Kia

We are moving to Hamilton, Nz in October and was hoping to get some tips on starting a new life in NZ, and Hamilton in particuar. Any opinions of the sort of salary required for a comfortable lifestyle?

BritboyNZ

What made you choose Hamilton, if u dont mind me asking!

russ

Kia

Husband has got a job there so the choice was somewhat out of our control.

jandjuk

Hamilton is a nice place and very under-rated - I lived there for 8 years before coming to the UK.

Historically it has had a bad reputation as being a 'cow town' but these days it is growing rapidly and I really liked living there - people still make a few jibes about it but it's reputation is very unfair.

When I arrived it was quite provincial, but over a couple of years the town centre was improved a lot and heaps of trendy bars and cafes opened up - along with multiplexes and shopping malls.

It's a relatively flat town and most of the more desirable and popular areas to live are in the north of the city - like Pukete, St Andrews, Chartwell (which has a good mall) - but also anywhere along the river is nice - like Hillcrest which is near the university.

There are plenty of other areas in Hamilton East (where I lived) which are nice too - they can be interspersed with less desirable streets though and there are a lot of students who steal letterboxes and stuff! The decent areas of town everywhere - though Frankton is perhaps a cheaper area.

The best thing about Hamilton is that it is very central - Auckland, Raglan (nest surf beach in NZ), Taurange, Rotorua, Taupo and skiing at Ruapehu are all within eays driving distance.

Where is you husband working?

property is still quite affordable in Hamilton (compared with Auckland or Wellington) and a good long term investment I think. When they finish motorway to Auckland it will be an option to commute to south auckland and that will push prices up.

I earnt $40000 and survived nicely. Anything over $50000 you're doing well, but I started on $30000 and that was enough as well. Diffucult to say - as it depends how many kids you have and what you call a comfortable lifestyle... I find with NZ salaries halving it to get pounds relative to cost of living works well. eg I earnt $40000 in NZ I earn £20000 here and (aside from rent) I can buy the same amount of groceries etc etc

Have fun! You'll love it.... check out the Hamilton Gardens - very nice with gardens representing different parts of the world. Even an English garden for when you get homesick....

if you want any more info just ask - I'm enjoying 'selling' Hamilton!

Goosedown

Well, I think I will take you up on this offer. Could you tell us something about the tourists coming to Hamilton? We’re mostly interested in learning more about tourist attractions in the area and if there are significant numbers of Japanese and other foreign tourists visiting Hamilton.

Thanks,

Rob

smithone

I Live in Auckland and my monthly outgoings are as follows. This is for 2 adults:

Food $700.00
House Insure $95.00
Car Insure $49.30
Life insurance $46.60
Telecom bill $60.00
Rates @ $1604 pa $133.67
Sky $56.00
Petrol $135.00
Cleaner $120.00
Power $120.00

Total Expend $1,515.57

This excludes rent/mortgage which varies enormously and also entertainment which again varies according to your lifestelye.

So you need to earn around $23k minimum to pay the above costs. Factor in yor rent/mortgage and enterainment to see what you need.

Good luck
Good luck

DavidT

Stay away from the Douglas family, dodgy very dodgy.

jandjuk

Interesting question, why do you ask?


In all honesty Hamilton is not a major tourist destination. That's not to say it isn't a beautiful place, it's just that most people go from Auckland to Coromandel and Rotorua, which takes a different road. So in comparision you see very few Japanese tourists through Hamilton.

Hamilton itself has little that would keep a tourist there long - but it has plenty of amenities for living there. It's public transport is practically non-existent (but improving) but it is very easy to drive around and parking is plentiful. It's really a student town (like Dunedin) and the students and academics drive the trendy bars and cafes in town.

As I said before the main tourist attractions are all a 1/2 hour to 1 1/2 drive away - Waitomo Glow worm caves, Rotorua, Auckland, Coromandel etc. This makes it a great place to live as there is plenty outdoorsy things to do on weekends....

Goosedown

Great! I think this is my kind of place - modern yet sort of quiet, a bit "out of the way"...Thanks for a great reply!


Rob