[kirkandliz]

Hi All

This is one of those 'What do you think of ...' questions - in this case - Hamilton?

To date I have primarily been focusing on Wellington and Auckland in relation to job searching as they would be the main areas for Data networking/Telecoms ....but I've been told about a couple of positions in Hamilton which sound interesting but I don't really know enough about the place.

I'll be bringing my young family with me so need good family areas and schools. Also would be looking for all the amenities and activities to keep said family happy.
We're not really (inner) city people and on the face of it Hamilton sounds and looks a good match because it does not seem too busy but is only an hour or two away from everything at Auckland - would that seem fair?
But what else does it have?

Can anyone give me an honest opinion? Would be very appreciated

[Kim39]

Ok folks i'll be honest with you on this one as we are only 20 mins from Hamilton in Te Awamutu. On a personal note i wouldn't live in Hamilton, only because like you we are not inner city folk either, but remember that as much as Hamilton is classed as a city, and the 4th largest one in NZ, its not a city to us. Its feels more like a BIG town. As for living there then i can't really pass comment, but what i would say is there are some lovely area's such as Rototuna(big prices i'm afraid), but you also have your deprived area's such as Nawton. If you are looking for a town close to the amenities that Hamilton has to offer, such as sporting events, and remember Hamilton boasts a football club that plays(or trys) in the NZ league, the Chiefs are there, as well as a international cricket venue then you won't go to far wrong with the outlying area's. Have a think about Cambridge, Te Awamutu, Pirongia to name but a few.

What i will say and i'm sure folk who live within this vicinity will vouch that really you can't go to far wrong with the Waikato region, and what the place has to offer. You are only a short drive from the coast, and a short drive from the touristy spots, and you have all sorts of amenities on your doorstep.

Anyway good luck with your decisions, and if i can be of any help regarding the small area's such as TA and Cambridge then don't hesitate.

Kim

[CarolineReid]

Just found your post - I'm going to be living in Cambridge, working in Hamilton. My daughter's been doing the same for three years, and I've done 3 extended visits. My experience is that Hamilton/Waikato has some different skill shortages to Aukland and the more Southern Cities, and because it is the only inland city there do appear to be lots of jobs available.

I would agree with Kim, that there are some lovely towns about twenty minutes out, and without the traffic jams we're all used to in the UK, it really will be twenty minutes every day, any time of the day!

Good Luck

[Hannah]

Have been to Hamilton while travelling, and frequently due to work (meetings at the hospital).
My honest opinions, from passing through, are two things:
1. Boring
2. Crowded/very built up

Can't comment on it from a "living there" perspective. Not being near the beach lets it down in my opinion.

Has a nice park with boating lake, playgrounds etc., but doesn't rate in my list of top parks.

hannah

[Cardy]

Hi we live in Cambridge and its very easy to get into Hamilton . I personally wouldnt live in Hamilton ,never liked it but as kim said cambridge ,te awamutu are nice and handy for most places. My kids go to school in Cambridge and are doing very well. If you need any info feel free to contact us
cardy and Bev :)

[b&k]

The Tron is the fastest-growing city in NZ and has a lot of job shortages. However, everyone I know who has been there only stayed a couple of years before moving away. It's a good place to find work but the town itself is a letdown - badly designed, lots of concrete, unexciting shops and restaurants.

On the plus side:
- The surrounding countryside of the Waikato is beautiful and there are many places of interest nearby.
- The Hamilton to Auckland road is probably the best in the country (but hey, there's not much competition!) so getting to Auckland is quite easy.
- It is attracting a lot of high profile sporting events.

I'd work there if it was the right job but I'd live outside the city - Cambridge would be my choice with it's greenery and old-world charm.

[Babette & Andy]

For a daytrip we visited Hamilton on Tuesday, from AKL Bucklands Beach. Loved the drive down, loved seeing a bit of the Waikato after being in the Howick area for so long (10mths already).

