[Miffy]

There has been various threads about why we are moving to NZ in general and where about we are / want to set up our new home, but I'm curious as to why you picked a certian town / city area.

Was it becuase you already have friends & family there?
Or thats where the job is I've been offered
Or thats where I think the job I can do will be
Or it looked nice on the map / from what I've seen on the interweb!
Or another reason ??


(oooooh think I'll turn this into a poll :mrgreen: )

For us, Ian got a job offered and was sponsered to come over so we had no choice really on where we ended up.
Out first choice would have possibly been Wellington as we already have kiwi mates there and as the capital has more financial institutions which was the industry I worked in.
However the best job the company had for Ians skills was in Dunedin so that thats where we went. (we first went Dunedin ... where? :laugh ) but I'm pretty happy with the choice.

So what made / is making your deicsion for your new home town?

[DLW]

Hi

We moved to Tauranga just over a year ago. My husband had job offers in Auckland, New Plymouth, Tokoroa and possibly Dunedin. We decided on the N. Island due to a better climate than the one we were used to in the North of England. We have friends in Rotorua (1 hour away from Tauranga) and family in the North Shore, Auckland. We thought we would check out this area after seeing it on one of the many 'escape the UK' type programmes. I think it was called 'get a new life'.

Anyway, after an hour we decided we liked it! It's just over an hour commute to Tokoroa, but we decided it would be worth it to live in this part of the country. In hindsight, it may have been a better idea to check out some of the Auckland bays a little more!

Anyway, so I guess my answer to your poll would be 'cos we saw it on telly!' ...pathetic, I know!
:roll:
DLW

[kiwidebs]

Hi

We're moving to Auckland simply because that's where my family is. We decided to move to NZ (or back to NZ in my case) for the kids to be close to family. Here in the UK we live 5 hours drive from my OH's family so it would be pointless moving 12000 miles to live even further (8 hours drive) from my family (we actually really like Wellington and Mark would probably find it easier to get work there!!).

Debs

[Moorf]

We moved to Christchurch because:

a) We didn't want to live in a "big" city but needed Woz to be able to get I.T work. :yes

b) We previously lived in Scotland and like to be near the mountains / snow (not that we've seen much snow yet this season :roll: ) plus we both love being near the sea and so living on the coast with mountains an hour or so away (and visible every day!) was a bonus. :clap

c) House prices were a little cheaper here - so less / no mortgage. :cheers

d) We got an extra 50 points in the EOI for NOT living in Auckland :laugh

e) It got us in the country (i.e. job & points!) - now we're here we can take our time to look around at other areas :nice1

[Paul and Linda]

We were headed to Welly, then the jobs seem to have dried up/reality sunk in on the job front there (not sure which). Then it was up to Auckland, but after 2 weeks of commiting to Auckland we were feeling a bit depressed about the cost of housing and the commuting times.

So we found the Manawatu....well to be honest it had been there all along.

I have applied for 3 good jobs there one of which I may have a telephone interview for next week.

Housing is good (spacious, good prices), schools are as good as we've seen, not too far from the beach, not too far from the hills.

That's the plan so far anyway!

Paul

[Radders]

We chose the Mount for a variety of reasons. We had friends here, but that was not a major concern. We had family in Nelson and near Wellington, and many more friends in Auckland. Neither of us had a job, but we chose the Mount because it was like Nelson, but not as isolated. By that I mean - it has a bigger town very close, a city/town only an hour away (Hamilton), and the biggest city just 2-3 hours away by car(Auckland). Where by road Christchurch is 5 hours away from Nelson. i have to say that the fact Nelson has no surf also pushed me away from there.
As far as jobs went. The Mount has a strong marine science drive, but has nowhere near the jobs Auckland or Wellington would have - which is probably why I'm still not in my prefered job ;-)
But summing up - I love having the beach 5 mins walk away, and so much sun etc.

[Nicola]

We are moving to Hawks Bay because it is warm sunny and Peter has got a job in Hastings.

[jo b]

Dannevirke

believe it or not we know 3 families that live there from Wigan.

Ian got a job there and also we wanted to win the unspoken competition between the north west lot of " who can live in the smallest hicksville town". We thought we were going to win but I think Diny has pipped us to the post. However there is always Stevie D, Marie P and Kim39 who might come in at the last running:D

Just adding my humour

Jo

[femke]

We moved to havelock north dec last year, after spending 7 weeks in orewa, oh was offered a job in hastings, we drove to hawkes bay fell in love with havelock north, and decided yes that was where we wanted to be.

[BlueKiwi]

Over here in the US we call Alaska the final frontier...

I am going to be moving the next year round about. I want to be somewhere close to some good hiking areas

Any ideas?

[Timbo]

Hi Blue Kiwi, and welcome aboard.
I think I can safely say that wherever you are in New Zealand, you will not be very far at all from some good to excellent hiking country. Anything from a few houres stroll in native bush areas to full blown wilderness hikes lasting, well, as long as you want them to I guess.

[Singel]

We choose Auckland because :

1) the biggest city in the far north, for my hubby to get an IT job.

2) warmer weather and do not need to drive in the dark during the winter time.

3) having the choice of living in coastal area.

:cheers

[sizzlingbadger]

We moved to Wellington as my husband had a job lined up there. So far we love it and wouldn't move anywhere else.

