Bay of Plenty or Hawke's Bay???

[Freeheart]

We're looking for a friendly community with culture and opportunity for artists and musicians. Need a safe environment and good schools for our 2 young children. I would also love to have good fishing and outdoor activities nearby! We've been looking at Whakatane, Taneatua and Kawerau in the Bay of Plenty as well as Napier and Hastings in Hawke's Bay. Any advice? Anyone out there living in one of these places that could share their experiences?

[victoria24]

we loved papamoa beach

[Freeheart]

looking at papamoa now, looks like an amazing place! expensive real estate though, I think we'd rent for the first year or so, maybe test out a few locations before deciding on where to purchase a home.

[jandk]

i love papamoa beach too , so much we live there

[Freeheart]

My spouse wants to work something similar to what she is doing now, Inventory Management, or teach guitar. Ideally I would stay home with the children for the next 2 years working in the evenings and/or weekends if necessary at whatever job I could find. I would enter the work force full time again once our children are both in school.

Any advice on the employment situation in Papamoa? How far away is Tauranga? How far away is Whakatane? Would commuting to these places be an option if there aren't jobs in Papamoa? Any local sources to share with me, websites or classifieds that we could search for jobs in these areas specifically?

[catt]

We thought of Whakatane as a place to live when we did our recce but glad we didnt, we went back for a visit a week or so ago and realised how small it isl and although very nice it would get pretty dull after a while we thought as there is not enough going on.

We are in Tauranga and loving it, everything is easy to get to, traffic is pretty light 99% of the time and everywhere you go there is water or parks and people are so friendly. No matter where we go we feel very safe and secure in our surroundings.

Good luck in wherever you decide!!!

[Tomsk]

Personally I wouldn't recommend Kawerau, not that I live there, or even spent very much time there, but I've heard some very negative things about it. I'm reluctant to state someone else's opinion as absolute fact, one man's meat being another man's poison and all that, but if you are seriously looking at it as a destination I'd suggest research carefully first.
Papamoa beach on the other hand is gorgeous, it looks like a great area to live, with the beach & Tauranga so nearby.
Whakatane seems nice enough, heaps of sunshine, one of the sunniest places in NZ, if not the sunniest place, but it seems a bit small to me, and a little bit isolated.

[Freeheart]

The town we live in currently has a population of just a little over 9,000 and is the largest "city" within one hour's drive in any direction. We are definitely accustomed to living in a smaller community. My only concern is that proper employment would be difficult to find in a lesser populated area. We will research Tauranga. Is there good fishing nearby or forests/hiking/camping?

[Potato]

The town we live in currently has a population of just a little over 9,000 and is the largest "city" within one hour's drive in any direction. We are definitely accustomed to living in a smaller community. My only concern is that proper employment would be difficult to find in a lesser populated area. We will research Tauranga. Is there good fishing nearby or forests/hiking/camping?

Tauranga is pretty close to the Kaimai ranges and also the Coromandel ranges. Both are bush clad, and the latter probably has the best tramping as well as some interesting history (gold).
Further afield , there are the Ureweras, but they are easier to reach if you lived in Whakatane.

Also:

"We're looking for a friendly community with culture and opportunity for artists and musicians"

Have you considered Nelson?

[Freeheart]

hmmm, Nelson looks quite good too! Man, this is gonna be difficult, New Zealand is just too gorgeous all around!