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A British woman asking if she should move to New Zealand has been met with a flood of responses, many from expats who found life in Aotearoa was not all they had hoped for. The mother-of-one took her question to the popular online British parenting forum Mumsnet , saying that her husband was concerned about the threat of war in the UK. She explained they had one son who was due to start school and that her husband had been offered a very well-paying job in New Zealand but she was concerned as she had never visited and did not know anyone living here.

She said her husband’s fear of war was driven by concerns that an expansionist Russia might soon be at war with NATO but she didn’t think “a knee-jerk life-changing decision is the way forward here. “Am I being unreasonable to want to dig my feet in about this and say no?” If the original poster was not being unreasonable, some of the respondents arguably were. Soon the post was filled with quick takes on the horrors (and delights) that might await a new migrant to New Zealand.



One Brit living in Auckland wrote: “Wages are s**t. Food is expensive. Houses are cold.

Transport is crap.” But surely it’s not all bad? The criticism fell into some broad categories: Everything is expensive “I hope it’s a great offer as it’s very expensive there. I’m from NZ and can’t afford to move back,” wrote one Kiwi expat.

The cost-of-living commentary was widely echoed in the responses. “ Food is expensive . Clothes are.

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