[baboonworld]

(this is not a poll!! - this is a question for the forum)

Where in NZ are you wanting to go - or where have u gone??

Loads of u seem to have ended up in Chch - what is the appeal/ why did you choose that area?? Family - business - climate etc etc etc

I would like to hear your views (again please feel free to put your comments - this is not a poll!!! - want to hear your thoughts!)

[veronica]

We're in Chch because its near the mountains/skiing but with a large enough population base to run a ski/snowboard business. Its also the size town that we prefer. it certainly wasn't for the weather. If you did want to check on a poll on this there was one done earlier this year, although it included people still in the UK.
http://www.emigratenz.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1495&start=0

[Moorf]

We're in Chch.

We hadn't been to NZ before so we chose a city/town that we thought would best suit our list of wants:

- Not a big city
- Good access to mountains for skiing/boarding
- Low population and S.Island always appealed to us from day one
- Not so high house and land prices
- Woz could get an IT position
- Good beaches/coastal areas
- To have all of the above and still have nice restaurants/shops etc

:nice1

[Diny]

We always have a 'plan' to match every letter of the alphabet.

Plan A: Thames in the Coromandel

Plan B: Anywhere near Thames in the Coromandel

Plan C: Broaden our search by a few KMs

Plan D: Broaden our search by a few KMs

Plan E: Broaden our search by a few KMs

Plan F: Broaden our search by a few KMs

Are you getting the picture?


We're in the very lucky situation where it doesn't matter where we live. As long as Mark can get to Auckland airport at the end of every other month to fly out to the oil rig we can lay out hat wherever we like.

Watch this space.

Diny

[dave k]

No-brainer ;)

Wellington!

Akl= Too big, sprawly, ugly, busy, expensive, etc., etc.

Chch= (Well...tbh, not been.. but on paper...) too "English" (I've lived in Oxford, Cambridge & York & don't wanna be in a wannabee English city. Also, too damn cold in Winter from what I hear.

Everywhere else = too small, too far away from the action.

Nelson was in the running though.

Wellington has everything I need. And more!



But :cheers

[Nicola]

We are heading out in September and still do not know where to.

The Canturbury area west of Christchurch, Rangiora, Darfield or Oxford, is where we initially thought of going. But we have recently been considering Napier and Havelock North. Also the Nelson Blenheim area.

If anyone has any comments on any of the above, I would love to here them.

I suspect the final decision though will be down to where Peter gets a job.

Nicola

[Carol]

Absolutely Positively Wellington!
:clap

[kiwidollie]

Hubby's job is in South Auckland so we'll be within commuting distance of Takanini.

No idea where exactly we'll end up - that's all part of the fun though eh?

:yes

[Kim39]

Am afraid its Auckland at the moment. Like Kiwidollies hubby Neil, i have an offer for South Auckland, so we are looking at the same area.

Now with this said i am keeping all options open and am looking for variation of conditions on permit so allowing me to move around.

Kim

[JJG]

Its looking like Christchurch for us.

[xanctus]

Me likey Welli...not too big, but big enough.
plan B is Auckland, because more job opportunities...but hopefully can get it in welli instead...

[nessie]

Chch for us, same reasons as Moorf really. :P

[Jules]

We're in Rotorua and loving it so far :nice1

Jules

[jess]

My husband could probably have transferred within his company to Auckland, but he's ready for a change, and we don't want to live in that big of a city. My qualifications are in theatre, so although there are limited openings, Wellington seems like a good place to be for that possibility.

We visited last month and really liked Welli. We're thinking of living in an out of town suburb. Though many on the forum recommend it, the suburbs right around Wellington were not for us. We're looking in Lower Hutt instead for housing.

Jessica

[jo b]

Well,

Either North Auckland or Dannevirke. Two worlds apart.

Jo

[clg]

Welly for us. We have been in a big city for a long time and I won't be sad to get rid of the crowds. The great thing about Welly is it has all of the basic things I am used to citywise but in a much smaller and better looking package!

