bozandhelen
30th December 2005, 07:23 PM
Hi guys
I know I've been a bit conspicuous by my absence in the last month or so, so I thought I'd kind of make it up a bit with a 2-part mega-post....
The 'rental' I have in Nelson is more of a house sitting job with dog, cat, 'car' and dial-up Internet (yuk) thrown in for good measure, I thought I'd done pretty well getting this for $275 a week inclusive of everything, but it does also tie you down to being in one place with no room to do anything but day trips. Day trips from here by car can however be Blenheim, Picton, Abel Tasmin etc so it gives me a wide area to visit and look at.
Nelson itself has got pretty well everything you could want and if you count Richmond, (and why shouldnt you as they are next to each other) it has a couple of nice shopping areas with all of NZ's big shops present in abundance. Five minutes either way and you can be on Tahunanui beach or up on a Mountain trail to nowhere, a bit longer, 15 minutes you can be on Rabbit Island beach and 30 mins later you could be in Motueka and up near Abel Tasman park. The town centre has a lot of outdoor cafe and bar areas and it is partially pedestrianised in places so that you seem to have more right of way than the car in most places. The cinema is pretty good, the library is excellent and have a partial Internet access so you can access most job sites without resorting to an Internet cafe. Lots of tourists swell the numbers up in the summer (acording to my local kiwi source) and it definately feels like a tourist spot. The place is fairly hilly, the road maps of the area don't make much sense until you've factored all the hills into it and a straight line is sometimes not your quickest route. (Especially by bike!!)
The house I am in is up in the Abraham Heights looking back across the valley to the hospital, unfortunately the million dollar views in a lot of these places are not all they seem as many of the newer houses are built in a sub-division, ie the original (kiwi quarter acre) section has been split in two, or even three, and another house built just behind it with access sharing or cutting the side off the front lot in many cases. This may not be so bad but the quality of the contruction here, especially the lack of double-glazing, means you can hear almost every noise your neighbour makes. Add one or more teenager to the street and you will be trying to sleep over the thumping of Emenem and gangster rap. If you are going to buy a sub-division or move to a densely packed area you would be wise to check out the neighbourhood very very carefully..
Secondly, and it's been mentioned a few times, but the sound of souped up bangers can get on your nerves. IF your checking out the neighbourhood avoid anything with lots of old or sporty looking bangers (big exhaust pipe is the only thing you need look for!) on the streets and definately do not live on a main thouroughfare to anywhere one of these guys lives. The prices of 3 or 4 bed houses in these types of areas in Nelson are not going anywhere ($220K to $270K is the norm) and its most definately a buyers market in these properties, however houses in lower density or 'posher' areas do seem to be still selling but even these are flattening. Prices can double or half in as much as 2 streets so it is definately worth doing some legwork and totally ignore the crap written by the estate agents.
Some of the areas out of the city are really nice, and some of the people I have visited outside of the city have beautiful houses and sections. If it's the good life your after then it definately pays to move a bit out of the main towns or away from the coast, a house with an acre plus can still be got for easily under $300K within 10-15 mins of Nelson, though the house may be a "handymans dream" to quote the agents. (read "demolish and build new!")
Motueka town is a bit featureless with quite a few ex-hippy type people and shops there (POTueka my friend calls it!), however, its saving grace is the proximity to the beautiful beaches there and a few minutes drive either way, also if you live a few KM outside the area the scenery is stunning and inland prices get a lot lower and section sizes get a lot bigger. (I doubt this will last for much longer though!) I also got the guided tour around mapua which was really nice. It looked like a really nice place with not too many low density and high quality housing, good views, a couple of nice bars and cafes and a good beach (the main beach was across a private island/camp but you could walk around to it at low tide). However if you live in Mapua you would need to do all your shopping somewhere else as there really is nothing else and you would need to commute somewhere to work. Richmond, newer, lower density (pricey) houses, good shopping mall, free parking, pretty central for Tasman bays but I havent really stayed there apart from hitting the Mall on a hot afternoon to cool down. Other areas I'll get around to visiting sooner or later, so maybe I can do an update sometime.
