[Debbie P.]

Ok, we've had a big think about where we want to be based when we move over in autumn 2006 (if they let us...). We feel more drawn to the North Island and we had been thinking about Wellington, but we don't necessarily want to be somewhere too built up - might as well stay here in that case!

We've decided that if we can scrape together the money, we'll come out for another look around next Easter. We can only manage 2 weeks, so we want some ideas for a few places to look at in that time.

Here's the situation:

OH is a teacher so hopefully won't have too many problems finding work wherever we go.
I'm a medical librarian, so would probably only find work in somewhere big like Wellington or Auckland or one of the larger towns. I could work in a medical research place, a hospital or a university with a medical/nursing school.

What we'd like:
To be near a city/town for nights out at theatre, concerts etc, but not necessarily every night & we wouldn't mind a bit of a journey to get there!
To be near the coast, or at least within a 30 minute drive of it.
To have a reasonably sized house & space for our money, bearing in mind we will be looking for a small-ish mortgage - probably $300K.
To be in the sort of place where we can walk to the shops! (rather than having to get in a car to go to a lovely crowded shopping centre out of town - what a treat!).
Somewhere we can go for nice walks in the countryside or by the sea.

Am I asking too much with the above? Hmm. Anyway, we're planning to go for 2 weeks over Easter vacation (usual teacher problem), travel around, stay a couple of days/nights in a few locations to get a feel for the places, and hopefully visit a few schools - Martin might even get to go to a couple of interviews if we manage to get this organised.

We visited last year, and the places we'd like to look at this time are Napier (he liked it a lot, I was worried about jobs), Wellington (I liked it & thought I could get work there), Palmerston North (didn't visit but looks like a convenient location on the map). We weren't too sure about Auckland - seemed a bit spread out - and we didn't get a chance to visit north of there at all. Anywhere else we should consider?

Thanks,

Debbie

[willsken]

We loved Napier but we couldn’t afford much of a house there. I have no intention of saddling myself with a big mortgage so we had to look elsewhere. We were told that Hawke’s Bays had second best weather in NZ after North Land.

We were also keen to look at Palmerston North but were told by some one who grew up there it was really windy. He now lives in Waipuk (yes, I know not the most cultured place to settle but we loved it!!) and he said it's the best move he's ever made. He couldn't believe the difference! Something to do with once you go past the protection of the mountains the weather is far worse.

I can only say that this is what we have been told....but, when we left the protection of the mountains to drive to New Plymouth it rained for 2 days solidly!!

[Debbie P.]

Hi Nicola,

Thanks for your reply. OK, I give up - where the heck is Waipuk?! :)

Debbie

[Singel]

Another good site for maps : http://www.expedia.com/pub/agent.dll?qscr=mmfn

This is how you do it.........

1. Go to the section : Search for a place
2. Select : World (topographic maps)
3. Type : place name
4. Click : Find a map
:cheers
Debbie, this will help you with finding the place.
:)

[willsken]

Waipukurau is about half hour drive from Hastings. It a market town for quite a big farming area. We drove to the beach in half an hour from there. A lovely deserted beach!

It's a small town but has everything we are looking for. It has all the shops we would need on a day to day basis, it has a couple of banks, a cinema etc It also has a few junior schools and the local college (14 - 19).

The house prices are less than Napier and Hastings, but it's an easy commute.