Disillusioned Americans eye New Zealand's alternative bush

Link : http://uk.news.yahoo.com/041106/323/f634w.html

WELLINGTON (AFP) - Enquiries from Americans wanting to move to New Zealand have skyrocketed since George W. Bush was reelected president of the United States.

The Immigration Service website had 10,300 hits from the United States the day after the election, compared to the daily norm of 2,500.

Thousands of North Americans have migrated to New Zealand in recent years -- attracted by the country's small population, clean, green image of bush-clad mountains, and isolation from world trouble spots -- but the number now looks set to soar.

Phones at the Immigration Service offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland have been ringing constantly since the vote outcome, Marketing Manager Don Badman told the Dominion Post newspaper on Saturday.

There have been up to 300 telephone calls and emails a day compared to six-to-eight calls a day before the election.

"It's exploded. It really started picking up from 11:00pm the night of the election," he said.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Americans were also looking to Australia and Canada as well as New Zealand following the election.