Apart from the second week which was off and on it has been very sunny here, not too hot though at night and definately not muggy, most of the rain seems to happen at night and even if it does pee it down there will always be a bit of sun. Its very strange having predicatable weather, I could almost get used to it! It also looks hotter than it is just because of all the tropical palms which seem to thrive here.
I've been using the owners mountain bike a lot here as the roads are pretty cycle friendly with most roads having a cycle lane, you soon get used to putting on a helmet (something I never did in the UK) and ther are plenty of places in the streets to park your bike. Streets seem safe enough though I've not walked home later than 10PM yet
My ritual at the moment is wake up take the dog a walk on the beach, shower and spend the rest of the morning in the library looking for jobs, some days I just get in my banger of a car and drive off to a beach or see the locations nearby. The car deserves a chapter in itself. The car they left for me is a 1985 Diahatsu Mira, whose only redeming feature is that you can wind down all four windows while driving. I really cannot believe that when Frankie goes to Hollywood was number one and Bob Geldolf was saving Africa, Japans contribution to 1985 was building crap like this. Rather than buy a new car though I am determined to save money and use it, even to the point of doing the 130KM trip to blenheim in it. I did of course join the AA ($77/Yr) just in case!
So job hunting, hows it going? Well the good news is I managed to get one interview in the second week and they offered me the job, the problem was the interview and job were in Blenheim. I say problem, but it isn't really, it's just that I was just getting used to the idea of living in Nelson. I did apply for a few jobs in town but I seriously had to hack my CV around so as not to appear too over-qualified and none of the jobs were really that suitable, if I had a few more contacts I would however have seriously thought of starting a business as it's dead easy here. My long term intention is still to start my own business but the job I have been offered is quite nice, in the centre of Blenheim and is working with a realy nice bunch of guys (having a bar in the office may take some getting used to!) the pay is not brilliant, but it is well above the average for the area and should certainly be enough to live on (with the savings factored in) the locals in Nelson and Blenheim call these "sunshine wages" the penalty for working in a great climate pity the house prices are not "sunshine prices"! So as I must accept the job this week and none of my other job applications have closing dates til next year I will be going to Blenheim on the 29th January.
So, about blenheim? Well if you actually search on Blenheim on this forum you get something similar to "mostly harmless" Well as I'm going for the posting of the month award I better flesh this out a bit, though as I have never stayed the night there yet and it's only based on three trips it wont be much until my next posting in a few months time..
My first impression of Blenhiem was that it was a nice town but situated in a crap location. The nutter who decided to locate it in the middle of a vineyard and not 10KM west in the foothills of those beutiful mountains should have been shot, (he may have been!) still in my opinion it wasn't that bad and even seemed sunnier than Nelson; (A Scientific observation based on the fact it was cloudy in Nelson and Sunny in Blenheim twice, and the third time both were sunny, also they're definately having a harder time with the drought than Nelson.)
The journey from Blenhiem to Nelson is really beautiful, you really need to do it in an MG or MX5 though, top down, totty in the passenger seat.. NOT in a Di-shit-su 700! I actually got overtaken at one point in Rai Valley by a bloody Anglia 1200, and, one that looked in worst shape than Harry Potters after being whomped by the willow! You can't even duck down behind the steering wheel to hide your shame (I bet they come with an optional extra of a samuria sword in Japan in case the shame gets too much!) I would say in a decent car you could legally do the trip in under 90 minutes, you could probably shave another 10 minutes off if you put your foot down on the straights. Most of the towns between have decent sized houses scattered around and acres+ plots for sale for around $200-$400K some come with ridiculous sizes like 100+ acres for a few dollars more though you would have to be pretty reclusive to take one on. Havelock was quite nice with a little school and nice pub (which was for sale for under $300K!) it was about an hour from nelson and 30 minutes from Blenheim and on the Marlborough sounds if you like being on the coast.