[RoadRunner]

Ditto on Wellington for the reasons already mentioned! :yes

Odd but at first glance, it seems like the Americans tend to favor Welly and the Brits Chch. I haven't done any kind of statistical calc but that just seems like my impression from the posts... Do others get that sense?

[Radders]

We are in Mount Maunganui - having worked in London, we wanted somewhere a little smaller (I know everywhere here is smaller!). My Brother-in-law is in Nelson, and we very much liked the place, but felt it was a little isolated, plus it had no surf. So we ended up in the Mount- which is a lot like nelson, but has plenty of surf, and isn't so isolated. It has a similar level of nightlife etc (inc. Tauranga), plus Auckland close for a weekend splurge - and Skiing close in winter. Now if I could only get the job I want -things would be great!!

[clg]

RoadRunner,

Funny I made the same observation Americans do seem to be favoring Wellington and the birts Chch. When are you headed out there? We still seem on track for August and will probably be buying tickets in the next few weeks.

Chris

[annaerb]

Hubby's job is in South Auckland so we'll be within commuting distance of Takanini.

No idea where exactly we'll end up - that's all part of the fun though eh?

:yes


Any of these areas are fine Anywhere around Pukekohe,Takanini,Connifer Grove,Papakura, Clevedon, Brookby, whitford, Botany,Dannemora,medowlands etc.

I'm sure you'll have fun looking. From what I have read most people find the Houses cold here so look for one that has a fireplace.

[annaerb]

Am afraid its Auckland at the moment. Like Kiwidollies hubby Neil, i have an offer for South Auckland, so we are looking at the same area.

Now with this said i am keeping all options open and am looking for variation of conditions on permit so allowing me to move around.

Kim

Kim,

Where in Sth Akl is your Oh going to be working?
Any of the areas I gave Kiwidollie are fine.

[Moorf]

I don't know where the notion that Chch is like Oxford/York comes from (tourist brochures?!) because apart from a few punts on the river that's about as English as it gets (in my opinion!).

;)

[dave k]

What about all the faux-English architecture? ;)

It may very well be a beautiful place, but there's no denying the fact that it was settled predominantly by the English who wanted to recreate a little taste of home.

[sarahc]

We are thinking of Welli at the moment - but this may change ofter our campervan tour later in the year!
We want to be near to a city, but not too big a city & Wellington seems to fit the bill - on paper at least...

Sarah

[Moorf]

What about all the faux-English architecture?

It may very well be a beautiful place, but there's no denying the fact that it was settled predominantly by the English who wanted to recreate a little taste of home.

I personally don't think it's that beautiful :eek - at least not as much as I had expected before we arrived - parts of it certainly are beautiful and Hagley Park and surrounds are gorgeous. Yes, there are odd spots of the faux-English architecture but not so much that you'd instantly compare it to an English town. To me it smacks of small-town America!! :eek

I don't actually go into the City much, but I shall certainly look with different eyes next time and see if I've blinded myself to the English feel :nice1

[acisman]

It was going to be Cambridge for us, but due to house prices for rural places with a bit of land, we are buying in Morrinsville, 20 minutes away. Why ? Well firstly we have both decided to retire and secondly Waikato is a great place to live.

Hamilton is near by (good size for everything, but not too big), both coasts are no more than an hour away and all the other "must see" places are in easy reach. Aukckland is also near enough, but also far enough away, if you get my meaning.

Finally, the weather is much warmer than South Island. May so far has been brilliant with blue skies and plenty of warm sunshine.

Cambridge is supposed to be very English, but we do not see it that way. From conversations with real estate agents there are a lot of English here, but we have not come across any yet, only very kind and helpful kiwis.

