[Bunstar]

Hi all!

Just thought i'd do a quick post to introduce myself. My name's Clare and my partner and I arrived in NZ at the beginning of November 07. I'm 30, my boyfriend is 37 and we originally come from Manchester, UK. After touring the North Island in a campervan we fell in love with Tauranga and decided to settle here. My boyfriend is now working after securing a job in Rotorua and I'm still job hunting.

I've been looking into this forum lots prior to and since being in NZ and want to say thanks for all the helpful advice on here! Hopefully I'll be able to return the favour and help others in the future :)

Cheers,
Clare :p

[JandM]

Hello.:)

[Jules]

Hello and welcome Clare. We are in Rotorua :cheers

Jules

[Asli&Mark]

Welcome to the forum Clare. :)

[peebles16]

Welcome from us too :)
Karen

[Mickstim]

And welcome from us too. Hope to be in Tauranga in a couple of months and also LOVE it there!!

[RamblingPaddies]

might email you a few questions at a later stage if that was OK

fingers crossed we'll be in tauranga by mid march :cheers

[JayBee]

Hi there! Can understand you staying in Tauranga .... it's on our list of possible places to settle!
Good luck with the job hunting!!

[Red Devil]

Hi Clare...welcome to the forum.

We've scheduled a nights stopover in Tauranga during our 3 week 'recce' trip in April... my wife has been advised by Tonix Health Recruitment there is plenty of nursing opportunities to be had in the town... we'll see what develops :)

After touring in your campervan and falling for Tauranga, was it a case of "we're staying and not going back to the UK" or did you go through the 'proper' channels, i.e. return back to the UK and get everything sorted?

[Bunstar]

Thanks for the warm welcome guys!

Red Devil - we actually came our with PR which we applied for in the UK. John, my boyfriend, is an electronics control design engineer and we managed to get the elusive blue stickers without a job offer as he is on the long term skills shortage list. We originally thought we'd probably end up in Wellington but as i say Tauranga was just too nice for us to resist!

RamblingPaddies - no problem, e-mail away and I'll help as much as I can if I can!! That goes for anyone else too!!

Jules - how long have you been in Rotorua?

[Park City Partner]

Welcome from Papamoa! What type of work are you looking for?

[Destiny]

Welcome to the forum.

I've also found the information on this site really helpful. We are still in the lovely wet Manchester. I'm sure you don't miss the place too much. The Trafford Centre just gets busier by the day and the traffic certainly drives us all mad.

We visited Tauranga on a trip we made last year. I think you have made a fantastic choice in location. We really enjoyed the shells on the beach and can't wait to take our daughter to see them when we come over to NZ in June.

Nice to hear from someone from Manchester. All the best.

[mgf]

Hey we arrived in Tauranga on Tuesday. Currently trying to figure things out. Job starts on the 26th working on getting my girls enroled in school. We love it .

[mgf]

Any suggestions on places to go for good cars to buy? We arrrived on Tuesday. Secured a rental but now looking for a good car.

[Bunstar]

Welcome to Tauranga mgf!!! You arrived when the weather is really pants! It was much better than this a couple of weeks ago.

We bought our car second hand from the Nissan dealership on Cameron Road (We offered them a price for it lower than the screen price and they then said we could have it for less than our offer!!).
There are loads of second hand car dealerships along the full length of Cameron Road (from town through past the hospital into Greerton). There are also lots of second hand car dealerships on Hewletts Road (which is the road through the port towards the Mount from the harbour bridge) HTH

Destiny - if it makes you feel any better it's been pouring down here all weekend! It's just like being back in M'cr!! (Oh, we've collected loads of shells from the beach too!)

Park City Partner - I used to work as an Investigator in the UK, but am thinking about having a change!

[Park City Partner]

I can recommend the Nissan dealer on Cameron as well. It is called Bay Nissan and part of the Farmer Motor Group. I am dealing with them on a car for work and they have an excellent reputation.

Bunstar, I just recently took a job through a recruiter I liked very much called RightClick. You might check their website to see if there is anything that peaks your interest...www.rightclicknz.com.

Good luck.

[Bunstar]

Thanks Park City Partner, my boyfriend used that agency too and although he ended up going for a job that wasn't through that agency he did like the way they dealt with him.

I've actually just been offered a job so am very excited!! It's an Investigators job again but it's focussing on different subject matter than I was dealing with in the UK. I start mid March :raebanana

[JandM]

CONGRATULATIONS!:raebanana :raebanana

[Red Devil]

We are still in the lovely wet Manchester. I'm sure you don't miss the place too much. The Trafford Centre just gets busier by the day and the traffic certainly drives us all mad.

Nice to hear from someone from Manchester. All the best.

We're not too far from you... Poynton, near Macclesfield.

I know what you mean about the traffic... A6 & A34 are crazy at the best of times :roll

[RamblingPaddies]

sounds like we might have enough forumites for a st.patricks day drink ? 16th or 17th ?? :cheers

[RamblingPaddies]

Any suggestions on places to go for good cars to buy? We arrrived on Tuesday. Secured a rental but now looking for a good car.

hi mgf - how easy was it to get a rental ? furnished or no ?

[Jules]

Hi Clare

We have been in Rotorua for just over 3 years and still loving it :nice1

Jules

[Joanna]

Hi glad to hear that you are all enjoying Tauranga. We hope to be there by Christmas via Wellington.

[mgf]

We secured a rental within a couple of days. Unfurnished.

[Den]

Hi Clare, welcome to this fantastic forum! I have been to Tauranga twice and it does tick a lot of boxes!:clap

[cathgates]

We're hoping to arrive at the beginning of May, our house sale should exchange at the end of this week, so we should be booking flights and start to chase up job leads with a firm date in mind. Oh is a hgv driver, we have found a few firms, but would love to secure a job offer before we arrive to avoid the new import tax :(
We have never been to NZ, but of all the places I looked at, Tauranga just seemed to draw me in!!!
Any good suggestions for motels would be much appreciated, we're not bothered about luxuries, just a clean place to stay with self catering facilities for a couple of months.
Thanks

Cath X