(UPBEAT MUSIC) Auckland ` Tamaki Makaurau ` the City of Sails, the Place Desired by Many. And you can see why ` the beaches,... Not bad! ...the shopping, the restaurants, the people. But there's the other stuff ` (DRAMATIC MUSIC) the traffic,... Come on! ...the house prices,... Whoa! (SIREN WAILS) ...the noise, the people! Aucklanders are packing up and moving out every day. And this show is about that. I did it, and I never looked back. Come with us as we follow escapees swapping the pavement for the paddocks. For richer, for poorer; for better or worse, we are moving out. We're just winging it, really. We've probably made a big mistake. We're not keeping a door open in Auckland, and there's no fallback option. Copyright Able 2017 People have all kinds of reasons for wanting to find a new life away from the rush of the big city. But not everybody travels halfway around the world to end up in the regions of Aotearoa. But that's exactly what one young couple just around the corner are planning on doing. Anngret and Kyle have had enough of Auckland, and they are moving out. Living in Auckland is getting better cars, buying bigger houses, spending a lot of money on things that we don't actually need, and I think we've had a bit of revelation this year that we no longer want to live that way. Left hand over.... to hoop! He kaikanikani motuhake a Anngret raua ko Kyle. He kaiwhakaako kanikani hoki raua. I tutuki raua i Uropi; i noho ki Ahitereiria mo te wa poto, a i haere mai ki Tamaki. Ahakoa ano Estonia ke a Anngret, kua haere mai ki te ukaipo o tona hoa, ko Kyle. I've been dancing since I was 4, and it pretty much has been my life. First time I became an Estonian champion, I would've been 11 years old. I remember things like not having food. We got given these rolls of coupons, and you just go to the shops and use your coupons. You're not allowed to buy any more. There were some scary times. I remember being quite young and looking out of the window and seeing the tanks roll past. Na te kanikani i reretauria ai ia i nga tini taumahatanga o tona whakatupuranga mai. I think something about dancing` you get the feeling that you cannot describe, but it gives you this joy. He ahuatanga ano i manawa kapakapa ai a Anngret i nga tau pohauhau o te ko Haporitanga. I don't actually know how it got to our house, but all I remember is picking it up. It was something that would make me happy. I remember looking at this book as a young girl and thinking, 'This can't be real.' It looked like a dreamland a little bit. I suppose at the back of my mind there was always this feeling that I really wanted to get there. No reira, kei konei ia inaianei i Tamaki, i te taha o Kyle, me a raua tamariki tokorua; he turanga mahi pai tana, me tetahi whare reti. Ehara i te mea koinei te moemoe a nui, engari ka taea tonutia e raua. Heoi tera tetahi ahuatanga e pa kino ana ki te hononga aroha. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) Auckland traffic frustrates me a lot. It's one of the main reasons ` also one of the main reasons ` we wanna get out of Auckland. (FOREBODING MUSIC) Auckland's changed within the last four years we've been here. I think when we came back in 2013, it wasn't like that. I feel there's a lot more people around, and I feel there's lots more cars around. He kaimatai hinengaro a Anngret, a, ko tana haerenga mai i a ra mai i Te Raki Paewhenua ki te Tonga o Tamaki he kino rawa atu. Na whai ano, e tata pau ana te hau. Mo ia haora e noho rumaki ana i te motoka, e haora e mahu e ana i te taha o tona pepi hou, ko Etta ` 10 haora i a wiki. It's about two hours of my life on the road, and I think that's way too much to spend away from family. And, you know, you're not doing the things that you really wanna do. (BABBLES) (TENDER PIANO MUSIC) (UPBEAT MUSIC) Kaore i te tino tau te noho a Anngret ki Tamaki Makaurau, engari ano mo Kyle. He rima miniti noa iho te tawhiti ki tana wahi mahi. I've been teaching in Auckland now for four years... at the school I'm at now. Prior to going over to Aussie, I taught for three years here as well. (CHILDREN YELL) Don't worry, guys, there's no sharks in here. I don't really wanna leave the school. It's a great school. I love working here. The staff are great; my colleagues are great; the kids are awesome. Ahakoa te nui o te aroha a Kyle ki tana turanga mahi me tana wahi noho, e mohio ana ia ki te whakatauki, 