We did like what we saw, a lot smaller than AKL but still all the conveniences of a city. CBD was dead as it was a holiday day, but looked pleasant enough. We ended up having a picnic at the lake with the wonderful playground(s) - Rotoroa I think it's called. Then drove to the zoo and spent a few great hours there.

Can't comment on living / costs etc but Hamilton was on our list of possible destinations when we were looking to move to NZ, purely the lack of IT related jobs moved it from our list.

Babette

[KerryS]

I like Hamilton. I work in the town at least one day a week, and am often there at weekends too, as I have a house out in the wilds of the Waikato. Many of my friends in Auckland originate from the Tron, and my partners family live there, so I have a lot of connections with the place.
I guess I have only seen the positive sides - a neat CBD area, nice cafes and restaurants, decent bars. (Although it did have a bar that refused to let me in wearing sneakers after a rugby game!)
Some of the new developments and suburbs are a bit densely built, but they are very popular and affordable.
It's a short journey to Raglan and the coast, or out into the country. It only took 75 minutes to drive to Waihi Beach.

[Gilly1973]

Hi All,

This is my first post on this forum and looking through all the posts to gather as much information as possible.

I am looking to move out to the Waikato district in April as part of the UK NZ police recruitment. I am expecting to get posted to the Hamilton area, but this is not 100% confirmed and probably won't be until I arrive in the country. There is some possibility that I may be posted to Huntly.

I was just looking for peoples opinions of Hamilton and surrounding areas to live with reasonable housing and reasonable prices (Cheap :laugh ). I don't want to have a massive commute but also looking for a bit more open space and greenery.

I am moving over with my wife and 3 year old son, so schooling will be an issue in a couple of years but not at the moment, just want to give myself the best chance of making this adventure work out.

I will be posting other questions elsewhere in relation to wages and cost of living etc on the relevant threads but if anybody wishes to PM it would be appreciated.

I like to spend my recreational time fly fishing for trout, mountain biking, golf and getting out and about in the country, is this good area for this? My wife likes to go shopping but I am desperatly trying to cure her of the terrible affliction.

Many Thanks
Gilly

[Jeany]

I lived in Auckland for 4 years before moving down to Hamilton 3 years ago. There are pros and cons for both cities, but as for work and family life, Hamilton suits us better. The biggest upside is daily commuting. There is no traffic jam even in peak hours. with both of us working, this is very important, since we can choose to live in any area that we like, all within 15-20 min drive.

Another plus is the affordable housing. There are some run down areas in Hamilton, like in any cities, but the average streets are better than that of Auckland and there are some very attractive neighbourhood, with good quality houses at very affordable prices. You can get a substantial 4 brm house in the best streests along the river for 60-70k, which is the price you pay in Auckland for a basic 3brm in the very average central area (still needs to spend 40-50min in traffic to get to work). For a decent 4brm house (new or fully renovated) in a good area, that's 40k-50k. And a comfortable family home for 30k-40k. Still neat and tidy first homes for 25k-30k.

There are plenty of good shopping centres in both city and suburbs, same supermarket chains as in Auckland, and much better parking and access. The facilities in malls are also comparable to that of Auckland. There are excellent schools from primary to college, all within easy access. the walks along the Waikato river is beautiful, and there are plenty of parks. I also love the central location of Hamilton, very good for the family to spend a weekend in Rotorua, the Mt, Taupo, Raglan, or Coromandal. Auckland is only 1.5 hr drive away if we need a visit.

I still miss the beaches in Auckland, but at hindsight, we haven't spent much of our time there anyway, given that we'd been busy and spent almost 2 hrs daily commuting (we tend to work extra time after work since there was no point sitting in the traffic anyway). Now that we go for river walks or parks on a daily basis. We even used to go fishing in Raglan and mountain biking in Rotorua after work before we had the babies. Our home and garden is much more enjoyable and we can actually spend some time there after work.

[Gilly1973]

Many thanks for the reply Jeany. I think the beaches of Auckland were initially attracting me, but as stated I like the country, rivers and as you say it is centrally located for travelling to numerous other parts of the island.

Just waiting for the visas to be approved.

