alexkatethomas

Hi there,

I'm a New Zealand citizen lived in the UK since I was 9 years old. I've always had aspirations to move back to the country where I was born and we are finally moving as a small family (my husband, 2 year old and baby on the way) to NZ in March 2017. It's very exciting and also very scary!

My husband is in the process of applying for permanent residency (off the back of my NZ citizenship). He is a senior mechanical design engineer (chartered) so we are hoping he won't have any major difficulty finding a job. I have a senior research management position at the University of Liverpool so again hoping that I have a range of transferable skills in the NZ higher education market.

The issue we have is where we aim for when we move. Auckland prices seem extremely high, almost comparative to
London now - and so we were thinking maybe aim for some of the smaller regional areas - Hawkes Bay, Bay of Plenty, also New Plymouth looks interesting. But jobs seem limited in these areas.

Does anyone have any advice on this? Pros and cons of these areas? We would prefer the north island because of weather.

Thank you!

bourbon-biscuit

Do you want to work in a university? There is a University of Waikato campus in Tauranga and some Massey courses are offered in Hawkes Bay but they are very limited satellite campuses. For example, in Tauranga most lectures are streamed from Hamilton and tutors are poorly paid as sessional assistants, usually students themselves.

Unfortunately your careers sound more suited to the cities than the regional areas. However, you might be able to find a compromise by considering somewhere like Hamilton, which would have the warmer weather you want and is an hour from the coast or Dunedin, which would not have the warmer weather (comparable to UK South East) but you would be on the coast.

Have you considered Christchurch? South Island but decent summers.

Woodlea

Bit of an under-statement, Canterbury has the best climate in NZ, hardly any rain, long hot summers and crisp cold winters, no humidity or insects!

janiejones

Wellington has got two Uni campuses, plus two polys in the region, and the head office of the Open Poly is in Lower Hutt.

Catchafire

Er.....sorry but that has to be Marlborough. NZ sunniest region, mild winters, no humidity.

Insects......maybe.

Woodlea

LOL! You may be correct, however you are too isolated and you don't have a rugby team!

Kotare

Really, I thought Tasman Makos beat the Crusaders occasionally :-)

alexkatethomas

Bourbon-biscuit thank you - yes I had a feeling our careers were more suited to the bigger cities. We may have to stick to outskirts of Auckland - but Christchurch could definitely be an option, especially if summers are good

bourbon-biscuit

OK, I'm just going to say it: have you considered Australia?

I ask because the cost of homes in Auckland is now just so ridiculous it's not worth even considering unless you are coming with mega bucks to earn megabucks.

I live in Newcastle, Australia and it is both a big city while also not being at all. My burb is dark and quiet at night but I can hear the ocean and the bush. We have heaps of bush for recreation and miles and miles of differing beaches. National Parks are a stone's throw for camping, tramping, kayaking but it takes me 15 mins to drive to all the city burbs and my husband cycles to work. Homes in burbs round me start at circa $5-600k for small family homes rising to $millions. There are cheaper burbs 20mins from the coast and round the lake.

The only problem is we are surrounded by Australians.