wakwak

Hello there.

Well hubby has just received his job offer so the visa application begins in earnest. We will be based in Tauranga.
We've travelled across NZ but missed Tauranga, but we've heard it's beautiful.

However.... it's time to remove the rose tinted glasses and look very seriously at our decision and where we are headed.

We live in a quiet village in Lincolnshire, 2 primary age kids and 3 labs. We come for the quality of life for the kids and a beach close by for the dogs, currently it takes about 2 hours to reach a beach here at home if it's nice weather, only to find dogs are banned for 9 out of 12 months lol! And let's face it by the time you've loaded up the car with the kids and dogs and travel stuff and buckets.... well it's hardly worth the trip!

Anyway I digress! I'd welcome any feedback on life in Tauranga, nice places to live and places to avoid (I've read a thread about gangs already )

We commute at home and want to cut that down if we can but still happy to drive 40-45 mins or so to work. Is that realistic?

And what about jobs for moi? I've done banking, telecoms, data and software sales, full time and have a good career at home. I'm happy to slow it down a bit (if we can afford to....I'm weaning myself off cucumbers in anticipation!)

Seriously, cucumbers aside, 100k income .... is it doable without having to budget too hard? We have a good lifestyle at home but can do without most luxuries as long as I can afford to have my haircut and a glass of wine or two!

We'd love to hear from anyone who's made the move to this area, or has moved away and for what reason!!!

I am worried about COL ... is this about having to live like a kiwi... not compare to home and shop differently....? Apologies if that opens a can of worms haha but it is important when considering such a huge move!

I am getting excited now though so please be gentle

Robbie2010

Others may disagree but be aware NZ is not really a dog friendly country ... and you will have to register at an annual cost of around $100 each!

scot47

You are moving for the sake of your dogs ?

wakwak

we are moving for a lifestyle change for us and our kids, they need time to be kids for a while. They are both adopted and have had it tough, they need to learn to be children.

The dogs come too they are part of our family, it's important that they can be part of our lives - on the beach etc

wakwak

I'm all for registration, the Uk should never have got rid of that system. Ow anyone can own anything and we have breeding issues again!

that's the first I've heard about it being not dog friendly to be fair, my kiwi friends would also disagree, there's even dog cafes springing up in Auckland ...


Maybe that's my calling and an opportunity... a dog friendly cafe with a cucumber field out back

Snap Shot

There's a poster by the name of EscapedtoNZ who lives in Tauranga who may be along to give you his views on life in Tauranga.

These threads might help regarding your dogs:

http://britishexpats.com/forum/new-z...?highlight=Dog

http://britishexpats.com/forum/new-z...?highlight=Dog

MrsFychan is a contributor to this site, she has a dog that she walks regularly and remarks that dogs aren't allowed on the beach in NZ during certain months of the year.

Please Google: Kiwi Aversion Training for dogs. It's an obedience programme for dogs provided by the Dept of Conservation in New Zealand.

wakwak

Thanks Snapshot! Much appreciated. It's a bit like the UK restrictions on beaches but seems to be less strict as it depends on the beach and the time of day. Looking at those beaches in the area there are some that have doggie areas even in the summer months.

I've also seen that we will need to apply for a dog licence for more than 2 dogs unless we live in a rural area, so another potential requirement in our hunt for a place to live.

I don't think we need aversion training, our labs live in the countryside alongside pheasants and partridge and they don't bother with them, and they wouldn't be off lead in the bush areas anyway! And I don't believe in using shock collars for any purpose ever. Thanks for the info though!!

escapedtonz

Hello there wakwak,

Yes I'm in Tauranga. Been here 2 years now after 2.5 years in Wellington and love it. So much nicer, better weather and climate, less traffic less people, way better beaches and much more opportunities for places to go and things to do. Felt a bit hemmed in down in Wellington being that you can only escape North in the car as escaping South is either an expensive flight or expensive ferry away.

So first of all congrats on the job and the decision to move out here. It really is a beautiful place to live and bring up family. That is the main reason why we are here. We wanted a much better quality of life for the kids and to be close to the sea and have it as part of their upbringing.

Where has your hubby got a job offer and where in Tauranga will he be based ?

In all honesty you won't ever be more than 45 mins away from Tauranga even if you lived at the furthest out village or subdivision in the city zone. Looking at a map or Google Maps the furthest East you can go really is Papamoa East which has a newish subdivision called Golden Sands. If you like new suburbia it's all modern with a new school and I'd say 45 mins to Tauranga give or take depending on the day and time of travel. Going West your limit will be about the Omokoroa peninsula. West is way more semi-rural and rural than East. The nicest village or subdivision as they are called here is Bethlehem where we currently live. It really is a beautiful place to be but expensive and lots of retirees. Great shopping area and only 10 mins from central Tauranga. The best beach resort in NZ is only another 10 mins away at Mt. Maunganui.
Dogs are allowed in a lot of places in Tauranga and Mt. Maunganui. They are allowed on the beach but are banned from the parts where the general public happen to use frequently but outside of these few areas they are allowed. Best bet is to look on Tauranga City Council website as there's a page on there all about it.
So, back to places.
The good - Bethlehem, Mt. Maunganui (but the more West the better, surrounding the golf course or along the coast), Matua, Otumoetai, Pyes Pa, Tauriko, Ohauiti (higher up), Te Puna, Whakamarama, Minden, Omokoroa are all fine. Some parts of Papamoa and majority of Papamoa East as it's new. Around half of Avenues. Maungatapu ok.
To avoid: Merivale, Parkvale, Gate Pa, Greerton (but some areas are ok), Welcome Bay and Papamoa (first glance seem ok but a bit rough around the edges). Some parts of Avenues.
It's hard to say for everyone. That's just my take on places here.

