Applefritters

Hello everybody,
Our first post, and surprise surprise, we are new to the game of moving to New Zealand.

We have made some initial enquiries and suddenly find several potential jobs on the table and little knowledge of the areas, but a need to decide in the next few weeks(or let these opportunities slide by). We plan to be in NZ for a year or 2 initially, but have an open mind on staying longer.

Areas on offer at the Mo: Waitara (New Plymouth), Waihi Beach (!), Morrinsville and north shores Auckland.

We are family of 4 with kids 8,9. Like the outdoors, want a "nice" place to live (house and area), not too concerned about bright lights.

Any experiences/opinions on these areas and their relative merits would be very useful.

Thanks,

M+C.

happynz

Waitara, Waihi and Morrinsville are definitely not 'big city bright lights.' North Shore is fairly dense suburbia.

Applefritters

Thanks Happynz. I guess nothing will replace a visit to look-see, but any snippets that help you get a "smell" of the place help.

Has anyone got any dirrect experience of life in these areas? particularly Waihi beach off-season?

We do plan to come look but at the moment that is a couple of months away.

M+C

SarahB

We love Waihi Beach. Havnt been there for a while now due to having a new bubba but heres some pictures for you from last time we went. First 2 are the beach (obviously! ) and 3rd pic is a view of the surrounding countryside from Waihi village and the last one is a pic of the gold mine in Waihi. Seems a nice place to live.

Applefritters

Thanks for the Waihi pictures and words. It certainly looks nice. Any comments about the town behind the beach?

Anything greatfully recieved.

M+C

SarahB

We havnt stopped in the town much to be honest.... just drove through it to get to the beach, which is a fair way out of the town by the way, not walking distance.....and also we stopped to see the mine. The town looked quite nicely kept from first impressions but maybe somebody on here can tell you more about it.

Spacecake799

We live on the North shore and its amazing. You never tire of the views. Its definately more populated so if you dont want so much of a culture shock this areas great. We live in Torbay, also look at browns bay infact all the bays.

Applefritters

Thanks Spacecake, SarahB, happynz.

On the north shores, are these areas distinct towns in their own right (local centres with shopping restaurants etc) or a general suburban sprawl?


Keen also to get a little insight into Morrinsville (heard other places in area (Hamilton and Huntly?) have some social problems but not sure how widespread or significant.

M+C

happynz

Huntly is (or was) a coal mining town and the spiritual home of New Zealand Rugby League. There's definitely a working class vibe there (not a bad thing, mind you). Hamilton, from what I've seen, is a really big farm town with a pretty good university, some nice public gardens and some nice suburbs. It has all the services you are likely to need.

Herm

Hi M+C,

Currently are living about 10 minutes from Waihi Beach but spent our first 3 months in NZ there due to the plentiful supply of rentals off-season.

The beach itself runs from the main end at Waihi beach (car park, surf club and chip shop) all the way to Bowentown - approx 10km. There is a small (very small) shopping area about 2 km from the surf club - a supermarket, several estate agents and gift shops, a fishing and surfing supply shop, chemists, ladies clothes shop, off-licence, bakery and a couple of cafe/restaurants. Thats pretty much it on the shop front.

There is also a small "part time" police station, a primary school, a pub, a vets and a doctors surgery.

During the busy summer period (Boxing day through end January) population reaches about 10,000 - winter population is around 600.

Both Waihi town (to the north) and Katikati (south) are about 10 to 12km away. Katikati is a small village of around 4,000 people and Waihi is slightly larger. Both have a broad range of amenities and both have secondary schools (Waih beach does not). School buses run from Waihi beach to both Waihi and Katikati.

Our family love this area and would not move anywhere else -

If you want any more detailed info feel free to PM me.

Cheers

karonious

Not sure what you mean by 'social problems'? There are certainly gangs in Hamilton but there are in most town and cities across both islands. we have never had any problems with them. There are high and low socio-economic areas within every city also which affects the school decile ratings but again, not to to a greater degree here in Hamilton than anywhere else. We have lived in Hamilton since October and have enjoyed it so far. If you could be more specific I could maybe tell you how we have found it here