Bay of Islands - New Zealand?

Question

Hi

Myself and my partner are moving to New Zealand for 6 months to the Bay of Islands area as his job is taking us there. We are looking at the Kerikeri and Paihia areas to live. Which is the biggest town and would be most suitable for a couple in their early twenties? Are there any other towns in that area which are may be suitable?

I'd really appreciate any help!

Thanks

Answer 1

Go new zealand!

Answer 2

Kerikeri is probably larger than Paihia. The former has mainly orchard and agricultural work available, the latter is a small port and tourist town.

Kaikohe is about twice the size of Kerikeri and the work is mainly agricultural. There are freezing works (killing meat for export) at Moerewa, and there should be no difficulty in getting a position, but it could be seasonal.

Kawakawa is a small rural town in the region, as is Russell. Russell is mainly tourism and history.

The big smoke is the city of Whangarei, about 45 minutes to the south of the Bay of Islands. Here is plenty of opportunity for employment. It is a port and has more than its share of heavy industry.

Actually, although Paihia and Kerikeri are quite close, the trip between the two by road seems to take forever. (It seems a long way.)

Check your maps or do a google search of the area for full details.

Enjoy your 6 months in the Bay.

Driver T

Answer 3

Kerikeri is the larger town, and offers amenities such as a cinema that other towns in the Bay of Islands don't have.  It's also more affluent than the other towns meaning that the bars and restaurants in the area are more upscale than those in neighbouring towns.

I don't know if cost is a consideration for you - will your partner's employer be paying your rent?  Will he be receiving his UK salary whilst there, or a local salary?  The reason I ask is that because Kerikeri is the more affluent town, rent there is also higher.  However, it's still extremely cheap by UK standards so perhaps this won't matter to you.

The answer above mine is very informative but I could honestly never recommend any of the larger towns such as Kaikohe or Whangarei.  Ever seen "Once Were Warriors"?  (That was set in Auckland but you get my point.)  Whilst Kerikeri is a small town, it's very nice and since you'll only be there six months, I think you'll enjoy it rather than feeling claustrophobic.

Also, be aware that when people say to you that something is "45 minutes' drive away" that in New Zealand the quality of the roads in rural areas can often be poor.  They're normally only a single lane so if you get stuck behind a slow vehicle then you're stuck until you get to the next town.  The surface is normally rough and after driving in the UK you may find it difficult to drive on.  And if there has been a lot of rain the road may have been washed away so it will be closed, and there may not be an alternative route.  If you plan to live in a different town from the one in which he will be working, you will need to invest in a good car to make sure it can handle the country roads.

Answer 4

sebcue, do you not ever get tired of copying and pasting that garbage into every post about New Zealand that comes up on Yahoo Answers?

Answer 5

Both Kerikeri and Pahia are great locations.

Neither are big cities - both are fairly quiet tourist towns. They are both excellent tourist destinations with lovely warm climates, cafes and lots of outdoor activities.

I would suggest you live close to where your partner is working as there is quite a distance to commute between the two towns.

If you are working half way between the two I'd choose Kerkeri. Paihia is a little quiet - more for the retired or semi-retired.

Answer 6

Paihia is bigger and more happening and right on the coast. It is very beautiful though right on the tourist track. I am sure there are quieter more residential areas, it's a reasonably big town.

Answer 7

NZ has a kind of social complexity that you do not encounter in any other country.

There is a strong bullying culture at work environment especially towards foreigners.

