Here comes the sun

A job caught my attention in Murchison on the south island seems like a small place just wondered if anyone has been there and whether it might be a place to bring up a small family.

We have been certain Dunedin was going to be the place we wanted to go but as my sisters in Welly the top of the south island would be easier so we could visit more often (although dont want to live in welly). We want to explore as many options as possible and i stupidly booked flights but they can be changed!

Other places we are looking at are nelson, marlborough and blenheim.

We are a family of 3, both nurses and my daughter is 4. We want family orientated village/town, plenty of things to do (outdoors), choice of jobs! We dont have any capital behind us as we cant sell our house for 2 years so affordable rental accomodation is also a biggy. Im not bothered about shopping as long as i can get the basics and dont mind driving up to 2 hours once in a while to a bigger city/town.

I spent 2 years in Pembrokeshire and loved working in a rural hospital where the patient matters and after working in Brum its entirely computer based patient care seems to have gone out of the window, so it would be nice to work in a more rural hospital but still deal with the occaisional emergency!

BEVS

It would be a great place to bring up kids. It's a small place. You will not get a choice of jobs. You will be quite some drive from a beach. It is inland and by that ,I mean in NZ terms. You would def. have a quiet life there. That saying, I would think community spirit would be good and that is much of an NZ life. It is a through town . You go though it from Nelson to Christchurch or on your way to Hamner Springs. People stop over to see Buller George. In Winter some may stop over if skiing at Rainbow for more than one day.
I would be biased towards Nelson and Bays. Kev n Sarah would state the same for Blenheim.

I feel both are better than Dunedin simply for weather.


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I'm not sure that Murchison would deal with emergencies. You would have to check. I would think that a helicopter would transfer emergencies to a larger hospital.

Here comes the sun

Thanks Bev, Nelson does look very appealing I was looking at rentals and could only find 3! I looked on all the main real estate web sites and trademe. Are rentals advertised else where or is there is a lack of rental accomodation?

BEVS

No. There isn't a lack of rentals here. Like anywhere , you have to pick over them to get a good 'un. We paid $290 a week for our first rental in Stoke.A lovely cottage set on a third of an acre. We paid $290 for our 2nd rental out here in Mapua. A modern home , again on a good size plot. Neither were through a Real Estate agent.

Rentals are advertised in the local paper The Nelson Mail. The managed properties are put through the Real Estate Agents. HomeFind is Nelson based . You pay a $80 fee for access to their listings. Property owners place the homes with them and you deal with the home owner direct. There is normally quite a good selection.

Places are advertised using their suburb. For instance Richmond, Tahunanui, Brook.

Baron Silas Greenback

Nelson wuld be my third choice of places to live in NZ. Tauranga is 1st as its my hometoewn, Napier would be 2nd as its still on same island as my family, and Nelson 3rd. All GREAT places in my opinion.

All 3 have loads of sunshine, temperate climate, nice beaches big enough to be interesting, small enough to avoid big city living.

Plus Nelson is named after one of my fav historical fugures!

Here comes the sun

The more i research Nelson the better it looks and it would be nice to be able to swim in the sea. Having Abel Tasman on the door step will be a big plus. Just jobs to sort out!

Frenchy

Have a look on the Nelson Marlborough DHB web site (I am employed by these- work in lovely Blenheim, they are really good employers)
I have been here since January (having left good old Brum!) and its fab!!!!!

brussels_sprout

I just remember Murchison as being a small town surrounded by pine forest, lots of cafes for passing motorists, it felt like a scottish highlands town. It was summer, but it felt as if would always be cold there. It is in the hills, i guess that in winter , it would be pretty chilly. But not too far from the warm coast, people seemed very friendly

nelsonpom

Hi, we brought a house in the brook in Nelson (very near the centre) and we love it, so sunny and close to everything. My only comment on Murchison is just bear in mind it has colder winters, being closer to the snow and up in the hills a bit, apparently lots of fog. But the winters are stunningly beautiful I have to say. And it is a gorgeous drive back into Nelson.
Good luck

brussels_sprout

If the roads are open, that is ...............................

Here comes the sun

Nelson would be ideal but just had an email back from the hospital and there isnt really a shortage of nurses in that area so i think we will struggle to get jobs. We are still waiting to hear about the job situation at Murchison but i think it will be a bit to isolated.

Back to the drawing board!

Beachcombers

How about Blenheim?

I going to fly the Marlborough flag. Lowest unemployment in NZ, growing area, best sunshine (better than Nelson), the Marlborough Sounds, affordable housing, skiing, great fishing, diving, horse riding, safe swimming for the kids!

Not to mention the wineries...........

We live a wonderful outdoors lifestyle and after two years in AUckland and a rat race existance in Europe, it is definitely the picture of NZ we had before we arrived.