The Great New Zealand Road Trip: The ‘unstoppable’ shift south - Ex-TVNZ presenter Peter Williams, top screen CEO Philly de Lacey among thousands who have moved to the South Island

As we begin the Great NZ Road Trip in Dunedin today, we look at the growing trend of North Islanders heading to the “Mainland” for a new life. Among the thousands are former TVNZ presenter Peter Williams and his wife Sara, and Screentime boss Philly de Lacey and her family.

Peter Williams is in his happy place. The former TVNZ newsreader is behind the wheel on State Highway 8 in Central Otago, driving from an appointment in Cromwell for a quick visit home – a beautiful house on a 4ha (10-acre) lifestyle block at Bendigo – before heading to the golf club.

“I’m driving along the shores of Lake Dunstan at the moment, and there’s not a ripple on the lake. The reflections of the mountains and the lake are just spectacular. The sun’s shining; it’s a case of where would you rather be? I can’t see a car in my rear vision mirror or in front of me, and I can see 300m down the road.

“Those are the things that you just really appreciate – the open spaces, the mountains, the peace. It’s a case of don’t tell anybody else about it.”

Williams, a born and bred South Islander, spent almost 50 years in the North Island, from 1973 to 2021, as he forged a career as one of our most recognisable broadcasters and faces.

Broadcaster Peter Williams spent years in Auckland and Mt Maunganui (as pictured here) during his time in the North Island. He's now the president of the Cromwell Golf Club. Photo / Andrew Warner

Four years ago, the Oamaru boy returned home – or close enough to it anyway – one of an increasing number of New Zealanders who have upped sticks and headed south.

Stats NZ figures show 85,575 Kiwis moved from the North Island to the South Island between 2018 and 2023 – about 30,000 more than those who went the other way.

The reasons are plentiful: house prices, employment opportunities, study, family, and – for many people, such as Williams and his wife Sara, who hails originally from Dunedin – the lifestyle and the call home.

On a recent Substack online post, Williams described the trend as the “unstoppable move south”.

He tells the Herald: “I always felt – being born and raised in the South Island – that it was always going to be a place that I’d come back to. I used to have a lot of holidays down here. It’s what’s in your spirit, what’s in your heart – it’s what you want to go back to.”

He and Sara initially set up home in Wānaka, but he says they became “a bit bored” after about eight months. There were only so many coffees at the local cafe, golf games and bike rides.

His brother-in-law, a farmer, suggested buying a farm. They ended up with the lifestyle block and the responsibility of looking after a decent chunk of land.

“We’ve run a few sheep here and there, although there’s no stock on it at the moment. But cutting firewood, mulching your weeds, just looking after your vegetable garden and things ... there’s just so much to do. It’s really good fun.”

Williams still adores golf and is now president of the Cromwell club. A few locals wanted Williams – who also had a short stint as a host on Reality Check Radio – to enter local body politics, but he decided against that. He is no longer involved with RCR, apart from sometimes being invited to be a podcast guest.

“I thought about [local politics] but I’ve got too much to do as it is. What’s the old story when you’re retired? You don’t know how you ever had time to work.”

Former TVNZ presenter Peter Williams at home on his 4-hectare lifestyle block during another bluebird day in Central Otago.

Williams says the Central Otago weather is sensational, even at this time of year. Sure, it’s cold, he says – temperatures have been down to minus 4C – but the bluebird days make up for that.

He’s meeting more and more people moving in from up north, either as “half-timers” or permanently. Some, such as tradies, are working full-time; others are semi- or fully retired.

The shift south

Dr Rosemary Goodyear talks to the Herald over a Teams call from Christchurch. Her backdrop is a piece of her own art – a painting of Aoraki Mt Cook.

Goodyear, a senior analyst at Stats NZ, has been crunching the data and studying the trend of New Zealanders moving south.

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“Digging into it, what came out really strongly was things like housing affordability and lifestyle. For people moving to the South Island, generally, house prices are cheaper.

“Canterbury becomes one of the big standouts ... there’s also been a lot of new housing built in Canterbury after the earthquakes.”

Christchurch – and its surrounding districts with new-build housing – has become particularly attractive for young families.

Goodyear said the Selwyn district, with its new builds and bigger sections, was particularly attractive for young families. “They’ve got quite a substantial young population in the Selwyn district and of course that means there’s more pressure on schools and ... infrastructure.”

Studying was also a big driver for people moving south. “We know there are a lot of young people who have moved to Canterbury, and then there’s always been a lot of young people going to Otago to attend the university and the polytech there.”

One-third of the people who moved to Canterbury and half who moved to Otago from the North Island between 2018 and 2023 were aged between 15 and 29.

Those who had moved to the Queenstown Lakes area in Otago were older – about half were aged between 30 and 64. “You have people going to different places for different reasons.”

South Island regions have strong percentages of people who lived in the North Island five years earlier. Graphic / Stats NZ

Today, New Zealand’s population is roughly split between 76% in the North Island and 24% in the South Island.

But the South Island’s population rate has been growing at a faster rate more recently – 7.3% for the South Island between 2018 and 2023 compared with 5.9% for the North Island.

