KEY POINTS:
If anyone knows the value of the laidback Bay of Islands lifestyle, it's Todd and Roberta Welling.
The former merchant bankers, who come from London and Singapore respectively, gave up high-flying corporate careers - and salaries totalling the equivalent of almost $500,000 - to move to New Zealand two and a half years ago.
But they say they have no regrets.
Mr Welling said he and his wife first came to New Zealand while backpacking on a "one-year world tour" in 2003.
Now, they own three businesses in Russell and have become part of the tourist hotspot they call home.
"We basically made a decision that we wanted to come and live in New Zealand and we wanted to own a restaurant. That was the dream, that was the passion," said Mr Welling.
After a long battle to get into the country - immigration procedures delayed their arrival - the Wellings arrived in June 2006.
Mr Welling said that although he and his wife each hold master's degrees, they were told their qualifications were not relevant to what they wanted to do here and they were denied residency.
Eventually they applied for - and were granted - long-term business visas when they produced a business plan for their restaurant.
But that, too, was a process not without its battles.
"Everything was a real chicken and egg situation, Mr Welling said.
"We had to prove that we were buying a business to get through immigration. But no one really wanted to sell you a business unless you could guarantee that you were going to come to New Zealand."
Mr Welling said he and his wife were attracted to Russell because of its beauty and relaxed lifestyle.
They are not bothered by the fact that they have taken a "huge" pay cut.
"The amount of monetary value that you place on your lifestyle grows each year," Mr Welling said.
"It's the whole pace of life - just the perfect place for us to bring up kids. We really wanted somewhere small where we could work like idiots for six months. And the fact that we get to take an eight-week holiday every year is just sensational."
The couple and their 18-month-old daughter, Isabelle, take May and June off work to prepare themselves for another 10 months of hard work.
The Wellings, who are expecting their second child within a month, run the Kamakura restaurant, the Indulgenz gift and pantry store and Pizza Port.
