[Jules]

I hope you are out there somewhere Ruthyroo, I noticed that you are living in Rotorua. My partner and I are hoping to be out there early November :hopeso and have been looking at living in Ngongotaha, can you give me any insight to the area/areas :nice1

Hope to hear from you as I havent seen you on the forum for a long time :( and I would like a chat about Rotorua.

Thanks
Jules

[ruthyroo]

Hi Jules

Gosh it's nice to be remembered! What can I say about Rotorua... well it's growing on me with time... Ngongataha is popular with immigrants I think - just far enough out of town to be easily commutable, but not in the main drag of Roto-vegas. Main features of Rotorua are: lots of 70's architecture, high Maori population relative to rest of NZ, probably a bit poorer/ more unemployment / crime etc relative to the rest of NZ (check out the RDC website on www.rdc.govt.nz for lots of info, including boring stats), it's been left behind a bit in the Bay of Plenty boom, can be a bit smelly around the sulphur gas points and there are inherent risks to living on an active geothermal zone! On the plus side, it's quite cool living in a volcano (my DH is a geographer), the lakes and forests are fantastic (despite the algal blooms) especially if you are into sports, it's very central, and the town hasn't gone commercial mad - well not any more than it already was. Property is still pretty reasonable, and it's so central for the NI, and every visitor you have will want to pass through Rotorua anyway, you're located well for them.

Feel free to pm me for any further info. There are a few others on the board living here - Gill & Rob, I think? Look under Schools in Rotorua on the education board.

Best of luck

[Jules]

Hi Ruthyroo

I have sent you a PM.

Jules