[abbie & john]

Hi folks
Not a question for me, but for another potential kiwi!

Where would be the best place to relocate to if you want the seaside?

Thanks

[Moorf]

NEW ZEALAND!!

:laugh

Sorry, couldn't resist....

[Timbo]

I can only vouch for one area, and that is the East coast of the Coromandel peninsular. This is about 2 1/2 hours from Auckland by car, and has fantastic beaches and beach life. So much so that the Kiwis rate it as an ideal holiday location themselves.
Do a google search on "Whitianga" and see what you think. This is one of the main towns up there.

[abbie & john]

Moorf!

Don't be thinking you're clever just because you are nearly there!
Very funny - just what the doctor ordered after my day at work :laugh :laugh

[Radders]

I remember Hot Water Beach,
Loads of Avocado orchards(is that the right word?)
and a little ferry somewhere round there, to get over a river/lake?
Fab countryside

[abbie & john]

Thanks for the info Timbo - I'll pass it on!

:nice1

[Timbo]

You may want to check out the following link, which includes pic gallery.

http://www.whitianga.co.nz/regionalinfo.html

[veronica]

If your thinking of going over to the coromandel read the post on drugs too. The growing conditions for pot are ideal there apparently

[Timbo]

You are correct again Veronica. There is quite a large "ageing hippy" contingent on the Coro apparently, although we didnt see any evidence on our visit in march. There are some communes set up in the out of the way spots, and it is not uncommon for people to grow their own and roll the odd 60/40.
It is not a case of getting accosted in the street and offered stuff, like parts of the Carribean for instance.
I believe that the Coro has the first and only Green party govt. minister, which kind of suggests the general outlook of the people living there.

[Stu]

...beach properties are going up in value all the time now, very fast. Basically, if you can see water, you will be paying big time.
Prices on the Eastern Coromandel are not perhaps as steep though as properties north of Auckland, and as has been said, the eastern Coro is indeed the prettiest area. (I think).

The hippies have all grown up these days and gone respectable etc. Sorry.

However, if you want to live in the general Whitianga area, and not right on the beach or looking at it, then prices are a lot more reasonable. There is a huge boomin development there at the moment however, it has really taken off in the last year, with a new waterways development going in (BIG money for those sections), builders etc in the area are flat out trying to keep up with demand.

Whitianga is by far the largest of the Coromandels town except Thames, it would be a good area to invest in, properties are going up in value all the time.
Fishing is great. The wharf area is good for launching boats in all weathers (no nasty bar to negotiate to get out to sea)
http://www.myfishingpictures.com/img/013257.jpg
and once you get out there, there are good fish to target...
http://www.myfishingpictures.com/img/019791.JPG
http://www.myfishingpictures.com/img/019716.jpg

Anything else you want to know about Whitianga?
cheers, Stu.[/img]

[Phil&Shell]

Stu, Great info and pics.

Do you know much about the Hawkes Bay area? We're looking at Napier but someone said that its a bit isolated and very tourist orientated.

Do you know it?

Phil

[Timbo]

Stu. Do ya still want to sell your place in Whiti??
We were considering buying the store up at Kuaotunu bay. $1 million all in free hold. What do you think?

[Stu]

Hawkes Bay... beautiful area, Napier is a very pretty town. Yes, it is not the most central of all places perhaps, but if you are into wine, crops and fruit, then you will love it. VERY sunny summers, indeed, kinda a regular drought spot every summer. I have several cuzzies with Farms in Hawkes Bay, so get to hear all about it.

If you have work that you are going to in Hawkes Bay, then yes, it would indeed be a very nice spot. Another nice area is Gisborne... but hten, that is because the fishing is better there! :-) That is kinda how I judge an area... its fishing potential :-)

Kaoutunu... (pron: Co'toona to us politically incorrect corrupters of the Maori tongue :-) )... Hey, if the numbers stack up for the shop to work, it'll work. Ktuna is a nice spot, and it is undergoing a similar development as is the rest of the Eastern Coro, perhaps not quite so frantic as whitiangas growth given its extra 20mins distance. However, as more people get places at Otama and Opito, then the client base for the shop can only increase. I do not think that you would regret moving over there BUT get used to the idea of having busy summers and DEAD winters...it is school hols here right now (I am now at the beach on my spare comp) but even so, there certainly are not that many folks here right now. K'tuna ... hmmm, I will drive over there today and have a look for you if you want! Even take a coupla pics, if you can wait til saturday to get them, I don't have the connections for my digicam on this comp you see.

