Year in ChCh

[edw123]

My wife and I have now been in Christchurch for the past 12 months.

Won't mention much about the quakes, as it's been done to death, but after the absolute terror of the 23rd December ones (I'm on the 5th storey of a building!), they've largely disappeared. Very occasionally a jolt happens which keeps you on your toes, but it really is rare. Perhaps just 1 notable one for 3/4 months.

Been somewhat of a life change as we've had a little lad (Sam, born 21 April this year), but perhaps the most notable thing I can say is in reality, life in NZ isn't enormously different to the UK as an experience - it has it's small pros and cons, but it quite simply is very different. I was surprised, as an Englishman, thought it would be hard, but it's not been that way.

I guess in our experiences, we'd say:-

Better: Steaks, washing power insanely cheap, streets cleaner and clearly safer for Kids, Christchurch has lots of lovely parks (still), going to quality rugby is ridiculously cheap ($20 for Crusaders games), weather, being close(ish) to the alps, timaru, etc., some great restaurants, not really any reality TV or culture of the celebrity, traffic, price of fuel, the health system, fish, leisure centres, and most of all, THE BEER! (Cassels. Pomeroys and Volsted, sigh, superb)
Worse: Deli selections, price of some shopping items (e.g. vitamins), lack of/price of veg in the winter, chips in fish and chippy (not fish though), meats not steaks, lack of decent primetime sport (Prem football in middle of the night), missing family, vast driving distances to go somewhere different, clothes shops and their prices and worst of all, PEOPLE WHO DO BILLS INDIVIDUALLY IN RESTAURANTS. Having got a takeaway at Buddha Stix, I have queued up for 20mins as about 20 people each pay individually, aaargh!!
The Same: Largely supermarket shopping, goods/furniture shopping, fast food, being able to play sports as an adult (football etc.), gyms, not being near Europe and being able to do things, lots of 4 by 4s (which I hate), price of Sky, lack of channels on Sky, quality of housing (freezing in winter), ridiculous prices of cars which all tend to be utter rubbish.

Dispelling myths, I have not found Kiwis to be nice or less pleasant than those in the UK - I've found some to be great, some total ar*es, same with service in shops. Have not found the pace of life to be any different, Kiwis dont work longer or shorter hours as far as I can see, and have not found making friends easier or harder as the UK - nor has my wife.

Best thing about Christchurch for me is, in UK terms, it's got city facilities (even now following the quake) - loads of restaurants, pubs, things to do, parks, leisue centres, etc., with the added benefit of a smallish population - so you never end up mad at bars, rarely end up in massive traffic jams, always have lots of shops and malls to choose from, and are also close enough to do other exciting and amazing things, e.g. a drive into the alps and a walk.......

We don't regret the move; I'm not going to lie and say NZ has been an amazing experience as it hasn't - it's much of the same with a few added benefits. But we'll definitely be staying for the forseeable future. And I have told my son that he is of course England qualified at all the main sports and bedecked him in England replica kits so he knows who to support

[LVKris]

Thanks for the honest post. My biggest fear is that everything is going to be so perfect once we move there and then the reality does not match that. This post just reinforced that there is not one place that is perfect but New Zealand is still a great place to live.

[JandM]

Thanks for the update.

[Civil Engineer]

Thanks for your down to earth update.

[sophiedb]

Sounds good

Looks like we're having a meet-up next Friday in Sumner - if you fancy coming along please give us a wave on the meet-up thread!

[edw123]

Ah, sadly in Greymouth Sophie.....will definitely mention it to my wife though, she may well be keen.....

[MetalSoul]

Thanks for the honesty