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Ex Aucklander here (ex UK originally) , now firmly ensconced in the South Island (Kakanui, a seaside village just south of Oamaru, NZ's funkiest town). Otago is a microcosm of everything that is great about NZ, Uncrowded, stunning beaches and mountains, a strong sense of heritage, (most important in such a young country), very friendly folk. Ultra modern (Queenstown, Wanaka) and historic (Oamaru and Dunedin) I do miss the pohutakawas and cicada song of the north but I love the seasonal changes and dramatic landscapes of the south. Motorcycle heaven, also. I'm here for life. Really enjoying your blog, Thanks!

When I was a youngster in the Army, I was based down in Trentham, and I used to drive up highway 1 regularly for holidays back home in Auckland. And every time you turn a corner you feel like you're seeing another postcard.

Hey guys, watched a few of your vids and just wanted to congratulate you for some excellent content. You both have great energy and have put a big smile on the dial of a home sick west coaster living in Italy. Keep up the good work, toodle pip

Your videos are very entertaining 😊 I live in Christchurch, I love it here. The North Island is lovely, there are some beautiful places, but I think there is more versatility in the South Island as far a scenery goes. Driving around the South Island, the scenery is forever changing, and outdoor pursuits are close by no matter where you live.

Dunedin has beautiful golden sand beaches and a lovely four-season climate, and is just three or four hours from the mountains and alpine lakes of central Otago and the Mackenzie country. The lower East and Central areas of the South Island are also waaaaay more dog-friendly than the North Island or West Coast.

We're on the hauraki plains just out of thames and the coromandel 1 hour to Hamilton 1 hour to auckland some of the best fishing and hiking there is up the kauranga ranges behind thames karangahake goerge waihi trampers paradise this part of the of North Island

Dunedin winter had a beautiful crisp coldness that I loved and miss now that I'm up north again.

I love you as a couple you make me giggle with your comments to one another

Regarding the seasons, you NEED to live here in Christchurch, in autumn roads are lined with orange and read trees in the central city and then in spring it's exploding with blossoms! And also it gets high 20 - 30 in the summer (degrees Celsius)

I live in a small town near Christchurch. Love the change of seasons and the view of the Southern Alps especially covered in snow. Nice lakes and rivers not too far away. Love visiting the North but can't imagine wanting to live anywhere else right now. Love watching your videos. Thanks for sharing. 🙂

Winterless Northand so beautiful. Even throughout winter you still have a warm temperature, and the beaches right up north are absolutely amazing and less crowded.

you two are more entertaining then any talk host show lol btw they still walk bare foot in the south with shorts on in winter lol

Visit the beaches in Dunedin, beautiful

I'm an Aussie living in South Korea. At this point in time, if I were to move back down south, I would be really tempted to move to South Island NZ rather than go back to Queensland AU. I'd possibly regret that the first winter, but if it was anything like when I lived in Scotland, I would probably be loving it within a year or two.

Thankyou both for both an entertaining and informative video. You are both so relaxed I felt I was across the table from you with a cuppa and a conversation, Thankyou again.

My favourite places in the North Island is Tauranga and Mount Maunganui. My favourite place in the South Island is Nelson. I hope you can make a video about these places.

Love your shows.

