Why This Kiwi Left Hobbiton
And can’t afford to return to New Zealand.
Kia Ora whanau! (Hello, family).
Barely anyone I speak to in Melbourne, Australia believes that New Zealand is a more expensive place to live than here. I’ll admit to my situation being unique… I’m single with no kids. However, I’ve always worked in the relatively low-paying industry of education, with one, very average salary to finance everything at a time when the cost of living has hit hard.
I love Aotearoa, the ‘Land of the Long White Cloud.’ I was born in Auckland, completed all my schooling and university there, and my oldest friends and some family still live throughout the country. My latest adventure took me to China to teach English for 2.5 years. After 6 months there the pandemic hit, so it was a steep time of learning and growth. By the time I was able to return home, in Christmas of 2021, I was deeply ready to settle down once again in my homeland.
I rented a stunning rural property as it was all I could afford on my own, and worked for minimum wage as a childcare educator an hour from home. I tried to make a go of online English tutoring, so I could travel less and live a sustainable life. However, I found the market to be pretty saturated at the time. Petrol (most of you say gas) is 3–4 times more expensive in NZ than in the U.S. and I was spending around $170 (just over USD 100) on my weekly commute alone.
Add to this the exorbitant price of groceries in a small country where most of our main industry (meat and dairy) is exported, and the cost of living truly bites! The beauty of the country is known through movies like The Hobbit and LOTR and our understated humor is seen through the works of Flight of the Conchords and Taika Waititi’s many achievements. Our hard-working culture keeps us paddling, but life is not easy for the average person these days.
My brother and his wife sent photos from Hobbiton today, as they’re visiting from Perth WA during the school holidays with my niece and nephew. Wide grins on the steps of The Green Dragon Inn highlight their enjoyment of a classic Kiwi summer. Around 18 months ago I also visited this tourist spot on my drive up from the south to Auckland and felt huge pride in what Peter Jackson has brought to the table for NZ tourism.
However, looking at the photos today, I’m reminded that life in NZ is not ‘Hobbiton’. It has its beauty and adventure at times of growth. Yet daily life is also scrimping and saving, working 2 jobs for a decent salary, making do with what you have, going without. It’s living 10 minutes away from a beach, but never having the time to go there. It’s a place where a flight from the North to the South Island can cost more than a trip to Australia, something that Europeans and Americans used to state-hopping can never comprehend.
In Auckland (although not exclusively), there has long been a crisis of unaffordable housing leading to entire families sleeping in unheated garages or their cars. Its food banks are being pushed beyond capacity, drug, gang, and alcohol-related crimes are rife, and sadly, rising suicide rates in youth are alarming. Of course, this is not a ‘NZ’ issue, but it is something of a hidden problem.
Kiwis in general are generous, understated, resilient people. We’re an extremely proud melting pot of cultures and I deeply miss hearing Te Reo spoken on the news and seeing it on signage, reminding me I’m home. A good haka will always bring tears to my eyes!
Don’t get me wrong, if you earn a decent salary, you’ll surely be fine in Aotearoa. But it’s no coincidence that Kiwis head over to Aussie in droves to earn 2–3 times more in their field than what they’d get back home. I moved for the opportunities Melbourne had to offer, and it hasn’t disappointed me. Melbourne itself is a stunning, vibrant city… just not one I’d expected to be living in, in 2024.
I’ll admit, it wrenched my heart to leave gorgeous, coastal country living for yet another bustling metropolis, but I’ve grown with the experience and hope to one day return to a little piece of rural paradise, debts paid, side-gig activated, ready to experience NZ without financial stress. One can dream! I am also reserving a little piece of my heart for the possibility that Melbourne could be my new home. I’ve adopted a little cat, have a wonderful job, and am relishing every experience and challenge.
The traveler in me will perhaps never be satisfied with staying put for long. However, I thought I’d pay a little attention to an aspect of the cost-of-living crisis that many don’t consider:
Where you live may not be the best place for you to thrive, at this moment.
That being said, I hope that many of you will consider throwing some dollars at the New Zealand and Australian economies, and visit the stunning destinations both countries have to offer. And if you do pop into the Green Dragon Inn, enjoy the hell out of a cider brewed with ‘aroha’. Love.
