Hey Clunk
What you read here is true - to a certain extent. My dad is an airline pilot who immigrated from Russia. Ex captain like yourself and was a domestic pilot doing the usual Christchurch Wellington, Auckland milk runs. We both gained New Zealand citizenships; although over a decade ago. I trained to fly in New Zealand (Helicopters) and have had a successful career in Australia
I still fly around Queenstown, Wellington, Christchurch, Milford Sound in MSFS2020 in my spare time - in planks. I miss it. It is so ******* beautiful. I wish things were different so I could return and be part of the New Zealand community again. But this is unlikely to happen
The housing market is screwed and this will not improve. Yet opportunities are limited. Everyone wants to come there and are willing to accept conditions just to be able to live there. Sacrifices that are even too much for me - and this is a guy who during his studies, would make a Macca's run to steal tomato sauce to refill his bottle at home. I was broke af and I still loved it
The way Kiwis look after each other - after Christchurch earthquakes people were putting up their spare rooms to people affected, rent free. I can definitely see why anybody would want to live there. There is a reason why New Zealand came out of COVID so unscathed. As an overall community, Kiwis care for each other
The way I see New Zealand is the same way my passengers see what I do for a living. 'WOW! You must love it so much. You've never worked a day in your life. I would give everything to have what you do'.
- Well... you're looking at the highlight-reel, and you still need to compare it to the behind the scenes
Anyway, something to ponder. Maybe take couple month holiday and see what the day to day is really like. It's a tradeoff, and maybe for you - the tradeoff is worth it. Sadly for me it was not