blueballsuk

Hey, ive posted before and again looking for some advice. Family of 4, im a nurse, have been looking at west of auckland and now also considering dunedin. Weather isnt too much of a major factor as being from the west coast of scotland and with the last couple of winters we are used to the cold!
Hoping to find out best value for money in terms of housing and in general are living costs similar? I know i have been pretty vague so plz just ask me what other info u need if u want to give me some advice, thanks once again, claire

Fooferfish

Dunedin and Auckland Ay ? HMMMM

Auckland population around 1.4million
Dunedin around 125k when students arrive or around 100k when they go .

Dunedin nurses who live near work , 10 mins drive without any traffic problems.

Auckland Guaranteed traffic jams 99% .

Cost of houses
Dunedin way way cheaper , smaller city but all you need is here.

Auckland super city , posh suburbs , expensive houses and built like sheds where ever you are in NZ.

Also a lot depends on what you would like from living in nz ? both places can offer you all you need , one is way bigger city than the other, two extremes , Dunners is the Edinburgh of NZ with Robbie Burns statue in the city centre with cooler weather and a wee bit of snow.

Auckland AKA ( JAFA ) city is a large metropolitan city, lots to see and do and more shops than you can shake a stick at.

So you can go from a quiet life down here or a busy fast paced one up there.

The choice is yours ? do look at estate agent prices on the 2 cities and see the difference , some people come from UK to Dunedin and can be mortgage free , but unless you have ahuge ammount of $ not sure that could be acheived up Auckland ?

Nige , Outskirts of Dunedin for 6 years.

Woodpigeon

Hi

Loads of BE members around Dunedin, and a few nurses IIRR What area of nursing are you involved in?

What ages are your children? What sort of things do you like to do (what are your likes and interests) - are you active outdoors people, shoppers, theatre goers, etc?

Making an assumption here, but wht does your husband/partner do?

All this will make a difference on where might suit you best to live

blueballsuk

Hiya, thanx for the replys. My husband works in homeless housing, we understand he mite not ever get back into the type of work he has done as he very well paid. I work in orthopaedics. We dont have a great social life, we enjoy going walks and cyclying and in general just spending time together and with the kids. Theres a huge problem in the area we live with heroin and just hoping that things aint as bad as what we have been used to, dont think anywhere can be as bad as here but being realistic i know there is.
I think the fact that we would only be earning my wage and that we aint after a busy lifestyle etc is starting to make us think more dunedin......
kids are 9 and 5

blueballsuk

Thanks for taking the time to write that nige, much appreciated. When u say dunedin gets a wee bit of snow....does it get bad? The last few years here in scotland (near glasgow) have been awful, snow has affected everything!! Also the ice, im sick of falling on my butt!! Im just hoping it isnt as bad or severe as what we have had here the last few years?

janeyk

A very biased picture from the other poster, We live on the top end of the North shore in Auckland, lovely beaches and parks etc, children go sailing at school, familes having picnics after school/work at the beach. Dogs allowed on the beach at set times to play. i work at the medical school in centre of Auckand and choose to drive 1 hour commmute in 1/2 home my choice but i live in a lovely safe area next to bush with olots of walks and things to do and an escape from city life. you could also commute on the express bus the same distance travel time 35mins or work at the North shore hospital the list is endless. Weather is humid up here but bearable. There is decent housing, and lots of friendly people. I come from a very rural part of the south west UK so city life is not me we are not into night clubbing ir trailing round shops continually so where we live is fine 5 mins and we are in open countryside!

nero

It really depends where you live and where you work, I worked out at Waitakere Hospital and used to commute from Mission Bay which is approximately 30km and it used to take me 20minutes. Have to say being a nurse you usually work shifts and miss the main commute.

Also used to travel to North Shore Hospital from Mission Bay and the commute by car was fine, not a patch on the hideous commute I used to have in London!

It really depends where you live and where you work. Alot of the girls who worked at Waitakere hospital lived in and around Waitakere and Point Chev and also said the commute was OK.

Some of the hospitals will provide you with relocation costs which may also help your decision I know Auckland did when we moved out nearly four years ago. Not sure if this is still offered.

I am sure others will post. I have to say I love both Dunedin and Auckland, but they are quite different. Try and keep an open mind and if you can at all try and visit before you make a definate decision.

Hope this helps

P18PPS

Ditto as per Nero.

They are so different - depending on whether you are a 'country girl' or 'townie' depends on where you'll feel most comfortable. Auckland is massive with everything you'll ever need and then some. Dunedin is tiny in comparison, (so Glasgow versus Fort William) and if you need something specific then Christchurch is your nearest other major centre. Nothing over here is a days journey away - we made the mistake at looking at the distance between centres and likening it to "birmingham to manchester" for instance.... it's not like that at all.

Personally (but I freely admit I'm a 'townie') you may find your better off initially basing yourself in Auckland then taking weekend trips around the country and then deciding whether Dunedin (or any other city) may suit you and your family better - it's certainly a lot easier to get to places from Auckland than it would be from Dunedin.

Good luck!

Woodpigeon

Not sure what you mean here P18PPS. Dunedin to Christchurch is around a four hour drive each way. Guess you can do the round trip in one day, depends how much shopping you want to do as well though (though have to admit that I never felt the need to go outside of Dunedin for anything specific all seemed pretty available right there - though I guess if you're a slave to label fashion you might not find everything that you want).

We once did Rotorua to Hamilton in something between four and six hours IIRR (it was a few years ago).

I wouldn't say that it's easier to get from Auckland to Queenstown (or anywere else in central otago, fjordland etc) either. Sure you can fly there from Auckland, but the drive from Dunedin is so much more scenic. In fact the only two advantages Auckland has over Dunedin (IMHO ) is that you can drive around the North Island (though it's easier to drive around the South Island from a Dunedin base), and you have more flights, domestic and international, in and out of Auckland.

Dunedin = a choice of beaches within 10 minutes drive of the centre; choice of walks and mountain biking ditto; cafe culture throughout the city, with some good eateries in the suburbs as well as the centre (suburbs mostly within 5-10 minutes drive, so great for work day lunches too); selection of museums, art galleries, theatres also within a few minutes drive of the centre (most are central); commuter traffic - um what's that? (unless you choose to live on the peninsula ); average seasonal weather (snow usually only lays in the hill suburbs and on the Taieri Plain, and even then it usually only lasts a day - and maybe once or twice a year, on average); ski fields around three to four hours drive away; glaciers, fjordland, and thermal pools (Hanmer Springs) around six hours .......

Horses for courses - you could never, in a million years, for the highest salary imaginable, persuade me to live in Auckland

P18PPS

To clarify - it's easy from Auckland to get cheap inland flights to all main centres making a weekend away in - for instance - Dunedin - extremely easy. I may be wrong, but doubt the same cheap weekend getaways apply for instance flying Dunedin to Whangarei.

See 'grabaseat' on Air New Zealand where you can get cheap deals for weekend getaways.

My point regarding driving around is that there are not 6 lane motorways networking the whole country, and at best they are like an A road in most places. The scenery everywhere is undoubtedly some of the most beautiful in the world, and I have to agree the south island in particular is absolutely stunning.

Work commitments tie us to Auckland to live, but this doesn't prevent us enjoying the whole country and what it has to offer.

kenpom

The Peninsula rocks, but dont tell anyone