New Zealand has long been the world’s imagined lifeboat – and increasingly for something more than just escape, writes Elle Hunt. One Friday morning in January 1847, Charles Dickens wrote to his friend John Forster that he was “disposed to go to New Zealand and start a magazine”. The quote was circulated in an editorial … Read more
One of the many unspoken rules of British life is that when one is drinking at the pub with others, one buys rounds. For the naive New Zealander, it’s stressful AF, says Elle Hunt. At the pub one Friday night in London a few weeks ago, I was at the bar with a large group … Read more
Elle Hunt composes a love letter to New Zealand’s online auction site, with which foreign counterparts cannot compare They looked at the mattress, she and her boyfriend. My two flatmates and I looked at them looking, and with mounting disbelief. We seemed to have reached an impasse. “Is it soft?” she said, uncertainly. The two … Read more
In the latest instalment of her series on life as a NZ expat, Elle Hunt recounts the tedious minutiae of flying halfway across the world. Pull down your suitcase from on top of your wardrobe. Not the compact carry-on for long weekends on the continent, but the one that marks you out as high maintenance or a … Read more
With the March 29 Brexit deadline bearing down on the country at an alarming speed, it’s hard not to wonder whether staying in Britain is really worth it, writes Elle Hunt in the latest instalment of her series on life as a NZ expat. Greetings from Great Brexit – sorry, Britain. It’s hard to think … Read more
You might be excited about IKEA’s possible (though far from guaranteed) arrival on this country’s shores – but just wait until your first self-assembly chest of drawers, writes Elle Hunt in the latest instalment of her series on life as a NZ expat. Congratulations, New Zealand, on your impending Ikea. I wish you all the … Read more
When she lived in New Zealand, Elle Hunt never really understood the fuss about Christmas. That all changed when she moved to London, she writes in the latest instalment of her Elleswhere series about life as a New Zealander in London. “36 degrees? Yes thank you I WILL get 97% of my legs out,” my … Read more
Flying almost anywhere in Europe for the price of a mid-price restaurant meal? If there was ever a reason to move to the UK, budget airlines are it, writes Elle Hunt in the latest instalment of her Elleswhere series about life as a New Zealander in London. Once I paid several hundred dollars for a … Read more
Almost every Kiwi who moves to London tries to soften the blow to family and friends by claiming they’ll regularly return. But, writes Elle Hunt in her regular Elleswhere column about life as an expat New Zealander, such hopes are rarely borne out. Just before I left New Zealand again, my mother told the rest … Read more
In her fourth Elleswhere column about life as an expat New Zealander in London, Elle Hunt navigates the lost connections of a 12 hour time difference. I wake up and check my phone. My lock screen is a list of notifications. While I’ve been sleeping, friends on the other side of the world have messaged … Read more
In her third Elleswhere column about life as an expat New Zealander in London, Elle Hunt begs folks back home to spare a thought for a Whittaker’s fanatic stuck with no supply. I am stomping across the office when I hear someone call “EEL.” I carry on stomping across the office. Then I realise it’s … Read more
In her second Elleswhere column about life as an expat New Zealander in London, Elle Hunt writes about seeing the city through the eyes of people who are just passing through. I am at an indoor market in Brixton. I have never been to this market before, though it is held every week, about a … Read more
London-based Elle Hunt, along with just about every New Zealander living and working overseas, is routinely asked if and when she might return home. It helps to have a spiel ready, she advises, in her first Elleswhere column I am seven minutes in to my daily half-hour browse of Instagram Stories when I come across one … Read more