Bodgit

Greetings all,

Now it is time to vent/air your feelings and opinions if you would be so kind.

Wellington vs Auckland - the good and the bad.

For me, bearing in mind I have not even visited either place:

Wellington appeals as it probably has a 'small city' feel. Everything is in the centre and to rent in the city to start with probably means there is a lot to see and visit without having a car immediately.

Auckland probably gets better weather and the bay attracts.

Other views welcome.

thebears

Depends on what you like doing, or what your expected lifestyle is.

Parts of Auckland are nice - and others are shocking. Dont know Wellington that well but it is the capital and has a lot of good theatres, clubs and cultural things to do.

When asked I can only advise that there is more to NZ than just Auckland - NZ does not stop at the Bombay hills.

Devonport in Auckland is lovely, so is Bucklands Beach but a long driving commute from CBD.

What sort of work do you do? Do you have a price range for rental/house buying? These are things you may wish to consider.

You wont go wrong in either city - just rent first - you can change later.

lapsed kiwi

I may be unlucky with my visits to Welly, but whenever I go there it seems to be at least two out of three of cold, windy and raining. It does have a nice feel to it though, and you can get out of the city to nice suburbia with a much quicker commute than Auckland. I don't think the coast there is anywhere near as good as Akl for messing around in boats, which I like to do.

Biddy

Know what you mean about Welly temperatures. We're only 50K north but usually benefit from a few degrees of extra warmth - yesterday for example 15c in Welly 21c in Kapiti.
Nice

Boopy

How far is Kapati from Welly?

wilkesyl

hi there,

not been to Wellington so cant comment on it.

Arrived here in Auckland on 2nd February and to be honest was dreading it after all the neg.posts on this forum, but we have been pleasantly surprised.
We have settled in Eastern bays, Glendowie, St Heliers & Mission Bay area and we love it.. weather has been really good since arrival, people really friendly, everyone is outdoors walking, jogging and roller blading it is really nice to see. I travel each day to work to CBD and the drive is slow, not stuck in traffic jams though but how cool to be driving along the beautiful waterfront.!!!

We have two teenagers who have settled in school here really well and we are all surprised by the friendliness of the kiwis and people we have met (saying that still billy no mates) but it all takes time.

If you are moving for a lifestyle change, auckland has lots to offer if you are interested in learning to sail etc and there are lots of places to visit.

Good luck with your choice, but remember Auckland is like any city in the world, has it's good and bad areas .

If you need anymore help please pm me.

Biddy

The Kapiti Coast stretches from Paekakariki to about Otaki and is 35 - 70 Km North of Welly.
And it's lovely!

Bodgit

Thanks to all so far.

There seem to be comments from those in Auckland but not many from Wellington. Anybody out there?

kiwichild

Wellington is fine. A lot smaller than Auckland, friendly people and is a safe enough city. Nightlife there has always been not bad for a city of it's size. The downs are it is very hilly and windy as hell at times and a colder climate than Auckland. Like Auckland it has some dodgy areas. General rule of thumb: don't rent or buy in the cheapest suburbs. You pay a little more you tend to get a better area to live in.

lapsed kiwi

Just a note on weather. I've had two scheduled meetings here in AKL this week with people from Welly. Both times, they've turned into video-conferences due to the Welly weather shutting the airport. Meantime in AKL, it's been warm, sunny, with the odd shower. I guess it is autumn though, so you should expect a few storms

babybella

For some reason the weather people take the temp for Wellington out by the airport on a very exposed piece of land, therefore it is not really an acurate reading. We always used to find in Lower Hutt that we were quite a few degrees warmer than the stated temp.
I love Wellington, compact, easy to get around, lovely harbour, good beaches, shopping, theatre, home to the national ballet, great bars and resturants. As kiwichild pointed out as with any town stay away from the cheaper suburbs if at all possible.
Can get a bit windy (my son's window in his uni accommodation was blown clean off in the wind a couple of weekend's ago) but on a clear sunny day its the most beautiful city in the world.
KAZ

lapsed kiwi

The thing I like about Welly is that it just seems so much more "kiwi" than Auckland. Having grown up in Canterbury, Auckland often seems like a whole new country.

kiwichild

Probably cos it is like 4x the size of chch and welly population wise. Most migrants probably head to Auckland intially as they figure bigger pop means more job opportunities. So has a bigger mix of nationalities.

poppets

we like the sound of The Kapiti Coast, are there any areas you would recommend. Leaving UK in two weeks :scared: so will be able to have a look around soon but would be grtaeful for any info. Cheers

CWEMM02

Did you see the news the Kapiti coast is the driest in 60 years?