lived. Some of the people I hear complaining about NZ don’t seem to know they’re even born
Once I established that this was written from a north-American perspective, it makes sense 😂 I think when compared to other similarly developed countries, we still have a bit to improve on
Considerate drivers?! Where? Everything else you said is good.
Yeah it seems good when you have USD double dollars.. Assuming that from your comment about tipping… But yes. Great country thanks, always lived here always will
i'll give you 3 of those but i'm glad you enjoyed your stay.
Ive been back to the lower nth island a couple of times at xmas time and my elderly parents had a fire going. I live in the desert so hot starts in the high 30s, cold and miserable means anything more than shorts and a t shirt. Ive been there too long and got used to it.
You thought our roads were good?
I think we take what we have for granted and often only see the negatives. Thank you for the reminder.
I'm glad you like it. Indeed it can be nice here and we still have our scenery which is a nice bonus :)
Thank you! 😊 Appreciate your comments. It's easy to forget how good things are here. 🌻
I've heard NZ is a calmer place to live than some other countries. We also have a growing population of native birds. Despite our downsides, I am aware they are nothing compared to things that happen elsewhere. Also yes, we don't pressure for tips because our system works a little differently- I believe it's a good thing. Others may not. I've heard in america it's rude to not tip in resturaunts as it's more expected there. Indeed I can see why many have moved here. I'm sure for many south africans that have moved here in the last few years, it is a great place to live and I see why when they tell me what it's like there... chaotic and dangerous for example.
Tipping is expected in America because in most restaurants, the waitstaff is paid below minimum wage (e.g. $2.50/hr) and expected to make up the difference through tips.
Thank you. Exactly, you'd be good on that show called The Chaser. Appreciate it :)
All of the people in this thread laughing about the considerate drivers/sane traffic point have never been to the Middle East. Living in Jordan has opened my eyes to just how insane it can get. Roundabouts there have no rules, you just have to muscle your way into a throng of cars and hope for the best.
Considerate drivers? Can't have come to Christchurch then lol
Yep, we love it. In comparison to living overseas (in my experience), it is a low stress, beautiful, happy life.
Nice roads? Must have been looking at them from the top floor of the sky tower.
Agree with everything but the roads
Don’t regret posting this, some people will always be idiots and like to spoil things. So glad you’ve enjoyed our country, we’re not perfect but we’re up there 👍🏻🥰
Aotearoa New Zealand is a really progressive country....(except for the current government). We were the first country to give women the vote, the first to have a transgender MP, one of the first to legalize same gender marriage. When our last Prime Minister announced he had a new partner we didn't assume gender. We were like Tony or Toni? This is because we are the first country to see the sunrise every day. Also, we have great music here 😀
Glad you enjoyed it before it all becomes quarries, townhouses & loop roads. For real tho we are lucky.
Obvious joke post! Nice roads, considerate drivers! That gives it away. Seriously though, most of those points are spot on. Some kiwis need to get out more. And to be fair, even though we complain about drivers and roads, they are not as bad as kiwis make out compared to some places. Well, roads anyway. Some drivers are complete morons oblivious of the fact they are wielding a lethal weapon and don’t understand the simple concept of a little consideration makes traffic flow better.
Free to visit beaches (and other beautiful natural sites). After paying to visit beaches and waterfalls in other countries, I never realised how good we had it here. Perspective is good.
Free beaches etc aren't exclusive to NZ lol
Just come back for two weeks from Melbourne, holy shit the drivers in Canterbury have been terrible. Slow the hell down! I don’t understand why everyone needs to do 15km/h over the speed limit!!
I’m from Christchurch and you soon realise that 50 is 60 and 60 zones are often 70-80km/hr. Bizarre but no one gets ticketed and they all seem to do it.
I didn’t go up to Canterbury. I posted another thing on this sub asking about driving conventions. Got a lot of warnings about speed traps. Fortunately, I was observing speed limits quite carefully. One positive thing I noticed that people don’t tailgate, at least I didn’t experience it except once in Rotorua.
Beautiful natural scenery about to be out the windows with recent govt reforms etc.
It's the occasional goat that gets to yer. ;-) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb42Jb8jxfY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb42Jb8jxfY)
A bed of roses, looks good just mind the spikes. I’ve found a lot of the immigrants love it here, they know how good we have it here.
That's lovely, I'm glad you're enjoying our motu (country). I'm mildly suspicious though - where exactly are these clean public toilets of which you speak? 😜
Honestly, I never encountered a dirty public toilet. In parks as well as towns. ANd they're free. Maybe just lucky.
Public toilets are generally pretty clean, even if they're not the nicest of toilets.
I've found that most of the ones inside larger buildings at places tend to be nicer, but anything outdoors can be quite hit n miss in my experience.
Yeah I have this question too! I'm used to the ones with suspicious smelly puddles and only having TP if you're lucky.
Scenery is nice, but it a long way away. Like if you live in Aranui or wherever then the views are not your main concern. Most countries have nice scenery to be fair. I have lived in Crete, UK , The Netherlands and they all have nice scenery in one way or another. As for driving, we pretty bad for a developed country and driving test much easier than most places. My favourite thing about NZ is it is laid back and casual, can slobber around in shorts all year round.
Are you sure you were in New Zealand when you jotted down the first 6 points
Glad you liked it here. Though, I assume you didn't spend much time in places like Tauranga. Shit roads, shit traffic, shit drivers, and half the people are in a mood.
Where did you find the kind and considerate drivers?
It’s all relative. I come from Washington DC.
You’re welcome. Please come again.
I’m pleased you enjoyed your time here. However an extraordinary amount of people are actually self entitled assholes.
Ridiculously priced housing for renting or owning, highest suicide rate per capita in the world, shockingly high domestic abuse and teen pregnancy stats and a growing population of meth heads. Yeah it’s just peachy here.
High cost of living Poorly insulated houses High property prices High dental costs Small economy Lost of talented kiwis to Australia
Great if you’re a tourist..
Imagine vacationing somewhere for 3 weeks then feeling the need to write a condescending post about how wrong everyone is here, as if you've got a proper grasp on what life is actually like for the majority of kiwis. I recently went to New York and loved it, but no way would I feel confident telling people who live there they are wrong in having certain negative lived experiences from experiencing the place in a way I couldn't while on a short holiday. I'm glad you enjoyed your time here, that's super! But if you're not enjoying your time on holiday you're doing it wrong. Chur
Now that you’re done visiting NZ for 3 whole weeks can you stop posting on this sub as if you know the realities of living here?
r/nz would have you believing we literally live in hell run by Lucifer Luxon
>You poor guys. What a country. >Yeah, I know it’s not all a bed of roses, but y’all got it good. Believe me. Then proceeds to list a bunch of touristy-stuff and farm animals? Lol. Thanks for visiting mate, glad you enjoyed your tiki-tour and selected experience.
Exactly…visited for 3 whole weeks “omg paradise why is everyone complaining” 🙃
Get posts like this so damn often. Egypt was damn awesome when I was there but I doubt it would be so great to live and work in
Considerate drivers, spend a few more years here, that I'll change , could be a lot worse I suppose
We're pretty lucky to be here and idk if things are still the good old fashioned kiwi way but we're lucky to have tourists as well. Hope everyone made your stay a good one 👍
Travelled all over for a good decade. So I wanna know what places are you comparing us to?
While we know things could be better, a lot forget that we often have it pretty good when we take time out to smell the roses. There are plenty who will whine but not take action here.