“During most of the 20th century, there had been net migration flows between the North and South Island, which had favoured the North Island,” says Goodyear.

But she said that slowly changed from the late 1980s and early 1990s when the South Island started seeing small net gains. “What you’ve seen in recent years is ... [a] ramping up of that trend.”

‘Totally invigorating’

A recent Kiwibank report cited Otago and Southland as the top-performing two regions as New Zealand strives to exit the economic doldrums. Each of the regions scored five out of 10 on the bank’s regional economic heatmap – other regions were a three or four.

“The further south you go, the better the business climate seems,” said Kiwibank general manager Troy Sutherland.

Southland was buoyed by sustained construction and a regional building boom; Otago was benefiting from a sharp rebound in international tourism and an 8% increase in employment.

That economic growth extends to the housing market, where recent OneRoof data highlighted Canterbury and Queenstown Lakes values starting to bounce back more strongly compared with North Island areas.

The houses in Mataura, Southland, are some of the cheapest in New Zealand.

Nevertheless, the South Island still boasts some of the cheapest housing in New Zealand. If you want to truly get away from it all, try Kaitangata in Otago’s Clutha district – the average house price there is $313,000, less than a third of an average Auckland house price.

The average house price in Mataura, in neighbouring Southland, is $323,000.

‘Just look outside!’

One of our top producers, Screentime chief executive Philly de Lacey, moved to Queenstown from Auckland with her family two-and-a-half years ago and now divides her work time between the two cities.

Queenstown-based Philly de Lacey (left) on the mountains, with friend Hannah Hanson.

The company opened Remarkable Studios in Queenstown last year – it has already housed several international productions.

The company’s TVNZ series, Taste of Art, starts filming there this week; that will be followed by a second season of the hit series A Remarkable Place to Die.

De Lacey said there were many reasons for the move. “Just look outside! Queenstown is arguably one of the most beautiful filming locations in the world.”

It provides, she says, the perfect backdrop.

“We could see the absolute need for a studio in Queenstown, given all the stunning landscapes, and opportunities for filming here, and of course, there were personal family reasons too. In the end, it was totally invigorating and the best move for our business opportunities and for family.”

She describes an “adventurous spirit” in Queenstown.

“There’s new and different ways to approach life and doing business. The outdoors and semi-rural lifestyle in a small town environment where you live mere minutes away from amazing modern facilities is a wonderful blend, and the town is full of entrepreneurial spirit.

“People you meet are always getting up to something novel in business and leisure, so there’s some very creative thinking going on and opportunities for collaboration. I’ve found it an incredibly inspiring place.”

Needless to say, she says, she’s never worked so hard and is still figuring out a work/life balance. “But I’m loving every minute of it. The move to Queenstown was the inspiration for our drama series A Remarkable Place to Die ..."

Queenstown offers a stunning backdrop for shows such as A Remarkable Place to Die – here's a crew photo from season one.

De Lacey and Screentime have also been instrumental in setting up a new tourism venture in Queenstown, Luma Enchanted. Located at Kiwi Park, it is a stunning twilight sensory light and sound forest walk - a scaled-up version of the town’s existing Luma Festival.

“We pulled in lots of people from the television sector to build the story of it, and mashing up our creative sensibilities with awesome lighting specialists and sound engineers was an amazing collaboration.”

Watch a Queenstown Garden magically transform in the Luma Enchanted light show. Photo / Luma Gallery

The southern lifestyle is brilliant, says de Lacey.

“I haven’t yet succumbed to the request for a mini-cow, or a goat, sheep, or a chicken. We do seem to have a lot of rabbits, though, none we’ve inherited by choice, and they are totally obliterating my attempts at having a green thumb.”

The work-from-home trend

Stats NZ’s Dr Rosemary Goodyear also talks of a more general trend.

“One of the things that really came out between 2018 and 2023 was that increase in working from home [and] flexible working. It was happening prior to Covid, but Covid sort of put it on steroids.

“So what we have seen, as well as people moving to places like the South Island, you see people in the areas surrounding cities are the ones that have grown. They may be in relatively easy commuting distance, but they don’t necessarily need to commute every day.”

Selwyn had been growing fast for several years.

‘The lure of Ponsonby doesn’t really do it for me’

In speaking to the Herald and on his Substack article, Peter Williams did have a couple of cautionary comments, saying that living in the south was “not all paradise”.

“Central Otago District and Otago Regional Council rates increases are among the highest in the country during the last three years. It’s not a great place to get seriously sick as the nearest full-service hospital is more than two hours away in Dunedin.”

But it’s clear there’s no place he’d rather be.

He has some longtime mates, who also hail from Oamaru, who still love it in Auckland and aren’t contemplating a move south.

“Maybe they lead more exciting lives, but the lure of Ponsonby doesn’t really do it for me – the convenience perhaps of being able to walk down the street and get a coffee, it’s important sometimes, but we have that at Wānaka.

“We live in the country. We don’t miss it. We make our own coffee.”

Editor-at-large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME, including managing editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday editor.