Cheers

[willowshouse]

I hope this isn't hijacking toooo much but I'm sure it would be relevant for anyone thinking of moving to the Hamilton area...

I am looking to buy an investment property (probably a 3 bed house) and Hamilton seems to be a good area to consider.

Is there anybody renting in/around Hamilton .. was it easy to find your rental? What is the quality like? Which areas do you like and which ones should I not bother with?

Any help gratefully appreciated.....;)

Dawn

[Jeany]

Hi there,

I just got a rental place for my parents who will be in Hamilton for another 6 months or so. It was difficult to find decent rental when we first moved down from Auckland, but that was 3 years ago, early 2004. Since the property boom in the past years, more rental places are available now, with many 3-4 bedrooms at very reseanable prices. The place I got for my parents is 2brm unit with own garage and big backyard, minutes walk from Westfield shopping centre and library etc in Chartwell, which is a very popular rental area. Also on bus route. Most of the rentals we saw recently while looking for them (didn't take long to find the right one) are in good condition, well maintained and in good safe location. Of course, always depends on how much you prepare to pay. The popular area for rental is Chartwell, Hillcrest (where the Uni is), and the Lake area (Where the hospital is and very close to CBD). Also some young families like the new area up North, with modern homes and low maintainance, still handy to the new shopping centres. Hamilton traffic is good, so nothing is too far from town. Personally I won't go for Frankton, it's central and cheap, but got some shabby houses and unattractive neighbourhood.

[Oliver]

Happy to hear that you managed to find something decent so quickly. I'm moving to Hamilton in May. I'll only find accommodation whilst there, as I'll be staying in a motel for the first couple of weeks. I'll be working at the uni, but I'm not keen on limiting myself to Hillcrest. The areas up north seem modern and low maintenance and very similar to the type of accommodation that I'm used to in South Africa. I'm on my own, and I'm not bringing any furnture down with me (not yet anyway), so I'll be looking for furnished accommodation. At the moment, I'm seriously considering going for a furnished studio apartment. They seem to offer good value for money. I'm looking to spend about $ 350-400 a week.

[KerryS]

Happy to hear that you managed to find something decent so quickly. I'm moving to Hamilton in May. I'll only find accommodation whilst there, as I'll be staying in a motel for the first couple of weeks. I'll be working at the uni, but I'm not keen on limiting myself to Hillcrest. The areas up north seem modern and low maintenance and very similar to the type of accommodation that I'm used to in South Africa. I'm on my own, and I'm not bringing any furnture down with me (not yet anyway), so I'll be looking for furnished accommodation. At the moment, I'm seriously considering going for a furnished studio apartment. They seem to offer good value for money. I'm looking to spend about $ 350-400 a week.

I personally hate the northern suburbs - the houses are all on top of one another, and there is no real character. It's probably because they are all new and need to establish, but I much prefer other parts of the town.
Your budget is pretty generous for a Hamilton rent for one person - you could get quite a sizeable property for that price.

[willowshouse]

Anyone got a comment on the Fairfield and Enderley area??

Coming to Hamilton tommorrow for a look-see...

[willowshouse]

Hmm .. just found this, might have answered my own question :exit

http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Postal_suspension_lifted_in_Hamilton,_New_Zealand

[Klipa]

Just wondering if there are any areas b/w Hamilton and Raglan for rural living. I may have a decent work opportunity in Hamilton but we want to be accessible to surf. If we weren't right in Raglan, is there an area sort of halfway b/w that would be suitable for rural living?

Just can't seem to find out the layout of surrounding areas of Hamilton...or if there are any?

[Kim39]

Just wondering if there are any areas b/w Hamilton and Raglan for rural living. I may have a decent work opportunity in Hamilton but we want to be accessible to surf. If we weren't right in Raglan, is there an area sort of halfway b/w that would be suitable for rural living?

Just can't seem to find out the layout of surrounding areas of Hamilton...or if there are any?

No actually area's as such between Hamilton and Raglan except for Whatawhata-mainly maori, but there's the odd development area's with a few house's on though. Its a case of taking a drive between the places to get the feel. Where we are in TA www.teawamutu.co.nz (http://www.teawamutu.co.nz) and its only a 45min drive to Raglan so pretty handy to the surf.

