vicejw

Hi

My family and I are moving to Nelson from the UK in the New Year and we're read as much as we can get our hands on about the area but wondered if anyone has any first hand experience of what life is like there??

Particularly want to know what are the good areas and areas to avoid in terms of looking for accomodation - we may look outside Nelson to get more for our money - any ideas?? Will need good schools as our eldest will just be starting primary school?

Also has anyone any advice about renting - if we haven't secured jobs yet do we need any credit references etc..... seem to remember renting our first flat here years and years ago my parents had to act as guarantors as we had no credit rating.....

Thanks in advance for help.... we're excited and nervous about our new life but hoping for the best. As we've made it through immigration we just have to sell our house now - not sure which is the biggest hurdle, still one down one to go.

Victoria

nelsonpom

Hi guys welcome to the forum. We moved to Nelson about 2.5 years ago and love it here. Lived in Welly before for a year which was pretty good as well. We rented in Welly and it wasn't a problem just had to pay a bond (six weeks rent in advance as deposit). Nelson has a couple of slightly dodgy areas but nothing too bad and nothing like UK,if you pm me with regards to a particular area I will happily give you a heads up. We live in central Nelson, a choice we are very happy with but plenty of areas a bit outside are cool. (Have a few friends in Mapua/Stoke/Hope etc). Not sure about schools as not needed them yet but as far as I am aware they all have pretty good reputation.
Fingers crossed on your house sale and hope you make it here very soon.

nick333

Hi Victoria, welcome to BE.
I'm sure Nelsonpom and others will be a constant source of useful information.
We are in St Albans and hoping to be in Blenheim by August, just down the road from Nelson.
Good luck with the move anbd house sale

Heal

I'm sure you'll love Nelson.
We live in Mapua about 30min drive from Nelson.
For rent you usually pay 2 weeks plus a week for your bond and I think if you go through an agent you pay them the value of a weeks rent, look on the trademe website only thing to consider is it gets quite busy in January.
Our little boy starts at Mapua school next year which we've had very good reports about,I also know that Brightwater school as a good reputation.
Hope this helps ,good luck

stellios

Hi I am a childrens nurse considering moving to Nelson with my family and am really keen to hear of anyones experiences of living there. I am soon to have a telephone interview for the hospital in Blenheim and am not sure whether to go ahead as we really feel Nelson is more for us. It would be great to hear from anyone who knows both areas.

louloumama

Hi Stellios

Sounds like we may be on a similair path ?!!?

I am a midwife looking at either Nelson / Blenheim hospital, also relocating with the family. When have you got your interview with Blenheim???? We went on a recce to NZ last year for 7 weeks. Covered the North Island..... cannot believe we are now looking at the South Island having never been there Are you going through a recruitment consultancy???? Can always PM me if you prefer..


Nelson at the mo also looks to me as if it may have more to offer us as a family ...... have you visited either of the areas?????

stellios

Hi. Great now I'm not on my own! So why didn't you decide on the North Island? We are in the crazy situation of not actually having been to either OZ or NZ (still considering the Goldcoast hinterland as an option) someone just sent me a message on this site saying she had lived in both places and much prefers Oz where she lives now- slightly unsettling! Nelson seems to tick alot of boxes for us especially as my partner would be looking for possible work in an art gallery or as jazz pianist and it seems to be pretty arty. My main concerns are: the weather maybe not that different to here (north Wales), too remote for my 4 children especially as they grow older, not that much to do locally for all of us. My telephone interview is set for next week but I've just contacted the agency to let them know I'm working that day and am also concerned that they are just moving far too fast!- I don't want to mess anyone around. We are nowhere near ready to commit to anything or anywhere!! The whole process was kicked off by just speaking to a lovely lady at the expo in Manchester who took our details.

jillyfar

I have heard that it is the best place to live in New Zealand can this be true and I just hope hubs gets the job he is applying for and we can move there or at least near.

nelsonpom

We love Nelson and have been here 3 years. Weather is similar to UK but much much sunnier. We will have a long hot summer with lots of sun. Winters can be cold and we do see a few frosts but not on UK scale, havn't ever had to defrost my car windscreen. Ski fields are just over an hour away in winter and the abel tasman is on our doorstep. For us it was always our first choice after spending 6 months travelling around NZ and 1 year living in Wellington (easier to get visa sorted in Welly)

louloumama

Hi Stellios ...
We loved many places in the North Island - esp up in the Northland and around the Bay of Islands. The main hospital in Northland is Whangarei and we considered this area for a while but felt that it may not have enough to offer as the kids get older - lovely surrounding areas to live though like the Tutukaka Coast. That area is really why we fell in love with NZ.

We have also done a reccie to OZ (NSW area ) and it just didn't "grab me" in the same way NZ did. Personally for us the constant temperature that they see in Queensland would be unbearable and the ability to still enjoy 'seasons' as they do in NZ appeals.

Nelson for us seems to tick all the boxes- as nelsonpom said it seems to have so much variety right on its doorstep - beach, fishing, kayaking, sailing, surfing, walking in the Abel Tasman , cycling, ski-ing . . .. . take your pick - can't imaging the kids will be bored for one minute !!!!!!!

have got all my documents being assessed at the mo by the NZ midwifery council so lots of waiting on decisions at present.

Keep in touch, be fab to see how your plans work out - best of luck

Genesis

Only that it has wonderful weather, looks bloody awesome, I can't afford to live there and that its one of the fave places to live in NZ.

BEVS

Neither can we really.

jillyfar

I like the idea of a house in the Marlborough Sounds I just hope the commute to Nelson is not to far.

stellios

Hi. Would love to hear anyones take on how they think a teenager would fair in the area. My chidren are 12,10,8 and 3 and although they would probably thrive at this stage I do worry about how isolated it may be further down the line. How do teenagers entertain themselves in the evenings? Or for that matter is there much of a nightlife music scene for any age? We currently live in a rural community in Wales but within striking distance of Man/Liv/Chester.

louloumama

Similair - my tribe are 12, 10 and 6 - and it does - for the not so distant future- need considering as they approach teenage years

I did come across the following link to the The Nelson Mail (online Newspaper) which does give a flavour of what's going on around the area. If you click in the Eventfinder box it gives a whole list of events that are available - gigs, clubs, festivals, sports/outdoor events.

http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/nz.htm

Also can check out The Marlborough Express for those that are looking at this area???

it's looking more and more appealing !!!!!