Hawke's Bay bound?
May 28th 2008, 10:38 am
#1
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Hawke's Bay bound?
Hi there.
Have posted a few threads under another name on here, but never actually introduced ourselves... how rude!
We are Roger and Laura from Bolton, UK, and are looking to make the move to NZ within the next 12 months. We have had our EOI selected
and Laura has been in contact with agencies over there regarding work and interviews. She has actually had a video interview with Heinz, and we are waiting to hear the outcome, so fingers crossed! 
As we are going on the strength of her 10 year career in food technology, we are finding a few jobs on offer in the Hawke's Bay area, mainly around Hastings. Obviously we have done some research into the place, and neighbouring Napier, and we like the sound and look of it... benefits from a warmer climate and character to the towns. Seems to suit our lifestyle and hobbies in the great outdoors too, which is one of the major reasons we are taking the plunge. Our heads are in the right place for making the move, with more pull factors to NZ than push factors from UK!
Could anyone give us any advice or extra info about the areas, in terms of suburbs to live or to avoid...? Obviously you can get a rather skewed opinion from the tourism websites, so any tips from someone who has been there and done it would be a great help.
Come on you Hastingsonians and Napierites?! Give us the lowdown, warts and all! 
Look forward to hearing from you.
Laura and Roger
Have posted a few threads under another name on here, but never actually introduced ourselves... how rude!
We are Roger and Laura from Bolton, UK, and are looking to make the move to NZ within the next 12 months. We have had our EOI selected
and Laura has been in contact with agencies over there regarding work and interviews. She has actually had a video interview with Heinz, and we are waiting to hear the outcome, so fingers crossed! As we are going on the strength of her 10 year career in food technology, we are finding a few jobs on offer in the Hawke's Bay area, mainly around Hastings. Obviously we have done some research into the place, and neighbouring Napier, and we like the sound and look of it... benefits from a warmer climate and character to the towns. Seems to suit our lifestyle and hobbies in the great outdoors too, which is one of the major reasons we are taking the plunge. Our heads are in the right place for making the move, with more pull factors to NZ than push factors from UK!
Could anyone give us any advice or extra info about the areas, in terms of suburbs to live or to avoid...? Obviously you can get a rather skewed opinion from the tourism websites, so any tips from someone who has been there and done it would be a great help.
Come on you Hastingsonians and Napierites?! Give us the lowdown, warts and all!
Look forward to hearing from you.
Laura and Roger
May 28th 2008, 11:11 am
#2
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Re: Hawke's Bay bound?
Last edited by j19fmm; May 28th 2008 at 11:11 am. Reason: can't spell
May 28th 2008, 4:52 pm
#3
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Re: Hawke's Bay bound?
Not all! 
Just asked a few questions under an assumed name about plumbing qualifications....
Just asked a few questions under an assumed name about plumbing qualifications....
May 28th 2008, 7:28 pm
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Re: Hawke's Bay bound?
My quals aren't enough to be recognised for visa purposes so we've made our application through Laura's, and her career in the food industry. Will see what happens when we get there. Not dead set on plumbing over there... we'll see what turns up... grape picking probably! 
May 28th 2008, 7:46 pm
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Re: Hawke's Bay bound?
My quals aren't enough to be recognised for visa purposes so we've made our application through Laura's, and her career in the food industry. Will see what happens when we get there. Not dead set on plumbing over there... we'll see what turns up... grape picking probably!
May 28th 2008, 8:50 pm
#7
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 440
Re: Hawke's Bay bound?
Hi,
I can only comment as a visitor to Hawkes Bay.
We loved Napier. It has a lot of charactor to it and a really good bar/ cafe scene on the cobbled streets. Hastings is more inland and a little bit more commercial. I wouldn`t know areas to live other than Havelock North which is really nice and was a very close second to where we ended up settling. There are a few posters on here from the area , so hopefully you`ll get a more informed response than mine.
Good Luck
Ash
I can only comment as a visitor to Hawkes Bay.
We loved Napier. It has a lot of charactor to it and a really good bar/ cafe scene on the cobbled streets. Hastings is more inland and a little bit more commercial. I wouldn`t know areas to live other than Havelock North which is really nice and was a very close second to where we ended up settling. There are a few posters on here from the area , so hopefully you`ll get a more informed response than mine.
Good Luck
Ash
May 28th 2008, 9:00 pm
#8
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Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,994
Re: Hawke's Bay bound?
Hawkes Bay has quite a special lifestyle going on- world's from anywhere else. If you want to live somewhere off the beaten track, with a great climate, fabulous beaches, wineries etc and a bit of an undiscovered gem (although the airport is set to go International in the future, so perhaps it won't always be this way?), Hawkes Bay is a good choice. Nice suburbs of Hastings include (but are not exclusive to) Frimley and Havelock North. Havelock North is ace because of the pools, proximity to Ocean Beach and the wonderful Te Mata Peak and fab schools, lovely coffee shops, out of this world cinema, great bars etc. Napier suburbs that seem to attract people include Hospital Hill and Taradale, although I'm no fan of flat, sprawling Taradale- if you don't have kids I'm not sure Taradale would appeal.
Here are a couple of threads about The Bay
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=526750
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=526725
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=521535
Here are a couple of threads about The Bay
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=526750
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=526725
http://britishexpats.com/forum/showthread.php?t=521535
May 29th 2008, 7:11 am
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Re: Hawke's Bay bound?
Thanks for the information Bourbon Biscuit... are you a native to those parts then? Have seen a few nice houses in St. Leonards too... how is that as an area? We are at the lower end of the price range, low to mid 200k really as have no real equity in our UK house as we only bought it a couple of years ago. No kids involved either.
Are there any places to avoid? I've heard Flaxmere isn't too great, though I'm sure it's all relative... after all, Bolton is full of bad areas and they are all more or less on our doorstep, as in many UK towns...
Are there any places to avoid? I've heard Flaxmere isn't too great, though I'm sure it's all relative... after all, Bolton is full of bad areas and they are all more or less on our doorstep, as in many UK towns...
