He’s found a slower pace of life compared to back home in Sydney that is ideal for making friends and trying to get his music career up and running.
The duo shared their stories with the Herald at a time when thousands of Kiwis hunting for greener pastures are heading in the opposite direction to Australia.
According to the latest Stats NZ data, 17,500 more people left New Zealand for the ‘Lucky Country’ in the year to March 2023 - that’s higher than the typical net migration loss of 3000 a year from 2014 to 2019.
Such is the lure that more than half of all Kiwis leaving the country chose to go to Australia.
It comes after the Herald spoke to five Kiwi expats living in Australia, who said the higher wages and chance to get a foot on the property ladder proved the biggest drawcards.
Our analysis showed that every state in Australia (except for surging Sydney in New South Wales) boasted a cheaper average house price than Auckland, Wellington or Tauranga.
The pay was better, too - with average household incomes outstripping New Zealand’s in all but two states.
When it comes to the daily cost of living, our families agreed there’s little to separate the two countries (although the price of petrol is markedly cheaper in Australia).
But they also said it’s not all smooth sailing for “Aussified” Kiwis - rents are generally higher in Australia, especially in glamorous locations such as Sydney.
Now Yeow and Lane explain why they also found a better life after moving from Australia to New Zealand.
Ethan Yeow, Levin
Yeow and wife Lauren had been living it up in Australia. Then life got serious - they found out they were having a baby.
“We came back because I had no support over there,” 34-year-old Yeow says about their 2017 move home.
“I have plenty of friends, but it was like a more party lifestyle – and when we had the baby it was more serious.”
The couple had both had good jobs in Melbourne.
Having first gone across the Ditch in 2007, aged 18, Yeow had a blast working in Queensland’s tropical Hamilton Island, before doing a season in the snow and then moving to Melbourne where he wooed Lauren.
Through Kiwi connections, Yeow found work setting up residential homes with medical oxygen, while his wife became a “fancy party planner”, helping organise events, conferences and expos.
“The money over there is incredible compared to New Zealand,” Yeow says.
Yet while the cash was good, the soon-to-be parents worried about where they would turn in an emergency.
Coming home, Yeow’s first plan was to start training for the police force in Napier.
However, he took to installing garage doors in his time off and soon the couple decided a better move would be to start their own business, Premium Garage Doors, in Yeow’s hometown of Levin.
Like any start-up, the first three years were hard. But having built a good reputation, they now pull in an income as high or higher than in Australia, Yeow says.
Levin also has other advantages.
“The house we first looked at we got for something like $260,000,” Yeow says.
“Where else would you get that? It was crazy.”
They resold just a year-and-a-half later after renovating for $600,000.
Yeow agrees his small hometown has “provided all we need”.
Still, he misses multicultural Melbourne with its great food and activities. Lauren tried to brighten Levin life by starting a farmers’ market similar to ones in Australia , yet it shut during the pandemic.
And while Yeow might now be firmly entrenched in his hometown, he’ll be telling his kids about Australia’s opportunities .
“That’s something I want my kids to go over and see and experience when they’re old enough,” he says.
Matt Lane, Auckland
Big city life weighed Aussie Matt Lane down, so he looked across the Tasman for a sea change.
The Sydneysider initially came to study at the much cheaper Kiwi universities but changed his plans, instead spending time working on a farm up north, before getting a job in Auckland teaching English to international students.
“It didn’t take long for me to realise it was a good vibe,” he said of Auckland.
Auckland is his “Goldilocks” - not too big, not too small.
“It’s a lot slower than Sydney, people seem to have a lot more time,” he says.
“It’s big enough you can be anonymous if you want to be anonymous, but it’s also the kind of friendly place you can build a community if you want to.”
That ability to make connections to score gigs and meet other musicians is a big leg-up for Lane, with his band A Straw Assembly just releasing their second album, Around the bend I hug the bank.
Then there’s the surf.
Bondi Beach might be world-famous, but Lane is in love with the “whole experience” of surfing the “wild” West Coast.
“You go out there, it’s just dramatic, big cliffs dropping down to the black sand and then, of course, it’s really dangerous,” he says.
“Whereas when you go to the beach in Sydney, it just feels a lot tamer, little waves, lots of people – it doesn’t have that rugged feel.”
He’s even okay with Auckland’s expensive housing.
“I’m in a great place, where I pay way too much rent, but I just can’t justify leaving because it’s beautiful,” he says about his Kingsland rental.
“I can walk into work in about 40 minutes or jump on my skateboard and I’m there in 20.”
Career-wise, his role has expanded at the international English college where he teaches.
Yet he acknowledges, similar jobs and, perhaps, bigger opportunities could likely be found elsewhere, especially in bigger countries.
“I understand why everyone keeps asking me why I’m not back in Australia,” he says.
“I do find it difficult to justify living here occasionally for financial reasons.”
“You can’t really say much in reply except: ‘Is it all about money?’”
“I wouldn’t know where to move in New Zealand. Because the other cities kind of drop off in size considerably and I’d like a decent size city to do my music.”
