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Hahaha yeah NZers can't take criticism, it's true.
Bear in mind that not all the country is like Dunedin. It's like judging England on just Newcastle.
Food in Auckland and Wellington is really good, with lots of cheap places to eat as well as excellent fancier places.
Supermarket food is more expensive than the UK except red meat is cheaper (and better). Quality is pretty good but Euro deli type stuff (like mortadella and roquefort) is expensive.
The rent isn't cheap though.
timmah!
I jumped in at the deep end. First six months were hard, working in a bike shop until I found work in my profession. It's very much a who-you-know sort of place, and I only found the job because I happened to go mountain-biking with someone that knew someone that worked there...
Compared to the UK:
Good - Rent's cheap. Easy access to the most incredible wilderness you could imagine. Best hiking and mountain-biking in the world. People are nice - much like British people they have a sense of irony.
Bad - Riding on-road is scary. It's 100% car-dependent with no public transport, and no motorways either. Here in the South Island things are a bit spread out to say the least - four hours to the nearest town of over 150,000, or six hours drive to Christchurch which has 400,000 people. It can be boring at times, and to be honest if you aren't into outdoorsy things there's not much to do.
And the food, oh good lord the food - four types of cheese and they all taste like Babybell but cost a tenner for a small block. The desserts, they may as well hand you a bag of sugar and vegetable oil, because that's what they all taste like. I can't tell you how much I yearn for mortadella, or Roquefort, or a good cheap restaurant. Christ, Pizza Express or even a fucking Wetherspoon's would be heaven, seriously. The only people that come to NZ and say the food is good are Americans.
Also if you criticize NZ, even in the smallest and most tactful way, expect to be lynched.
All in all I've painted a rather negative picture. I do enjoy living here in NZ but we'll be going back to the UK in a couple of years. I'd like to have a holiday-home here in the South Island one day.