By Blink Photography Ltd

05/06/2011 Both Australia and New Zealand have relatively small populations, but they have discovered and embraced the power of online dating.

Australia and New Zealand are young countries built from the pioneering spirit of the early settlers and original inhabitants. Both sets of people have a "give it a go" mentality which is respected worldwide. The ANZAC spirit of persistence, and courage of their convictions. This could be said for online dating, which is now a booming part of both Australian and New Zealand culture. Both countries have a number of home grown dating sites including some sites which are for trans Tasman dating. Other multi-national sites have tried to muscle in, but both countries love their home grown industry and want to meet genuine Aussies and Kiwis, not some scammer pretending to be someone they are not. If you are from Australia or New Zealand and you are looking to find love online it is advisable to join a website either based in your own country or on either side of the Tasman. Let's face it, you know what you are looking for and, unless you are looking to travel to the other side of the World, you want to find someone within reach. Australia and New Zealand have always had a close bond, and what a great way to strengthen that bond but though love? There are, of course, many internet dating sites out there, but how many cater for singles in New Zealand and Australia? The answer is, very few. What would you look for when joining such a site? Personally I would look for dating sites which give you great access for free. Obviously you expect to pay a membership fee at some stage but my requirements would be that the fee would only become payable if I found someone I wanted to send a message to. With regard to payment I would look for a site that has a one off payment payable by credit card. There is no way I would want to pay monthly direct debits. Why would you? My philosophy is that I will join the site, search for my ideal partner, then pay the fee to contact them. Why would I want to pay in advance or make regular monthly payments. I want a dating site where I can join for a period of my choosing and when my full membership lapses I simply revert back to my free membership until I am ready to make that choice to pay for another time period. Like I said these sites are out there and you just need to look for them. I notice that the big singles dating sites out there don't reveal much to the potential customer. My advice would be to check out some of the less familiar internet dating sites and have a good look around the various pages of their sites. If they are totally up front their charges and discounts will be on display. If you can't find the information and they still persist in regular payments, then avoid them like the plague. So come on Australia and New Zealand. Get out there, get searching, read the fine print, and get dating. Love is out there, you just need to find it.