What is Invercargill, New Zealand like to live in?

Question

As a new immigrant, what would Invercargill be like to live in? In general, what is the job situation like? Is there much to do? How are the people? How big is the place? When I've looked on a map the town actually looks quite big, and the population of 50,000 doesn't make it a small town exactly. I guess I like to be able to live in a rural area, but still able to visit a decent size town with decent amminities within a short distance.

I'm told the weather is pretty poor also.

So, in your opinion, is Invercargill a nice place, or should I avoid it?

THanks

Answer 1

Nice is a word I would use to describe Invercargill.  Everyone there is very nice.  My Grandmother lives there, she is nice.  We try to convince her to move to Auckland but she likes it in Invercargill because it's nice there.

There are heaps of things to do there such as:

Church of the Dolls in South Hillend

Drummond for roast dinner

Learn to play Bridge

Wallacetown for tea

Colac Bay for lunch

Lunch at Seriously Good Chocolate Company

Lignite Pit Scenic Stop at Gorge Road

Trip to Bluff and Stewart Island

Splash Palace Swimming pool

Queens Park

It should be pretty easy to get a job there, seek.co.nz lists 140 jobs and trademe.co.nz has 49 jobs in Invercargill.

The weather is colder than the rest of New Zealand but that just gives you a reason to wear merino.

Answer 2

I'm sure  some people like it otherwise there would'nt be so many people live there. But Not me I find it a cold miserable place that most of the time you need to be indoors to get warm. Take a look around the country before you decide. Nelson is beautiful

Answer 3

It is poo. Invercargill is the ******** of NZ. Live in Auckland.

Answer 4

It rains on average, 250 days a year.

So, precipitous would be the answer.

Answer 5

I live in Dunedin and go to Invercargill every now and then to hold lectures. I always enjoy those visits, because Invercargill has a really enchanted feel to it, in my opinion. There is something quaintly 1950s about it, while the suburbs are actually quite nice and have wide streets and big houses. The town centre has a main street and plenty of shopping, although I should warn you not to expect overly sophisticated choices for boutiques, etc., as Invercargill is deep in the agricultural south of the country, and you do sense that things revolve very much around agriculture (many radio commercials will mention animal foodstuffs or veterinary products, etc.).

There are some really nice restaurants in Invercargill, and my favorite is the one you come to just before you reach the beach (I'm sure everybody knows it there, forgot the name of it now).

The people in Invercargill are my favorite in all of NZ, unbelievably friendly and mellow, really. It's the right place to be if you are a relatively self-contented person who simply wants to enjoy family life and every now and then, go for a drive to the mountains and walk along the beach. I have nothing negative to say about it at all.

As for the weather, it's always been nice when I was there. Weather in New Zealand is quite mild and non-dramatic by comparison with most other places in the world anyway, so anyone raving about Invercargill's "awful climate" simply indicates never to have been anywhere outside NZ, I guess. It's easily every bit as pleasant as the west coast of France, in my opinion, even if there will be a bit more cloud cover than in some places within NZ.

Answer 6

hmm! where abouts do u live now? I came from the uk and moved to Dunedin which i found realy hard.The further south you go i find the further back in time you go.If you look in the lonely planet it actualy advises you not to go there unless u have a mullet and wear lumba jack shirts!!

I left dunedin as it was cold,income was low and there realy isnt that much to do there.I never went to Invercargill and dont realy think i missed to much.I wouldnt think the job situation is to great either.Plesae think realy hard about moving there! Maybe try Dunedin first? Or perhaps visit Invercargill for a week or 2- i actualy think after 2 weeks you will decide to give it a miss.

Answer 7

I've lived 100 km from Invercargill for 26 years, by choice.  I've lived in several countries.  Invercargill is OK.  Winters are nowhere near as cold as in Europe or North America.  Summers are mild.  It's the cheapest town in NZ in which to buy or rent a house.  It doesn't have a gang problem like most parts of NZ.  There are more interesting places nearby than in any other part of NZ; Stewart Island, Queenstown, Wanaka, Te Anau, Manapouri, Milford Sound, the Catlins, Curio Bay.  As far as I'm concerned, the only negative thing about Southland is that a lot of locals are halfwitted inbreeds.  The people who make Toyota ads for farm vehicles understand the situation very well; those ads have a streak of bestiality a mile wide running through them.  I'd sooner live here than anywhere else in NZ. Doris's comment that In'gill is the ******** of NZ was originally said by Mick Jagger.  With all due respect I disagree with him.  Mick Jagger must know of some much worse places much closer to his home.  Scunthorpe, Glasgow, Birmingham, Belfast, Manchester...  Check out 50 worst places in the UK.  And the lowest temperatures ever recorded in NZ are in Central Otago, not Invercargill.