The perfect location ?????
 

Firstly, Hi everyone....this is my first post as a newbie. I've read a few of the discussions, which are both useful and quite amusing at times.

Basically, I'm in the embryo stages of a move to NZ. I was just wondering what peoples views were on being the best place/area/town/city to move to, when me, the missus and young child finally make it to NZ.

I suppose it's more of a case of, knowing what you know now, being an NZ resident, where's the best place to live and why.........

It would help no end......

Thanks in advance !!!! :thumbup:

Re: The perfect location ?????
 

Not a question that can be answered! But welcome to the site!

What I like, you may not......but I think the Whagaparaoa Peninsula is perfect because we have an island like atmosphere, surrounded by water and just close enough / far enough away from Auckland. Everything we need is here and what isn't is on the North Shore.......but that's just me...

Good luck in your journey:thumbsup:

Re: The perfect location ?????
 

.....I see you point, and thanks for the reply.:thumbsup:

Your location does sound like what I'm after actually.......

My thread was really to see what are the best locations and why.

Maybe if I was to say the points I would prefer in a good location???

Close to good fishing
Within 10 mile of large town
Low crime rates
Good local schooling
Nice local pubs/taverns and/or eateries
A few ex pats to chin wag with over a beer from time to time

And probably a whole host of things the missus would be like, but hey, she's not here right now !!!!!

Grateful for anything in way of replies - Cheers !!!!

Re: The perfect location ?????
 

have you got a job offer? or what kind of work will you be getting? this may influence where you end up?

Re: The perfect location ?????
 

Hi & welcome to the site :thumbsup:
Still in UK so not much help on living in NZ. We will be mostly dictated to by where OH gets work as to where we will end up. Really liked Bay of Plenty area but unlikely to get work there. OH family is in Nelson so would have been good to be somewhere near to them, again not much chance of work there either.

Good luck with all you plans

Dewb

Re: The perfect location ?????
 

Well I'm an accountant and OH is a Journalist/writer....... we wont have a mortgage, and plenty of savings, so really we'll be able to do what work we can for a short period until jobs become available....hopefully.

Does that help :confused:

Re: The perfect location ?????
 

I would recommend Nelson. Lovely place by all accounts. Over to Bevs for more info.

Re: The perfect location ?????
 

We wre fortunate enough to not be dicatated to bby a job offer. We were also fortunate enough to be able to come over for a 3 week campervan reccie before deciding where to live. Now, obviously 3 weeks is not enough time to see very much, but we made our choice and are very happy where we are. Since moving here I've been fortunate to explore a few other places but always like to come "home."

We have a great climate, the most stunning beaches I have seen in NZ (other than perhaps Northland), we are on the outskirts of one of the fastest growing cities in NZ, the scenary is stunning, the people great ... oh and I hear the fishing amazing too!:)

I throughly recommend Tauranga/Papamoa/Mount Maunganui - BUT ... it's a very expensive place in terms of housing vs wages.

Re: The perfect location ?????
 

Well thanks to all who gave comment....it certainly has helped. Now at least we can have a detailed look at some of the ranges of property available in those areas.......always best to get real life experiences first :thumbup:

We do hope to come out and do a rekky (reccy??:confused:) at some point in the next year or so.............can't wait :)

Re: The perfect location ?????
 

Hi kevbiff,

We got our permanent residency and then just travelled over here and spent three weeks driving from Auckland to Christchurch to 'recce' the areas. This was our first time in NZ. We needed to figure where our best chances of work would be but we did practice saying "would you like fries with that" just in case plan A failed!!!!

The big cities are Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch and you can find pretty much the same facilities as back home in all of these. Plus lots of expats too!

Some places over here are rural with limited facilities and a long way from anywhere - for example if you need an optician you could be looking at over a hour's drive to the nearest city or big town (like from Kaikoura to Christchurch). So it really depends what you want out of the move?

Re: The perfect location ?????
 

Shhhhhhhh!:eek:
We are trying to keep it quiet. Anymore of that sort of nonsense & me & Lardyl will have to beat you up:rofl:

Re: The perfect location ?????
 

Just to announce that we are selling up and moving to Whagaparaoa Peninsula as we have heard it is so lovely,,,,,,,,,,,

Only joking love my job and home here in the Waikato too much (well for the time being anyhow)

In relation to OP depends on what you fancy in life for us Hamilton and the surounding areas offers us what we want/expect from life in NZ. We live rural yet are still an easy commute to work in the city which has everything we need.
I was sort of dictated by my job but and town or city in NZ would do but I wanted larger hospital with all acute facilities to make job more interesting.
Every town and suburb has its good and bad areas it is just a case of knowing what areas you are interested in to be able to advise. At the moment you have asked the forum to find a needle in a haystack so to speak.

Look at the areas that you are interested in or what areas you are likely to get a job and we may be able to help you get a little closer to finding that needle or your own piece of paradise!

Re: The perfect location ?????
 

hi, we live in upper hutt it is 30-45 minutes from wellington centre, has good schools plenty of outdoor space and has a decent mall for shopping.there is also a couple of pubs/restaurants.house prices seem quite reasonable as well. there is alot of expats. there is a train station and bus station witch are very good. hope this helps, (we are also 20 minutes from the beach). :)

Re: The perfect location ?????
 

Hi - can recommend St Johns Park / Meadowbank area of Auckland, both my kids (10 and 3) have settled in well here and made new friends easily, nice family area, beaches, regional parks etc nearby - theres loads of nice places I would imagine but can only comment on what I know :) - you probably would also want to know where definitely NOT to live, we found a book http://www.wheretoliveinauckland.co.nz/ - which we used (before I found this website I hasten to add) to get a bit of an idea, its only any good if u intend to go to Auckland though :)

Re: The perfect location ?????
 

I've always loved Napier, worth having a look if you can find a job there :thumbup:.