Is A Visa Required To Reside In New Zealand?

Please keep educating me in the comments, it’s amazing to hear about your experiences! I am so proud to live in this country and I’m so happy to be learning more. If you have any recommendations on where I should explore and what I should make another article on, I would be absolutely delighted to hear. Thank you so much I will try my best to reply to everyone! Curls

I was born in NZ and have never heard anyone calling crisps chippies. They’re chips! Everything else – accurate 👍. I enjoyed hearing your ten points. I’m in europe and am definitely learning how much NZ supermarkets suck in comparison to here!! But I am really missing the clear drinking water, clean air and the COFFEE!!

I like your positive attitude mate. People these days love to complain, you see the good, that’s an asset that can’t be bought. When I was travelling overseas the main thing I missed was the coffee! As for weather, you did choose the city with the worst weather in the whole country 😂 if I was going to add anything to your article, I would add that we have our own space program, have a currently legally dormant claim on a segment of Antarctica, play many more sports than just rugby, and have a legacy of incredible explorers, sailers and navigators, from Kupe, Tupaia and other legendary Polynesians to Frank Worsley, Edmund Hillary, Peter Blake and all our current awesome sea and land farers. Have you eaten a real Southern cheese roll yet? If not you’re in for a treat

I’m a new kiwi (17 years and counting) i have to say that apart of really good restaurants and coffee there’s also really good craft beer, great wines, peanut butter, chocolates and so many other things, crafting simple things and taking them to a new high level seems to be the way to go here and people appreciate that! I do

One thing that immigrating Brits always used to complain about was our housing’s lack of insulation and central heating. Less now I think, because, if you can afford it, newer houses are adequately insulated and heated, mostly by heat pump/air conditioning. If you don’t have a newer house, it’s gonna feel like it’s colder than the UK. Wellington has some of the craziest weather, particularly in summer. one year that I lived there, it pretty much went straight from spring to autumn (in temperature) and totally missed summer! Another year, in the height of summer, I was wearing a duffle coat one day and a singlet the next, such are the extremes! As much as I love Wellington, I do prefer the Auckland temperatures 😊

I am a Kiwi who was born, grew up, got married and started my family in Wellington, New Zealand. I live in Australia now but you had me laughing so often throughout this because all except for the bird one, I would say, you were completely accurate! Haha. (The birds here in Australia are something else – big and very, very noisy).

Thanks for being so kind about us. You are learning, n’est-ce-pas? 😋Oh, and thx also for not mentioning Rugby, lol. I was just over the Rubgy by the time I turned seven. Us Kiwis are a somewhat parochial bunch: We don’t make fusses, we don’t stick our heads above the field (tall poppy) and we would never approach an outlander celebrity if we saw one. We cross the road (this is why they come here). We go on about loud brash Americans but we don’t realise we actually mutter and mumble when we speak (possibly because of some of the things I brought up before). Some add-ons to your salient ten points: 1) Birds are fowls, even counting the little ones and the cognate in german for fowl is Vogel. We have a heavy nutritious loaf called Vogels Bread, it’s full of seeds and Kiwis will pay a shitload for these if they are overseas. You have a version licensed in the UK but it is too light. it ain’t Vogels. 2) Our meat pies do rock so much so that I had to pop down to the dairy outside my block after you raised these just to jam one in. Some entrepreneur should take Kiwi pies and launch a pie chain in America. They don’t even know what a proper pie is there, they think its a tart, like the french do. Now, I wouldn’t go anywhere near there but someone should go and reap in the moulah with Kiwi pies up in there. 👍🏽And yes, we do do desks of these. Hot ones: pies and/with hot desks. 3) Kiwis prefer Columbian arabicas coffee beans. Yes we do make the cheap instant shit that tastes like Weetbix, but we also do do coffees.

Great to see a positive commentary, and glad you’ve been enjoying the country – I mean, sure there’s things that can get you down about the place, but it’s really just bloody nice to see some enthusiasm at times on here! Speaking of pies, if you haven’t come across it before… just pop “Funny Police Ten 7 Moments NZ | Always Blow on the Pie!” into that search bar up there and yeah, see the depth of seriousness we take those pies 😂 Have enjoyed living overseas, but hey – there’s really no place like home eh? Thanks for the reminder of both the quirks and special things that make us uniquely what we are mate 👍

Actually one important observation that might be harder to really understand is kiwis inability to complain as a culture. Behind closed doors yes. But we tend not to complain in public. Tall poppy syndrome is really the key, it’s quite frustrating in nz sometimes cause everyone is kinda “just going with the flow” and we can be abused for that. Supermarket pricing for example is because kiwis don’t complain in public.

