I have been living in New Zealand for almost three years now – I know! So crazy. My relationship with being here and my level of loving it fluctuates month to month and sometimes even day to day. Living so far away from home is bloody hard work. There is so much that is great about being here and I am always trying to promote this on LISF, but there is also a little (big) piece of me that will always be back home in Yorkshire.
Aside from my friends and family, I thought I would share a few more straightforward things that I miss most about living in the UK. Things that either is not here in New Zealand or just aren’t the same here:
Warm houses
This is the one that I talk about with just about every person that I meet here in New Zealand because it still baffles me that there is very little good quality housing in New Zealand and no one seems to care about central heating.
Back home, everyone has central heating installed and the housing is pretty good quality and easy to maintain. When the winter months cool down here there is nothing I would love more than to be in a cosy house at home with a fire and the heating on!
For more on this, see a previous post I did on why New Zealand feels so cold in winter.
Aldi
Not a very emotional one – but I just miss being able to buy cheap groceries from Aldi or Lidl, I used to be able to do my whole weekly shop for $60. Now its much more difficult to do that. There are upsides to shopping here though and I love the fact there is less plastic on the produce and it’s more seasonal as well as locally made/grown.
The trains
This is probably an odd one because everyone likes to have a moan about the trains in the UK and I have been known to stand on a crowded train for 2 hours at a time. BUT I really miss being able to just hop on cross country trains to visit friends and family. I wish there was a great train from Wellington to Auckland. I wish that I could just hop on a train and go and visit my friends like I used to! (Maybe this is actually about missing friends and family)
Pubs
Everyone loves a good pub and there are no better pubs than in the UK, and especially in Yorkshire. They are busy, cosy, often with open fire and real ale in a super old and interesting building. You can always find some jolly old curmudgeon in there making the place feel like home. I miss the spirit of the pubs back home.
Christmas
Christmas just isn’t the same anywhere else as at home. The open fires, the cosy family parties, the carols and twinkly lights – it truly is like the movies and I will miss it for as long as I don’t spend Christmas at home. I imagine if I had kids I would be sad that they didn’t have this type of Christmas either.
See my previous post on having Christmas in Australia.
Art Galleries
I miss the huge depth and range of cultural experiences to be had back home. All the best exhibitions come to the UK and there are so many companies doing amazing cultural experiences. I wish I could see more art and I hate not being able to see all the big shows.
Gigs
On culture again – hardly anyone comes to play their gigs in New Zealand, I guess it is just too far away for the more independent artists that I like to come here. And usually if people do come here they play in Auckland so I miss them anyway. Come play in Wellington people!
The humour
I miss dry British humour – it’s a specific type of humour that you don’t find anywhere else. Super hard to describe! Silly but clever. I’m not very funny myself so I need people around me who make me laugh!
Easy flights to Europe
There is nothing as good as a $30 flight to Rome. Flights in Europe are so cheap and easy to get and you can have huge cultural adventures to some of the most spectacular parts of the world for next to no money. I miss all the places I am not able to visit while I live here. I used to travel to Europe all the time and there are still so many places I want to see.
The oldness
The other thing I miss about home is the “oldness”. What do I mean by this? It is very difficult to describe. Of course, the buildings are old and there is so much history. But aside from this, there is also a beautiful old spirit in the UK. The accents are so varied and ancient, tradition is centuries old and the culture is so entrenched. This tradition and oldness can manifest in a bad way but I think that when this spirit is combined with a progressive attitude it gives an amazing sense of “oldness” that can be celebrated.
I know that made no sense – as I said, it is very hard to articulate!
Those were the 10 things I miss most about living in the UK. There are lots more things I miss of course but I’m trying to see the silver lining so I won’t go on and on. My next post will be the 10 reasons I love living in New Zealand for a little counterpose! Watch this space.
Thanks for reading and come back soon.
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Peace
Josie x
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