No Marks and Sparks but at least the sun shines

Each week for the next five weeks, immigrant communities share their experiences on settling in New Zealand. Today, FIONA BARBER talks to some Brits.

An education system not as good as British private schools, dodgy table manners and a lack of refinement, social graces and culture.

Not to mention a dearth of business prospects and television inferior to that beacon of British broadcasting, the BBC.

These are just some of New Zealand's shortcomings as seen by an English immigrant who, with her husband and son, went back to Britain after four years.

In her book, Emigrate with Caution, Nicola Butler documents aspects of being a new arrival - the welcome, the unwelcome and the simply perplexing.

New Zealanders may not like some of her observations - although the book is also peppered with points which would make hearts swell with pride - but her account is one of few by an outsider who has come and stayed a while.

Written as a guide to those considering making New Zealand their home, the book points out pitfalls by documenting the author's own experiences and stumbles.

But it also raises questions.

Do Brits have false expectations of a South Pacific satellite of their homeland, one with more sun, less stress and fewer people?

Or is it a case of this country not living up to its own positive press?

Certainly New Zealand has been accused of being heavy on self-promotion and light on support for immigrants once they arrive.

Helen Jennings, who has been in Auckland for two years, believes prospective British immigrants need to ask themselves some hard questions before booking their flights.

"I would say 'think about what sort of person you are'," says the 37-year-old quantity surveyor.

"If you want the busy consumer life with all that sort of thing, don't come.

"If you want the big, open spaces and a very relaxed lifestyle, a nice lifestyle, then come."

She says new arrivals have to accept that they will face challenges - "you have to be prepared to ask people for help."

Mrs Jennings, her husband, Philip, and their children, Emma and Thomas, were holidaying in New Zealand when they decided to stay.

They had been living in Singapore and were preparing to go back to Britain.

While in Auckland, Mr Jennings, an IT consultant, acted on a whim and sent his CV to prospective employers.

"He had a couple of interviews and we decided within a couple of weeks to stay here."

Once settled here, the couple decided to keep away from expatriate groups, instead trying to "blend in" with the locals.

Two years on, Mrs Jennings, a chartered surveyor, feels settled, although she does miss some things.

Marks and Spencer is one, along with other retail institutions such as Boots the Chemist.

On the plus side, road congestion is nothing like that the family experienced living in the south of England.

"People here complain about traffic jams, but it's nothing compared to driving around England."

She says the standard of education seems comparable, and the family have a better house.

"Our house in Hertfordshire sold for more than $500,000, and it was small with no garden."

The Jennings are among the 39,763 Britons granted New Zealand residency since July 1992.

Alexis Middleton is another. The 27-year-old garden centre manager has an even fresher perception of this country, having arrived in February.

"It's the lifestyle," he says enthusiastically.

"To be able to go and surf after work, to go to a ski resort over the weekend - and the weather is better."

But New Zealand is not the place for the high life - nightclubbing and the like.

The young Briton was approached by a recruitment agency seeking garden centre managers for New Zealand.

The interviews posed no problems, but he found coping with the immigration bureaucracy challenging and expensive.

After filling in what seemed like reams of forms, waiting three to four months for his residency application to be approved and paying more than £1000 ($3275) in official fees, he arrived in Auckland.

He found a flat - sharing with two others - and settled into his job at a garden centre on the North Shore. His first impression of his new home was the unbelievable competitiveness. "So few people and so many businesses."

He has also noticed a few national character traits. "Everything was 'we'll sort it out tomorrow'," he says.

And paying for the doctor and the dentist has been a new experience. Despite criticism, he says, the British national health service is a good one.

It is early days yet, but Mr Middleton is sure he will stay.

Each day brings something new and exciting - "Wonderful quirky things like a midwinter Christmas."

For 81-year-old Grace Andrews, New Zealand is no longer a fresh experience.

Forty-five years ago, the world which opened up to her when she stepped off the ship was very different.

She and her husband, Jack, were among the 80,000 British immigrants who took up assisted passages after the Second World War.

They left behind a sophisticated lifestyle and adopted Auckland's more gentle and old-fashioned way of living.

Settling was hard - Mrs Andrews was homesick - but looking back she concedes that life then was good.

"I remember going to Point Chev, a lovely little beach, but no one was there. I said, where are the people?"

The decision to stay was made after news reports detailing the Suez crisis and the fact that Russia had missiles that could reach England.

"I realised I couldn't go back to that," says Mrs Andrews.

Later there were other reasons. "You get used to the quarter acre.

"When I went back to London, all the houses were on top of each other."

Helping the Andrews to feel at home was the London Club, which they joined in 1955 and still belong to today.

It was, says Mrs Andrews, a social lifeline.

And does she have regrets about moving to a country so distant from the place which was once home?

"No, not now - not really."