[mechidna]

Waikato is my location of choice. Does anyone live there that could give me some in depth info?

Napier and Welly are also on the good list. Wouldn't mind the south island, but I'm looking for warmth...

mechidna

[Beach Kiwi]

The Waikato is a large region, and includes many towns - Hobbiton being one of them :mrgreen:. Where were you thinking of exactly?

[mechidna]

Well, actually it is Hamilton. Cambridge would be okay too.

[Beach Kiwi]

It's been a few years since I was in Hamilton for any length of time - spent 12 weeks there on a work-related course in the '80's. Back then it was rather quiet and boring - not much to see or do. It does, however, have the beautiful Waikato River running through it.

Nowadays, the town is somewhat more active, and not too bad a place to live. It's still a 'service' town for the wider farming community, but it is more of a city now than it's ever been. It's still rather boring if you like the high life, and it gets very cold in winter. It has a university, and a large Polytech, so that's a bonus if you have kids wanting tertiary education.

As for Cambridge, it's been about as long since I was there, but back then it was a very pretty township, but also very quiet.

And Hobbiton (http://www.hobbitontours.com/) is just down the road from both. :nice1

[mechidna]

How cold is cold?

Here's my current weather forecast:

Snow has moved into Eastern Nebraska with some snow pellets and sleet mixed in. Heavy snow is expected tonight with a break in the snow intensity around sunrise. Another round of heavy snow is likely Wednesday afternoon. This will be a significant snow for the Omaha metro area with 12-15" expected by Wednesday night.
Tonight
Heavy Snow.
Low: 10f
Wind: NNE 10-20 mph.

Wednesday
Snow will diminish in the morning and then re-develop in the afternoon.
TOTAL SNOWFALL FOR OMAHA 12-15"
High: 12f.
Wind: N 10-20 mph.


Is it anything like this? Please tell me no.

[Beach Kiwi]

Nowhere near that cold! :mrgreen:

It gets down to maybe -2 Centigrade, or more, and can get quite thick fog, but that's about it. It certainly feels cold, though.

No snow, either!

[mechidna]

Ah, see the *no snow* part is very important to me. Question though, the -2 c that you stated, is that like a middle of the winter night number?

Otherwise, the job market is always important. I'm constantly seeing jobs for Hamilton and Waikato, so that makes me feel a bit better.

[Douglas]

Yes I notice that in winter the forecast for Hamilton is often "fog clearing".

Mid winter temperatures for Hamilton are

av. daily minimum +4 decC
av. daily maximum +14 decC

You wouldn't call it cold in the States. ;)

[Robert Dazzler]

Hamilton is a great place to live, plenty of restuarants & bars, ... 35-40 mins to the beach(Raglan, great for surfers), 1 1/2 hrs to Auckland and only a couple of hrs to the ski fields.

I live about 30 mins south of Hamilton in a one horse village .

Cambridge is a nice place just 20 mins south of Hamilton, Brits seem to like the place.
Te Awamutu is another good little town, not quite so pretty as Cambridge but has a few more facilities and property is a little cheaper.

Bobby.

[mechidna]

Much better temperatures, and no snow makes it perfect. I'll have to do more research on Cambridge and Te Awamutu. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and find just what I need.

Thanks for all the help!

[Robert Dazzler]

Have a look here.....

http://www.teawamutu.co.nz/

http://www.cambridge.net.nz/

Bobby.

[mechidna]

Thanks for all the information and the links.