[Ian M]

Hi to all!

Just been offered two jobs one in Auckland, the other in Tauranga! In a slight quandry as I recently visited NZ. Went to both Auckland and Hamilton, both very different but both nice in lots of ways. The job in Tauranga is more tempting and looks the more exciting of the two offers, however having never been there I could do with some feed back please! It does look great on Google Earth but so do a lot of places. We have 3 kids and a dog so this again comes into the equation.
On another note whilst I have no problem selling up in the UK, my wife (sensibly I think) wants to rent our property in the UK and rent over there in case it all goes belly up!

Any feedback on the above would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Ian.:D

[IanW99]

Hi to all!

Just been offered two jobs one in Auckland, the other in Tauranga! In a slight quandry as I recently visited NZ. Went to both Auckland and Hamilton, both very different but both nice in lots of ways. The job in Tauranga is more tempting and looks the more exciting of the two offers, however having never been there I could do with some feed back please! It does look great on Google Earth but so do a lot of places. We have 3 kids and a dog so this again comes into the equation.
On another note whilst I have no problem selling up in the UK, my wife (sensibly I think) wants to rent our property in the UK and rent over there in case it all goes belly up!

Any feedback on the above would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Ian.:D

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

Plenty of forum members who live in both locations so I'm sure they'll give you plenty of opinions.

For me, unless you are a fan of big cities then I would go to Tauranga.

Ian

[Alan]

Are the packages the same? I only ask because a lot of people want the lifestyle in Tauranga and employers know this so typically pay less. Also what is the availability of good rentals in Tauranga, as it is a smaller place?

Personally I loved Tauranga with the Pacific on one side and the harbour and cafe culture on the other, however Auckland was also fantastic for me with really diverse areas all having their own different qualities.

For us, we have accepted I wouldn't like to live in a big city in the UK but we do need to be a near a town here for the facilities we as a family want, so I guess the East Coast Bays of Auckland or somewhere in Wellington would suit us well.

[StevieD]

Good luck whichever place you choose, it is all down to personal preferences, they both have their merits.

[JandM]

Hello and welcome.:) Good luck, whichever you go for.

[BaldyBeardyBloke]

I agree with Steve. Tauranga, however, in NZ terms isn't that small. It has everything you would need.

Good luck.

[LesleyS]

We are a family who also chose Tauranga over Auckland. I guess it depends on many factors, but for us it was 'lifestyle' rather than a bigger pay packet.....having said that, 'lifestyle' doesn't always pay the bills, and Tauranga isn't known for big wages!

Overall though, we can buy a better home here, with more land than we could afford in Auckland - some breathing space!

[Leanne]

Welocme to the forum. Good luck with your plans! :)

[swissmissdesigner]

I know both Cities welland I would choose Auckland..
Tauranga is too small and quiet for me.

[slider]

Hello, and welcome to the forum :)
2 job offers - that's a great position to be in. Do timescales permit you a recce to check out both locations before accepting an offer?

[Ian M]

Hi everyone and thanks for the welcome!:)

I have promised both companies a decision this weekend, both offers have the same salary, which is also exactly the same as my UK salary so I believe I am quite lucky in that respect. I am veering towards Tauranga at the moment as I believe my money would go further there, please correct me if I am wrong:o

Timescale does not really allow me to "pop" over to have a look, but whilst I was over visiting both Auckland and Hamilton I know that I would be comfortable living in either place although they are both different.

Some feedback that would be appreciated would be costs of Gas, Water, Electric etc Are they cheaper than the UK, currently paying British Gas £75 a month, you would think I was running a small factory not a house at that price:laugh

Also I would, due to time factors come over first for 6 months with the clan to follow so I would need to find somewhere to live on my own first so any help on that would also be appreciated.

Cheers,
Ian.

[Alan]

Same salary, then go for Tauranga you will not go wrong in my opinion. Papamoa is a great place to get a house if you can.

[dusk]

hello, welcome and congratulations!

there's a few threads about cost of living including some approximations for utilities, which should have the sort of info you are afetr :)

[IanW99]

...
Some feedback that would be appreciated would be costs of Gas, Water, Electric etc Are they cheaper than the UK, currently paying British Gas £75 a month, you would think I was running a small factory not a house at that price:laugh
...


A good website to see roughly what electricity will cost is Power Switch (http://www.consumer.org.nz/powerswitch)

I don't think that you will find gas and electric much cheaper but can say that our combined gas and electric for a month isn't much different to £75 per month (less in the summer).

Not sure how they charge for water in Tauranga, but in Wellington the water charges are combined as part of the rates, generally in Auckland there is a separate water meter.

Ian