New Zealand families.

Orca, my daughter and son in law bought their house within a few weeks of moving to Auckland last year.
They're both vegetarians and it's not the price of meat that bothers them, but how expensive vegetables are. This year they're growing their own.

My daughter and SIL rented for about four months just to get the feel of the area, then bought without any problems, including getting a mortgage. They don't find meat expensive in general, as they have reared three lots of pigs and the freezer is pretty well stocked - they also grow a wide variety of fruit and vegetables. Sheep are next on their list - they have good grazing for them. However, I believe they present more problems than pigs.
As many people need to live near the expensive urban areas for employment, schools and social life, I will be looking in the more rural areas as I don't need any of these. I am used to living a very isolated life in the French Alps. As long as I am within about an hour's journey from my daughter, I will be quite happy in 'the sticks'.

There are no restrictions on foreigners buying property in New Zealand. I have bought two houses there in the past while still living in the UK. Ironically, because the British housing market is so slack at the moment, I shall not be selling UK property before I emigrate and therefore shall be renting in NZ.

Nelson, along with Auckland and Wellington, has always been one of the most expensive parts of New Zealand. Property is still relatively cheap in places such as Taranaki.

It cannot be denied that in terms of GDP the UK is 7th and NZ is 53rd. My impression is the cost of living is similar but salaries lower. So people have a noticably lower standard of living. Which accounts for the fact that about 20% of the passport holders are working abroad. But yes, the weather and relaxed life style may compensate.

I think there may be a restriction on the amount of land that a non-citizen can buy in NZ but residents can certainly buy houses.

The quality of housing is dismal. Flimsy buildings that are designed (well at least recently) with earthquakes in mind - but not the cold weather in winter.
My DS has just rented , well, a converted boat shed. Not sure if this is an improvement. Over the last 4 years he has lived in : his van, a deserted restaurant suffering from planning blight, a granny flat.

Yes, my young grandson's first question was 'Why do so many people here live in shacks?' This house is well insulated but there does not seem to be any double-glazing industry here. I expect the houses further South where the winters can be very cold are slightly better prepared.
My daughter has a wood-burner and heat is relayed to the bedrooms, a couple of electric radiators, and a solar panel that usually provides enough hot water. There is no town gas, so central heating, if it existed, would have to be oil fired.
I think there is a wonderful business opportunity waiting for the first person to introduce double glazing/central heating! Or perhaps the Kiwis are just too hardy.

A heat pump is very effective although quite expensive to run – but then heating costs in the UK aren't exactly cheap either.

JessM The inside/outside life doesn't really need double glazing unless you live in Invercargill.

I agree, Absent, my daughter reckons they live outside at least 50% of the time. She is currently picking up, washing and drying hundreds of walnuts which the gale brought down two nights ago. Back breaking work - my job is to keep her supplied with cups of tea!.

Absent I know of what I speak having spent a chilly Wellington winter in rented property. (apologies if anyone has heard this before).
Like many properties, built with the illusion of indoor-outdoor living in mind. Lots of glass, open plan, very high ceiling etc in fact everything you would do if you wanted to build an energy-inefficient house.
Heating was a single, built in, fan heater that warmed the area next to the ceiling and not much else . It broke and the landlord offered a calor heater which cost a fortune to run and made not a dent on the temperature in living area. We had one plug in electric radiator. I put this in my son's bedroom at night (he was in the middle of massive chemo treatment) and fortunately his house mate was away and we were able to use the small spare room for him to sit in the day with the heater. In the afternoons, sometimes, it was mild enough for me to sit outside in a sheltered spot with lots of winter clothes on.
It was so cold - it was like sleeping outdoors in the Uk winter. I woke in the morning and put on multiple layers - two pairs of trousers and outdoor clothing and a scarf - to make a cuppa in the morning as it was about 3 degrees in the kitchen.
Heat pumps should not be expensive to run as they are very efficient at what they do - but they are not cheap, and landlords aren't going to provide them. But first you have to be a building that does not lose heat as fast as the average garden shed. otherwise any form of heating is going to be a losing battle.
I don't think kiwis are any hardier although they like to think they are. Lots of respiratory diseases and even rheumatic fever not uncommon amongst minority groups.
The majority of kiwi's I know do not live outdoors 50% of the time - unless they are into gardening etc in a big way and most do not have big gardens.

Wellington is well known for its poor weather and high winds - Nelson is completely differerent with a very mild microclimate.
I had lunch with GadaboutGran at the Suter Art Gallery in Nelson today - boy, did we talk! We had a lot in common and I really enjoyed meeting another Gransnetter.
Fiona is wildly enthusiastic about her growing and is very happy as the rain has softened the soil and she can get on with her Autumn planting. Holly is off on a camping weekend at Abel Tasman National Park, which is another favoured area for good weather.
Fiona and I had to kill three hours this evening waiting for Patrick who was at the Sea Cadets on Nelson Harbour, so she took me a drive in the countryside around Nelson and showed me some lovely walks that I will be taking next time I am here. Then we had dinner at Styx, overlooking the harbour. It was great to spend time with her before I leave for France on Monday.

