Young Kiwi couple reveal the very surprising reason they ditched Australia despite a $120,000 pay bump and went back to New Zealand

A young mother has revealed she and her partner decided to leave life in Australia behind and return to New Zealand because Kiwis value work-life balance much more.

Cassidy Skelton, 28, moved into an apartment in Melbourne’s CBD in December with her one-week-old son, affectionately known by his online persona Nugget, and partner Nicolas, 32, so he could start a new job.

Ms Skelton told Daily Mail Australia that while the city was big and beautiful, it lacked the “fun culture” they were looking for, not to mention they spent very little time together as a family.

Nicolas’ job in Melbourne offered a pay package worth as much as $120,000 more than what he earned in New Zealand, and provided Mrs Skelton with an ideal opportunity to raise their child without working.

But despite the windfall, the couple’s ‘honeymoon period’ as new Melburnians was over after about six months.

The young parents separately realized that they were not enjoying life in the concrete jungle, but were hiding it from each other.

“We both realized we just weren’t excited about our future in Melbourne,” Ms Skelton said.

“We realized that we would happily go back to having less money if it meant we could spend more time together.”

Ms Skelton said both she and Nicholas had loved the country on previous trips and their immediate future was all mapped out.

“Our plan was to move to the suburbs; We bought a car, furniture, built a life and we both kept putting it off,” she said.

‘I thought Nic felt happy and fulfilled with his new job and Nic thought I was happy with the financial freedom of not having to go back to work, but when we talked about it we realized we weren’t happy.

“All we wanted was to work from home so we could share every moment of our son.”

They both “felt like little kids” after arriving in Melbourne, enticed by the ample culinary options and better access to cheaper groceries and healthcare.

However, the first six months of Nugget’s life and their time in the city flew by, and the ugly parts of Australian culture began to become clearer.

“I didn’t realize how much I took Kiwi culture for granted until we moved,” she says.

‘I also felt that the staff were always grumpy and treated poorly, I saw several men talking so badly to their staff.

“My cousin was working temporarily at a bagel shop and her boss said to her on the first day, ‘If you don’t fit into my vision, you should quit.'”

Ms Skelton and her partner, Nicolas (both pictured), jumped at the chance to move to Melbourne after being offered a new job with a huge salary

They were initially happy after starting their lives across the ditch with a week-old baby in tow, but about six months later it all started to fall apart.

The couple were also shocked by the lack of partnership in Australia after Nicolas was attacked by a drunk man in the middle of the city.

“For example, it’s 6pm in Melbourne CBD and hundreds of people are walking by and this guy just attacks him out of nowhere and not a single person stopped or looked to see if Nic was okay,” Ms Skelton said.

“This was wild for Nic because he had grown up in a small town in New Zealand and he would never just walk past something like that, so it was a real feeling like this isn’t our forever home.”

To make matters worse, Nicolas’ entire bonus structure, which they had uprooted their lives for, was ‘dishonoured’ as his employer later said it was not in his contract.

However, there were some positives about their time in Melbourne, with Ms Skelton saying it “really helped us grow as a couple and as a family.”

Separated from their families by the Tasman Sea, they spent more time together on weekends and spent on things thanks to the higher paychecks.

“We really leaned into city living…we tried to embrace and enjoy the differences of living in Australia,” Ms Skelton said.

The family’s bad experiences in Australia also helped them to weigh what they cherished in life and pursue financial independence on their own terms.

“I think the main reason we moved was to just start living the life we ​​wanted and not talk about it anymore,” the young mother said.

“We decided to bet on ourselves and create our marketing agency that we had been talking about for so long.”

Ms Skelton said they were put off by the lack of culture compared to New Zealand and quickly became homesick while separated from their families

However, their bad experiences with employers and Australian culture led the young couple to set up their own marketing agency

Back in New Zealand, the young family are now enjoying a road trip and are left to ‘pinch ourselves’ in disbelief at how much better their lives are

She noted that the couple might have been able to juggle life in Melbourne during the start Nugget creative but added that they would not have enjoyed it.

“We needed our support system to ensure this journey to business ownership was an enjoyable one. It is also so motivating to live in a beautiful place, surrounded by your family,” Ms Skelton said.

The happy family have since returned to New Zealand and are enjoying a road trip to reacquaint themselves with their homeland.

“We start each day with a walk on the beach, then take turns having our son while the other works and end around 3pm for another walk on the beach or dinner with a relative,” the mother said.

“We just keep pinching ourselves that this is our life now.”

She added that returning to New Zealand has given them a “new-found faith” and that they are now motivated to run their agency while their “baby boy is at the most wonderful age, we don’t want to miss a second.”