In your opinion, where do you feel is the best place to live in New Zealand for a new immigrant?

Question

Obviously, job opportunities must be taken into consideration and I'm sure there are a lot of equally nice places to live in New Zealand, but in your opinion, where do you feel is the best place to move to for a new British immigrant? I was looking at Invercargill, as although it's weather isn't fantastic isn't located near some of the most scenic places in NZ and also is reasonablely large at 50,000, but I've been told by a lot of New Zealanders to steer clear of Invercargill as it's boring, small, with insular locals. There's nothing going for it.

Low crime is an important factor for me, decent weather, reasonabely close to decent shopping facilities, I also like living in a rural, or semi-rural area which is close (maybe like 5 miles or so), to a resonable sized town.

Thanks for any advice.

Answer 1

Apparently Auckland is on the top 5 places in the world to live.  Personally since I live there I think there must be something wrong with the rating system.  I suggest Christchurch.  Its a nice city with nice people, close to beaches and snow and you can either live rurally or centrally.

Answer 2

* please ignore the above answerer, after having lived in both the north and the south island i would say the south island is way more mellow and "problem" free! one of the reasons we left the North island was because my parents were both teachers and the racial problems were quite bad where we were!

Yes your right when you say invercargill is situated near some of the most scenic places in NZ, it close to Te Anau and Milford sound, where some of NZ's greatest tramping tracks can be found. its also near the Caitlins which I haven't actually had a chance to explore myself yet but if your interested in wildlife, penguins, birds, seals and stunning scenery then that's a place to go and of course your as close as you can get to Stewart island.

Invercargill is nice enough, i've visited it a few times for work, i guess the biggets thing is that its quite isolated being right at the south of the south island and yes its weather isn't the greatest, a lot of rain and a climate probably most similar to that of the UK.

this link gives you an over view of NZ's climate http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/ab...

and heres a blurb about Invercargills climate

http://www.invercargill.org.nz/About-Inv...

I would perhaps suggest Dunedin - its a few hours north of Invercargill on the east coast and its got a population of approximately 160,000. Its close to Wanaka and Queenstown (2-3 hours drive away) for some of the best skifields and mountain scenery in NZ and its also close-ish to Te Anau too (about 3 hours drive). its climate is slightly better than invercargills as it doesn't experience as much rain and it has many decent shopping facilities. there are semi-rural areas in and around both Invercargill and Dunedin.

Nelson at the top of the South island would be a great place climate wise. its got a population of approximately 40,000 and is just a stones throw away from Abel Tasman national park and golden sand beaches. it gets the highest number of sunshine hours in NZ

some people have mentioned Wellington, its a very vibrant city but is known for its windy weather conditions and it might be a bit too cosmopolitan for someone who likes the semi rural side of life.

Good luck with your decision making, i must stress to you again that Crime is not a MAJOR factor in NZ, a factor yes, but not something you'd have to be concerned about.

Answer 3

Awwwww forget the rest and come to the BEST the beautiful and sunny Bay of Plenty - on the North Islands central east coast. A great place to live, work and play. Plenty (forgive the pun!) to do and whether your a beach bunny or a mountain climber of a rain forest walker or even a tree hugger - we got it all - right here in the BAY!!!

get your 'silver wings' and come join us here in paradise - the bay of plenty - nz!

chur!

Answer 4

move to hamilton. middle of the north island, easy access everwhere, ppl from all over the world, friendsly, nice atmosphere.

Answer 5

I have never been to NZ, but I think it is a very good country.

Wow!!!!! From Britain to New Zealand, that's what I call a 180 degrees change in your life!!!!!! Literally, the difference is close enough.

Yeah, I am like you. I don't like big cities, but London compared to Wellington is completly different.

Your perception as British about big city and a New Zealander's perception about a big city is totally different.

Decent weather is also a factor. I'd choose Wellington or Auckland or Gisborne.

If my comment is useful... Well, thanks for your time.