Kim

[Keith C.]

I'm curious about the best way to find a rental property, particularly via long distance. Ideally, I think a web site with pictures and descriptive text would be nice. Thus far, I haven't found a good one. Do people generally search ads in the local paper, drive around neighborhoods they like, or something else? I'm trying to get a feel for what one gets for his money.

I'm also curious about why some people seem to dislike Hamilton. The pictures I've seen make it look pleasant enough. I've certainly seen uglier places here in the States. (Houston comes to mind.) I realize that the pictures I'm looking at are generally showing the nicest parts of Hamilton.

Does Hamilton suffer from what many cities and towns in the US do - "big box" strip malls? Around here, there are many shopping areas where there are box shaped building with little aesthetic appeal. They generally house national chain stores and restaurants like WalMart, BestBuy, Chile's, etc. Many consider them a blight on the landscape.

[Ana&Steve]

Hey Kieth, try this site for pics and info: http://www.trademe.co.nz Trademe is very popular in NZ so have a look at the rest of the site after looking at houses.
I'm just guessing, but I think Hamilton just doesn't have anything unique or eye-catching to grab you, but maybe it grows on you?
Ana

[Keith C.]

Thanks Ana! I didn't know about Trademe, but it was just the kind of thing I was looking for. We have something similar called "CraigsList." They have sites in Auckland and Wellington, but they don't seem to be used much. I really like this forum. I could have surfed a lot of links before discovering Trademe on my own.

I have to say that the pictures of houses in Wellington excited me much more than those in Hamilton, especially those with ocean views. Are the skies always as blue as they are in the pictures?

[Sam B]

Like it's been said before in this thread, there are some very nice places to live just outside Hamilton, like Cambridge etc. (I'm still trying to recruit people to this area, so we can have our own meets!) However, most NZ cities, seem to have an extra selling point, like by the sea with fab views (all of them) and Hamilton doesn't. So it's your average NZ city, but on the flat and not any sea views. Hmmm, and less good shops maybe? I'm not selling it, am I??

[Oliver]

It may not have the sea, but some houses and apartments have lovely river views!

[Keith C.]

So it's your average NZ city, but on the flat and not any sea views. Hmmm, and less good shops maybe? I'm not selling it, am I??

Perhaps Hamilton has ample parking? :D And I bet the danger from tsunamis is virtually nil.

Actually, Hamilton looks pleasant enough. It just doesn't have that treacherous ocean.

One of the things I'm curious about is how easy it is to get around by bicycle. Are there bike lanes, etc.? If not, are the streets wide enough to bike on without risking life and limb?

Keith

[suebeenz]

Perhaps Hamilton has ample parking? :D And I bet the danger from tsunamis is virtually nil.

Actually, Hamilton looks pleasant enough. It just doesn't have that treacherous ocean.

One of the things I'm curious about is how easy it is to get around by bicycle. Are there bike lanes, etc.? If not, are the streets wide enough to bike on without risking life and limb?

Keith

Hi Keith,

I just wanted to throw in my 2bits here. I certainly don't want to offend anyone, but I don't know anybody that lived there that had much good to say. If Wellington is San Francisco, then Hamilton is East Palo Alto. :-) That is to say, not really that nice looking, and definitely has its share of dodgy neighborhoods. Everyone does seem to agree though that the outlying regions can be nice.

On the upside, I personally don't have any beefs with the city. Another big plus about Hammy is that its only 45 mins to the beach.

I'm afraid I can't speak to the city's bike friendliness, but I would hope so since it's a uni town.

Best of luck of choosing!

[eternalkiwi]

Hamilton would be as bike friendly as any other NZ city, and as it is predominantly flat and not too congested, it is fairly easy to cycle around.

There are a wide range of work opportunities in Hamilton with many businesses expanding, even Government departments are expanding the number of staff they have based in Hamilton.

Hamilton does have the big box mall developments though they also have the normal shopping malls and street-side shopping precincts.