Pam & Dave

[Singel]

Born in the tropics, so North Island is the obvious choice - warmer weather

The most northern place that my hubby could get his IT job is Auckland.

so, here we are...................... :cheers

[miep]

No contest......Welly for us :nice1

All the reasons have been mentioned already.
I'm not sure if I would classify Chch as typically English but we find it to be less vibrant than Welly. Although we really like Sumner, stayed there several times at a friends place, where we live in Eastbourne is very similar (but nicer ofcourse ;) ) and Welly has everything we need.

:cheers Miep

[sarahw]

Wellington for us - because of the wind & the caffeine of course! :laugh
(Not really!)

Great nightlife, loads to do, stunning scenery out & about (although everyone in NZ probably has that as a reason for where they live!!!), less traffic than Auckland, more opportunities for our lines of work & its about the size of Bournemouth (UK) with all the ameneties of a capital city which means everything is extremely accessible.

We absolutely LOVE it!

[Moorf]

We really want to visit Welly - sounds like another place in NZ that we'd like to live near (not in, we're not really city people) - we'll be visiting this year for sure - sounds lovely :nice1 (especially on the food and caffeine front!).

[anita]

Definately Nelson for us :nice1

It has great beaches, mountains and national parks like the abel tasman nearby.

The population is about 50,000 but it doesn,t feel that small to us, the city centre is lovely and has everything you need.

we just love it here so far, we arrived Jan 2005
:P :cheers

[wilson182]

To me it smacks of small-town America!! :eek



I agree, (although the most I have ever seen of small-town America is courtesy of Hollywood(dont wish to offend anyone)) I would say that some parts of the city centre are could remind you of England.

We chose Chch after a small amount of travelling, and were drawn mostly to the open feel of the place, although it is still quite a big city.

[Simon & Emily]

We're still in the UK without a job offer so our plans are very sketchy, but we would like to be in the Ashburton area, just south of Christchurch. We've always prefered the look of SI (although we've never visited :oops: ) and would like to be in a nice, peaceful rural area. As far away from a city as we can, whilst still being able to travel to where a job finally is. We're still torn though between a beach being closest or the mountains.

Emily

[veronica]

simon and emily, wouldnt plan to much until you get here, as you say get the job first. then look for the location. The culture here is different to the UK in that people don't want to travel far to work, travelling time is dead time to them and I can see the sense of it too. 2 hours travel from ashburton area a day is two hours leisure time wasted.

[NoelMC]

We are going to the Nelson area, possibly Richmond or wvwn out in Mapua.
We have been over twice and it has everything we want, sea, mountains, not too big , not too small.
Plus it has the weather 2400 hours of sunshine, with its own micro climate

[Glenda]

We are going to Northland, in particular Kerikeri in the Bay of Islands area. This is a lovely area and Kerikeri a gem of a town which is on the up. The weather is mild, the schools supposedly good for our kids. We will be buying a business ... somewhere ... and hopefully will be enjoying life a lot more than we are now.
:cheers

[Simon & Emily]

wouldnt plan to much until you get here, as you say get the job first. then look for the location.

Wise words veronica. We plan to rent for a good while to get a feel of the place first. It's just top of our wish list at the moment, that's all.

Emily

[zsj]

Wellington is for us. Small vibrant city right there, beaches, mountains and lots of lovely lovely places to live that feel so 'out' of the city yet so very accessible to it. Heaps to do for young families too (groan! So very practical eh?! :roll: ) Lucky that was where the job was right?!

Sarah.

[mechidna]

Well, it's Rotorua for us. Sending off the work/student visa applications tomorrow and as soon as the house sells...we're gone. I hope it goes fast!

[ruthyroo]

We ended up in Roto-vegas by jobs default, and while we've enjoyed some aspects of our time here, we are planning to head south at the end of the year... way south to Dunedin / Otago, or Christchurch at a push. Like everyone, it's pretty job dependent... Wellington / Hawke's Bay / Nelson all close runners up too.

