A healthy lifestyle is so much easier in Australia, says ex-pat Kiwi

Sarah Priestley, who moved to Brisbane a year ago in pursuit of her sport of bodybuilding, told 1News reporter Polly Wenlock how she found the transition and what – if anything – would bring her back.

Priestley said, for her, the key difference in Australia was the ease of living healthily. "It feels like so many people are just living a healthy lifestyle and it's so much more accessible than it is in New Zealand."

Much of this comes down to cost, with Priestley saying the biggest surprise for her was just how cheap fruit and veggie options are in Brisbane. "You can get mangoes for a dollar, berries are cheap, like all these things that just felt like a luxury in New Zealand."

But it's also what's on hand, she said - pointing to a celebrated Kiwi classic, the gas station pie, as another example of the contrast, "Even little things like you go to the petrol station and there's all these healthy meal prep options, there's whole aisles of like healthy snacks and things you can grab."

Watch the 1 News Special: You, Me & Aussie on TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+ on May 11 at 8.40pm

She said when she left NZ, she felt that it wasn't financially easy to eat well, "you were kind of out of pocket to be healthy".

Priestley did acknowledge some change back home. "It's getting there in New Zealand," but said "it feels like it's definitely a few years behind".

Priestley, who goes by Sarah_BikiniPro on Instagram, said the biggest motivator in her move to Australia was access to fitness tech, community and competition.

She started her pursuit of fitness during university as a means to manage health and body-image. She quickly developed a passion for it, signing up to compete as a bodybuilder and bikini competitor for the pro-level competitive federation FMG (fitness muscle glamour), but she found the hardest part of the sport wasn't the workouts, rather NZ's lack of resources.

"It's limited in New Zealand in terms of access to high-level resources like coaching, physios, even like testing, so things like getting DEXA scans to see where like my body fat percentages and physique and overall health are."

The scarcity meant cumbersome travel days. "I would find myself having to drive hours to get to the one professional who can do that thing."

It was also hard to find commercial support. "In New Zealand I really struggled with getting brands on board to work with me, mainly because they were wanting to back team sports like rugby."

In Australia, Priestley said, access to sponsorship, tech and community was abundant in comparison.

"Over here I've been able to get so many more brands backing me, like I get all of my meal prep provided to me for free, I get massages and supplements.

"It was almost instant when I came over here and built that relationship with the brands."

Priestley said Australia's warmer climate also encouraged more people to access exercise. "Just around the corner from me there's park runs every weekend and you might see like 200 people there at 5am, 6am going for runs every single weekend.

"People are also going for walks and getting coffee, even in the gyms. It's obviously a bit warmer here but you can kind of get away with wearing whatever you're comfortable with, if you want to train in just a sports bra or something like that like."

Priestley said she felt this contrasted heavily to NZ's gym culture, one she felt was more male dominant.

"In New Zealand there's a lot more rules I feel about what you actually wear in gyms as well because they are quite male dominated often, I have run into trouble with that sometimes and felt a little bit uncomfortable at times."

Priestley said access to aesthetic tech was also much easier in Australia and it showed – physically.

"Getting, you know, even just lip filler and that sort of thing, boob jobs especially is popular in the industry that I'm in.

"Coming from New Zealand like it's not that normal... whereas over here it seems like almost everyone in the industry has had something done."

Priestley said for her this was where perhaps the ease of access went too far, aesthetic surgery was something she didn't share with Australian counterparts. "I'm actually quite vocal on social media about not having any work done and about that being OK, saying you don't actually have to get any of that done to compete – because it is so normalised over here."

Priestley runs an online coaching service and, while her job could be done anywhere, the massive growth she saw in her business since moving to Australia was down to shedding a 'tall-poppy' mindset.

"[In NZ] all the people around me were always so supportive but I just found myself feeling like I had to keep my goals really quiet, I didn't want to share that I had these big business goals or share that I'm trying to grow on social media."

She identified the cultural difference as also being one related to NZ's economic downturn especially in light of various disasters.

"I think in general in New Zealand there's a bit of a scarcity mindset particularly around money and I think especially post-Covid there were obviously a lot of people struggling during that time and after that time."

Priestley said the scarcity mindset of the pandemic hangover meant money wasn't well invested. In Australia, however, she said there were ample opportunities to grow.

"Here you see a lot more people investing in themselves, investing in their business.

"To give you a specific example, I was just on Facebook one day and I saw there was a free entrepreneurship event the following Monday 10-15 minutes from my house.

"So I was like, oh I'll go along, it's a free event – it was massive.

"There were probably like 4000 entrepreneurs there, I met so many incredible people who I still talk to now, and they were all you know building their businesses of varying scales in different industries."

Priestley said it was a shock, coming from NZ where these kind of events were limited. "I was just mind-blown – having access to things like that in my own back yard."

She described the environment as inspiring - "It kind of opens your eyes to what is possible."

Priestley said the natural beauty and safety of New Zealand was close to her heart. "I do miss just jumping in the lake and going for a swim and not worrying if there's gonna be a snake.

"Or you know letting my dog off leash and not worrying he's gonna go into the bush and get bitten."

While on the one hand, Australia's larger population meant greater business opportunity, it also detracted from its natural experiences. "A lot of the secret spots here you go there [Australia] and it's super busy, New Zealand you could go to the beach and you've got the whole thing to yourself."

Ultimately, Priestley would like to return to NZ for its lifestyle, but said this could only come after she felt financially secure as a result of her time in Australia.

"If we were to go back one day it would be once we've created that freedom through business and everything, to have a lifestyle block and have that peace and that laid-back lifestyle."

(May 11, 8.40pm TVNZ 1 and TVNZ+)

Thinking of moving across the Tasman? 1News: You, Me & Aussie hosted by Jack Tame dives into the real stories of Kiwis living in Australia – the highs, the lows, and everything in between. With over a million New Zealanders already calling Australia home, this special unpacks whether the money and lifestyle really add up, and helps answer the big question: Should you leave, or should you stay?