Don't worry about the gangs. There's gangs all over the world and nz is no different. They aren't ever in your face or even in view the majority of the time. They keep themselves to themselves and any violence drugs or whatever is centred in their communities and between them. Unlikely you'll ever even come in to contact with gang members.

So realistically you shouldn't really be commuting more than 30 mins if you live in a Tauranga area and work in Tauranga. I commute 99kms over the Kaimai's to Hamilton and it only takes me 65 mins.

I'll be completely truthful. You may find it hard to get a job. Tauranga is a difficult place to find work in a lot of fields and differing industries. Don't know why as the jobs are there although there are fewer than say Wellington or Auckland. My wife is a 25 year experienced Intensive Care Sister with all the right qualifications and registrations and should be able to turn her hand at any nursing post available. Didn't have a problem in Wellington but she struggled to get a job here in Tauranga. She's still not got a permanent position. Still casual but suits at the moment as we've a little baba.
Have some friends here at the moment looking for very similar work to you and neither has landed anything yet.

Forget about expensive cucumbers and tomatoes etc. The deal here is you have to shop seasonally. If stuff is out of season then it's gonna be expensive so either don't buy it or go to a local rural farm shop who hasn't got a major supermarkets overheads.

$100k income for a family is doable here yes.
I earn $122k plus some extra benefits meaning we pay 80% less for any health care etc so all adds to keep money in our pocket I suppose. We've been managing on one wage for the last 10 months and have done fine. We even bought some land and are having a house built so now paying rent + mortgage and are surprisingly managing without dipping into savings. Luckily the Mrs went back to work today so that will ease the pressure slightly for the next couple months till we move in and only have the mortgage to pay.
You shouldn't have to budget too hard on that income and even though the hairdressers is expensive, so long as you're not going every month you'll be fine. Wine is more than the uk but you can get decent plonk for $7-$10 a bottle when they on offer. There's always loads on offer every day. Beer is also pretty decent price. $16 for 12 bottles lager. $30 for a crate of 24 and pretty decent stuff too. You can spend more obviously but there's no need.
Do a virtual shop on the countdown website as a comparison. Then once you've done that and been suitably shocked you'll reduce that bill by $70-$100 by shopping at pak n save which is much cheaper than countdown.
If there are any specific costs you wanna know or anything for that matter just ask or send me a PM.

wakwak

Thank you so much for your fab reply! It's really helpful to hear honest stuff from someone who lives where we are headed!

I've got a few more questions for you but I'll PM you on some of them if that's ok. Hubby is a builder and so we're not 100% sure exactly which part yet, the details are being worked out now. Self build.... our dream! That's fab! I'm hoping that can be a reality

65 mins is a decent commute, I do that and a bit more now going into Nottingham and traffic is awful, the roads I use are quite awful and there's regularly accident.

I wasn't expecting to hear about the work situation, that sucks a bit. I was hoping I'd not have to commute and could be flexible with hours so avoid childcare but it sounds as if that's not going to work. Hmmmm some more things to mull over then!

As for cucumbers .... I love the old way of shopping, I hate supermarkets so I think that will work nicely for me, and I can always grow stuff I guess
I am also rubbish at having my hair cut so again I don't think that will be an issue.

Our priorities are space for the family - kids and dogs, beach, slower life. Hopefully we can find that!

I'm not worried about the gangs or anything, it's the same the world over! And we have all sorts of issues here at home too, it is what it is right?!

I'll message you about the other stuff later. Thanks again it's much appreciated!

christmasoompa

As there are in the UK. The village in Cornwall we visit regularly has 4 beaches within a few minutes walk - 3 of them allow dogs all year round and only 1 has restrictions on them between Easter and 1st October. And perhaps more importantly, all 4 pubs there allow dogs too.

wakwak

It's normal on most places in the UK, and you can always find a quieter section that allows dogs anytime....

Do you live in the U.K.?

christmasoompa

Yep. I was just whizzing past the NZ forums and saw your post. That was my point, it sounded as though you were saying UK beaches were all non-doggy! Apologies if I misunderstood and you were saying they are dog friendly usually. The UK is one of the most doggy friendly countries I think (including dog cafes).

Part of the reason why I love it here, my two pooches are very well catered for. We're off to the New Forest in a couple of weekends time and it was very easy to find a hotel that would take dogs thankfully.

wakwak

How come you're on an NZ forum? Just curious
I love how the UK has recently become more and more dog friendly, I think it's changed over the past few years so much so that you can pretty much go to most places and find decent truly dog friendly hotels etc.

christmasoompa

I'm a mod across all forums, so pop in to most of them from time to time.

And I may not be so glad of the hotel being dog friendly when we're all sharing a room with two wet and smelly dogs after long walks in the New Forest.

wakwak

Ahhh gotcha! No we did that in Malham recently, it was fantastic... we just stayed in the local pub until they were dry