intern

Oh, here's a pro tip, too, WrightJr, when searching the ole Googler for insights, use negative terms (NZ sucks, etc) to get a better idea of what people don't like. As Patches (I think) said, everyone who has moved here will be trying to justify their decision whether consciously or not. Man is infinite in his capacity for self deception, and all that.

Short days and cold weather suck. Given that it is moist and cold, mould is everywhere so you need to take mould precautions. Windy roads make travel a pain if you're in a hurry. Cost of living is very, very high. Finding a decent restaurant can be difficult if you're in the regions (most have one or another thing missing; don't generally cater for kids unless McD etc, some have everything right but no atmosphere. And you will pay dearly for the experience). That's got to be some ugly for you, or maybe bad? Hope that helps.

Hahaha with so many idiots, that's an easy mistake to make

It was Malusi Gigaba at the time. Hlaudi was busy demolishing the SABC.

Money. They got a kick in the balls for putting visas on NZers, with a lot of former Safas who would travel back, choosing to go elsewhere as adding $1000 to the trip is a metric f-ton for most folks...

Very good news! NZ won't drop the visa requirements; they were introduced for good reason (lots of okes chancing their arm and arriving on 3 month visa free 'holiday' with express intention of not leaving)... The SA visa, on the other hand, was a (costly) knee-jerk reaction owing to the wounds to delicate African pride...now it's hitting them in the wallet, they've had to reconsider. Good stuff!

Did this when were were in SA in April. A-MAAAA-ZING. Good thing is, you get to make an appointment. Better thing is (in our case) they keep the appointment, almost to the minute. Best thing is, you get your passport within 2 weeks, with no queues and no hassle. Almost unbelievable. We did it at Absa Towers in Braamfontein or whatever that hell hole in downtown Joburg is called.

Just yesterday I interviewed a German dude who said they employ clowns as facilities managers here in NZ; he's giving a talk at an upcoming FM conference and said 'maybe I should go dressed as a clown'. Man I love a German sense of humour, laconic and like the Sahara. Anyway, not sure if that helps you or not. But reckon you should be sweet to find some jop - as everyone else has no doubt said, you'll need to come visit or engage a consultant to show you're serious.

Congrats! A Black Mamba to add to the Green one. Did you retain SA citizenship? I strongly advise everyone to do so, it makes a trip back so SO much easier and cheaper. For a fam of 4, think an extra $1000 or so for visas. My boys don't have a Mamba, but me and the Mrs do. Gonna do the necessary paperwork to get theirs...

Hi Methusela

Buy food at Countdown or New World where possible, you can get a microwave curry or roast chicken dinner with peas and potato and gravy for like $5 a pop, decent sized servings too. Look for a 'rent a wreck' to manage your car rental costs, I remember we hired an old Kia Ten Rand (RIO, ha ha) with over 200k on the clock for not much money and it was fine. Two hundy a day probably a bit of a stretch if it includes car rental and accomm, but presume you will be staying with your fam at least some of the time? Also, try come for longer than 2 weeks it is so effing far you want to make use of the spend to get here, and have at least a few days where you aren't jet lagged out of your tree...

Sydney train from airport into the city is awesome, so convenient...and the airport is amazingly close to the city, too...

We did this.

Recognised quite a few of the trails they were riding

Yep, that's some of the bad. Who will pay for this? Taxpayers? Employers? Not a fan. Also, I don't beat my wife.

And rates. Our rates are flippen expensive, at around $800 a quarter in the countryside. I hate to imagine what Auckland rates are...

Take them to the local tyre shop, $5 apiece (in my town, anyway), and that was for 19 inch 315s...

Sounds like they are getting their money's worth all right!

'access to a bag of snakes' aaaahahahahahahahahaaaaa

And also, people like Brenton Tarrant don't understand grey spaces at all...

The world operates in the grey spaces...

That's good and fair comment. It also brings us to Aramoana where David Gray nailed 13 people (1990). After that, (from wikipedia) 'sweeping changes were made to New Zealand's firearms legislation in 1992, including 10 year photographic licences and tight restrictions on military style semi-automatic firearms'. And of course there was Martin Bryant down in Tasmania, also; he used the dreaded AR15, sure, and a FAL....and both incidences were as rare as rocking horse poop, more owing to a homicidal maniac than the availability of weapons of mass destruction. I do agree that had these clowns had lesser weapons available, perhaps the death they dealt would be reduced...but still think knee-jerks are not a good idea. Boy do I sound like a fence sitter or what.

We're an agricultural nation, too. Fertilizer is well known for its explosive properties, and indeed Tarrant said he considered this avenue of destruction. Look what Timothy McVeigh did in Oklahoma City in 1996. With fert, he killed 168 people in the blink of an eye and put 680 in hospital.

The weapons the killer had were illegal already under existing laws. So how well do laws prevent maniacs from doing what maniacs do, then? Also, guns are not particularly sophisticated pieces of equipment. You can make one with little more than a piece of steel pipe. You could also easily illegally modify perfectly legal weapons without any great measure of skill (this is more or less what Tarrant did with his legally-acquired weapons). So, changing the gun laws delivers great feelz. But apply the thinks to it for a minute and you will see it for what it is: crowd-pleasing posturing. Note, though, that I've never thought it a good idea for semi-automatic weapons to be available to anyone outside of the military. For deer hunting, for example, a 3-round mag is plenty. You're probably only going to take one shot, anyway, whether you're accurate or not!

Also, note that in 9 years in parliament prior to being anointed PM by Winston Peters, Ardern achieved exactly nothing. No legislation, not even a single successfully submitted Bill. Incredibly, people would not vote for Andrew Little (with Labour popularity falling to 24 percent) because he is a dowdy, angry little fella, but would vote for Ardern WITH THE PRECISE SAME POLICY PLATFORM!! because she looks nicer in Women's Day. That's crazy, man. And note that Labour didn't have much of a policy platform, more a bunch of slogans. Which is why they had to appoint over 100 'working groups' when they accidentally found themselves in power. They were terrible in opposition, they have been terrible in government, to date, and now the tragedy has allowed Ardern's real talents - of looking concerned and reading speeches well - to shine.