The current mayor is also working hard to inject more activity and 'excitement' into the city, which is having some positive effects.

As has been mentioned many other cities and activities are close by, including Raglan, Coromandel, Tauranga/Mt Maunganui, Rotorua, Taupo & Auckland.
There are also many sights and activities within the city, including one of the best public botanic and theme gardens in the country.

In addition to the river views, there are also many green hillside and mountain views to enjoy.

Shawn

[Sam B]

Yeah, the gardens are completely fab, I forgot that.

[Danny & Julie]

We have been living in Hamilton for the past 8 months & love it. I don't quiet understand why Hamilton is disliked. I've asked my Kiwi friends this and it seems to be the general option of most Kiwis that Hamilton isn't a happening place.
But it has so much to offer; we live near the river and go walking/bike riding there every week. The town centre is boring to look at but there are loads of nice shops heaps of restaurants & a very safe place to walk around. In my home town in the UK I would never go into the town centre on an evening because it wasn't safe.
There are lots of new shops opening and out of town shopping is getting better with the base & chartwell shopping centre.
Hamilton has so much to offer-loads of parks, the river walks, the lake, the gardens, the zoo, the museum to name a few. Plus there are lots of sporting events we've been to rugby & cricket. Lots of other events as well-free summer concerts at the gardens which were brilliant, the balloon festival in a few weeks.
It's not a long drive to the beach-about 40 mins only an hour to Auckland now the roadwork’s are finished. We are moving out of Hamilton because our dream home is a lifestyle block so we've bought 2 acres and are building a house. We bought land in a little place called Te Pahu which is about 20 mins out of town.
There are some bad areas but there is everywhere but we've had no problems settling in here, the schools are super we have 4 children 2 at high school, 1 at primary school and my youngest is at kindergarten.
I would recommend Hamilton you can live in town and enjoy the social side of things or you can live out of town and still have all the benefits.

Julie

[pinkpiggy]

Julie

Thanks for such a positive post about Hamilton. It looks like we may be headed that way when we come over in May. Out of interest whereabouts in Hamilton do you currently live?

[Sam B]

Hey, look at all these Waikato people coming out of the woodwork all of a sudden! I think we may actually have enough for a meet.....????

[JoHnH]

Not much help, but I've just remembered an old Auckland joke about Hamilton.
Competition first prize: a week's holiday in Hamilton.
Second prize: two week's holiday in Hamilton.

You can see why they call us JAFAs.

[Oliver]

I'm moving to Hamilton from South Africa in a few weeks' time, and I'm looking forward to it. I personally believe that H is a good choice for me. I will work in the uni and I believe that any place that revolves around a university is a good place. I have lived in several uni towns before, and my experience has always been positive. Students bring an energy and an atmosphere that will convert any damp old squid of a town into a happening hotspot.

Most of the people who live in Hamilton appear to be very happy living there; at least, everybody I spoke to is happy. It seems to me that it's mostly people from the bigger cities who make negative comments about H. Sure, if big city life is your thing, then H is probably not the place for you. Every place has its pros and cons. Personally, I have no desire to live in Auckland; it's too big, too busy and too expensive. I prefer to rather live in a smaller town where everything I need is either within walking or short driving distance, and where the closest thing to congestion is the line at the coffee counter!

In short, I have made my choice. I have chosen Hamilton and I will stick to it!

[Sam B]

Well said Oliver, and I think you're right. And equally, those of us who live near Hamilton in small towns, but say we wouldn't live in it, are really just people who don't like city life at all. I'm sure it is a good place to live..

[willowshouse]

Most of the people who live in Hamilton appear to be very happy living there; at least, everybody I spoke to is happy. It seems to me that it's mostly people from the bigger cities who make negative comments about H. Sure, if big city life is your thing, then H is probably not the place for you. Every place has its pros and cons. Personally, I have no desire to live in Auckland; it's too big, too busy and too expensive. I prefer to rather live in a smaller town where everything I need is either within walking or short driving distance, and where the closest thing to congestion is the line at the coffee counter!


