Hi all,
Was wondering if anyone had any input. In 2017 I'll be studying in NZ, provided nothing goes wrong, with my wife and pre-school daughter in tow. Due to economics (I've analysed the useful rent info on enz for eg, and it's helpful) I think we'll avoid Auckland and Wellington and, let's face it, there are few university destinations left elsewhere. The programmes on offer at Otago and Waikato look good, but I'm also thinking of living conditions too and wonder what people's impressions are of Dunedin and Hamilton.
Before people repeat things, these are my impressions so far:
-Both are small towns compared to what we're used to, but not insignificant in NZ
-Dunedin is seen as isolated compared to Hamilton, which has access to Auckland for eg
-Hamilton is sort of the butt end of jokes about being 'boring' but Dunedin isn't regarded as 'exciting' either
-Hamilton's going to have somewhat better weather
-Dunedin looks somewhat cheaper, rent-wise at least
-Dunedin looks more compact and appears to have more character and would probably be better for walking, but is also hillier
-It appears Otago/Dunedin is associated with undergrad party shenanigans which I'm too old for and which could be annoying, and generally the university seems to be the main business in town
-Hamilton looks more spread out; when I check on google earth, it appears to be one big suburb with no city centre
At the moment, my instinct favours Dunedin as I always like a place where there's a bit to see when walking in the town/city, and Otago has the Octagon and somewhat historic buildings and its older history where it was once #1 in NZ. I also like how it appears more compact; checking rent prices, there isn't a huge variation and all neighbourhoods look only a few kms from the university as the crow flies. What I don't know is what my transport method would be if there. There's also some kind of farmer's market on Saturdays, and a contact who lives there likes to talk about how he can pick up seafood for next to nothing (a big wild salmon for $5 was one example). Maybe I could find good use for some of my Japanese fish knives, yes.
But that's me. My wife's Indonesian and would definitely prefer a warmer place, but we've also lived in colder Korea for more than 4 years, colder than Dunedin I'm sure. I know cheaper accomodation in NZ is poorly insulated, but not if there would be a difference between D and H in this sense. I also don't know about how she'd feel in either place culturally. I know a signficant # of NZ residents, if not white, Maori or South Asian, will be SE Asian or E Asian in origin these days, but I don't know how far this extends to areas outside of Auckland, such as D and H, nor do I know how well people mix together. My feeling is she would be okay, but it might not be as smooth as it would be in more cosmopolitan Auckland or, even more, in parts of Canada where I'm from. Safety is also a concern, and now she's used to Korea where it seems she can go most anywhere normally and not have to worry about this, apart from getting hit by bad drivers when crossing streets. She should be eligible for a work visa under the Family Stream, and so we also hope she could work part-time somehow, if our daughter is able to attend some kind of pre-school which wouldn't bankrupt us. It'd be great if there were also community activities available, too - say, community centres/local libraries with events for families and kids, even local festivals. We're not church-goers, so I wouldn't include that.
A NZ colleague recommended Hamilton, it seems, because he thinks of Dunedin as 'remote' and H better located, with warmer weather too, although he also grew up there. But when asked if he would move back, the answer was 'no'.
Another question would be are buses (do trams exist?) useful in either place? If not to what extent can you bicycle to the local grocer, for eg, or just get around?
Would be interested to here any general or specific bits of info/impressions. Thanks!