As a NZer myself, this list is shockingly true, and I appreciate you pronouncing “Maori” correctly. One thing I have noticed as both a NZer and someone who doesn’t care all too much about sports is, when you’re perusal the news on TV, NZ is very divided on whether or not to watch the sports section. If you don’t watch rugby you “suck” so it’s safer to just say “Yeah, All Blacks!” lol.

NO.11 What makes New Zealand truly amazing is its people. New Zealanders are the kindest and most friendly individuals I’ve ever met. In New Zealand, you can feel that everyone wants to help you. I have been helped many times, and their kindness is remarkable. The most beautiful scenery and the most wonderful people make New Zealand my favorite country👍👍👍

Please don’t judge New Zealand weather just by the capital, Wellington! It’s in a league of its own 🙄 Otherwise, pretty spot on list, and full props for your Maori pronunciation, good work there especially on the bird names. Haere mai, welcome, and do check out the climate in other places like the Mainland aka the South Island 😍

Birds! Absolutely. There’s a family of Rainbow Parakeet that live outside our flat. They learned how to laugh at people from a school nearby. It’s also worth noting that plane trips are a huge luxury in NZ unless you’re just sickeningly wealthy, and cars are widely accepted as the normal unless you live specifically in Wellington or Auckland. Most of us Kiwis spend a week or two with family or friends driving up and down the country to see all the cool stuff, cooking by campfire or barbeque. I personally drove up the entire South Island in 11 hours a few years ago.

I lived there from 1971 -1973. Sound pretty right, Curls. A few things have obviously changed. Coffee shops were pretty well non-existent back then, and ‘V’ hadn’t arrived. As for the rest, you’re descriptions ring true. Of course, the big difference is the increase in population and people covering a wide range of cultures coming in. When I lived in Auckland the population was 600,000 and in all that time I only ran into a traffic jam once – when there’s been a major pile up on the harbour bridge. The whole country’s population stood at around 3 million.

Thank you very much for this as I found it quite refreshing compared to some of the other articles I’ve seen. Since the start of the pandemic, I’ve seen a few people start up websites where they talk about their new life in our fine (but not perfect) country, and some of them are pretty under-researched (e.g. an American lady insisting that we never use paper plates or driers… 🤨 ) but everything you’ve said here is spot on, mate. Even the V. I was certainly a Green V drinking kiwi when I was a teen. Moved onto coffee when I grew up though – are you enjoying our NZ flat whites? 😀☕

I’m kiwi but living overseas currently thanks for promoting NZ hehe I’d say you started off really strong, but then few things I’d add/comment on, I never hear anyone say chippies before lol only chips maybe if it’s an old lady ha also I don’t think the supermarkets are that bad…and we have lots of fruits that are NZ grown and berries etc. Roadtrips in NZ are also pretty up there alongside the scenery, you can drive everywhere but yes flying is way easier! The V energy drink yes, I think you’re forgetting the black one too 😉 cheers

We don’t have a starbucks in Wellington, unless it’s out the Hutt or something. It closed down around 7 years ago because it’s coffee is soooooo crappy! And I didn’t know we are crazy about birds and use birds to advertise flats and things and I lived in NZ all my life, I have to agree our birds are beautiful and they do have amazing sounds. Over the last few years Wellington winds have died down, I fear we are going to loose the title of windiest city in the world. Our last few winters in Wellington have been very mild, yes we’ve had some extremely cold days and storms this past winter, over all it’s been rather mild this year. I feel our winds keep the toxins out of our city or lessen it. Wellington summers are pretty crappy mostly sit at around 23C. If you make the kiwi onion dip don’t forget to chill it first and add a bit of fresh lemon juice to it. I’ve never liked V, had one sip around 25 years ago, too sweet and icky, I didn’t realize it was an obsession. Drivings not too bad in NZ, it’s a nice drive from Wellington to Auckland, around six to eight hours straight with a few toilet stops, lovely cities in between, beautiful scenery. The ferry crossing from the north island to the south takes around four hours and it’s enjoyable, plenty to do, lounges, bars, food, beautiful scenery once again, it’s a must do at least once in your life time. The Maori culture, language and songs is beautiful.