A Beautiful and informative video, your content is really good....! 👌

Sunshine hours: each year there is a league table produced announcing the winner. Nelson usually tops it, but other regular title holders are Blenheim and Gisborne. If you look closely at the crops grown in these regions it is easy to see this is correct. Nelson has hops and apples, and now kiwifruit which replaced tobacco. It also grows berries and German-style grapes. Blenheim (Marlborough) is known for the quality of its grapes and how hard it is to farm sheep, the area is often prone to drought. Gisborne grows top quality citrus fruit (oranges, lemons, limes). In terms of quality of life, the South Island is vastly superior to the North Island. If pursuing business however, then the North Island has a lot going for it too. A few secrets about the South; Nelson and the Marlborough Sounds are Christchurch's playground during the summer holidays. That may be a sign of something. I saw a video where you travelled from Westport (Buller), my favourite small town in the South Island, through to the ferry at Picton (you travelled Bluebridge - can't stand their appalling service). On this trip you passed through Kahurangi National Park which has stunning scenery, rock fossickers love the area for collecting samples, including uranium and gold. Then after Murchison you would have gone right past Nelson Lakes National Park. These lakes, Rotoiti and Rotoroa are also beautiful, Rotoroa being my pick of the two and yet few ever visit it. On the hilltops above these lakes are locations used in the Lord of the Rings movies. The actors were green screened later I believe, with the scenery photographed from helicopter. Anyway, it is possible to walk through this very scenery in the movies if you're feeling fit. The Nelson Lakes area is also known for its oil and gas shows (there was a producing well decades ago) and a few years ago a local set fire to a stream of gas, effectively now a living flame that will never go out. Humans will be extinct before the gas expires. Brian could bottle it to heat his home. Theatre: you're right, Wellington and Auckland do get priority. However, Christchurch has its fully professional Court Theatre, which I believe is NZ's oldest theatre in continuous operation (est. 1970's). The Royal New Zealand Ballet (and others) do appear on tour at Christchurch's fully restored Isaac Theatre Royal. Meanwhile, Christchurch Town Hall's main auditorium is internationally acclaimed as acoustically perfect. European feel: Settlement was planned as Brian observed. Planned settlements were established in Wellington (Port Nicholson), Nelson, Wanganui and New Plymouth. Then Christchurch and Dunedin. Check where the Anglican Cathedral in each city is located. If right in the centre of town then you can be certain the English had a lot to do with its establishment. This is even evident in Dunedin which has Scottish influence. Other European settlers also arrived. The French established Akaroa and their influence there is clear to see, but they arrived after the British had signed Maori up to the Crown and so missed out on making it part of France (Bishop Pompallier represented France at Waitangi in 1840 but Maori didn't take to him, he wore perfume). Germans settled in the Moutere district of Nelson, the story exists of modern-day Germans settling there, buying a house that looked right for them and when renovating they found the original tradesman's name and where he was from carved into a beam in the roof, he'd arrived from a location in Germany just a few kilometres away from where they'd been living in Germany. These regions brought with them skills that were used locally. Thus, you can see stone walls and gorse hedging in Otago (Scots), or hops and sheep in Nelson (Hampshire for the hops, Shropshire the sheep). There have been periodic waves of European settlement since; for instance Dannevirke was established by the Danes, Norwegians and Swedes. Italians have also settled in parts of New Zealand and their influence is noticeable. Side note: these planned settlements were all a failure. The idea was to transplant the settlers and to maintain the same social order as existed back in the mother country. Landed Gentry, Laborers, etc., but when the ships arrived they found this impossible to maintain. The settlers were about as difficult to deal with as it would have been to herd cats. They scattered. This has pretty much been the story of NZ ever since, with settlers being fiercely independent and trying to get on with Maori (which they managed to do quite nicely), despite the British tendency to want to fight Maori all the time, which was a bad proposition as Maori tended to win all the battles (I'm not making this up). Maori immersion: you are right, the farther North you go, the more you are able to immerse in Te Reo. There are also linguistic aspects to consider. The farther north one heads the more likely you'll hear 'wh' said as a hard f. Meanwhile around whanganui/wanganui the sound to a European ear is a combined soft wh or just w. Hence the misspelling of that city and debate around its real name. Likewise, hu can be heard as a soft fu. Meanwhile, in the South Island, NZ's highest mountain is either Mt Cook, or Aorangi (North Island Maori), or Aoraki (Ngai Tahu - most of the South Island). Which kind of Maori to learn? My pick would be to sound closer to the Whanganui region. Maori is a Pacific language. People in Europe have often learnt Japanese, which is also a Pacific language. Such speakers should not be scared of Maori then, as phonetically they're almost identical. This is often not pointed out. Someone fluent in Japanese takes only about two weeks to convert to Maori if they're serious about it. Others with at least basic classes in Japanese under their belts have already gone a long way to tackling Maori sounds.

my family and I are planning to move to New Zealand next year.. thanks a lot for your precious informations..great video 🤙

So nice to see Sonny (hope spelling is ok and doesn’t offend?). I’m a dunedinite born and bred. I love my city to bits. But I think 6 months is too short. You need to see the snow on the hills, the autumn trees and the nice hot summer days diving into the river at Outram. Not to mention the fact that we are the gateway to all the Central attractions which are nice to visit but too Americanised for more than 5 or 6 days. Have you heard of Naseby? An hour from Dunedin and the feel good capital of the Universe! Might be missing a lake but makes up for it with wilderness walks and a graveyard that James K Baxter wrote about. Have you heard of him? Intellectual capital of NZ as well with literary treasures galore. Come on down!

Liz you truly are a natural! When you guys talk about the weather I just laugh! My parents are from Southern Europe the sea is warm, the sun is beautiful and the skies are always blue! Now that’s perfection! When this is all over we are going for 2 mons to soak in some sun!, x

It's sunny more in the Canterbury than in New Plymouth. We lived about 10 years in New Plymouth. Currently living in the Canterbury area and it's sunny most of the time. Even if we have rain, it doesn't really rain as hard as Taranaki.