[Avalon]

We were hoping that the job would materialise in Welly, as out of the 3 main IT centers, that was the place we prefered on our trips here.

It did, so here we are.

Now we have been here a while, we are moving out of the city, as we are both country bumpkins at heart, and Wiararapa is very like Rural Herefordshire (Greytown really reminds me of Ledbury).

Toss up between Kapiti Coast for teh sea views or the Wiararapa, but in the end the KApiti coast id horribly crowded - tiny postage stamp plots and theres a problem with lack of infrastructure. So rural it is!

HTH

[blue]

I am moving to Hawkes Bay and like the look of Napier. I have a job offer in Hastings. It looks really great from what I have seen so far and heard from peoples experiences.

[denisesykes]

Noticed that a couple of people live or are about to live in the Wiararapa so a couple of questions if thats ok? My OH has a job lined up in Lower Hutt (Alicetown I think it comes under)What would the travelling be like to there if we lived in say Featherston? Also what are the schools like? We will need a High , Intermediate and Primary School all in close proximity.
Thanks in anticipation
Denise

[Avalon]

Denise,

I cant comment on schooling as we dont have kids - so its just not something we needed to consider (and if we do have them - Im as likely to homeschool as anything).

However - I can give some insight into the area (Ive spent a LOT of time there recently).

Firstly - some parts are VERY rural. And once you are off the main State highway - remember to add in driving time to the trains. (15 minutes for us!) Big shopping for food etc - its best to drive upto Masterton (as an alternative to going into Hutt or welly). Masterton has big supermarkets and more importantly a moore Wilsons (cash and carry - good for bulk buying, cheap booze, big jars of Hellmans Mayo, and a REALLY good deli! - foodie heaven!)

Greytown has no Trainstation, but there are two either side of the town.

The trains really are not bad to travel on. A bit old and clunky, but not crowded generally. Ive heard that featherstone is actually the worst station to catch it at because by then, its gone through all the other towns, so if there is going to be a crowding issue - thats where it will show. Havent checked this out personally though.

Where getting the train really comes into its own - is that you dont have to drive over the Rimutaka Range. Its a glorious drive - but its definately not a lazy drive! Its very twisting, and a bit gut wrenching if you go anything like too fast (Its scares me how fast some people do it!). It would take about an hour at safe speed to get from Featherstone to Lower hutt. But it would be at least 20mins - half hour over the hill - which you may not want to do every day.

Alan is planning on mixing taking the train and driving. Best of both worlds. It also means that he can get work done on the train (it will be an hour and a half journey for him), and in doing that , can actually work a 4 day week!

(also must add, that im not sure where in Lower hutt the train stops, so I dont know how close it is to where your hubby would work)

HTH

[denisesykes]

Cheers for that useful information.It looks as if it may be a bit far from work so we shall concentrate on Eastbourne or Upper Hutt. We fancy Silversteam or Stokes Valley.

[baboonworld]

We moved to havelock north dec last year, after spending 7 weeks in orewa, oh was offered a job in hastings, we drove to hawkes bay fell in love with havelock north, and decided yes that was where we wanted to be.

my dad lives in Havelock North (he runs the supermarket) LOL!

[baboonworld]

Cheers for that useful information.It looks as if it may be a bit far from work so we shall concentrate on Eastbourne or Upper Hutt. We fancy Silversteam or Stokes Valley.


As an Upper Hutt gal - I agree Silverstream is nice - but be careful when looking at Stokes Valley or Pinehaven - can get quite damp up in the bush!

[baboonworld]

Re: trains in LH.

If you are travelling from Featherstone you should check where the trains stop. Not all trains stop at all stations. I used to get the train from Trentham (UH) to Alicetown every day and sometimes I had to swap trains as some go straight thru. (well this was over 15 years ago but it might still apply as I have heard that the pulic transport hasnt!)

[Avalon]

Cheers for that useful information.It looks as if it may be a bit far from work so we shall concentrate on Eastbourne or Upper Hutt. We fancy Silversteam or Stokes Valley.

BEWARE! Eastbourne is Uber-expensive!!!!!!! :wah

We were all set to go live there as we had visited on our last trip. Sea Views, easy access to the city etc.

However - prices are stupid over there, many properties are reaching a million easily. Its getting crowded as people are subdividing, and your plot will be invintesimally small (also on a very steep slant in most cases). A lot of properties on the hill have bad access.

Also - something you MUST be aware to avoid buying a lemon is the sunlight issue. If you look at the whole of Eastbourne (Point Howard all the way down through eastbourne itself), as if you were looking at it from Wellington city: Any houses on the left hand side of a bay do not get sunlight for a lot of the afternoon, and may not get sunlight at all during winter. This makes them very cold (or expensive to heat), and also ruins your view somewhat - and ruins all the lovely outdoor living.

I went to an auction of a house like this - before we knew about the problem. Someone has paid $500k for a house that has been in permanant shade over the winter. (and this house has 4 seperate deck areas and looks out over Lowry bay).

Eastbourne really is lovely - but you do need a very big wad of cash t buy there. Even to buy a 3 bed home with no view is costing nearly half a million over there!

Sorry to be the bearer of "not so good news" :wah

[denisesykes]

Thanks Avalon.I think that all we can do is to be patient and wait until we arrive before we decide on an area.As you have proved there are many things to consider which you can't find out from real enz!