Oh wow, thank you for your advice. I just returned to OZ from a visit to NZ South Island and fell in love with it! Definitely going back for more! ❤️❤️❤️ What a beautiful country 🤩 One more pointer to add, they are currently experiencing a dire shortage of staff so a bit of patience and understanding would go a long way 🙌

My sister came back from New Zealand 10 years ago and introduced me to a green v drink been obsessed with them ever since 🙂 theres only a few shops that sell them in England though and it’s reduced sugar version where as in new Zealand they have the original full sugar version! V drinks and sunny beaches… Think I’m living in the wrong country 😂 x

that slow build up to the V drink was awesome haha whilst ive never had a debate with anyone about which V is best, im not surprised they happen. as for the rest of the list, its pretty spot on. i do wish you wouldve made a comment on how the pies tasted. not necessarily the counter-microwaved ones, but moreso the bakery made pies.

I’m an expat who’s been living in New Zealand for more than six years and I gotta say: I love New Zealand the country for its pristine nature and lovely people but hate New Zealand the nation for its regressive mindset and apathetic institutions. Other than that, I’m Vietnamese so when I heard y’all saying you have a great “coffee culture,” I just laughed so hard I think my ancestors also joined in.

When we as a family moved to NZ 23 years ago we also found that the people are very friendly and very helpful. 😊 Coming from SA, the houses are bricks, but here in NZ I call it paper doll houses haha! But no I love them and its easy when you have to do Reno’s. Coffee: Starbucks is totally over raided – First hand coffee is the best, in my opinion. Pies, if you haven’t tried Queenstown Ferg Pie, it’s a dead must. The best ever pies in NZ! I love NZ!!!!!!!! 😊

Right on the getting around bit. For people used to the UK with long motorways and comprehensive train networks, here can be a bit difficult. No intercity trains to speak of, and the roads will take you twice as long as you would have expected. On the other hand, its a nice drive if you have the time… I’d also add about parks and beaches – they are everywhere, and there are great national parks and almost deserted beaches within a short drive wherever you are. Who cares that there is pretty much nothing on broadcast TV when you can go out to one of these?

After perusal your article on your harrowing experience in Australia and then this one I would think you would be thankful for the near death experience you had in Australia as you probably wouldn’t be living in New Zealand and finding out just how great a country us kiwis have here. I always tell people New Zealand is the best country in the world to live in.

Pies are messy to eat, with flakes of pastry going everywhere. If you eat in at a cafe think about the staff and use a knife and fork. That also makes it possible to add some tomato sauce. And worcester if available. Without taking the top off. If you eat a pie while driving, which I do not recommend,* keep it in the bag. *Eating while driving may save you some time but like an Irish coffee the two parts are better served separately. Moreover, I bought the most delicious steak and oyster pie at Waipu while driving home to a Whangarei in my Peugeot 405 a fair few years back. The car’s preferred speed was 80mph. (I had to actively hold it back, rein it in.) And it chose to do that while I was distracted by eating my pie. When I realised what it had done I slowed it down immediately. Traffic cop thought I was responding to his presence, which was in fact purely coincidental. When he questioned me I blamed the pie. If he had understood what I was saying I think I could have avoided the ticket but I didn’t feel like sharing, the pie was too good. Not one to take my own advice Irarely eat lies now and tend to do do only while driving. The cafe inTe Hana is half way from home to Auckland and has the best peppersteak pies.

When the chips are down we Kiwi’s come together to help everyone. Here in Auckland with the latest devastating floods, we’ll get through it together. We got through the devastating Christchurch Earthquake… we’ll get through this. I think every now and then Mother Nature shows the World who’s the Boss.

I’m a kiwi and never noticed the fascination with birds in NZ (weird). Pies yea for sure… love a bakery pie ❤ Coffee… hmmm ok. Sense of Humour – For Sure! Weather – hahaha yep… Aoteroa literally means – land of the long white cloud… and its always grey 😂. Onion Dip!!! Yay! The best ❤ V, yuk, hate it, but yes… its popular. Yep public transport isnt great, everyone drives or takes a flight.

