Meg- depends where you are really. The North Island is more metropolitan, with larger cities and a more 'yuppy' mindset. The South Island is more rural on the whole, but I wouldn't call it 'backwards'.
I'm a born-n'-bred southerner, and the city I live in is a real University town, so it's pretty cultured and vibrant for its population (120,000). (Ok, I'm really starting to feel like an advertiser for the tourism board now...
)
You're from England right? Well, from what I could tell when I was over there last March the big difference between NZ and Britain is that in NZ the cities are much more isolated from each other. NZ is certainly a highly 'nationalised' country, but you can literally drive for hours on the highway without encountering any significant human settlements, particularly in the South Island. It's a hiker's paradise. One of the last bastions of wilderness on the planet. But still highly developed in the urban centres.
If you're a tourist, then the whole country has a huge amount to offer in terms of sights and experiences. But if you want to actually emigrate here then the three NZ cities I would recommend are
Auckland,
Wellington (the Capital, and incidentally my favourite city on the planet that I've been to so far),
Christchurch and
Dunedin. And if you want to study here, then Dunedin is a must. The entire city pretty much revolves around students and there is a very large 'international student' population here. It's an awesome cultural melting pot.
This is kinda ironic really, my sister lives in London and I'm hoping to move to England once I'm a fully qualified high school teacher. Any idea what job vacancies are like for a highly-enthusiastic english/history/classical studies teacher over there? [img]smile.gif[/img]
[ 11-04-2004, 03:49 AM: Message edited by: The Hierophant ]