tessa1

Hi, OH just been offered a job in Hamilton. We (or should that be I) have a few questions if someone could spare the time...

• Where are 'the' places to live in/around Hamilton?
• Does the area suffer from midges like the west coast of Scotland because of the river?
• Can any UK town/city be compared to Hamilton?
  I'll probably have more to ask but will try these few for the time being.
  TTFN

Leewales

hi tessa whats the name of the company? a friend of mine is also going out to Hamliton cheers Lee

karonious

Hello and welcome to the forum
'the places'? Well, I'm not entirely sure about that, but the places I was told to avoid were Melville, Nawton and around the University. One of the estate agents has an area rating tool showing the socio-economic make up - that may give you some idea of where to avoid as much as where to live. I was advised not to live across the river if you intend to commute to the CBD as all the traffic has to cross 2 bridges - which can lead to hold-ups if travelling at peak times. We live within sight of the Hospital - well I can see the top of the crane that is involved in the new car-park build in the distance in a usually quiet, relatively cheap suburb. Our section includes a gully which we love - it is very peaceful of an evening to sit there looking out and thinking 'we own this' - it's like nothing you could buy in the UK
We have had 4 frosts so far this winter and from what I have been told, a lot less for than usual. It hasn't snowed with the city since 1960 - that'll do for me
I haven't noticed any midges - the mosquitos can be a problem though but that is across the country, not just specific to Hamilton.
We were living in York before we moved to Hamilton - depending on which set of figures you use as a guideline, it has a lower population than York. I think it is a pleasant place - it has more of a big town feel than a small city. Loads of green (well, like the rest of NZ really!) a reasonable shopping experience and some decent cafes.
If you flick back through my blog, there was an entry titled 'Hamilton' may be more info in there.

karonious

I've put some info on the Wiki thingie - a more succinct view perhaps.

tessa1

Thanks for your reply! I flicked through your blog and at has helped a lot
We havent been to NZ before (not sure if its foolish or brave...) so dont quite know what to expect although all the research we have done so far has been encouraging. Mind you books, internet etc dont tell you all the nitty gritty so thank-you.

karonious

There seems to be a pretty even split of those who recce first first and those who just decide it be all be OK. We came without a recce and haven't regretted it.
I would suggest though, that you have look at the 'returning to UK' forum - I guess you would get the other side of the coin there which may give you a more balanced view. It tends to be more Australian returnees but it would give you an indication of the problems that people face.

spoonguy

I should be moving to Hamilton myself in a month or two!

I visited a couple of years back and it seems a really nice place, a few nice cafes to get my breakfast at, freindly enough people and a fairly laid back lifestyle.

Definitely enough shops in town to get you by, the little casino was quite fun.

Kiwis i work with make fun of it as a pace to live, but compared to Romford or Ipswich its not half bad.

This is all the opinion of a 26 year old bloke though

karonious

Excellent!
There seems to be a fair few people intending to move here in the near future. If we can help at all, PM me.
Although we have made friends and a lot of my colleagues are Brits, I would imagine it is an added bonus to have the support and physical presence of forum members in your own city.
The more the merrier - welcome to Hamilton!

Cram

ill also be there in a few months time and im in the same boat as tessa as ive never set foot in NZ before but i am looking forward to it i like a challange.
karonious your blog has been very helpful so thanks for that and thanks to everyone that replies to the questions that get asked on here this is a very helpful site

karonious

Thank you for that
I added a bit to the Wiki thingie at the top of the screen. There are some links in there that may be useful

JoandDean

yeah more people coming to Hamilton

We will be landing in NZ on 16 Aug and are going to Hamilton. We have never been before either but this is where OH's job is so we thought we'd give it a go

Jo x

tessa1

Thanks for all the comments.
Husband has found the web site as helpful as I have but he has picked up on one of the earlier comments mentioning 'gangs' Is it just NZ version of the increasing groups of bored young people that now 'hang-out' on street corners here in UK? I think hubby has visions of no-go areas for non-locals??

karonious

I put StevieB's 'essay' on gangs in Hamilton on the Wiki too. Does that cover what you asked? There are gangs in every city -possibly the only reason that there is so much detail on gangs in Hamilton is that my husband is a Probation Officer and he knows a lot about it - and held forth loudly and longly on the subject. I have never had any problems whatsoever with gangs and I am not aware that any of my colleagues, be they Brits, pakeha or Maori have either.

futurama

Hi Tessa

My OH & I are due to fly out to Hamilton on 20th August as he has also been
offered a job with PAC which he starts on 3rd Sept. Very daunting we have not been out for a recce and have taken the descion to go for it. We have 11yr old twins (boy & Girl), How far along are you in the process we just awaiting passports back with visa stamps just hope we have got timing right. Have you got any kids and What does your OH do as a job?
Since joining this have found out so much info that you spend hours trawling through the net.

Hope everything goes well.
Jan

Supadolphin

Just like to add my comment that I have been in Hamilton 4 weeks next Tuesday (he he!). I came on July 10 with my daughter to join hubby whose been here a while working for the council. We love it and I just started my new job last Tuesday. Early days I know but so far consider Hamilton is vastly underated. It has everything we need. Weather has been great so far apart from recent wet weather but hey this is winter. We think it's great so far and would recommend it to anyone. Only downside is we can't get inernet in our rental (long story but exclusive to our particular circumstances and would not happen in a normal rental arrangement). Cheers to Karoneous for a great blog which I have read avidly over the last 9 months since we started out on this venture.

Debs