[Freeheart]

We're looking for a friendly community with culture and opportunity for artists and musicians. Need a safe environment and good schools for our 2 young children. I would also love to have good fishing and outdoor activities nearby! We've been looking at Whakatane, Taneatua and Kawerau in the Bay of Plenty as well as Napier and Hastings in Hawke's Bay. Any advice? Anyone out there living in one of these places that could share their experiences?

[victoria24]

we loved papamoa beach :)

[Freeheart]

looking at papamoa now, looks like an amazing place! expensive real estate though, I think we'd rent for the first year or so, maybe test out a few locations before deciding on where to purchase a home.

[jandk]

i love papamoa beach too , so much we live there:)

[Freeheart]

My spouse wants to work something similar to what she is doing now, Inventory Management, or teach guitar. Ideally I would stay home with the children for the next 2 years working in the evenings and/or weekends if necessary at whatever job I could find. I would enter the work force full time again once our children are both in school.

Any advice on the employment situation in Papamoa? How far away is Tauranga? How far away is Whakatane? Would commuting to these places be an option if there aren't jobs in Papamoa? Any local sources to share with me, websites or classifieds that we could search for jobs in these areas specifically?

[catt]

We thought of Whakatane as a place to live when we did our recce but glad we didnt, we went back for a visit a week or so ago and realised how small it isl and although very nice it would get pretty dull after a while we thought as there is not enough going on.

We are in Tauranga and loving it, everything is easy to get to, traffic is pretty light 99% of the time and everywhere you go there is water or parks and people are so friendly. No matter where we go we feel very safe and secure in our surroundings.

Good luck in wherever you decide!!! :nice1

[Tomsk]

Personally I wouldn't recommend Kawerau, not that I live there, or even spent very much time there, but I've heard some very negative things about it. I'm reluctant to state someone else's opinion as absolute fact, one man's meat being another man's poison and all that, but if you are seriously looking at it as a destination I'd suggest research carefully first.
Papamoa beach on the other hand is gorgeous, it looks like a great area to live, with the beach & Tauranga so nearby.
Whakatane seems nice enough, heaps of sunshine, one of the sunniest places in NZ, if not the sunniest place, but it seems a bit small to me, and a little bit isolated.

[Freeheart]

The town we live in currently has a population of just a little over 9,000 and is the largest "city" within one hour's drive in any direction. We are definitely accustomed to living in a smaller community. My only concern is that proper employment would be difficult to find in a lesser populated area. We will research Tauranga. Is there good fishing nearby or forests/hiking/camping?

[Potato]

The town we live in currently has a population of just a little over 9,000 and is the largest "city" within one hour's drive in any direction. We are definitely accustomed to living in a smaller community. My only concern is that proper employment would be difficult to find in a lesser populated area. We will research Tauranga. Is there good fishing nearby or forests/hiking/camping?

Tauranga is pretty close to the Kaimai ranges and also the Coromandel ranges. Both are bush clad, and the latter probably has the best tramping as well as some interesting history (gold).
Further afield , there are the Ureweras, but they are easier to reach if you lived in Whakatane.

Also:

"We're looking for a friendly community with culture and opportunity for artists and musicians"

Have you considered Nelson?

[Freeheart]

hmmm, Nelson looks quite good too! Man, this is gonna be difficult, New Zealand is just too gorgeous all around!

[jeffanar]

If you like wine, I would definitely go for Hawkes bay or Nelson! They both have fantastic wineries :nice1

Or maybe it's just me who thinks about things like this :cheers

[NikT]

If you like wine, I would definitely go for Hawkes bay or Nelson! They both have fantastic wineries :nice1

Or maybe it's just me who thinks about things like this :cheers

Nah! Me too.:D

Nick.:cheers

[sizzlingbadger]

Hey ! What about the Wairarapa for wine as well, we've got some fantastic vineyards around here :D

Nelson is quite well known for it's arty community and plus it's one of the sunniest spots in NZ :) You've got Abel Tasman national park and the Marlborough Sounds on the doorstep.

