Well I have to say that for our experience Mazzie has a lot of points that I relate to. My husband is a Kiwi who lived in England for 20+ years and in many ways re adjusting was like both of us coming here for the first time. My husband worked with cars in England and was horrified at the cost of a ten year old car here. He'd also forgotten things like how cold it was in the houses, the condensation, the mould etc and was shocked at the cost of living generally.

In the UK, we spent about an 1/8th of our income on food, here it's 1/4. We used to spend 1/4 of our income on housing, here it's 1/2. There's no personal tax allowance here so wages are lower and taxes are higher. I struggled with my job and fitting in and being told it's one thing while it's actually another.

That isn't to say that we are unhappy, there are many good things about the country and not least in our case relatives and many beautiful unspoilt places. I do think it makes a huge difference if you came/come here with a sum of money to get started.

In the