Aucklander here,and I can say the house prices are both obscene,and a disgrace.Absolutely ridiculous for a country this size. Interesting podcast,guys.

This is something I've been looking at alot lately. Watching alot of videos I've really enjoyed what I've seen in the south island.. but I must say I've also really likes what I've seen in the bay of plenty (specifically tauranga) and then I've also really like new plymouth. The restaurant and health scene is what I'm most interested in for my line of work. Thanks for this video Liz and Brian.

From Ireland, married a kiwi and moved to Auckland (her home town) we have traveled everywhere in NZ (multiple times), we will head to south island one day but there is too much money to make in Auckland. Become rich in North Island and retire early in South Island! Love NZ!

I'll give you the winters are cold but summers are hot down here.

When my parents bought there first house in Davenport Auckland it cost them $10,000. 54 years ago in 1968 the year i was born. But they sold it 2 years later causes my dad missed being around his brother and sister so they moved back to Rotorua where my younger brother and older sisters was born in 1971.

Watching from Whiritoa Beach on the Nth Island moved here from Ak.

The winterless North is the absolute best,you have amazing bays and coves,you have forests and valleys,I am going to build my home up there,right next to my Brewery I am going to start.

I think as someone with an asian and latinamerican background, living in Auckland is much more comfortable because there are many more people who share your culture and you can immerse yourself in NZ culture at your own pace and still feel like you're a local. As westerners and english speakers, it's much easier to assimilate and places like Christchurch, Dunedin, Tauranga or Nelson wouldn't be such a culture shock.

I was born and raised in NP, now living over the other side of the mountain in Manaia, have been to sth island a few times and loved it. The place is simply beautiful and the grandeur is so awesome,BUT,,I have no desire to live down there, but given the chance I would spend all my holidays there just driving around.

Getting our knickers in a twist is what we do. Lol

The ties that bind us to a city. I grew up in the Waikato and moved to Auckland as a teenager. While I have moved around the north island a bit over the years have been in West Auckland for 20 yrs. If I had to leave this rental (I've been here 12 yrs) I would have to think of leaving, but at the end of the day, all my friends are here, family within visiting range. I would find it really difficult to go to a new town at nearly 60 on my own. Also I love visiting the south island but warm house or not I would miss so many things in Auckland, including the weather.

Like that little table thing next to the fridge, you know, you could do a pod caste thing about having drinkies is here different to drinkies in England

Thank you 🙏 NZ is great 👍

I live in Auckland and have done all my life but over the past 5 or so years - WE WANT OUT - as it's so expensive, crowded & unpleasant these days. They have demolished entire streets to build more compact homes in place of the usual quarter acre block. So I would DEFINITELY move to Sth Island if it wasn't for my grandchildren. Did you guys ever get your citizenship or just residency...just wondering. Great vlog guys.

I was born and raised in Christchurch but decided to move to Dunedin about 161/2 years ago. Bought a house in Port Chalmers (15mins) from Dunedin city, soo beautiful and friendly.

Hi! I would really like to see one about Nelson. Currently not living in NZ.

Like I was born in Christchurch , But been in Hawkes bay since the first earthquakes as my kids have kept me here till now since there all working. Been wanting to head home for over the last ten year's now and it's funny as I find this video as I stopped for a coffee why packing , Funny how things come together at times. Like there awesome people all over the country, But for me the south island will always be home and I have to say the walks around the south islands are to die for really. Nice content guy's and the season's have changed so much in the last 45 years I can definitely tell you that.

Canterbury is the best place to live! Good people, loads to do! Beautiful! South Island!

Brian you said you have rafted a river in the North Island. If you go to the West Coast you can raft a river underground over there. Part of the journey, if you are quiet, allows you to see glow worms on the roof of the cave as you float past. PS Emigrated over 50 years ago from Glasgow to Dunedin. Lived here all the time apart from courses for work or my military training.

You'll love it down here in Dunedin, just don't come between now and August unless Brian has got you some heated underwear.

Excellent video and a great channel. You'll know you're proper locals when you start saying 'in' the South or North Island rather than 'on' the South Island. I'm not saying it makes more grammatical sense, it's just the way Kiwis roll. Keep up the great work!

I live in Wellington. I'd move for love. I.love the beaches and would love to.move further north. Though with house prices you had me convinced I should move to Christchurch.

Your correct about the European feel on the south... My father Scottish and brought up on south island my mother's Maori from Kaikohe..