One of the more South Island parts of New Zealand, is the mountain/tourist culture. As someone who has lived around Queenstown for my whole life, the mountains will forever be apart of me, both for skiing and hunting. New Zealand is quite possibly the best place to get into hunting/hunting culture, as every mammal is a huge pest. So all you need is a gun license, and you can out for whatever you want. Skiing wise, we have some of the best skiing ranges in the whole world, and around the southern alps in particular, there is a lot of ski fields. One thing that becomes quite apparent after you stay here for awhile, is that a large amount of the people who are in the country are tourists, which while still cool, it can be a lot as a local, seeing things that too us feel like second nature be executed poorly is like perusal five year olds try to use utensils. Sure the first couple times it’s funny but after the 32nd time, it starts to become painful. Ethier way, love it here and I forever will. Also I’m a green V person this is not a debate.

Maori are actually indigenous toTaiwan, which they refer to as Hawaiiki. They also settled in the Easter Island, Cook Islands, Hawaii and French Polynesia. A sophisticated civilization lived in NZ long before Maori arrived in canoes from the north. Dunedin is full of Tartarian architecture from the old civilization, along with leftover tram car systems in Dunedin and Auckland. Central Auckland until the late 1980s was full of old world buildings and theatres. The Civic Theatre in Auckland is remnant architecture from this prior civilization.

I’m a Kiwi and don’t like V at all. But yes those who do drink it are either blue or green camp 😝 I live in Napier on east coast of North Island that gets very hot in summer, up to 38-40C (good wine region) as does parts of central South Island, so depends what part you live. Auckland and Wellington have a lot of rain because of their position being exposed on both sides of the city. Napier/Hawkes Bay and Canterbury often have droughts. lol yes about the pies, it’s only acceptable to eat with cutlery if you’re very old 😂 You used to be able to travel intercity by train, but government privatised the service about 40 years ago and not enough lines made a profit so they were closed down one by one by the private owner, so now there’s no passenger service to other towns, just freight. Government had to buy rail back due to degraded tracks because no maintenance was being done, but never reintroduced intercity train travel.

When I lived in Wellington decades ago, there were ropes hanging down off another rope strung across the wooden poles upholding the overhangs on Cuba and (as I remember) Dixon Streets. They were for people to hold onto as they waited to cross the road, otherwise they tended to get blown out in front of the oncoming traffic because the wind was so strong on this particular corner (still is). I remember hanging on for dear life to the coat of the lady in front of me as she attempted not to end up on the road despite holding on to one of the ropes. At times, the wind was so strong it tipped cars over.

I don’t know where you have been shopping but in Wellington anyway the supermarkets have 1. huge, huge supplies of fruit and vegetables 2. cheeses of every sort, and international variety 3. the best grass-fed meat in the world and free-range eggs 4. best quality rich milk sand cream 5. every range of food from around the world: Asian, Middles East, Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, South American, and all other European – and even American junk food. Relative to transport costs and a low population in a very long country our prices are very reasonable if one shops wisely and in-season. Fish is extremely expensive. Birds are precious because the early Brits. made about 30 species extinct with their rats, dogs and mustilids. We have rescued several from the brink, like the black stilt, takehe, kakapo and black robin even from the last 6 in the world. (Wellington has less wind than Auckland and nowhere near the damage to houses, trees and cars -but it is blusterly due the hills and gullies. Christchurch also has strong winds blowing unimpeded across the plains from the alps that are often destructive.) And I grow Kaffir limes in my garden so lots of sun too!

Regarding snow here in New Zealand, it is not true that it doesn’t snow here. What is true is that there are places where it’s so rare that it only happened once since some of us were born and there are places that get it at least once a year. Also one thing that may shock some people is our gun regulations here. They’re incredible strict. For one we aren’t allowed to have a gun for protection. We can only have them for collection purposes, hunting/ sport and we have to have a licence.

Up in Auckland, I’m going to be real with you, it’s like the weather has bipolar disorder. “Sunny morning, oh cool, it’s a great day- never mind it’s raining cats and dogs. Oh! The sun is ba- never mind it’s raining again.” :/ Also, we get super excited when we find anything nz appreciative on the internet. Like, oh my god, people are actually looking in our directing, our little corner of the world! ❤

Eating meat pies (yes, the small-medium size ones). You CAN eat them with knife and fork, on a plate (at home), but if you are having a snack, walking down the road, take the advice and don’t eat them with knife and fork — it’s just a tad difficult. Hold the thing in your hand(s) and munch away, being careful not to let the meat (and gravy) slop down the front of your shirt, as that gives the show away that you are a messy eater.

