[renew]

Anyone here in Invercargill? If so what is like and would you recomend it?

cheers
Ian

[Debbie P.]

Hi Ian,

And welcome if this is your 1st post! I think the best people to talk to on here would be KatandBob - you could send them a PM if they don't reply to this message.

All the best,

[wiki]

Invercargill is a much maligned place - but I think it's ace.

I'm a little biased, though, as it's where I was born, and I moved back there to work for three years before I came over to the UK in 1997.

Perhaps the biggest problem with Invercargill is that it's not on the way to anywhere else - and the "deep south" has a reputation for being cold and windy and rainy. To be fair, it does get a few antarctic blasts (nothing between it and the ice continent but a couple of small island and a lot of penguins) but there are a lot more sunny days than dank and dreary.

It's a small population - about 50k give or take - but has all the services and shops you could want. It also gains from not being over-run with tourists. But, if you want to travel around yourself you're with a two-hour (or so) drive of Fiordland National Park, the Queenstown ski-fields and wineries (Wanaka is about another hour away over Crown Range) the orchards and wineries of Central Otago; the Catlins seas coast (penguin and seal colonies and a petrified forest - have a look at Katandbob's latest post for pics) as well as Bluff (home to the best oysters in the world, Oreti Beach (setting for the film World's Fastest Indian) and then a quick flight will get you to Stewart Island.

There is work around and skilled people are always needed. Cost of living is lower, but you'll pay slightly more for food as the road-freight costs are greater - but not a lot more, as it's only 2.5 hours to Dunedin and it's easy enough to do a shop on the way home!

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask - and I reiterate that Kat is a great ambassador for Southland and has much more current information than I do.

[saralou]

Ian,

We are looking to settle in Invercargill at some point next year - I have visited twice and OH has been once. We have fallen in love with Invercargill but everyone is different and it really depends on what you are looking for. As Wiki says, you have everything you need there and only a 2 hour drive to either Dunedin or Queenstown.

We found the people, as in most of the other places we visited, to be really friendly and very proud of their city. When we were travelling down from Chch quite a few people looked at us as if we had 2 heads when we told them we were heading for Invers but don't be put off! We are from the valleys in S Wales and it is very similar to a few places around here.

I'm no expert on Invercargill (only visited for 2 months in total) but will try and help if I can but Kat is the best one to ask from personal experience.

Sara:)

[katandbob]

darn silly slow internet at work! just spent ages writing a post and it dissapeared - will post from home - better get some work done b4 lunch
PM me if you have any specific questions
PS you could always read my blog - I havent updated it much this mth but the past ones are all about our journey here and if you type in Southland in the search function you will get a list of things such as the one below

http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=7106&highlight=southland

Kat