The thing is .. if you ask for people's opinions then that is exactly what you get - people's personal opinions. Now, if you consider that these people have been to Hamilton and have chosen not to live there then it's obvious that there was something about Hamilton that did not tick their boxes.... The same thing goes for Auckland, Wellington etc etc etc.

It is natural to feel a little defensive when people criticise where you live/are planning to live. I laugh when I read about how Auckland is just another big, busy city - I don't think it's big at all, our life is much easier/simpler here and it peeves me when people 'have a go' at it. (No offence Oliver .. just trying to show that I feel the same about Auckland as you do about Hamilton.)

Anybody that reads opinions on areas on this forum needs to appreciate that it is practically impossible to judge an area based on another person's observations ... if at all possible (and I know it sometimes isn't!) come and see and make your own mind up.

BTW, I've been to Hamilton once .. I thought it was quite nice! It is showing a good increase in house prices month on month - sign of an up and coming area.

[banjan2]

Hi, we are to move to Hamilton sometime mid May, I just want to ask about the suburbs of Hamilton East and Naylor? Are they okay? Julie, I hope you don't mind sending me by pm or email what the not so good areas are so that I do not make the mistake of finding a place to live in there.

[Danny & Julie]

Hi Paula,
We live in an area called Pukete at the moment, it's on the edge of town just off state highway 1 near the base shopping centre. It's a good area with nice schools. We looked at flagstaff & rototuna for rental houses but the timing wasn't right.
We found the biggest help when looking for rentals was to look at the local school reports. Finding a good school was very important to us. We found a lovely rental but the local school report wasn't great so we didn't go for it.

Banjan2 are you planning on finding a rental before you come? We found NZ housing odd because you can have a 1 bedroom unit in the same area as a 6 bedroom house so it's often hard to judge an area by the price of a house.
I'll send you a pm.

[banjan2]

i plan to rent first and probably get my own place after 6 months. this is to get a feel of the housing market there.

[lockstock]

We're finding ourselves veering towards Waikato and Hamilton/Cambridge on reading research alone. Just found this thread and it looks like we'll head for there after all. Not too bothered about beaches. Thanks for sharing your points of view and opinions. Now, if we can only get pulled out of the pool..

[M&J]

Well after a month reccie were back home with job offer in hand, visa applications processed in super quick time in London, I only dropped them off on Friday. Had an e-mail today all processed and visas granted. :raebanana

OH has a job offer in Hamilton and after spending a week exploring the area we fell for Cambridge. The made rush is now on to pack everything up leaving in SIX weeks!!!!!! :exit

We liked Hamilton too but as we are country folk at heart the more rural location of Cambridge will suit us better.

Best get packing........

Jo

[Kim39]

Congrats on the job offer for OH Jo:clap :clap As for where you have decided to live, then well done on that too. Cambridge is a lovely little town, along with where we are, which is 20 mins down the road in Te Awamutu. The Waikato is a lovely place to reside in. Its quite central to everything you could possibly need. You won't go too far wrong:yes

Kim

[Cardy]

Hi Jo we,ll put the kettle on for you we have some english teabags too. We loved cambridge as soon as we drove in.:nice1

cardy and Bev

[Sam B]

Hey, this is GREAT! There will be loads of people on the forum living in Cambridge soon... Look forward to seeing you here Jo.

[M&J]

Thanks everyone, be good to meet up when we arrive sometime in June. Keep you posted.

Jo

[HelenandPhil]

Brilliant thread, thanks to all for the posts.

We are arriving in Hamilton in October and will need to book a motel until we decide where to rent, does anyone have experiences/suggestions? also how long would people recommend in a motel to alllow us to find a rental?

finallly what is TRON?

P.S handed in my notice at work today...... very scary and exciting at the same time!

Phil

[M&J]

Hi

We have just moved to Cambridge and move into our rental today. We are presently staying at Karapiro at the Lofthouse. It is a self contained flat type accomadation with one bedroom, sleeps four people. Has a resonable kitchen, washing machine and dryer. The owners are really helpful if you need anything but also respect you privacy. We love it, the veiw is to die for and they have a cedar hot tub.

