I know I came into this thread late, but I thought I'd answer the question as ours is quite a different story. We actually dismissed NZ as a destination right at the start.
We seriously looked at Canada, and went on an LSD trip there in 2005. We loved the place, but there were certain things that put us off. The difficulty in finding jobs there was the main one - there were way too many PhDs working on assembly lines and driving taxis. So we determined that if we ever did go, there would have to be a good job to go to. Eventually, we just abandoned the idea of emigration from ZA.
At the beginning of 2008, my wife asked if we could revisit the idea of emigration. Our story is similar to many others - crimes, some of them violent, workplace discrimination etc. But the last straw for my wife was the rolling blackouts, which prevented her and her postgrad students from running important research experiments with bacteria (she was a senior lecturer in microbiology at a university). Eventually, she got fed up with not being able to conduct valid research and finally decided to go to the first world where she could apply her skills.
I agreed that we should shift so that she could work properly. The condition was that she get the job, as she would be in demand. As a journalist at the time, I would not be. We listed the possible destinations: Canada, UK, USA, Australia and NZ. I thought NZ was far too small to present any real opportunities for both of us, so wrote that off immediately. The UK we felt did not suit us (even though both our families shifted to ZA from Scotland) and that the UK had serious problems. The USA we did not rule out, but placed at the bottom of the list. That left Canada and Australia. We still had our hearts set on Canada, but those doors just kept closing - no job offers. So my wife contacted various peers around the world and asked them to put their ears to the ground.
To cut a long story short - one of her peers had just left a post to go to a university. He was keen for her to replace him as he knew her work. So the company flew her out for a week and a month later she was offered the job, and here we are!
So it was really where the work was, although as Christians we do believe God's will for us prevailed.
It has worked out fantastically. Our choice was Canada, but I don't think we would have been as happy there as we are here. We are both so in love with this country.
Sometimes I just want to hug it.