I am only kidding about selling htis place, unless I get such a ridiculously huge offer I cannot say no! :-) Having just dropped a pile of dosh into fixing it up, it'd seem nuts to flick it off now! Check out the view from the balcony upstairs though....
http://www.myfishingpictures.com/img/025330.jpg
...not a bad view really.AND, you can toss a tennis ball off the balcony, and one bounce will get it into the water. Just wanna get rid of a couple of them trees...... Hey, if you really want it, I could let you have it for a cool mill or so, no worries! :-)

cheers for now,
Stu.[/img]

[Timbo]

Stu (Capt.A) Thanks for the offer of going over to Kuao. buy you dont need to bother. I (penguin to you) was out there in March and had a good look around and asked questions then. We stayed at the lodge on the east end of Kuao beach with Bill and Lorraine if you know them.
Good info mate, thanks for joining us.

[Lily]

Hi - this is a question for Stu (or anyone else who may know :P )
My Fiance and I (he's Dutch, I'm Kiwi) will be moving back to NZ in November and we are starting to think of places that we might like to live.
For him the nature is really important (mountains, hills, sea etc) but I also have to take into account finding a job :uhoh
I have spent some time in the past in the Corromandal area and loved it, but what is is like there for employment? I work in customer service/retail sales.
Also, what is the rental situation there like (we will end up buying a house but what to rent for around 6 months just to make sure we like living there), and the better places to live there?
Thanks in advance :mrgreen:
Lily

[Pakeha Boy]

Stu, with those 3 photos up there, excellent stuff, you just summed up a big part of the mischief that I intend to get up to. Do you do any deer and pig shooting as well? The fish, what are they and how do you cook them? I reckon they'd be great smoked but you'd need a helluva smoker!
The first pic of the 4WD and boat, if you don't mind me asking, what kind of vehicle is it, how big is the engine on the boat and what kind is it, how far out do you go in it, and.............(here comes the biggie........)
how much money would a bloke have to splash out to get the same kind of set up?
What kind of work do you do as well, whatever it is, I WANT SOME OF WHAT YOU GOT!! :nice1

Oh yeah, one last question for now, which one are you up there, you the one with the hat on or the one with the life jacket on?
(now, how PC was that put eh!!) :eek

[Timbo]

Pakeha boy, Stu is the good looking one, obviously. :laugh

[Stu]

OK, hmmm... Lily... can't help with that info on Jobs etc, sorry. Whitianga seems to be a pretty bustling little place right now, but it is entirely seasonal I am sure.. As for rentals etc in the area? hmmmm again... perhaps it would be best to try looking in the online pages of places like Harcourts real estate, Hookers, etc, they would have a better idea really.

The fish? The pinkish one is a 20lb snapper, that is my bro, Bob (MartiniMax) off the back of Ohinau Island at whitianga. The 2 other fish are Hapuku that my neighbour Jim got when we went out to one of my "Spot X"s in April, his 1st ever experience of hapuku fishing.

The boat/4x4 package in that pic at the whit wharf? Hmmmm..., looks like a 545 size boat to me, ie:5.45m long, made more say 5.70 or so... make? ummmm old bucanneer? Or a fleetline? Something like that. A boat that size, second hand in good cond, would I guess be around 15-25g. The 4x4 well that depends, a 2nd hand one with say 120ks on the clock, I tihnk would be around 15g tops.

My boat? mate! Mine is a 7.2m o/a, Challenger 680 Hardtop(6.8m waterline), with a yam 225 4 stroke on the bum.
http://www.myfishingpictures.com/img/006410.jpg
so it is a little bigger than the one pictured! For a set up like mine, you would be looking at (used)70-85g.... depending on the fit out. Mine has all the bells and whistles, so is definitely at the top of that range.

Oh, that pic was taken out by Ohinau Island, heading out to go marlin/tuna trolling. Top speed is 49.5mph on the gps, fully trimmed out, light load, half tank of gas. That is QUICK for a boat that size! (2.5 TONNE)
mostly though I cruise at 45kph at 4300rpm, which runs at about 1.4km/l

U/floor tank only has 250l, but that is enough for a coupla days if needed. 1kw sounder(JRC ff50 650wrms, 1kw transducer), JRC radar, Simrad AP12 autopilot, Interphase MX11 Chartplotter, live bait tank, pressure deck wash, for'ard floods, cockpit floods, cabin sleeps 2 easy, yadda yadda yadda....
[/img]http://www.myfishingpictures.com/img/034235.jpg[/img]

...well, you DID ask! :D :P :nice1
cheers now,
Stu.

[Diny]

Oh Stu

I wish you hadn't posted all that info. You see Pakeha Boy is my other half and he never shuts up about the kind of boat he's going to get. You've just fuelled the fire !!!!!!

You sound like you have a really nice set up - but that just means that he'll go on and on and on and on about his boat boat boat.