[stevieboy]

We're heading to Auckland - specifically North Shore - even more specifically Northcote or Glenfield due to job commitment.

And we can't wait.....here's to the 8th July.....

[Wannaway]

Our first choice was Wellington but job offer meant Auckland. Actually like it more than we thought we would, although a city of 1m people it doesn't feel so big.

The North Shore of Auckland is lovely, particularly the East Coast Bays. Also Devonport is really nice.

As for the person who lives in Mt Maunganui - you lucky so and so. The Mount is absolutely beautiful. Also Cambridge is really nice, small enough to feel rural but close enough to Hamilton for all the big shops etc.

Have only ever done a driving holiday on the South Island, Chch just seemed lovely, as did Dunedin. But as far Omaru - oh dear!

[jo b]

We now have a definate

it will be................................................ .................................................. .........the exotic republic of Dannevirke.

Lots of house for your $ though

Jo

[Gran]

How exiting, actually its not that bad, the locals have mostly decended from Scandinavians who came out some time ago. They are hard working.

http://tararua.net/dannevirke.html

[Diny]

Dannevirke also produces some world class bluegrass banjo players too :nice1

Diny

[baboonworld]

At least that qualifies you to own a shotgun Jo!
:clap

[jo b]

How exiting, actually its not that bad, the locals have mostly decended from Scandinavians who came out some time ago. They are hard working.

http://tararua.net/dannevirke.html

Hey it means me and Ian can qualify as Scandanavians as we are both blonde :nice1 :laugh

[Rimbo]

New Plymouth….New Where? :uhoh

Having never visited New Zealand before, and the fact that I was willing to settle anywhere I could get a job gave me an open mind and no real preference. Then in September last year I visited the New Plymouth DC web site.
http://www.newplymouthnz.com/
I was particularly impressed with the Golf statistic and the offer of leisure activities at your doorstep. I immediately earmarked it as a ‘choice’ destination.

I was offered 3 jobs and luckily for me, one was in New Plymouth.

Within half an hour of being up a mountain, you can be on the beach.
It’s a small city with no commuting.
In all honesty, it offered myself and my family the lifestyle that New Zealand boasts so much about…..no brainer really!
:nice1

[baboonworld]

Sorry Rimbo - lived in New Plymouth for a short period (and still have a bad taste in my mouth).

Very biased though - at the time i was very lonely living there and missed my family in Wgtn (????? dunno how i got to UK !???)

[Rimbo]

No need to apologise, it wouldn't be right if we all thought the same. :no You probably feel the same about NP as I do about Welly. For me, with my taste, Welly has absolutly nothing to offer, that's why i didn't take the offer, of a good, well paid job there.
:nice1

John :cool

[Jodie]

Welly, Welly, Welly all the way!

Been here nearly a year now :eek :nice1 and we STILL love the place (apart from the odd day of crazy wind when I need to hold onto whatever's in reach to stop getting blown down the road, but theres gotta be a down side somewhere!!), but on the whole, we really love it. OK, it was our LAST CHOICE before we came out here, but in fact, when we did our tour of the North Island (didn't consider the South Island - just too cold for me!!), Welly won hands down. Great nightlife, (Sarahw and I can vouch for that!), friendly people, stunning views, beaches, mountains, big arts scene, summer events on the wwaterfront, citylife but not crazy, and like Sarah said, about the same size as Bournemouth where we lived in the UK, but with all the amenities of a capital - what more could you want? :clap

So Moorf and Woz - get your arses up here pronto! We're well overdue for our catch up! :cheers And if anyone else in Welly fancies a drink sometime, give us a shout!

Jod & Daz
:cool

[Moorf]

Yeah, we need to get an actual DATE in the diary :cheers plus we're not going back to the UK in Sept as planned so have a bit more hols left :nice1

[KD17]

We're considering around Blenheim / Marlborough way - possibly... but we've yet to decide. What's Palmerston North like??? I'm sure I've seen it mentioned somewhere.