Good luck with your choice, it definitely won't be an easy choice to make :nice1

[jeffanar]

Hey ! What about the Wairarapa for wine as well, we've got some fantastic vineyards around here :D

I haven't made it to that part of the country yet - it's on the wine tasting to do list :D

[Calbabe]

Hi, We made the move to Tauranga in the Western Bay of Plenty 2 years ago. We love it here. I am a primary school teacher and my husband is a musician. We love the culuture here. My husband released an album last year, his band is called Grace Falls and the album is called Restless, check it out on itunes or go to www.gracefalls.com Anyway enough of the plugging, I truly believe that we live in the best place in NZ, is not the world. The beaches are amazing, the culture is facinating, we even have our own art gallery here! We were a bit scared to move here because we need a music scene, both being music lovers but I believe we have found an amazing part of the world to live. We have 2 children one is 10 and the other is 4. Our 10 year old loves her school and, being a teacher I had a good overview of the schools here before I chose the right one for her. Hope this helps you, wherever you choose, stick to it and give it your whole heart and you will make it work. Good luck, blessings to you!

[NikT]

Hi Calbabe,

PM'd you.:nice1

Nick.:cheers

[Freeheart]

Wow Calbabe, that is a little strange haha, I am an artist and you have a gallery, my wife is a musician and so is your husband, and we also have 2 kids! Samers! Listening to your man's music right now, good stuff! You can check out my wife's music at www.myspace.com/jenessafreeheart. If you wanna see some of my artwork you can check it out at http://wessfreeheart.deviantart.com/gallery/

Do you have a website for your gallery? I pitched a proposal to start a community art gallery here in my hometown, small town politics may not allow it to happen for quite some time though... I would love to live in a place where the artistic vibe already exists. It's a pretty big task trying to create that culture or appreciation for the arts in an utterly utilitarian farm community as we currently live in. Not to say farmers can't appreciate art and culture, this could be an isolated issue!

Tauranga area seems to appeal to us most of all, I think I'll focus my energy on that area now. Thanks for all the input people!!!

[IanW99]

...
Tauranga area seems to appeal to us most of all, I think I'll focus my energy on that area now. Thanks for all the input people!!![/QUOTE]

Before you make your final choice, you may want to check out Waiheke Island (http://www.waiheke.co.nz/) :exit

Ian

[Laura Lu]

hey wess, Tauranga is the place that i fell in love with and made me even consider nz. what a small world. i could never remember the town name, just mt maunganui. but alas, it is Tauranga.
ps. let's all move there. i'd be shame for us to move to different areas.

[Freeheart]

I completely agree, Laura!

Ian, thanks for the link to Waiheke Island. It looks like an amazing place, unfortunately it also looks like I'd have to cut off an ear and sell a million paintings for a buck each (or maybe one painting for a million bucks, any takers?) to be able to afford real estate there!

[Calbabe]

Maybe you should choose some key areas you fancy and go for a mini tour. Do what your heart tells you- you know when you find it. :)

[Freeheart]

Yeah, our idea is to rent a camper or something and tour across the northern regions of the North Island, specifically Northland and Bay of Plenty.

Any idea what the employment situation is like there in Tauranga? I've been watching the job offers on TradeMe, looks like there are actually quite a few, and I know there's always more than what show up on the internet. Only thing is the job has to pay over $55k a year to be considered for work visa...

Is your gallery hiring per chance???

[mgf]

Tauranga is an easy commute from Papamoa 20 min depending on traffic. Talking a good hour to get to Whakatane. It is pretty isolated nice town but pretty isolated. Live in Tauranga myself (Matua). Tauranga is the fifth largest city in NZ. It is really close to the Kaimais and of course the coast. If you need any other questions answered PM me.

cheers,

[Kanga]

I don't think I'd recommend Hawkes Bay for musicians- it's hard to get anywhere else and the music scene isn't very strong :)

[bob_the_engineer]

Hay Freeheart, you sound like one of those bloomin hippies to me, :nice1 nothing wrong with hippies, they never try to beat you up or pinch your lunch money ay.

Go to Golden Bay I think thats where we keep most of our hippies http://www.goldenbaynz.co.nz/vg_intro.html

Bob

P.S It's a great place :D

[Freeheart]

Alright Bob, I've inhaled only twice in my life and that really is as close as I've ever gotten to the hippy lifestyle! Having said that, Golden Bay looks like a ridiculously good time! Right now I'm caught up in a bit of an arts thing here, which is pretty damned exciting but will keep me here for quite some time I think. Maybe I'll have to look at Golden Bay for a late-thirties adventure...