Tell me about Dunedin, please?

Question

My husband, daughter, and I plan to move to NZ. Reading YA I stumbled upon a glowing report on Dunedin. :)

My husband is an electrician and has been filling out an Expression of Interest to move to NZ as a Skilled Migrant. I hear tell that Dunedin is growing, so that's promising.

We love the outdoors so suggestions on places to visit with our baby daughter and our 2 dogs (Labs) would be great.

I know Dunedin's a university town...do you ever have problems with unruly students?

Seeing as we have a growing family and dogs are there any areas of town (or outside town) you suggest living?

Rumour is that the weather there isn't that great. Compared to where I live in Wyoming USA it's probably wonderful though....how often do you get snow and how long does it usually stay? What about rain? (we've had several feet of snow since September...it's finally melting. But now we've had rain almost non-stop for the past 3 weeks. LOL)

Answer 1

Its very cold and a student town. Lots of riots and couch burning. Be careful.

Answer 2

good choice,

Dunedin is a nice historic city, we have a lot to do in the outdoors, we have a lot of beaches and bush walks in and around the city. yes we are a university city and the students a get a bit drunk and unruly from time to time (but not often and it does not affect anyone other than other students, but it is not a problem if you don't live in the north end of the city.

the weather is cold but we only get snow maybe once or twice a year and it only lasts a couple of days, it doesn't rain to mush at all. (we have had a drought for the last 3-4 months)

they are no dangerous animals in New Zealand (other than cats and dogs). there is the occasional shark spotted of the coast but they don't really like the cooler sea temperatures. we have shark nets off the beaches during summer.

it is a great city to bring up children and it is safe.

Answer 3

there aren't any dangerous bugs or animals in new zealand.. unless you count a charging bull thats got out of its paddock, or my stupid horse who threw me off yesterday. all the dangerous bugs/animals are in aussie. in NZ you'll find heaps of people from asia, england and america.. trust me, you wont be lonely, we have A LOT of immigrants (mainly because lots of kiwis move overseas because the pay in NZ stinks.)

most people prefer the north island because the south island can be pretty cold. most towns are pretty similar though.

check out property in new zealand

www.trademe.co.nz

Answer 4

Dunedin is a wonderful city, i hope you get a chance to move there :-).

loving the outdoors, you won't be at a shortage of places to go with your dogs and daughter, there are many lovely beaches in Dunedin within 5-10 minutes drive of the city centre. Also the Dunedin peninsula is just magnificent, you can drive out to tairoa head where there is an Albatross colony and your also certain to see seals basking in the sun on the rocks below. I've never lived in Dunedin myself but both my parents grew up there and most of my extended family still lives there. I've always felt it has a nice charachter about it, its very hilly too which provides spelndid views of the city and harbour.

As for the weather, well yes its not renowned for having the greatest climate in NZ (or even close). I live in Christchurch and from what i understand we have hotter summers, but colder winters (its 4.5 hours north of Dunedin). it is not "common" for it to snow in Dunedin city, except for up high on the hills, but it does happen. there was snow around most of the south island winter 2006 but I think both Christchurch and Dunedin escaped any snow last year. Its definetly more of a rarity - but thats not to say that overnight temperatures don't drop below 0 degrees celsius sometimes.

Great news is that it hardly ever rains in Dunedin! the city recieves less than 800mm of rainfall a year. check out this article

http://www.cityofdunedin.com/city/?page=...

and this is a good link too http://www.otago-peninsula.co.nz/NewZeal...

also for a better idea of NZ's climate overall see this link

http://www.tourism.net.nz/new-zealand/ab...

with regard to students well for starters they are only there (well most of them) for 8 months of the year (late feb/beginning of march - late October/beginning of November) so around Christmas time and summer, not many students will even be in Dunedin at the best time of the year! having said that, yes students have made headlines from time to time for engaging in unruly behaviour, but the area where all the students flat, is just that, a students flatting area so you'd be able to find a ncie house in an area away from all that

check out http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Property...

for dunedin property listings to get an idea of prices.

and the best part of all is there are no poisonous creatures of any form in New Zealand!! no snakes, lizards or anything. and as for sharks, i don't think theres ever been a shark attack in NZ so they aren't a worry either.

Good luck :-)

Answer 5

I lived in Dunedin for 11 years. I don't like it there, but you might.

I know there is a need for electricians in Dunedin. It can take a long time for someone to come and repair something there. Dunedin is growing, but slowly.

Dunedin is good for the outdoors because there is always something to do and places to visit within a days drive. There are plenty of dog exercise parks around Dunedin as well. I took my puppy there heaps. Don't go to the Green Island one, if you do end up moving there. The first time we went I got stung by a bee and my foot swelled up, second time we went there, my puppy got stung by a bee and had a serve reaction and nearly died.

Yes there are lots of University students, but as long as you don't live in the city you wont really notice it. They don't really come into the suburbs lol.

There are some nice smaller settlements outside Dunedin (within 45mins drive) such as Seacliff, Warrington, Portobello, Outram.

The weather is pretty dam terrible. In the summer we get up to 77F (25c). In the winter down to 14F (-10C)  (I think that's the lowest recorded temperature). Average summer day is about 65F (18C) average winter temperature is about 43F (6C). It can get cold even in the summer. The weather is unpredictable. We usually get about 4 or 5 days off school a year because of the snow. The last few years it has reached sea level and about a foot (30cm) at my house.

Suburbs to avoid- Brockville, South Dunedin, City, North East Valley, Green Island area.

Suburbs to look for- Maori Hill (expensive), Wavellely (expensive), Mornington, Wakari, Halfway Bush, Roslyn.

Yes, Dunedin has the chocolate factory. I've never eaten haggis. I know the John Mcglashon, which is a private boys high school in the Maori Hill area is big on bag pipes, they might have lessons.

There are 3 (I think) types of poisonous spiders in New Zealand, you'd be very lucky to see them though. They mostly live at rocky beach areas that are hard to access. I don't know anyone here who's died from a shark attack. My brother goes body boarding in Dunedin and he's seen a shark once, but that's all. Just watch out for bees!

I hope you do decide to move to New Zealand, it's a nice place. I would suggest Wellington though. That's where I live now and it's so much nicer here!

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