OH is working in Hamiton and it take him 30 mins and its 10 mins to Cambridge.

Have a look at the website www.lofthouse.co.nz

Cheers

Jo

[pinkpiggy]

Hi Phil

I can highly recommend the Gardena Court Motel (http://www.gardena.co.nz) on Ulster Street in Hamilton. It's about a 5 minute walk into Hamilton centre which is brilliant when you first arrive and don't have a car and have to go and do all those boring things like setting up bank accounts etc. Trish & Toney the owners are fantastic and only too happy to help. They have a couple of 2 bed units so if you have children they can have their own room.

Both my family and Leachio's family have stayed there and can now include Trish & Toney in our circle of friends.

We stayed there for 2 weeks but Amanda & Dan were there for 6 weeks. It depends on when your rental will be available from.

[HelenandPhil]

Hi, thanks for the advice. They both look good (especially the cedar spa:yes ) but we think we would be better to be in Hamilton centre until we are sorted for ease, so we have contacted the Gardena and are awaiting a reply. Must remember to pack swimming things for the pool:clap

[Steadybears]

Hi Kim
Im new to this and hope Im doing the correct thing - we (my OH Ian and 17 yr old son) hoping to get our papers sorted out by end of the year. My son not too happy about the move as he about to enrol in Uni in South Africa. Im keen to find out about the football club in Hamilton - that might keep him smiling - how can I find out more about that and any idea about finding uni sstudents for Waikato Uni who doing engineering? Sorrry so many questions.
Many thanks
Jayne

[Debbie P.]

Hi Jayne,

Welcome to the forum. You may wish to post your message as a new post, as it may get more attention, particularly from forumites with teenagers, who may be able to offer general advice on NZ life for 17 year olds even if not Hamilton-specific.

Also, your query about Waikato uni could also go in the education section - not saying it won't get any attention at all in this post, but you may get more responses there!

Regards,

[Steadybears]

Hi Debbie
Thanks for your help - will try again. This is such a lovely site - am able to give my OH report back each day when he gets home about something new about NZ. Thanks so much for your advise do so appreciate it
Regards
Jayne

[tiefchord]

Hi Keith,

I just wanted to throw in my 2bits here. I certainly don't want to offend anyone, but I don't know anybody that lived there that had much good to say. If Wellington is San Francisco, then Hamilton is East Palo Alto. :-) That is to say, not really that nice looking, and definitely has its share of dodgy neighborhoods. Everyone does seem to agree though that the outlying regions can be nice.


From someone who has lived in the Bay Area for 12 years, has spent a reasonable time in Hamilton, and currently lives in Welington, I have to refute this. Not on the Wellington analogy, but the EPA one. EPA has serious issues that are taking a long time to overcome (part of it seeing it's own gentrification as a result). There is barely a single town in NZ as a whole that has the combined issues, history of instability, and poorness that East Palo Alto/Ravenwood has experienced. Hamilton is far from this and far from having any of the serious dodgyness that a truely run-down California city offers (something we should be grateful for here).

It would probably be more accurate to think of Hamilton as on track more with Cupertino or Mountain View.

[Kim39]

Hi Kim
Im keen to find out about the football club in Hamilton - that might keep him smiling - how can I find out more about that
Jayne


Can give you that info quite easily Jayne, but is he looking to play, or just watch?

If he is watching then Waikato have their own team in Waikato FC and they play in the National summer league..........http://www.waikatofc.co.nz/

If he is looking to play, then the Uni have 3 teams playing in the Waikato/BOP leagues. If by any chance he is half decent then he needs to go looking at Wanderers....http://www.wanderers.net.nz/ or Melville Utd.......http://www.melvilleunited.co.nz/ for him to progress. These two teams play in the Northern league, which is in a way a semi pro league.

Hope this helps


Kim

[Steadybears]

Thanks for that info Kim - will take it all down and follow it up when we get there. Shud get him smiling again!! Tks
Jayne