I'm just interested to know where in New Zealand the first two posts are referring to in order to have such a negative impression of it! Maybe we are talking about two separate New Zealands because my experience has been the exact opposite. I have lived in NZ for 7 years and would never be able to move back to the stats due to the amount of crime, close mindedness, dumbing down of kids ('no child left behind' ring a bell?) and the general over the top living where everyone has to own a car because they are too lazy to walk anywhere. The list can go on but I'm sure we are talking about different places because the NZ I know is not what has been described above.