It is a small isolated country. So what you think the major source of income is. Of course it is agriculture and tourism.The problem is because salaries are low most educated people leave for better income overseas. This creates a big problem.. As I said it is a small country.So what do you think people might feel when most young generation emigrate. Well they feel they are invaded by foreigner migrants especially Asians, Indians and others. For many years white people dominated the country and Maories were lower class citizens. When  the white young generation is emigrating the country, fear of losing the power and fear of losing the working class (age 16-45) can cause a hostile environment towards new comers….If you spend some time with them you will see how much they adore and admire themselves and their younger ones compared to other nationalities no matter where they are from…..This is a dominant culture…even if a kiwi commits a crime if the victim is not a main stream New Zealander the chances that lawyers and justice protect their own people is quiet high. Because they want to keep their people and stop them from leaving. This culture exists in all of them .Almost all of them…politicians, doctors, lawyers, taxi drivers, farmers…..almost all of them maybe because they want to teach them to value their country and stay….however because tourism is their biggest source of income over many many years of dealing with migrants and foreigners they know they need migrants for their money….I have never seen any other nationality in the world being able to rip off so skilfully as kiwis. They make a slave out of you. They make you work for free. Most skilled migrants are young, motivated, and energetic and have some saving. They come to NZ to make a better life. They spend some of their best years of life, the first five years after leaving their country to work hard to achieve nothing instead. I have seen many families break up; I have seen many of them get depressed. A lot of them leave NZ after a few years of putting up with abuse, some leave for Australia; some go back to their home country. Some of the migrants who have some kind of support network and can stand the abuse or work as self-employed may stay and instead the way they cope with this culture is they turn to be like their kiwi abusive mates. I have seen some of them start cheating, stealing and exploiting others to be able to mentally integrate into the society around them and of course some of them do none of these and stay the way they were but in a less motivated, depressed slavery mood. Ironically when foreigners get ripped off by kiwis they get blamed for not being careful. I have seen young rich Japanese students who get bashed and their money get stolen but instead they will get criticized of being careless. Kiwi students and young generation have this mentality that foreigners are rich, are pain free and they have their money because their mummy and daddy gives them their money and they do not work hard for it so they deserve their money to be taken away from them because this is the kiwi land and if these foreigners want to stay here they should help us with our economy. We are the best people in this world, our country is the most beautiful country in the world, our government is the least corrupted government of the world (of course that is the other way round), our graduates are the brightest in the world, our poo and wee is from gold and because of all these all non-kiwis should adore us and pay us lots and lots of money because we deserve it. New Zealanders are very jealous towards Australians. You just need to tell them how better Australia is compared to NZ. Then you get a sheep thrown to your head and they f**t angrily into your face. I have seen some of these kiwis when they come to Australia they brag about their country to other nationalities to encourage them to visit their country and this way to help their highly dependent economy. Some of them say funny lies, For example they say they have lived in many countries all around the world and nowhere else is like New Zealand , The best wheater, the best health system, the best education, the best and most friendly people, no corruption, no crime, affordable and great lifestyle, etc, etc. The funny thing is some of them claim they were Aussies and now live in NZ because Australia had lots of crime, Australians were racist, Australia was this and that and NZ is the best place on earth and even the whole entire universe to live! If you do not know them well you poor naïve person will believe all these and if you know them well somehow you just feel sorry.

However about 35% of the population rely on social benefits (a lot of elderly left alone by their children, a lot on sickness benefits and lots skill less Maories), 70% of the medical school graduates leave the country after 2 years of finishing their studies and only one third of foreign doctors remain in this country to work due to poor working conditions. You can imagine how dangerous it can be to become sick in this country. Studies show a great percentage of migrants lose their health after being and living in NZ due to poor health system comparable to third world countries even worse. Although they claim their country is safe but if you live there you feel how dangerous it is : high bullying rate at work, constant ripping off, constant pressure from local main stream New Zealanders to suck more blood from you and poor health system and poor service due to lack of skilled professionals.

Because most migrants leave after a few years the government tried to make it longer to get NZ citizenship to keep them in NZ longer. They just try to make everything longer, stretching the time they can suck up more blood. They make it more difficult for everyone to get entry to the country just to make them more eager and make their own value higher. It is just like a rouge trade person who makes you wait and run after him before he comes to your house and does all the repairing and asks you a lot of money. It is just a way of torture to take whatever they can from anyone who goes to their country because this is the only way they can have income. Otherwise except exporting agricultural products there is nothing else to be able to produce significant profit. The number one source of money over the last few decades were international students, when the number of students and skilled migrants drops they do every effort to attract them into the country and then just drag them from here to there to take their money out of their pocket and how cunning and skilled they are in this industry God knows. For example, they stupefy these students and ask them to take papers which are more expensive .You just will be amazed by their ability. Nearly almost everyone knows some tricks when it comes to meeting other nationalities. They are superficially friendly to get your trust and make a fool out of you. Because the nature is green, beautiful and peaceful a high percentage of new comers get fooled... The best preys are some naïve idiot foreigners from third world countries. They know how to bully people around the globe if they can to be able to shake them till all the money falls out of their pockets.

If you live in small city after a while you realise how much they are dependent on the money foreigners bring in .You just feel you are constantly have to feed them and let them suck and that will never end. If you are skilled you have to work for long hours with low pay, what they claim is our pay is low but we offer a great lifestyle. They have very particular ways of satisfying you instead of low pay, for example they give you the power to control others, greasingly admire you, superficially make friend with you, respect you and the list goes on and on….Then when it comes to daily life activities you gradually realise your dangerous position. If you have a computer problem for example: first of all there are not much good professionals to know what they are doing secondly they ask you a fortune for just doing nothing. I remember I had to leave my computer in a shop for some technical problems, he just did nothing, absolutely nothing and then asked me to come and pick up the computer, when I got home, I just felt hopeless. Where could I go to complain and how can I prove it. I have already paid and there was no way to claim it back. I decided to move out and sell some of my furniture. The guy from a tender centre came and picked up all my belongings and told me he would sell it. I waited weeks after weeks and had to pay a lot for mobile bill to ring him. But he never sent me back any money. I wrote a complaint to the local court but again if I wanted to do anything I had to pay twice to lawyers and the court itself to solve the problem. As they had no customer to get money from….It was ridiculous. If you sit among them you just feel sick. They just admire themselves and f**t on you and then you feel your head is spinning and you have to leave.

Answer 8

i dont know the area. sounds like fun though