You can live and work in New Zealand for 30+ years, pay taxes and when you retire find out that New Zealand won’t pay you a penny in superannuation if you are a US citizen. They withhold any Social Security payments you receive from the USA from your superannuation payments. But if you are a citizen from any other country that doesn’t have Social Security they get full superannuation payments.

Wellington is not a good base for comparing weather to the rest of the country though. Albeit yes, rainy, but arguably, not cold everywhere all of the time, Auckland north is very temperate, no frosts at my place for, hmm, can’t remember the last Auckland frost. And Auckland does get humid in summer too, especially compared to the rest of the country. Canterbury gets amazingly hot in summer, but a dry heat, so it does cool down after sunset.

Ha ha! I’m a Kiwi and I so enjoyed your commentary. But I think you left something out: the number of times people say “sorry”!!!! Oh, and “Would you mind if I…..” well, I tend to be more direct, but feel so often I’ve got to tone down the request in case they might otherwise faint at my suggestion!!! 😂Ellen

Awesome take on NZ, Curls. I utterly love dawn and dusk. Good for the soul. Simply for the beautiful dawn chorus of birds from the melodic Tui ( and the odd, Magpie interloper adding a few notes) to the flirty fantails darting around me if I am in my the garden. To the quiet solitude of the early hours when you might hear the reassuring hoot of a ruru (owl) in a nearby tree. And, yes, even the raucous parakeets and rosellas overhead. Live less then 4 km from Auckland’s cbd. Lived overseas in Japan, Singapore and London and one of the things I noticed an absence of was birdlife in big cities ( pigeons aside!). Seems like they’ve all been drowned out by the constant urban ‘hummmm’. NZ isn’t the world’s most exciting country. Or even the ‘best’ whatever that means but simple pleasures like a really good coffee in the morning, listening to beautiful birdlife before going to work, is priceless. Ths only other country I’ve been to with birdlife diversity to rival NZ is Indonesia.

I lived in NZ back in the 70s/80s,and could not believe the lack of urgency in anything the Kiwi does. I came from a well developed country,were making money and having a materialistic lifestyle/attitude is the norm. NZ in the 70s/80s not so.The Kiwi was happy with a few bob in his pocket and a roof over his head.He/she still enjoyed life alot better then the people in my country of origin,with its very materialistic outlook. In saying that,after adjusting to the very relaxed attitude towards life and work,i have nothing but fond memories of New Zealand…….my home away from home.

As a Kiwi born & raised, same with my parents and my parents parents bar one, a lot of what’s covered in this article requires an impossibly optimistic outlook to even notice. Tourists and people new to this country love it here because they haven’t been around long enough to see the truth, even you yourself having been here for 3 years as of the making of this article haven’t been here long enough to see the truth. Crime rate is through the roof, the government prioritizes unnecessary spending ventures all while screwing the working class and ignoring the people’s needs, not to mention the level of corruption within the Beehive’s walls, I wont even start on that because it’s too much to cover. Bullying in schools is extremely high, which ties into the country having one of the highest youth suicide rates in the world. You get the idea, it’s not a perfect country by any means and actually I’d be willing to say it’s quite a poor country to live in, unless you have a lot of money and that impossibly optimistic outlook on life I mentioned earlier, please for your own sake DO NOT COME TO NEW ZEALAND IN THE HOPES OF HAVING A BETTER LIFE GO TO AUSTRALIA! Ask any working class Kiwi, a lot of them will tell you that they want to move to Australia because the money is better, the lifestyle is better, the weather is better, the pricing for buying a house and renting are better, foods cheaper… Pretty much the only downside is that vices like alcohol, cigarettes, vapes etc are extremely expensive but in my honest opinion I’d be willing to give all of that up for a chance at a better life than this shit hole country.

The ONLY thing I partially disagree on is the weather! down south it is definitely very different to up here in Auckland. the best way I can describe it is indecisive most of the time. Other than that, you are spot on! I sometimes also eat pies with a knife and fork at home… so don’t worry too much about that.

I love that you’ve picked up on all these things about NZ and actually have a ton of respect for you in doing so! so many ignorant just actually stupid people come to NZ, live in Queenstown for 6 months a year maybe and act like they’ve experienced true ‘kiwi culture’ even tho they’ve actually not even met any kiwis, and wouldn’t know a pukeko from a tui, let alone the best pie (which is microwave irvines steak and cheese pies stored in a pie warmer at the dairy).