Cont..
I know I've been a bit conspicuous by my absence in the last month or so, so I thought I'd kind of make it up a bit with a 2-part mega-post....
The 'rental' I have in Nelson is more of a house sitting job with dog, cat, 'car' and dial-up Internet (yuk) thrown in for good measure, I thought I'd done pretty well getting this for $275 a week inclusive of everything, but it does also tie you down to being in one place with no room to do anything but day trips. Day trips from here by car can however be Blenheim, Picton, Abel Tasmin etc so it gives me a wide area to visit and look at.
Nelson itself has got pretty well everything you could want and if you count Richmond, (and why shouldnt you as they are next to each other) it has a couple of nice shopping areas with all of NZ's big shops present in abundance. Five minutes either way and you can be on Tahunanui beach or up on a Mountain trail to nowhere, a bit longer, 15 minutes you can be on Rabbit Island beach and 30 mins later you could be in Motueka and up near Abel Tasman park. The town centre has a lot of outdoor cafe and bar areas and it is partially pedestrianised in places so that you seem to have more right of way than the car in most places. The cinema is pretty good, the library is excellent and have a partial Internet access so you can access most job sites without resorting to an Internet cafe. Lots of tourists swell the numbers up in the summer (acording to my local kiwi source) and it definately feels like a tourist spot. The place is fairly hilly, the road maps of the area don't make much sense until you've factored all the hills into it and a straight line is sometimes not your quickest route. (Especially by bike!!)
The house I am in is up in the Abraham Heights looking back across the valley to the hospital, unfortunately the million dollar views in a lot of these places are not all they seem as many of the newer houses are built in a sub-division, ie the original (kiwi quarter acre) section has been split in two, or even three, and another house built just behind it with access sharing or cutting the side off the front lot in many cases. This may not be so bad but the quality of the contruction here, especially the lack of double-glazing, means you can hear almost every noise your neighbour makes. Add one or more teenager to the street and you will be trying to sleep over the thumping of Emenem and gangster rap. If you are going to buy a sub-division or move to a densely packed area you would be wise to check out the neighbourhood very very carefully..
Secondly, and it's been mentioned a few times, but the sound of souped up bangers can get on your nerves. IF your checking out the neighbourhood avoid anything with lots of old or sporty looking bangers (big exhaust pipe is the only thing you need look for!) on the streets and definately do not live on a main thouroughfare to anywhere one of these guys lives. The prices of 3 or 4 bed houses in these types of areas in Nelson are not going anywhere ($220K to $270K is the norm) and its most definately a buyers market in these properties, however houses in lower density or 'posher' areas do seem to be still selling but even these are flattening. Prices can double or half in as much as 2 streets so it is definately worth doing some legwork and totally ignore the crap written by the estate agents.
Some of the areas out of the city are really nice, and some of the people I have visited outside of the city have beautiful houses and sections. If it's the good life your after then it definately pays to move a bit out of the main towns or away from the coast, a house with an acre plus can still be got for easily under $300K within 10-15 mins of Nelson, though the house may be a "handymans dream" to quote the agents. (read "demolish and build new!")
Motueka town is a bit featureless with quite a few ex-hippy type people and shops there (POTueka my friend calls it!), however, its saving grace is the proximity to the beautiful beaches there and a few minutes drive either way, also if you live a few KM outside the area the scenery is stunning and inland prices get a lot lower and section sizes get a lot bigger. (I doubt this will last for much longer though!) I also got the guided tour around mapua which was really nice. It looked like a really nice place with not too many low density and high quality housing, good views, a couple of nice bars and cafes and a good beach (the main beach was across a private island/camp but you could walk around to it at low tide). However if you live in Mapua you would need to do all your shopping somewhere else as there really is nothing else and you would need to commute somewhere to work. Richmond, newer, lower density (pricey) houses, good shopping mall, free parking, pretty central for Tasman bays but I havent really stayed there apart from hitting the Mall on a hot afternoon to cool down. Other areas I'll get around to visiting sooner or later, so maybe I can do an update sometime.