'He hoa wahine harikoa, he oranga harikoa.' So Kyle is up for moving, but where? Well, the possible answer may lie on the back cover of Anngret's most treasured childhood book. (RISING GUITAR MUSIC) Mt Taranaki is at the back of this book. (CHUCKLES) It's really strange! (UPBEAT MUSIC) * Ko Anngret raua ko Kyle, he makau tokorua kei Tamaki Makaurau, kei te reti whare raua; tokorua a raua tamariki. It's one of the main reasons we wanna get out of Auckland. He tekau haora i a wiki te roa ona i roto i te motoka, ko tona tikanga kei te noho tahi me tona pepe hou ` me Etta. Auckland's changed. I feel there's a lot more people around. E mohio ana a Kyle kei te hiahia tona hoa kia puta i te whaitua nui, a, me he koira tana tino hiahia ka whakaheke werawera, kia puta mai i tera hiahia ki te ao. We sort of like the unknown, don't we? We like a bit of adventure. Take some risks. BOTH: Yeah. A, kua piri atu a Kyle ki a Matua Kukara, me te ahua nei ka whaitake i te maunga i te pukapuka a Anngret. Kei Taranaki ra ano he nui nga turanga mahi; he ngawari te utu o nga whare, a, e kore rawa te tangata e mau i te nui o nga motoka. No reira, kua tae-a-tinana mai raua ki nga motu. Tennis court, designer kitchen, Jacuzzi. (CHUCKLES) Look what that gets ya. It's an awesome property. Sea views, clifftop, five bedrooms, a walk-in wardrobe. Houses are pretty much the same as in Auckland, but they're a third of the price. Buying a home in Auckland` Would be pretty much impossible. ...would've been either impossible or a nightmare. And we'd be paying it off for the rest of eternity. Of our lives. And having to work a lot of hours a week. Whereas here, we can probably do that with not having to work that much at all. Bonus if we had mountain views. While Anngret might struggle to find work as a psychologist in a much smaller town, Kyle is hoping for his very own teaching job here. The couple might have to tighten their belts, but remember this ` Anngret's not a material person, and on the upside, she gets to spend some precious time with her kids. (GENTLE, ROLLING MUSIC) So while it might look like these two have some pretty portable skills, it looks as though they might have to make some big changes in their lives if this goes ahead. So they're doing a recce today, and I wanna catch up with them to find out what it is about Taranaki, and New Plymouth, in particular, that has them so entranced. E hiahia ana au kia kite mena ka tino marama raua ki nga tino tikanga me tona turanga i Te Ao Maori. (PLEASANT MUSIC) Kia ora. Kia ora. How are ya? Kia ora. Hi! All right, let's get down to it. Why did you both choose New Plymouth? It wasn't anything particular about this town ` because we haven't been here before ` but we felt that it was a right place to be and a right place to go to, so I suppose we're finding out how it is here. (UPBEAT MUSIC) So you're almost going off a bit of a vibe, yeah? Yeah. I suppose so, yeah. And it feels quite relaxed here, laid-back, and we feel really comfortable here. Ahakoa kua piki nga utu mo nga whare i Ngamotu i te tau kua hipa, kaore i pera raua te nui o te pikinga utu i etahi atu taone nui o Te Ika-a-Maui. He $400,000 te utu toha rite, a, ka taea hoki a raua turanga mahi tera utu. Although you're gonna live here, I think it's important that you know a bit of background. So this is a book that I am going to gift to you, for your coffee table, for you both to understand a wee bit more about the Taranaki wars and what happened around here. Everything from 1860 to 1881 is documented in that book so that you guys can get a deeper understanding about what's gone on here. Oh, look. That's really cool. Thank you very much. Estonia's been torn apart by wars through centuries. It has a very similar, tragic background, and I can sort of feel like I can relate to that. He pera ki a Estonia, he hitori to Taranaki. Engari, e whita mai ana te pae tawhiti i te rohe. I tenei ra, he pakari te taone o Ngamotu. There's heaps of cool, little cafes that have popped up, and cool restaurants to go to. But we're still scoping out. I wonder whether people who are born here ` do they appreciate it as much and think about what an amazing place they live in? Ko te tumanako kua whakaturia e au ki te tokorua nei nga paenga o Taranaki a hitori nei, tae noa ki nga korero o naianei. And I reckon they've made their decision. Engari ka nui hoki te morearea ` kaore