psa2570

Hi all,
We're trying to emigrate from Devon to NZ, well probably Waikato, and Cambridge more than likely as OH has her heart set on that area after falling in love with it on our last trip out at Christmas/New Year past.

She is popping over again in October to assess Cambridge and surrounding area's in depth for housing, work, etc. As she is a Primary School Teacher she will also approach the local schools while she is over there.

If anyone with some knowledge of the area and/or handy hints could let us know we would be most appreciative.

Thanks in advance.
Paul (psa2570) & Fiona (j19fmm)

Marika 38

Hi there,
we moved from West country too, from Cwll, last Oct, we live in Papamoa, and although I can't offer you any tips or info on Cambridge, just wanted to say, we think its beautiful there too, has a wonderful feel to the place, and no-one I have met, has a bad word to say about it.
So I hope you get on well, I'm sure your OH will have no problem securing work.
Good luck.

littleal

Cambridge is a beautiful small town with a good community feel. It is about 15 mins from Hamilton with all the facilities you could need.

Waikato is great in that it is scenic but not by NZ standards. Hence it is not on the tourist route, and Hamilton is a great city to live in. Having said that, if I wanted a slightly quieter life, Cambridge would beckon.

j19fmm

Thanks for your kind words. Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty area was also a consideration as it looks great, but Cambridge is her first choice and has been for some time. OH has relatives living in Palmerston North, Hamilton, Auckland, North Shore City and Helensville, so Cambridge is close-ish to most of them. Well, closer than Tavistock anyway

psa2570

Ooops, that should've been me. Didn't realise OH had left herself logged in.

psa2570

Sounds good, but does that mean at 38 I'm at least 30 years too young for Cambridge, is it the NZ version of Bournemouth

littleal

No - I'm 38 too . However we have two daughters and I don't fancy spending the next 15 years running a taxi service between Cambridge & Hamilton.

bourbon-biscuit

Waikato- fabulously situated- central to everything really so you can get to BoP beaches or the mountains or Auckland without too much bother

Cambridge- only heard rave reviews from Expats.

Good choice- enjoy

j19fmm

That's a good point, my step daughter is 11 and her brother 9 so that could well be a scenario we'll have to get used to. We live in Devon and the nearest decent nightlife is 15 miles away in Plymouth so we'd have that scenario eventually, whether we move or not really i suppose.

Thank you for your views, most people on here are so kind.
My OH seems to spend half her waking hours after work on this site and she's gleaned so much info from so many people, that would've cost us a small fortune otherwise, it's untrue.

psa2570

Arrgh !!! she left herself logged in again, i get usually grunted at for doing that

psa2570

Well, that doesn't make sense. Usually and get are back to front, is English really my first language ? will I be able to prove it to NZIS with grammar like that

bourbon-biscuit

Hahaha! Having a last minute panic about location choice so thought I'd do a little research on here and who do I find giving a favourable opinion on where we now find ourselves headed ...