Coming from a small village in the Maluti mountains in South Africa, close to the Lesotho border, I would have loved to move to the south island. However my job is going to take me to Whangaparaoa, north of Auckland. I am hoping to stay there for a few years, but I would love to end up somewhere between Christchurch and Invercargill, where there are mountains, lakes and seasons! We have no heating in our house here in SA, except an open fire place, and blankets. Because the temperature can dip to -16 'C in winter, we use the fire for about 4 months of the year, and in summer the temperatures rise to around 35'C, so our farm reservoir gets used for cooling off after work! Huge seasonal changes. Whangaparaoa is going to be a massive culture shock, but a challenge that we are eager to take on...

Do what a lot of North Island retires do. Caravan for a few years in the South Island. Bay of Plenty all the way can't beat the beach culture.

Pohara beach over in golden bay is a great beach

Nelson, thats the place to be.

Born and bred in Auckland, visit and work at many countries around the world but haven't been to the South Island.

I am definitely a north Island person. I got an offer on the south Island, though...I'm really torn.

You forgot to mention that if you live in Auckland, you can drive 3 hours south in winter and go skiing, and drive 3 hours north in summer and catch marlin...

The South Island is exporting people (along with electricity) to the North Island. Mainly job seekers. The huge sheep and cattle farms of the South Island are no longer as lucrative as they used to be and no longer provide much employment. Another thing to consider when looking at where to live is your preferred life style. You want the sea and sail - Auckland.or Bay of Islands. You moved from Glasgow and want a similar sort of city - Dunedin (settled mainly by the Scots) You want to get away from it all and have the wilderness on your doorstep - West Coast of the South Island. Wellington is sort of middle of the road - you can have sea and sail, skiing is half a days drive away. It is a compact city with a great vibe.

Just found your channel. Wonderful... Btw Auckland is recognised as being at at 36.8485° S, 174.7633° E Melbourne is at 37.8136° S, 144.9631° E So Melbourne is almost one degree or 60 minutes further South - and one minute in Latitude is equal to one nautical mile. So Melbourne is just under 60 nautical miles further South than Auckland (or 111 Kilometres Cheers from Toronto

Growing up in Dunedin I always thought the North Island seemed overcrowded in comparison....now I live in the UK I understand what overcrowded actually is,its all relative I guess. I've seen most of NZ but my heart is always in the South,on the subject of beaches,Dunedin is blessed with more than its fair share so you can have a beach to yourself if you don't want to share. I won't say one is better than the other because it completely depends on what the individual wants.

Dunedin used to be called new Edinburgh so yeah big Scottish feel to it.

The answer, north definitely.

We are trying to get it that you do need a passport.... Dunners has something like 20 beaches within 25km.

Northland born a breed here, parents ran a motor camp on the beautiful east coast of the far north. House prices in the far north are still pretty reasonable compared to the rest of the Country in general, only downfall is employment unless you have a good trade behind you. You would never drag me away from the North Island to live even tho I know how beautiful the South Island is and how friendly the people are. I guess it's just were you happen to spend the most of your life as to which Island you prefer. As an outsider coming in to New Zealand I suggest, try a year in each Island first before making a final decision on where you would like to settle for good. The beauty of NZ is you can move around and every thing is the same in many ways. IE no different cultures or accents like you can experience in different parts of the UK .

What provence is the only province in NZ that always ranks among the best climates , ranks always in the top two for gourmet food, number 1 for wine and put NZ wine on the world stage, accounts for 16% of the entire ❤NZ coast line, has lakes and vast water ways, plains and mountains, some of the best walks and native bush treks, regarded by many South Islanders as more like the N.I but regarded by the North Islanders as the S.I. , is very laid back , has many cultures from Europe ,South America, and Britain , has easy access two of NZs largest cities, yet has a small town country rural feel though many of the locals are world travellers , and only has traffic lights when road works are being undertaken. 😂😂😂 proudly MARLBOURGH NZ.

i like christchurch because the whole city is flat. whenever i went to wellington, i hated walking everywhere because of how the whole city is sloped

Most of the east coast of the South Island has significantly different scenery from the West Coast. In terms of beaches Canterbury, Otago and Southland beaches are white sand. Dunedin climate is similar to the south of England. Invercargill is a few degrees cooler on average. Christchurch is a few degrees warmer on average.

The South Island is 32% larger in area than the North Island. Good stuff guys!

Hackett didn't invent Bungy,he was first to make it a commercial venture,the first modern bungy was done by a few blokes up in Bristol,in 1979. Hackett started off in 1981.