he turanga mahi o Anngret, a, ruarua noa iho nga turanga kaiako kura i reira; kaore o raua hoa, whanau hoki i Ngamotu nei. Koinei te timatanga mai o te timatanga mo raua. Jane and Joe are going on a holiday. Or are they moving house? Ina te pouri o te tauria kanikani a Kyle e tata ana te wa e wehe ai ana hoa, engari e ki taurangi ana ka hoki mai ki etahi o nga karaehe. I'm very upset. Yeah, I was shocked at first, cos I didn't see it coming. Some of us are thinking of importing them in. So we'll probably get Kyle to come in. And Anngret says not every week, but, yeah, don't know. We have to discuss with them, because Kyle says, 'Talk to me after I've moved. So...' Well, that's what we'd like to do. We'd like to bring them in. Yeah. Just, um, not too often. See?! (BOTH LAUGH) We want Kyle here every weekend, every week too, so, yeah, his students want that too. Not too often, but it's definitely possible. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) ...wish everyone dancing success today. Kotahi atu ano te whakataetae kanikani e haere ake nei. A, kei te whare reti, a parahutihuti ana te haere. E tata pera ana te nanakia o te rere o te waewae o enei tangata ki a Kyle. I hope there's demand for a dance school, but I know the people down there, they're really into stuff. They really like getting out and about, especially in the outdoors. So it'd be interesting to see if they'd get into something like dancing indoors. We've got so many friends in the world of dancing and built good relationships and so forth. And now we're moving away from family and friends. (UPBEAT DANCE MUSIC) (SOFT APPLAUSE) Kaore i a Anngret raua ko Kyle te maharahara nui o te hoko whare i Tamaki Makaurau, a, ka whai whare reti ano raua i Ngamotu mo te wa poto kia kite a to raua ake whare tuatahi i te rohe. It is a bit sad. You know, it's been our home for the last year and a bit. It was a great place to live. Katahi te whanau maia ko ratou ` mama, papa me nga tamariki tokorua, a, me te rapeti nei, a Meatball, e haere ana ki whenua hou. Ko te tumanako ka pai te haere. A, koira te kopinga o te kuaha o Anngret raua ko Kyle ki a Tamaki Makaurau. Bye-bye. See ya later, Auckland. Engari he perehana whakamutunga ta Akarana ki a raua ` kua mau te whanau i nga tini motoka o te huarahi matua ki te Tonga o Tamaki. E hika! Nga mihi nui! * Kua whakarerea Te Raki Paewhenua o Tamaki Makaurau e Anngret raua ko Kyle kia whai oranga ano i Ngamotu. Buying a home in Auckland` Would be pretty much impossible. ...would've been either impossible or a nightmare. Kua whakarerea hoki nga matua o Kyle, tana turanga mahi, te turanga mahi a Anngret, me te kanikani motuhake. In the end, you know, you live in this house, but you're hardly in this house. You come and sleep here; you barely see your kids, and you rush constantly. (SOMBRE NOTE) (UPBEAT MUSIC) Katahi te piki nunui rawa atu ko tenei. Heoi, ko te ahua nei, kua tau te noho ki to ratou kainga hou, he ngawari iho te utu i a wiki ` ma te $120; a, he ruma ano, me tetahi kauta hei tapiri atu. Kaore te nuinga o nga kainoho o Tamaki e mohio ana ki era e noho patata nei; engari ano i Ngamotu. ANNGRET: People are more relaxed. We have beautiful neighbours. Everyone's connected somehow. I heard a few stories about people knowing people, and we're like, 'Oh, we know them.' We'll be dancing and doing some choreographed stuff as well. Excellent! (HAPPY, UPBEAT MUSIC) Well, it's been a couple of months now since Anngret and Kyle said goodbye to the life that they had in Auckland and moved here to New Plymouth. Kua nui te wa ma raua kia mohio mai mena i tika ana tenei whakatau, i waiho to raua ao katoa i Tamaki Makaurau a raua mahi, a raua ake mahi. Na, taihoa ka kitea mena kua whai aro hou ki Taranaki nei. (RISING MUSIC) (ETTA CRIES) And what do you say, son? Hey! Gidday, gidday, gidday. Hey. Welcome. How are you, man? Good. Yourself? Yeah, good. Good, good. Hey, Zac. (LAUGHS) How you doin'? Hi. How are you? Mmm! I'm good. I'm good. (GASPS) Look at this one. She's gotten so big! Hey! Kei te pehea te haere e konei? How's it going here? It feels nice. It's really nice to be able to settle... and settle in a place like this. Feels great. That's kind of what I imagined would happen for us. I think Zac is loving it. He has made some friends, and he's best mates with the neighbour. Ka pehea ra te piki tamaiti o te whanau? Hei ta Anngret tirohanga, he