Apart from the second week which was off and on it has been very sunny here, not too hot though at night and definately not muggy, most of the rain seems to happen at night and even if it does pee it down there will always be a bit of sun. Its very strange having predicatable weather, I could almost get used to it! It also looks hotter than it is just because of all the tropical palms which seem to thrive here.
I've been using the owners mountain bike a lot here as the roads are pretty cycle friendly with most roads having a cycle lane, you soon get used to putting on a helmet (something I never did in the UK) and ther are plenty of places in the streets to park your bike. Streets seem safe enough though I've not walked home later than 10PM yet
My ritual at the moment is wake up take the dog a walk on the beach, shower and spend the rest of the morning in the library looking for jobs, some days I just get in my banger of a car and drive off to a beach or see the locations nearby. The car deserves a chapter in itself. The car they left for me is a 1985 Diahatsu Mira, whose only redeming feature is that you can wind down all four windows while driving. I really cannot believe that when Frankie goes to Hollywood was number one and Bob Geldolf was saving Africa, Japans contribution to 1985 was building crap like this. Rather than buy a new car though I am determined to save money and use it, even to the point of doing the 130KM trip to blenheim in it. I did of course join the AA ($77/Yr) just in case!
So job hunting, hows it going? Well the good news is I managed to get one interview in the second week and they offered me the job, the problem was the interview and job were in Blenheim. I say problem, but it isn't really, it's just that I was just getting used to the idea of living in Nelson. I did apply for a few jobs in town but I seriously had to hack my CV around so as not to appear too over-qualified and none of the jobs were really that suitable, if I had a few more contacts I would however have seriously thought of starting a business as it's dead easy here. My long term intention is still to start my own business but the job I have been offered is quite nice, in the centre of Blenheim and is working with a realy nice bunch of guys (having a bar in the office may take some getting used to!) the pay is not brilliant, but it is well above the average for the area and should certainly be enough to live on (with the savings factored in) the locals in Nelson and Blenheim call these "sunshine wages" the penalty for working in a great climate pity the house prices are not "sunshine prices"! So as I must accept the job this week and none of my other job applications have closing dates til next year I will be going to Blenheim on the 29th January.
So, about blenheim? Well if you actually search on Blenheim on this forum you get something similar to "mostly harmless" Well as I'm going for the posting of the month award I better flesh this out a bit, though as I have never stayed the night there yet and it's only based on three trips it wont be much until my next posting in a few months time..
My first impression of Blenhiem was that it was a nice town but situated in a crap location. The nutter who decided to locate it in the middle of a vineyard and not 10KM west in the foothills of those beutiful mountains should have been shot, (he may have been!) still in my opinion it wasn't that bad and even seemed sunnier than Nelson; (A Scientific observation based on the fact it was cloudy in Nelson and Sunny in Blenheim twice, and the third time both were sunny, also they're definately having a harder time with the drought than Nelson.)
The journey from Blenhiem to Nelson is really beautiful, you really need to do it in an MG or MX5 though, top down, totty in the passenger seat.. NOT in a Di-shit-su 700! I actually got overtaken at one point in Rai Valley by a bloody Anglia 1200, and, one that looked in worst shape than Harry Potters after being whomped by the willow! You can't even duck down behind the steering wheel to hide your shame (I bet they come with an optional extra of a samuria sword in Japan in case the shame gets too much!) I would say in a decent car you could legally do the trip in under 90 minutes, you could probably shave another 10 minutes off if you put your foot down on the straights. Most of the towns between have decent sized houses scattered around and acres+ plots for sale for around $200-$400K some come with ridiculous sizes like 100+ acres for a few dollars more though you would have to be pretty reclusive to take one on. Havelock was quite nice with a little school and nice pub (which was for sale for under $300K!) it was about an hour from nelson and 30 minutes from Blenheim and on the Marlborough sounds if you like being on the coast.
Cont..