Thanks for the video. It was interesting to see the different perspectives. I wonder if we would find the North Island warm as people coming over from South Africa we are thinking it is going to feel cold for a while? We had though about Hamilton as the ideal place to settle.. a bit inland so lower humidity than Kwa-Zulu Natal in South Africa and hence less mildew issues. Green, easy for growing produce and having a lovely garden, beekeeping with fewer complications as a result of extremely cold temperatures... we love the outdoors and tramping though, so are u saying there are not really opportunities to do that in the North Island? Just one small correction for those who are trying to tally up their points. You actually get 30 points more for settling outside of Auckland!

Please do a podcast on the acting and job opportunities 🙌 love your podcasts

The North Island isn’t that much smaller - 113,729 km² vs. 150,437 km² … similar land area as the UK at 242,495 km²

Heloo guys, how about the schools in soouth island because i have children age 19, 16 and 13 years old?

Can't find the video on the tiny house in the far north.

Brian definitely has picked up a strong Australian/NZ accent. It's hard to tell he's British sometimes. Wife still sounds like she got off the plane yesterday though lol

South Island. A lot less Aucklanders;).

Sumner Christchurch

North island , fractionally smaller in area, but does have vast areas to explore, tracks, hunting, doc huts, great walks more volcanoes geothermals, and less tourists . And a wee fact: The length of NZ coastline is just shy of that of the contiguous USA

Best holiday in New Zealand...Bay of Islands...piahia, Russell, boat trips warm sea, fishing, trips to cape reinga, opononi, Hate the cold, wouldn't live anywhere where it might snow

Central Otago is great for growing stonefruit.

big island, australia

I’m curious about music and drama lessons for kids. And things like martial arts, dance. Hard to find such activities for kids, or am I wrong? We are looking into immigrating to NZ.

Just to let you know latitude of Melbourne is 37.8 south and Latitude of Auckland is 36.8, south so really Auckland is further up to the equator by 1 degree. Sorry...splitting hairs here. You are mostly right.

Check out how many famous scholars , scientists , musicians , etc etc come from Dunedin and Christchurch . Canterbury and Otago universities have churned out so much international talent . The education is world renowned . Also Otago Medical school is famous . Actors and musicians work worldwide . Huge opportunities . International jumping off point for scientific research in Antarctica . . Possibilities everywhere if people are up for it . Nelson School of music offers many opportunties although Nelson house prices some of the highest . I think you might find though , many Sth Islanders will say there are already too many people here and want it to remain a nearly untouched gem . They want the secret kept .

I don't think any nz trees loss their leaves. NZ is Always green.

Good choice wife drama. Sweet as. North it is. Go the blue!!!!

"Why would anyone move to Auckland when you've got Queenstown?" Love you Bri. only place dearer than Auckland in NZ is....

Brian: "There's lots of people who live in NZ who've never been to the South Island." Your average South Islander: "Thank God!"

Waiheke is an island of New Zealand. Why not Waiheke.?

Skinny city. Word of the day... Is Isthmus. Try to pronounce it. 🙊

The South island is quieter and is full of rugged raw alpine beauty that keeps getting better the further south you go until you get to Fiordland. The drive to Milford sound has got to be one of the mast amazing roads on the planet. It's hard to describe the beauty of the South island as there are no pictures that come even remotely close to showing the true beauty of the South island. The North island is more beaches and rolling green pasture and busier.

Liz, you are mad! To paraphrase John Cleese, as you get older you just never want to be cold again! If you were to move, the Bay of Islands is the place (or the Coromandel if you can't find a piece of land to buy...) No mosquitoes in either and it is Always Warm. Far, far better than misplaced dreams of snow. South Island? Horizontal Drizzle and Damp Snowdrifts. Blghhh!

Trouble with ChCh,they hate Aucklanders,as an Aucklander myself, I can safely say,"we don't give a rats about what they think,we have lives to live,not harbour hatred towards another area. You can easily live in Auckland,if you have the right attitude and know where to shop. Sorry about the rant. 🙂

South island about 56% of land , North island about 42% of land, rest other island

North

Oh I am staying out of that argument ... mainly because the South Island The Mainland is 100% better... Best roads for the Ducati, the mountain ranges... cheaper houses... (ish) You want to visit Dunedin... I'll make sure the Ducati is not so loud... when you are filming lol Dunedin we have Glow worms.. you can visit and see for free....

The only place in the first world that is COVID-free, is the South Island of NZ.

They don't call the South Island, "The Mainland" for nothing. Anyhow, apart from its obvious gorgeousness, the South Island is geologically older than the North Island, and according to Maori legend, the great hero/warrior Maui fished up a giant Ray, and that is the North Island; Just a big fish!

North Island obviously, there's nothing in the South Island except Christchurch, mountains and sheep.

Your channel inspires me so much. I am thinking of moving to teach my wife is a nurse and we have an 11 year old special needs son. Where do you think is best to live and work?