mama noa iho te hunukutanga mai ki Ngamotu ki tona hoa rangatira. He seems more relaxed to me as well... and less tired, I suppose. And he's outdoors most of the time. Kua tono atu a Kyle mo etahi turanga mahi e watea ana i nga takiwa, ko te mea whakamutunga i tonoa e ia he 60 nga kaitono mo te turanga kotahi. Hard work being a house husband ` doing the dishes every day and keeping the house clean. It's definitely hard` Well, not hard work, but I appreciate the work that Anngret has done at home in the past. Me being home, we don't have to pay for childcare for the two. We could never do that, really, in Auckland. Could not really just have one of us working. All these extra costs that you'll incur in terms of (SIGHS) parking, other things, the reasons why you had to stay in the city for longer because you're stuck in traffic ` those don't exist any more. Very infrequent visits to the petrol station these days. You know, I've only filled up maybe once or twice. Yeah. And that's cos we went on a road trip. No te tokorua nei e tatari ana kia tau ano, ka timata ta raua aruaru haere i te makete hoko whare o Ngamotu. Oh, nice. I like that. What do you think about the island in the middle there? Yeah, it's very cool. What's your price range at the moment? Well, about 385 would be... About right? ...about what we'd want, yep. A walk-through wardrobe. Walk-through wardrobe. Very cool. Luckily we have painters and builders in the family. (CHUCKLES) That's very fortunate. Yeah. (BOTH LAUGH) Could be a small bedroom, office or storage space, yeah. Baby room? Definitely. Mm. Very useful. Yeah. An office. Yeah. And it's actually a very good price for this, isn't it? Good location. Yes. Knowing what the prices are like in Auckland, how does it compare to the price they're asking for here, which is kind of late 300s, yeah? BOTH: Yeah. Well... It's definitely very different. What can you get for late 300s in Auckland? It's probably a third of the price. Maybe a garage, if you're lucky. Yeah. It's more realistic as well. It's what it should be. So, what'd you think? Yeah, it's nice. Yeah. For that price, it's very good. I like it a lot. Yeah. It's everything we need, really. Mm. Ah, well, there's more out there. Keep going. Yeah. Ta rakerake ana i a Tamaki Makaurau me Ngamotu ` he pai ake nga whare i konei; he ngawari ake te utu; and less than half the price of a comparable suburb in Auckland. And the best thing is that there's plenty to choose from. Kei a Anngret raua ko Kyle te wa inaianei na te mea kua whai turanga mahi a Anngret hei kaimatai hinengaro. He tawhiti tonu te haerenga ki te mahi, heoi ano ko te paenga atu ka taea tonu e ia ma raro. If I decide to walk, it's about 25 minutes. (UPBEAT MUSIC) I walk through the park, which is beautiful in the morning. (UPBEAT MUSIC CONTINUES) If I decide to drive to work, it takes about four minutes. (CHUCKLES) Either way, it's a relaxing journey. There is no traffic. And cos you're so close to work, we don't really need two cars any more. So we're looking at selling one of the cars. I'm not selling my Audi. We're not selling it. (LAUGHS) (GRAND MUSIC) E harikoa ana a Zac; e harikoa ana hoki a Meatball. Ko Mama raua ko Papa hoki e harikoa ana. A, ko pepi Etta hoki e harikoa ana ` te ahua nei. A, ia Kyle e tatari nei ki tetahi turanga mahi, e kore ia e mate wheke noa. At the moment I've got a few private lessons which I take during the week, and also a few classes for groups. We've recorded some ads for the radio down here, and we've got some ads in the newspapers, just trying to get people interested in the doors. I honestly don't know if people are gonna jump at it and take the opportunity to learn to dance, and therefore make it a viable income for me and the family, but, um, I'm willing to give it a shot. (EASY-GOING MUSIC) So we've definitely taken a risk, and I think you never know life. We always think that we try to be safe and keep having plan A, plan B, plan C. But I think things happen in life regardless. We're really hoping that everything's gonna work out long-term, and, yeah, we really wanna stay here. I tenei wa, kei raro a Tamaki, kei runga hoki a Ngamotu. That means that Auckland's loss is New Plymouth's gain. (RELAXED JAZZ MUSIC) Captions by Glenna Casalme www.able.co.nz Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. Copyright Able 2017 He mea te tautoko na Te Mangai Paho.