Planeloads of young Kiwis cross the ''Ditch'' every year but Paul Maxwell is bucking the trend.
He's returned home with his Australian girlfriend, whose parents also plan to settle here.
The registered electrician earned big money helping establish a mine in Western Australia but tired of the hours and travel involved.
''It's a quality of life thing,'' he says.
''You might not earn as much money here but life just seems a bit easier and less stressful.''
The former Kavanagh College pupil moved to Melbourne in April 2008 to try living in a big city and to save money for further travel. He also spent two years in London, where he met his fiance, Emma Hilder.
The couple left England planning to settle in New Zealand, but to get some money under his belt, Maxwell spent a year working on the construction of an iron ore mine in the arid Pilbara region, a 15-hour drive north of Perth.
''It wasn't particularly technical - just lots of pulling cable - and it was really hot. I'm not really built for that,'' he says, pointing to his red hair.
''In summer it was in the mid-40s every day ... but the summer before, it had got into the 50s. We had five-litre water jugs and I'd go through two, sometimes three, of those a day.''
Maxwell says no-one in the camp, including the cleaners, earned less than $A100,000 ($NZ115,570) a year and he made four times what an electrician would in New Zealand.
He would then spend another 13 days on the job, before having a week off work.
His employer flew him back to Perth and he made his own way to Hobart, where Hilder was teaching: ''I'd leave camp at 7am and get to Hobart at 10 the next morning. It would take me three days before I'd start to feel normal again and then it was just about time to go back.''
Some people have been doing fly-in, fly-out work for six years and still have no money to show for it, he adds.
''On their week off they have a massive party. A lot go to Thailand and some have houses in Bali. They live it up and spend time at the casinos. Then there's other people who are trying to put a deposit on a house or pay debts.''
Hilder describes New Zealanders as ''active relaxers'', saying even on their days off many of them work on projects.
Maxwell reckons Kiwi tradesmen have to work harder to get ahead because our economy and wages are not as good as Australia's.
''There were some 'needly' comments in the mines about Kiwis stealing jobs,'' he says, smiling.
''But Kiwis are prepared to go to the far-flung places and to do the jobs the Australians don't want to do.''
''The company I worked with was half Australian [staff], a quarter Kiwi and a quarter Irish. When we teamed up with the Irish, we had them outnumbered.''
About to take over his parents' electrical business, Maxwell says he would have returned to Dunedin anyway because his family is still here and friends who have spent time away are returning, too.
''The whole time I was away, I never really felt like I was at home.''
''I love my life back here. I'm even back playing for the Dunedin Rugby Club.''
The pair, both 28, will marry in Dunedin in January and Hilder says her retired parents will move over here in the next couple of years: ''They used to come to New Zealand for holidays quite regularly ... and they're quite taken with it.''
The money earned on the red earth of Australia has helped the couple buy a 2ha block of land at Waitati, where they will start building their dream home in the next few months.
''We might have been able to do that [anyway],'' Maxwell says, ''but we would have had a lot more debt ... It's been a massive boost.''
Does he have advice for other New Zealanders thinking of chasing big money across the Tasman?''I think it's a good thing for Kiwis to do and while the opportunity's there, we should take it,'' he says.
''But don't forget to come home.''