Answer 6

i have lived in christchurch and i would recommend it without hesitation..all the facilities u need, a lively bt at the same time calm city..it is awsum..u could maybe have a look at living in cashmere hills..excellent views of the canterbury plains..or semi-rural areas are lincoln or rolleston for example--christchurch is just great: wide range of schools, malls, shops, cinemas, theatres and much much more..it is soooo close to amazing places like akaroa or kaikoura or the alps..bus service is great..i used to live in lincoln n i never locked the door once!!!!what else would you want??

Answer 7

Yes, Invercargill does not have the greatest reputation in the world.....i spent 5 weeks near Invercargill....ok it was the winter but the weather was not fantastic....but people live there so there must be something good about it....I do remember when visting it It was the fasting decreasing city in australasia! However with the dairy boom the area is in a bit more of a climb again.

If you want to stay in the South Island then maybe Christchurch and Nelson are good options and maybe Dunedin. Nelson is more the "provencial" city or town as you may see it not being a kiwi ( a city here is over 30,000).

They could be options for you in that repect....but I will say that apart from Auckland and Wellington, you don;t have to go terribly far to get to the rural areas....in general..this may not be the case in rush hours.

Anyway maybe you could come for a trip prior to coming out and do a scout of some places that appeal to you.

Answer 8

My daughter, her husband and four young boy's emmigrated to New Zealand in November 2005. They orginally settled at a small place called Te Hora near Wellington but my daughter's husband found that the journey into Wellington to work everyday was exactly what they were doing in this country ( it was taking about an hour to get home every night ) so he still wasn't spending time with the children. He managed to secure a position in Invercargill, and they all moved there in 2006. They love it, contary to what you have been told by New Zealanders Invercargill is an up and coming place, nice shopping center, beautiful expanses of beaches and I hear that the nightlife is good too ( not that that bothers me being a nana and all ) !! but there are some nice places to eat.  My daughter lives just outside Invercargill, about 5 miles, in a rural area, they have 5 acres and only a small mortgage, if they had still been here they would have been in a cramped house with a small garden, and four boy's driving them mad. As it is, the boys have all the room in the world to run around, and they love there little school which is within walking distance.  We miss them terribly, but we have been out there 3 times and while we are fit and healthy we will continue to go out every year.  I wish you all the luck in the world, don't write off Invercargill, my family is so happy there and the weather isn't that bad, more or less the same as our's but perhaps alittle warmer in the summer, although the Kiwi's will tell you that Invercargill can have three different weathers in one day!!!  Good Luck wherever you end up.

Answer 9

i don't live in new zealnad but i am a great fan of this country.I remember a similar qusìestion on here and quite a few people suggested wellington was a nice palce to live in.

i know a welsh guy who owned property in Cardiff and went to Wellington renting it out.

I know with his 1'000 pounds rent and his part time job in wellington he lives very comfortably.He could never of had that lifestyle in uk.

good luck.

Answer 10

christchurch or somewhere in canterbury is good. good weather, close to mountains, nice beaches, banks peninsula, good cafes and restaurants....

im thinking about moving down to christchurch

DO NOT MOVE TO INVERCARGILL. its not even worth a vist.

Answer 11

australia

Answer 12

I think Hawkes Bay, I know of 4 families who I have meet in the past that have moved to HB from England and have never looked backed. Napier and Hastings are the main cities in HB.

Known lovingly as sunny Hawkes Bay, Napier is the main city and is the capital in the world for art deco so has really good torrist numbers that come through meaning good weekend fun for the family when somethings on.

Its small but too small - bigger than invercargill, i think theres over 100,000 people or something (don't quote me!). There are heaps of semi rural areas around too, such as Bay View which is only a 10-15 minute drive from Napier City and under 10mins to the airport but you can get a nice lifestyle block of 5acres or so. Go a little further and you can get larger blocks.

We have a fantastic array of wineries here too which you can do wine tours of. Another place is Otane which is Central Hawkes Bay (king of the rural in Hawkes Bay) whilst still only being 25mins to Hastings (which is actually bigger than Napier but not as pretty) or 40 mins to Napier. The prices in CHB are cheaper than the other direction. Another town which may interest you is Taupo... Google Napier, Hawkes Bay and Taupo and see the places for your self :-)

Good Luck