Testing the Water
What about Hamilton?
I'm read some posts about several places in NZ... anyone can tel me about Hamilton... I think that is a nice place to be, not so far from Auckland (also not so close but...) and it is located in the north island.... it would be nice to be close to big cities...I don't know....
what is you experience???
Always Right
I live 20 minutes away from the outskirts of Hamilton, in Cambridge. (Cambridge is wonderful!). I work in Hamilton. There is nothing wrong with Hamilton, it is just not the most inspiring of the NZ cities, and so does come in for a bit of flack at times. It has its pretty bits, as the river runs through it (the Waikato), and this is very scenic, but there is no sea, and it is quite flat around the area, so it is probably less scenic in the immediate vacinity than other cities.
It is not the cultural centre of NZ, but it does have the usual shops you would expect in a city, a goodish range of restaurants, although nothing in the upmarket range, it has a decent sized if uninspiring theatre, and 2 large cinemas. It has a large and ugly industrial zone that the main road runs through, seemingly forever the first time you drive through it.
There are good and bad places to live, and houses are affordable compared to other cities. There are good and bad schools.
There are some fabulous gardens, a good museum and a reasonable amount of nightlife, bars etc.
It is within easy driving distance of Auckland (1.5) Rotorua (1.5), Taupo (2), ski-ing (2.5), Coromandel (1.5) and Raglan on the West Coast (45 mins).
The climate is hot in summer, wet and warm in spring, lovely and warm in Autumn, fog is a big thing in Winter but with some lovely clear winter days. There are occasional frosts.
Senior Member
Cambridge is nice.
However, one thing about NZ is that I have found that here, where you live is almost entirely dependent upon what you need to earn and what you do.
I guess this slightly depends on what you do, but I know for us there are only 3 places in NZ that would have any possibility of giving us the work and salary that we need just now - Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.
There is much less opportunity here (by virtue of the small size) to decide that you will live in "x" and stand a reasonable chance of getting certain kinds of work.
For example, in the UK you would probably get paid most for being a lawyer in London. However, you might decide that you want a better lifestyle and be able to get 85% of the salary you were on if you move to Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff, etc etc
The equivalent here - moving from Auckland to, say, Dunedin - is unlikely to have the same result. Also, certain areas of work really only exist in certain places - IT Project Managers on $120,000 a year are unlikely to have much work at that level (or at all) if they move to Kaikoura, for example.
I always think that if you don't need to work at all, this country offers some of the most stunning locations to live in anywhere in the world. Trouble is, a great many of them would offer no employment opportunities whatsoever!
Senior Member
I've not spent much time in Hamilton and so its charms haven't had the chance to win me over but I will say that I was surprised how attractive the bit that's all cafes along the river looked, how green it seems and how cheap property is compared with other NZ cities.
Senior Member
i drove to hamilton today, sorry i can't be much help otherwise apart from saying its a good place for BMXing, but it was a nice easy drive!
Member
The Waikato weather is aaarrrgg, I don't mind driving through Hamilton I wouldn't want to live there though, it's all too inland for me.
Senior Member
So far I beg to differ. Today is drizzly but then it wouldn't surprise me to find tomorrow clear blue skies and hot. I hated the spring winds in Hawkes Bay- enough to drive you mad- and I also hated that in the middle of summer everywhere goes a horrible itchy brown, although I liked the warmth very much.Originally Posted by Fern01
I agree with you wrt the coast, although I don't think Hawkes Bay has the best beaches if you're into sea swimming.
Always Right
Waikato weather is warm and yummy, not arggghhh
Yorkshire Ambassador to New Zealand
That's what we thought too, although it is worth checking. I'm not in IT, but I'd assumed the same 3 cities for the same reason, but in the end then it turned out that there was a lack of people in a couple of otehr places (Tauranga and Hamilton secifically) possibly partly because no-one thinks to try there.....
What I'm suggesting is it's worth considering, and not just automatically ruling it out, or you'll end up on google maps in the middle of a phone interview trying to work out where the heck Tauranga is whilst attempting to explain why you want to live there!
Senior Member
True, but it really does depend on what you expect to earn and what you do. There are some professions that either simply don't exist in those places, or if they do they pay too little.
The (very) few jobs which my wife looked at in the Wairarapa, for example, paid around 40% less than Wellington simply due to the geographic location. Her view (rightly) is that where you choose to have your office has no bearing on the value of her skills and if you want them, you pay the going rate! Our mortgage does not get reduced just because we are in the Wairarapa.....
Posting Permissions
