Duncan Garner: I’m off to Australia, too

I’ve made the decision to head to Australia and I’m now on the Gold Coast, south of Surfers Paradise, with my 14-year-old son and his best mate.

I’m kind of like the invisible sponsor and chaperon; I keep my distance until I’m needed, which is usually when they’re hungry, when they need transport, or they’re faced with paying for something.

(Given the amount of time they’re attached to their phones, I was hoping they might have earned some rewards and freebies for clocking the highest teenage hourly use of a device in any country. One boy, who shall remain anonymous, did 55 hours in a week or just under eight hours a day on the phone. They can’t see what is possibly wrong with that.)

Anyway, I made the call to head to Aussie just before Christmas, not to live and work - I should clear that up because the headline suggests I’ve joined the exodus too - but for nine days to catch some warmth and give us a change of scenery.

But I do want to see what all the fuss is about.

Is Australia really that much better than New Zealand when it comes to income, living standards, public facilities and amenities, and a place to call home?

I usually holiday in NZ in summer but jumped online and saw Australia was aggressively marketing itself. Once Jetstar told us it could fly three of us return for $1800 cheaper than Air NZ could manage, my mind was made up.

Comparisons started with the airfares, which left me asking, “why do I feel we’re increasingly being screwed by Air NZ?”

I’ve often wondered if it’s disloyal to bag your own national carrier, given how good it’s been during the years, but it now competes with so many other airlines and on price, I reckon Air NZ will be losing those who have been loyal customers. After all, most punters fly on price.