I've been thinking more about the cities on the liveable list. When you look at the
criteria I think what they're talking about is ease. And for me the older I get the more I want that easy life.
I'm not really an expat... how can you be when you live so close to home in a country about as similar to home as it gets?
So is Auckland liveable??
Yes, absolutely. We live in a lovely street in a lovely area with great cafes, shops and people. The schooling is excellent and free and if we wanted to pay for good schooling we would have had no trouble getting our son in. Work is down the road, the gym is round the corner. The health care is good. It's is easier than Sydney or Melbourne or London.
Kiwis seem more reserved than Australians - more like the English - and are a little harder to get to know but they are really nice. People in banks bend the rules. I like that.
The climate's mild but if rain, damp and humidity were taken into account it would be in the bottom ten. It's really wet. Apart from this summer, thank goodness.
Transport too is useless. but we've mostly avoided that by living our life locally - the motorway is as bad as those in cities five times the size.
The shopping is okay but the Great Outdoors is truly Great. And my kids love it.
How about Melbourne?
Melbourne is easy. It's a real city but not too big. Good transport too.
It's not stunningly beautiful but it has nice pockets with their own distinct flavour and tribes. You find your own little space there and feel like you're the first to find it. You have great conversations about art, music, food and sport if that's what floats your boat. (I liked the food, the sport I ignored!)
People wear a fair bit of black and they are hip and cool. Melbourne can be a bit up itself. In Melbourne they talk a bit too much about how good it is. My husband disagrees with me on this but he talks it up too.
It can be way too hot in summer and cold and drizzly in winter but overall I like it a lot. I didn't want to leave and I want to live there again.
A lot is written about how brash it is. That didn't worry me, I didn't notice it. People don't wear a lot of clothes which can be a bit disturbing at first - eventually you too will wear thongs everywhere.
It's a bit rundown and despite the staggering wealth some of the street fronts and shops need a good scrub and a coat of paint - even in the wealthiest areas. It's expensive. The house prices make you want to gouge your eye out with a spoon and so does the constant discussion about it.
They don't really have a cafe culture or great shopping strips but they don't seem to need it. Sydney has the beach. Coogee, Bronte, Bondi, Avalon, Manly and Palm Beach and even Balmoral. All stunning. Really stunning. And with the climate to match.
I like Sydney even more now that I don't live there.
London?
London is fabulous but not easy. It's exhilarating but exhausting. I love a crowd and I loved feeling that I lived in the centre of everything. I loved the work there and the Sunday papers. I liked the politics and the popular culture. A lot of great thinkers and writers and then people like Katie Price aka Jordan. Don't ask me why but I loved that.
But when I think about the day to day of shopping, driving to work, dealing with bank tellers or anyone in the service industry, long winters and sick children, I think it probably deserves its place low on the list for expats.
It's still pretty close to the top on MY list. I just want it to be a little closer to the grandparents.
(By the way, all complaints about gross generalisations will be published!)
