Ex Aucklander

We are moving back to NZ & we are considering Hawke's Bay in preference to Auckland (where we lived for 8 years whilst working) However now we are retired we are wanting somewhere cheaper to live.
Could anyone give me any information on the Napier/Hastings area? Which parts to avoid, where is nice to live etc?
Only ever visited Napier once & it was winter wet & cold & drove around a little but hard to really get a feel for a place in those conditions.

bourbon-biscuit

Jolly nice in a very laid back remote sort of way. Go there if you're keen to have a warm, dry climate and a beach lifestyle and are quite happy for everything to run on island time. You can have a very nice life there, it's a very special part of NZ but it's not for the hard-core urbanite or the whinging POM so don't move there and expect 'Britain but hotter'. In some ways it's like the land that time forgot and long may it stay that way, frustrations and all.

Generally people seem to favour Taradale and Hospital Hill (And surrounding burbs) in Napier and Frimley and Havelock North in Hastings. You'll have no worries working out the no-go areas from a drive around, but even those aren't that bad. If you're reasonably minted and can afford a home of $400K+ and fancy spending your days beach combing and lazing around the wineries you might find utopia in Havelock North. Good luck.

Arthur Daley

Agree with the last post.
Taradale is a good place to retire as is Havelock North. Went back to the area recently and still liked it a lot. It is generally a warm place and quite unique with its art deco feel. I prefer Napier to Hastings although H.North is considered to be part of Hastings and H.North is probably your best option.
Gangs are rife all over the Hawkes Bay area but it is not exactly south central LA so dont let that put you off. I have seen more frightening gangs in West Side Story.
I now live in the South Island and personally I think it has the edge over the north but each to their own.

Luckybird

Hi,

Agree with both the posts above - we live in Taradale and its beautiful - although it is seen as a bit of a 'quiet retirement area' ( we are not in that bracket yet and love it!!) it is a great family area too it has lots to offer and is close to the beach, river and the great countryside including the wineries Hosptal Hill and Bluff hill are also great choices for views and lovely villas etc, but Bay View, Ahuriri and West Shore are also lovely places - so bit spoilt for choice really. Napier is quiet and if you are after a faster-pace then I would think that this may not be the place for you - but if you like to relax, eat out and enjoy a a bit (well a lot) of Art Deco then is the place for you. Haven't really got to know Hastings, but, Havelock North is supposed to be a great place to live - so enjoy researching - good luck

Si19761

Havelock North is fab, gorgeous wee village with plenty of places to eat and drink. If you are looking at a map aim for the west/north side of the village if you have Hastings pointing to the south. Some of the east is ok but definitely avoid Lipscombe area. Te Aute Road/Napier Road are busy. The Brookvale area is a lovely new subdivision

In terms of Hastings, Parkvale and Frimley are 2 of the best areas, parts of Mayfair and Mahora are OK, Raureka is an older area but this means large sections sizes. Camberly and Flaxmere are the only 2 places I would say avoid.

In terms of Napier as nice as Hospital Hill is it is suffering erosion and can catch the wind well so it would be a check in full and pick viewing days well so you get a good picture. Taradale is a little like Havelock North with a nice set of shops and places of lunch etc. One of the things to watch is a lot of land in Napier is leasehold only so if that was where you looked you might want to consider the impacts of that.

Overall, great area to live and even retire as plenty going on all the time

bourbon-biscuit

Eh?

Hastings is NorthWest of Havelock North so why would you have it to the south. Lipscombe area isn't a total 'avoid' area but I agree isn't as nice but you'll find that in the WEST of Havelock North ... the area between Te Aute Road and Havelock Road. It would be hard to go wrong with the area south of Te Mata Road and east of Joll Road, though there are plenty of wonderful places outside of that area too. You're spoilt for choice in Havelock North and it's only 5 mins from Hastings, though you may find you rarely need to go there.

Si19761

Call it my kiwi logic (or perhpas irish somewhere in my ancestry ), whenever I look at the map of hastings/havelock I always turn it so Hastings is south, far easier to work out where I am going and explain...

bourbon-biscuit

Haha, brilliant! Just a bit tricky when you use north, south, east and west the wrong way up though as north is north whichever way you hold the map!

Ex Aucklander

Thanks for all your replies, it has given me a great choice of areas to look for on TM.
Really looking forward to returning to NZ after 2 years in Europe, it will be nice to hear more english spoken.

Charismatic

I love that part of the Hawkes Bay as well. Similarly South Wairarapa is dry, warm and vineyard/fruit country . Bloody weirdo NZ government based in Wellington, move over the Rimutakas and its warm/calm.