Good on you Stu - you really are living the dream. :nice1

Diny

[Pakeha Boy]

Thanks for that Stu, Dinys right, no stopping now!
What about crayfish? When we were kids, the old man used to take us up Mahia Penisular. We'd spend a couple of weeks in the caravan, and get a feed of crayfish everyday, from throwing the pots in off the rocks at low tide and pulling them up the next, and I don't remember ever pulling up an empty pot.
Pongaroa was a good spot for crays and paua as well, infact,I remember sucking on my first kina there!
Are there still any places over on the East Coast that you can get crays off the rocks, or have all the inshore crays been fished out?

[Stu]

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear... with crays being worth $50 a pop these days, you ain't gonna find them lying around like that ANYWHERE now! (well, maybe the chathams, but that is all.)

Gizzie/Mahia is a nice spot though....
cheers, Stu.
oh, these are what you are thinking of though, eh....:-)
http://www.myfishingpictures.com/img/034361.jpg[/img]

[Diny]

They just look like large orange cockraoches to me but PB loves them. Once saw him eat 3 in a row down in Kai Koura.

Diny

[Pakeha Boy]

Yup, thats exactly what I'm looking for!
2 or 3 of them, a couple dozen Bluff oysters and quaff the lot down with a half G o' DB :eek
Now thats living :nice1

cheers Stu, keep it coming.

[Diny]

I'll follow behind with the bucket !!!

Diny

[justin.g.s]

Wow stu, what would you consider a rediculous offer for that pad?
What a view.

Were coming over in a few weeks, I am an avid trout fisher, any suggestions I would love to squeeze in a few days of fishing, any more and the wife will have my head.

It looks like I need to get some salt water gear as well, never got into it in So. California, as the water is toxic.

[Stu]

hehehe..., the ridiculous offer for the beach house... mate, you wouldn't wanna know! :-) Mind you, I think if we hang on to the place for another 10 years it will grow from the ridiculous to the truly moonbeams price range.....

Fishing... for trout? Hell, where else, head to Taupo or Rotorua, hire a guide for a coupla days, you will have a blast. This time of year, the trout will have just be finishing their spawning runs, so the river and mouths should be OK.

Rotorua LAkes/area has just had their season reopen (1st weekend of Oct), so it may be a good time to head off to the rotorua lakes for a bit of trout action.

As for sea fishing.... at the moment, all you will be looking at would be snapper/inshore fish. This time of year there are no game fish around (too cold), although of late there has been a very good run of large (up to 50lb+) winter Albacore off Whakatane. In another month or so, the kingies (yellowtail kingfish, same as you have in california) will start congregating for spawning, perhaps if you really wanna have a good fishing trip, you could instead see if you can get on an over night or two day fishing trip on one of the boats out of whakatane, thet could be fun, and I am sure they all have hire rods for you to use as well if you want.

cheers pal,
Stu.

[Moorf]

Is there a limit on how many crays etc you can take - been reading / watching tv and seeing how they have personal limits on harvesting seafood... is that just on the coastline (i.e. cockles / paua etc) or deep sea too?

[Timbo]

I am sure I will be corrected if wrong by either Bushpig or Stu, but I think the daily limit for Rock lobster (crays?) is 6 per person. There are also lots of other restrictions in place, both for other shell fish and fin fish. It is qute heavily policed in some parts I believe, with the authoritys having powers to confiscate boats etc. So if and when you buy a boat...DONT lend it to anyone that you dont trust 150%.

[Stu]

Yes, 6 crays per person involved in the gathering of said beasties. So if you have one diver on a boat with 5 people on board, you are still only allowed 6 crays. However, if you have 5 people, 4 of whom are divers, you can have 24 crays.

Craypots.... ummm... 6 per person on board I think.

Scallops, 20 per person involved in the harvesting either by diving or dredging. Min size 100mm. Cockles Akld area 50 per person, 100per person outside that. Mussels, akld area, 20 perperson, 50 outside the akld area. Pipis/tuatuas, 50 per person.

Hapuku/Kingfish. 5 in total, of which no more than 3 can be of kingfish.

Snapper. In SNA1 (NE coast of hte north island) you are allowed 9 snapper over a length of 27cm. Off the west coast however, you are allowed 15.

Mixed finfish bag is 20 fish total, exclusive of snapper, kingfish or hapuku.

If you can catch your limits, and if you can eat them all, then you have a seafood problem. Most folks make do with a kingie, a puka or two, a few snapper and/or tarakihi, and are happy enough with that.

If you want specimen pics of all these species, lemme know, I'll pop 'em up for you to see! :-)

cheers,
Me.

[Moorf]

Excellent Stu - just the info I was looking for... :nice1

Do they sell any official measuring devices for shellfish etc ?

[Stu]

Yes, there are several diff types. You can get free stick-on measures for fish etc, in paua, scallops etc as well, from the Min Fish too.

cheers,
Stu.