I got my dowsing pendulum out and it said we were going to live in Westport ;) - Where's that, I thought??? from what I can there's very little there, so not on my choice list just now - so much for the dowsing :roll: :laugh

We do like the sound of Welly though - it's pretty darn windy here on the Isle of Man so it would be like home from home in that respect, although I hope it would be a warmer wind. :smile

Wherever we end up, I know it will be home.


Keith & Debby

[Diny]

palmerston North is pretty neat. It's in the lower half of the north island. It's where my dear hubby hails from.

It's a university town so is very multi cultural. It has some cracking eating places and there's more than a sprinkling of good shops. Housing prices in the Manawatu are very good too - it's a very rural area.

PM me if you want any more info on that area, or the surrounds.

Diny

[sweetpea]

Awww, Diny, you're just trying to make me feel better :yes

I'm off to Palmerston North, because of said university. Haven't been there yet, but from what I've read and the pictures I've seen, it kinda reminds me of a small Madison, Wisconsin (moo!), minus the snow.

It probably wouldn't have been my first choice (Nelson or Wellington or somewhere in the Northland, maybe?), but it's really grown on me.


(Here's one more American who prefers Welly to Auckland!) :exit

[Going2NZ]

Actually, make that two American who prefer Welly to Auckland...I'm sure its nice but I'd rather live somewhere like Wellington. You know, big enough to have all the neccesities but small enough to be more laid back. But its all about personal preference – I've just lived in too many big cities.

As for Palmerston North, its on my list of places-to-look-for-a-job-in based on what I've read about it. Sounds like a good choice to me.

Susan

[ant-in-cornwall]

We're off to Hawkes Bay - a med. climate and many vineyards swung it for us, as well as relatively easy access to the central area of NZ. Oh, and that they've offered Zoe a job.....

Looking for property on the net has been fun - we particularly liked one house which came with 7 chickens!

[femke]

Good choice, hawkes bay, not sure about the climate at the moment, lots of rain :(
As for house hunting, my advice would be to rent first till you decide where in HB you want to live, so many nice places, lots of rented accomodation available.

[gavnali]

We are hopefully moving to Hawkes Bay in 3 months, and will be seeking rented accm, however, I am trying to find out any info on areas in Napier by E mailing estate agents and visiting websites but to no avail. Has anyone any suggestions please

[clarabell]

Were undecided at the moment. We can make a more informed decision when we visit in Dec. But so far it looks like Christchurch or Dunedin :mrgreen:

[Smiler]

Hawkes Bay for us eventually although Gisborne is tempting too.

Gavnali

have you tried Ray White, Harvey Coxon etc, all can be found on here

http://www.realenz.co.nz/

I joined this and then I mailed them all seperately.

Hope this helps

Deborah

[gavnali]

thanks deborah, will give `em a go, did try harcourts but got no reply. (Gisborne was our first choice but didn`t like it when we visited. A bit disappointed really).

[alihow]

Although new to this site, I figured i'd post a reply. Our plan is to be in Auckland sometime next year- it is where my wife grew up and all her family and friends are. Should hopefully make the transition a bit smoother for me. But to be honest, if an opportunity arose somewhere else in the country, i would definitely consider it. After being away from home for over 10 years, I think the mrs could deal with a short drive or flight if need be.
Howard

[femke]

For hawkes Bay rentals try this one tremain.co.nz then go to propertymanagement, lots of rentals here, another one i just found is quinovic.co.nz In todays hawkes bay paper the number of private rentals is amazing. When we moved here last december, we had found a rental within a week, no problem. Might be better waiting till you get here and look around for something, at least that way you get to see what you will be renting.

Moira

[baboonworld]

H B is gorg - I would live there if it was for circumstances and family!!!


GORG!

[blue]

Hawkes Bay for me too got a job offer at the health board and am hoping to live at Napier. Just need to sell the wretched house so I can go.