EJD08

Hi all
Quick question...anyone on here living in Nelson and can tell me what life is like to live there? Currently living in Auckland but the OH hates it and the only other place we would both be keen on living is Nelson...for the sun, beach, community, location etc. We love the south! We are keen to buy a property too but its so crazy expensive for what you get or your money in Auckland. We were living in chch but the quakes sent us packing to where the jobs were...but we're still just not sure about Auckland. I've only visited Nelson a few times and while life in Auckland can be too busy at times...I don't want to live somewhere tooooo quiet! Any advice?!!!

MightyBlade

Have lived here for the past 8 years. Initially took some getting used to but we love it now. We initially had a year in Whangaparoa north of Akl and that was great. If we had to shift back there we happily would.

Good points about Nelson are:

No real traffic problems
Easily accessible beaches, hills/mountains etc
great diversity of people - at work we often have 6 or 7 nationalities at the t-table
Great weather

Not so good:

Can be cliquey - same as anywhere I suppose
High housing costs coupled with low salaries
Limited career opps
Is fairly small and a long way to anywhere else exciting

We love it, but it is not everyone's cup of tea. Any specifics please ask

nelsonpom

Hello mate, my wife and I lived in Nelson for almost 6 years before moving to Auckland in June this year. Huge mistake and we are now moving back to nelson as we both do not like Auckland. Nelson can be quiet esp in the winter and a little isolated. But weather is fantastic and if work isn't an issue you get so much more for your $ ......We will be heading back in a slightly different mind set and hopefully this will make a difference to us. We will also be picking where we live much more carefully as we feel that will make a massive difference. Again any specifics please feel free to ask.
Darren

BEVS

Fair play to you Nelsonpom. I hope it all works out for you.

EJD08

Thanks Darren...wow your going back to Nelson huh? You must really hate Auckland to be leaving so soon! What is it you hate? I think the thing I struggle most is the lack of community feel. People here seem to have so much money and lead such lavish lifestyles and that's not really us!! Although saying that...that is one thing that concerns me about Nelson...salaries. I work in communications / PR and there never seems to be much work and when it does come up it's paying about $30,000 less than I'm on now! I don't want to take a huge cut...but I don't see us settling here either so it's a tough one....

nelsonpom

Bevs one day we will meet !!!

nelsonpom

OK, no community feel is a start. Crap homes and over priced. No insulation and just plain cold. No space, no gardens, no views. Travel to work is a mare adding at least an hour (either side to my day). We are so worse off it is laughable !! For some I am sure it is great but for me I know Nelson will give me more. $30,000 less is a huge drop but depends what you want.

nelson_mum

And to add to my hubbys comment, the weather is soooo much better in Nelson. I have missed the sun up here nearly everyday! We are actually getting payed the same as we were in nelson so cant afford anything here! Most importantly a nice place to live.
Nelson has a great community spirit and if you can afford to fly when you want to go away you wont feel so isolated. The views in Nelson are pretty breathtaking, and the south island is pretty amazing!
Good luck making your descision, we move back in 2 weeks, cant wait!

BEVS

Aye. That's a true statement and can be a key issue for anyone in this area.

Have some karma and welcome to the NZ BE forum.

PotteringAbout

We arrived in nz 6 months ago from the UK and knew Nelson was the place to come to. We travelled around both islands 5 years ago, and loved Nelson when we passed through. We are now here, and have set up a business - so we are here to stay! The weather is amazing, great markets, the community spirit is strong, the scenery is beautiful, lots of things to see and do, loads of festivals and things on. We have not yet had a summer here, but by the sounds of it the place doubles in population. The winter here is quite quiet - but hey we are open for great coffee and paint your own pottery, so we have added to the winter options of things to do!

nelsonpom

Hi guys where are you based ? Love a good coffee and paint your own pottery sounds fun

Harlow

[QUOTE=nelsonpom;9686341]Hello mate, my wife and I lived in Nelson for almost 6 years before moving to Auckland in June this year. Huge mistake and we are now moving back to nelson as we both do not like Auckland.

I bet you are really moving back to Nelson because you don't know how to change your user name?

nelsonpom

[QUOTE=Harlow;9700211]