itchy&scratchy

Hi, We are new and need help! We have a job offer in Auckland but feel this is not the place for us and are looking at Christchurch or Wellington instead. We are looking for lifestyle properties around these areas. We need comments from anyone living in either three! Why do you think your city is best? We should be in NZ by September. Any info. would be great! Thanks!

Biddy

Hello Itchy and Scratchy - I'll start the ball rolling, but I've not been out there yet as you know! So I'll stand corrected by those that know such stuff!

Obviously it depends what you want from life but:......
Auckland - Plenty of work - Hot & Humid sometimes & lots of rain - Big and sprawly - relatively expensive real estate - Lots of sailing

Wellington - Less work but still enough - Warm, wet & windy sometimes - Smaller and more compact - more hilly - less expensive real estate.

Chch - Less work but still enough - Hot summers, cooler winters. Less rain - Smallish but a bit sprawly. Flatter. Less expensive real estate. Good access to skiing etc.

Hopefully others will add to this.
Cheers!
Biddy

pompeymike

Hi itchy&scratchy welcome to the forum, I've never been to Wellington so I can't comment other than it's known as the windy city but we have friends there and they love it; I've only spent a few days in Auckland so again I can't comment other than I found it very humid and the traffic is quite bad in the city - apart from that it's a lovely place and I'm sure you'll have no problems settling there if you really want to make a go of it. We've lived in Christchurch for the last 18 months and it suits our life style, it's very laid back, they like us poms and it's quite 'English' in the city, plenty of leftovers from the Victorian era. There's loads of work here - in fact there is a skills shortage so if you have a trade you'll have no problem getting a job offer. The weather is really nice - plenty of sunshine all year round and lovely summers, but it gets really cold in the winter (and I mean *really* cold). It's very family orientated here and in the warmer months you'll see families including the grandparents having barbeques in the parks, loads of festivals including the famous 'christmas in the park' which they also have in Auckland.
Wherever you decide to settle in NZ I'm sure you will love it, just don't fall into the trap of comparing everything with the UK, NZ is not better than the UK and the UK is not better than NZ - they're just "different" - it just depends what you want in life. Good luck

Mike