I have been living here for six months, and also agree that it is not all that they advertise. I've lived in several different countries, and the last 3 years I lived in the US, so maybe my expectations were to high.
Here are my comments:
- Health. It's terrible, the doctors are really mediocre and the only things they prescribe are Water with salt or Panadol. I gues it's because Kiwis are big in drug use/abuse. Insurance is OK, money wise, but still, yiu need 4 to 5 visits in order to get something done.
- Crime - I'd say it's the same as in any other big city. The thing is you NEVER see a damn policeman, other than when appear to give you tickets for driving at 51 Kph. I live in a very exclusive suburb in Auckland, and we get the usual 4 to 5 break-ins a week. I NEVER go to the maori 'hoods. Maori's here, sadly are in the same situation blacks were in the US in probably the 80s.

Drugs- Man, people smoke pot ON THE FREAKIN streets!, and teenagers are always inventing new drugs mixing even gasoline with other stuff.

Tourism- Kiwis are good at marketing themselves, it reminds me of Costa Rica. Yes, its nice, but it's not really as it's pictured. Most of the attractions/landscapes are average as best. I went to a place called Ascention, and Kiwis love to compare it with Napa valley, man, what a joke, it's somebody's backyard with some grapes, compare to Napa or Sonoma.
Housing. I pay 3,000 NZ dollars a month for my house, and it's just a nice townhouse. Rents and House prices are absurd. I work in IT and still have my US salary and I can barely make it. and we are talkin 6 figures here. I don't know how a local profesional earning 60 K (NZ $) can afford homes that will sell for half a milllion, for old crappy homes with just 1 bathroom. Kiwis have some of the highest debt levels.

Television - It's 2 years behind american TV. Even small cities in latinamerica have better cable TV. I have the satellite with all the bells and whistles and I can only get 4 movie chanels, 2 of them with 80's movies only.
In summary, as soon as my contract ends, I'm outta here, and don't be fooled by the Lord of the Rings. If you take the tour to see Hobbit town, they drive around a farm where the film was shot, but there's nothing there but Rocks!, and that cost 60 Dollars.
What a rip-off!