dave77

Hey,

I just wondered if anybody lived in or near Whakatane and could tell me a little about it please? I have seen a good job advertised there, but having not been to the NI yet, I'm not sure whether it would be a good move or not!

Thanks in advance

MnB

Hi HHBop (?) & Numptyhead both living there, not sure if either of them still check out the forum but you could try PM'ing them.
We spent some time in the area earlier this year, lived at Ohope (5mins over the hill from Whakatane) The Eastern Bay of Plenty competes with Nelson for having the most hours of sunshine, after we moved to Western BoP and went back for visits it was always better weather around Whakatane

The town itself has everything you would need, some areas are better than others....professionals real estate agents very helpful. Some wonderful beaches (usually empty) , Ohope Beach is a holiday area but always empty areas of the wonderful long beach.
HTH
B x

Margaret Parkinson

We have visited on a number of occasions and I agree with the above. One thing I will say in its favour is it appears to be pedestrian friendly. Correct me if I am wrong but traffic has to give way to pedestrians.

I am sure Numptyhead will help you we met her through this forum when we went to the Papamoa Meet Up in January. We went to give them a hand when their container arrived. we had a break and went to a smashing Fish & Chip shop. We sat by the water eating them out of paper. Delicious.

http://www.whakatane.info/archive/story.102141.html


June

dave77

Thanks for the info, it does look very nice. Not heard anything on the job front yet but will continue to research the area

Thanks again

BEVS

for the job offer

dave77

Thanks Bevs! I've got most things crossed right now, just got the painful wait lol!

stuartsummers1980

I asked a Kiwi mate of mine about it who comes from Auckland a while back for a similiar reason. He currently lives in the UK but said when he comes to settle back in NZ again Whakatane is high up there as a place he'd like to settle down. Its also supposed to be one of NZ's most up and coming towns. Only thing is if you live there you can't really pronounce it properly when speaking to friend's back home without sounding like you're swearing, as the correct way to say it sounds like ****-a-tan. Scuse my French moderators!

stuartsummers1980

My swear word has been turned in to *****!! Sounds like muck but begins with an F.

MnB

Yep, true, but it does get confusing when some of the locals pronounce it 'Wackatana' ...

rason

Ive been looking at a potential move there, hard to find any info though. Whats it like for a couple in late 20s no kids and Tauranga for that matter.
Not after clubbing but nice house, beach, decent shopping and bars/restaurants for when we want a Saturday night out?

Am Loolah

Have only been in Whakatane itself twice, and being a girl and blonde, I found it really hard to find the centre of town. It's not a big place, and seems quite spread out, but has near perfect weather by all accounts if that's your thing?

Now Tauranga I can tell you about. It's far bigger than Whakatane (local prounciation .. Fackatanai .. phonetically speaking!) Which means you really need to narrow down whether you want rural/semi-rural, town, CBD, views or beach. No mean feat if you've not been here before!

Ummm, late 20's with no kids you would do ok choosing Downtown Mount Maunganui, although expensive, or the CBD. Have a look at our Wiki entry and also the associated links there. Mind you, given an hour or two, the Wiki could do with some additions ...

nzhammer

Hi Dave

We've been been in Whakatane for 6 years, almost to the day. It's a great little town, very pictureque and with fantastic weather. Not sure about your nightlife requirements.......... all I will say is that we are mid-forties and we couldn't have lived here in our 20s or even 30s! There are 4 pubs and 1 club, at least there were the last time I went out in town. We head over to Tauranga and Mt Maunganui (an hours drive) if we fancy a night out.

Not sure what you do for work but I have struggled........ my wife has become the bread-winner and I just do casual work. There isn't much work around, although I would agree with a previous poster who said the town was up and coming........ the traffic seems to have quadrupled since we've been here. Almost all parking in town is currently free, though the council is making noises about charging.

There are numerous fantastic beaches and also lots of lakes, all within an hours drive. Overall it is a great place to live.

Feel free to ask any questions........

dave77

Hi NZ hammer,

Many thanks for the reply, sounds very nice. Night life shouldn't be a problem, we are looking for somewhere quiet as we are hoping to escape the racing rats! We are early 30's with 3 young children, so really looking for somewhere safe and family friendly. I'm an electrician so not sure what work will be around.

Thanks again

hokeypokey

Hi - we've just moved from rotorua to whakatane and we love it. We have family here which is why we made the move but also becuase of the beach and the desire to live in a small town. Rotorua is great but is big and busy in comparison (also much much more touristy). We are early 30's and while it does take a bit of getting used to that everything shuts early especially at the weekend - you can always take a drive to tauranga or rotorua for bit of night life when required. The beaches here are amazing - ohope beach stretches for miles and you often feel like you are the only one on it! Havent checked out all the shops here yet but again its only an hour to the shopping centres in tauranga if need be.

My brother has lived here now for five years and he has mixed opinions about the place - often moans about small town mentality etc etc. But spose you get that anywhere (and you also get people that like to moan anywhere too!) He will always say how family friendly whakatane is - great place to bring kids.

good luck with the job offer!