We flew out of Nelson today after a fabulous month. Really sad to leave such a lovely place. But guess what my farewell treat was! Lunch with Greatnan. what a lovely & inspirational woman she proved to be.
Auckland is so big & busy after Nelson & the litter is a good preparation for being in London again - the Town Hall looks just like Brixton Town Hall too. We've found eating out far more expensive when last in NZ in 1998 but beef to buy is much cheaper than home & Motels & some B&Bs have cooking facilities. Sheep numbers are declining in favour of beef cattle.
Off to lovely Sydney tomorrow evening.

Yes Nelson is a microclimate, but I think you have only been there in summer. Welington undoubtedly gets more wind, but not really lower temperatures. Dips down to frosty at sea level now and again in the winter. Auckland and the top of N Island is almost subtropical but most of S Island is going to be on average colder than Wellington - and gets more chilly as you head south. There is a reason why all the motels provide electric blankets. An essential item.

Of course Nelson and Tasman in general are not so warm the winter as in the summer, but are not usually anything like so cold as the UK in winter. I think they did have snow very briefly last winter or the one before – first time in a about a century.) My first trip to NZ was to the North Island (Marton near Palmerston North) in July and August. It was wet but not cold.

I think it varies absent from year to year. There were frosts in Wellignton in 2009 when I was there. It was rather gruesome trying to look after DH in those circumstances.

I meant DS

It was lovely to meet GadaboutGran - you can imagine that there were not many periods of silence as we had an all-too-short lunch!

My daughter has been in Wakefield now for two and a half years, so they have seen two Winters and have not found them too cold. She suffers from Raynaud's Disease and cannot bear the cold - she finds it very odd that I have chosen to live in a ski resort!

After two days of very-much-needed heavy rain, the sun is shining again - my SIL gets home tonight and we are all taking the cruise round Marlborough Sound before I leave next Monday. You would think he had seen enough, as Master of the Interislander Ferry from Picton to Wellington, but he says he does not have time to look at the views when he is steering the ship!
Lara and Sam are coming for a bbq on Sunday and I will show her the nice comments several members have made on my thread about her Love Story.

My last week - it has now reached the point where I wake up thinking 'No more Tuesdays, Wednesdays.....'
I have had a really wonderful holiday and yesterday my daughter took for a long, very steep walk up Richmond Hill, which has wide-ranging views over the plain and the bay. She was thrilled because it marked a milestone in her recovery from a very bad broken ankle. My knees are just a bit sore this morning!
I have had to persuade her that I don't need to be taken somewhere every day - just being here is more than enough for me. When my SIL is home, they have a great deal to do in the gardens and I am happy to feed the hens and chickens and read from her enormous stock of books. (I have just finished 'The Blind Assassin' by Margaret Attwood, and I am about to start another by her).
We are going on the mail boat round Marlborough Sound on Saturday, weather permitting ( it has stopped raining, was sunny yesterday, but is a bit cloudy today) and Lara and Sam are coming for a bbq on Sunday.
I have a busy Spring and Summer planned in the Alps, and I will be back here for three months next Winter, but I will be staying in Lara's flat in Nelson whilst she is taking a gap between finishing her degree and taking up her first nursing post. They are doing the EE (European Experience), and spending time with Sam's parents, and Lara's two brothers, her sister, sister-in-law and her two little nieces. I hope they can fit in a visit to my flat whist it is empty. They won't be able to visit Europe again for a couple of years - they haven't decided where and when they will get married. I love having a big family - there is always so much going on!

Good to hear what a fabulous time you've had with your family Greatnan. I've followed your trips on the map and learned a litte bit more about NZ. Enjoy the next few days

Enjoy your last week Greatnan. I know how you feel counting the last week down. I will start doing that in 10 days time - hate it

Ah, but then she can start counting to the next one! And what a wonderful summer to look forward to as well.

Last full day today, but we are having lunch with Lara tomorrow in Nelson where she is back at the nursing colllege.
Yesterday, we had a wonderful cruise on the mail boat around Queen Charlotte Sound - I think it is more attractive than Doubtful Sound. The captain explained to us that a Sound is made by a sunken river valley, and a fjiord is made by a glacial river flow, so the Milford Sounds are really the Milford Fjiords.
On the way home, we stopped at the Mussel Pot in Havelock for a platter of mussels, which my youngest grandson loves. Havelock is the green lipped mussel centre of the world, so they were very fresh.

Oh they are fantastic, and the water so clean around south island. Have a good trip back.

That's the first two flights over - Nelson to Auckland, seven hour wait, then Auckland to Singapore - ten hour flight. Now another two hour wait, for the 13 hour Singapore to Heathrow flight. I hope it is not late because I have got to catch the BA flight to Geneva two hours after the stated arrival time.

Still, it has been a wonderful six weeks and it is worth all the travelling. I got a lot of hugs when we said good-bye, and I will be back in early November.

Hope you have a good (and not too exhausting) journey home, Greatnan.