Tracy, you left out "no capital gains tax". And though people in the Antipodes tend to be self-critical, cities like Auckland and Sydney are always fairly high in the "world's best cities to live" stakes ( http://www.citymayors.com/features/quality_survey.html )and both countries do well in "countries I'd like to visit". Unless you want to live in Switzerland/West Germany it's Vancouver or the Antipodes. NZ also has certain intangible advantages that see American billionaires buying remote private retreats here all the time.

There are no snakes at all in NZ, and one mildly poisonous spider that lives in driftwood. Lots of poisonous things keep trying to get in from Australia which is filled to the brim with hideous poisonous things.

Medicine is a mixed/socialised (socialized) system. Basically everybody relies on the public service for most severe illness, including trauma. You can also get most things done in public if you are willing to wait. Cases are prioritised according to formulas so you can't even jump the queue because you know the booking manager. Waiting times vary, but you'll wait effectively forever for things like varicose veins and hernias. Apart from that there is a thriving private system that has no waiting lists and does most forms of surgery and medicine. GPs (for primary care) are private, but partly funded by government in exchange for some controls. Kids go to a private GP for free. Medical Insurance to cover provate costs is cheap- well under $1000/yr for a family of 5. Though it has a bad name, socialised medicine has a lot going for it, especially if there is also an efficient private system right next door to show up the inefficiencies that usually invade public service.

Exchange rate varies. The NZ$ was US$.72 earlier this year and is now about US$.62. In 2002 it was US$.45. small currency = potential for huge fluctuations.