An Australian has publicly acknowledged that for a number of reasons, Auckland is better than Sydney.
Journalist Andrew Brown recently wrote about why Auckland has "swept up and stolen" his Sydney heart.
His Auckland-favoured arguments include: affordable avocados, better beaches, cheaper rent, polite people, fantastic food, beautiful scenery and better traffic.
"I've already been asked to hand back my passport by a few friends and colleagues. The word 'traitor' has been splashed around a little bit on Twitter," Mr Brown told the AM Show.
"I didn't know 50 cent avocados existed until I moved to Auckland," he says.
About $5 or $6 would be the average price for an avocado in Sydney, even mid-season, he says.
A more controversial claim he says is that Auckland has better beaches.
"I've never seen more spectacular beaches than the black sand beaches on the west coast of Auckland."
He says at Sydney beaches like Bondi or Manly, you've got to share them with tens of thousands of others.
"You go over to Muriwai or Karekare and it's you, me and three or four others."
He says he knows traffic is a problem in Auckland, but assured host Duncan Garner it's "so much worse" in Sydney.
As for food, he says the cafe and restaurant scene in Auckland is world-class.
"There's a very, very strong focus on that food to table movement here in Auckland, and you've got all that fresh produce - the food miles are very small."
But what about Auckland's woeful public transport system?
"I came up with a list of seven things Auckland does better than Sydney; I could probably come up with a few things Sydney does better than Auckland. Public transport would be one of them," Mr Brown says.
"But I tell you what, get a bicycle and Auckland's great for riding your bike around, particularly if you're living in areas where you can follow the water around to Britomart areas or the CBD, it's beautiful."
Mr Brown says the article has actually been overwhelmingly positive from both sides of the Tasman, and he thinks it has struck a chord with friends and colleagues in Sydney where the population has hit five million.
Newshub.
