Where should I try for residency? New Zealand or Australia?

Hi all, just wondered if i could have everyones experience / opinions on this..

I have decided I do not want to live in the UK and to be honest i'm very rarely here, always travelling the world and usually just coming back to see family and friends and maybe work a little if needed. But alas the dark nights, constant crap weather, over populated and general standard of living in the UK has never been to my taste so when I do decide to put down roots i can see that in my future I would be much more happier with the lifestle in Australasia.

I would actually love to live in Australia but 4 years ago i used my year work visa and carried on travelling to Asia afterwards. Also on these travels I experienced 3 Months in New Zealand which i also liked.

I have been told that having already used my Oz year work visa and left (I am 27 years old now) it would be extremely difficult to get another unless i worked in a rural area which i did not. On the other hand I also still have the opportunity to get the work visa for a year or two for New Zealand.

I have friends in both NZ and OZ however ive been told by them that in order to get residency in NZ you can get it (or at least apply for it) after 3 years of working there, however in Australia they say it is 5 years. Saying this apparently once you become an NZ resident you can actually live in New Zealand or Australia. so my ultimate plan (if this is all true) would be to spend 3 years living in New Zealand and see if i liked it enough to put down firm roots (ie buy a house), and if not move to Australia after i have gained the NZ residency....hope this all makes sense..

Just wondered especially if anyone has had similar experience in this predicament and could advise me on what to do

Thanks to all who replies in advance!...much appreciated!