The joy of finding short-term rentals

[Juniper]

It's hard to post likes/dislikes of Nelson in contrast to elsewhere in NZ, since it's the only place we've spent a significant amount of time. Also, it's hard to truly compare it to our home town, without knowing how much of the difference is Nelson in particular and how much is NZ in general.

One of the only disappointments is probably NZ-wide, I'm guessing. I thought there would be more organic produce. Admittedly, we're coming from Central Coast California, where you can hardly swing a stick without hitting an organic farmer. :-P However, even the store called "Organic Foods Nelson" has very limited produce, they are better for bulk foods and dry goods (and they're pretty small.) We went to the Saturday market, which did have some local produce, but some of the stalls were clearly using the same sources as the grocery stores - including pineapples and shrink-wrapped cucumbers. What's up with that?

The ocean doesn't really compare to Santa Cruz, it's walled in by a boulder barrier and still as a pond. Tahunanui and Rabbit Island seem to be where people go to play in the sand, and those are certainly nice and close, but riding your bike along the ocean has more views of mudflats than waves. We did take a trip out to Abel Tasman, which is absolutely gorgeous, but there is the stress of catching your ferry or being stranded.

These are pretty minor factors, and otherwise I'd say Nelson measures up to expectations. I still feel like there is plenty to explore in terms of dining, events and arts, walks and bike trails, etc., and wouldn't expect to run out of things to do if we lived here. The weather has been mild, and often gorgeous. We did get some rain and grey days of course, keeping the garden green and moist.

I suppose the only thing I would change is not choosing a house location for walkability, unless we were REALLY SURE we were going to walk or bike much. The seven year old couldn't handle the hills without complaining and foot dragging, even though were just 4-5 blocks from downtown.

If I were moving here, I would be sure to check out the school that was in-zone...but that's for anywhere. The school the girls were able to attend didn't have a zone (Auckland Point School), and the academics were pretty remedial - more of a play/socialization environment (which was great for visiting, but otherwise...not). If I could choose a primary school, I'd go with Clifton Terrace, I was impressed with the tour.

[richsadams]

It's hard to post likes/dislikes of Nelson in contrast to elsewhere in NZ, since it's the only place we've spent a significant amount of time. Also, it's hard to truly compare it to our home town, without knowing how much of the difference is Nelson in particular and how much is NZ in general. <snip>

Thanks so much for the detailed answers! As mentioned somewhere along the line, we're familiar with your home town in California so your perspective about Nelson makes perfect sense. Since we've lived in three other areas of NZ (all North Island) and visited numerous others, it sounds like Nelson is a pretty nice, somewhat artsy and semi-hip place that should suit us fine. What's not to like?

Both of our "kids" have four legs so schools aren't at the top of our list. The rest of the info you've posted here and in other threads has been a goldmine. Thanks!

Best of luck in your new digs and keep us posted!

[newarrival]

Regarding the market-I guess you would have needed to go to the 'real' Farmers Market', as far as I know it is on Wednesdays (maybe Sunday, too, not sure about that) and its at Morrison Square (Place? Not the big parking lot but behind Morrison cafe. Farmers Markets, according to their rules, can only sell local produce, even the distance where it is grown is quite restricted. That's where you will find fruit and vegetables grown in the area, not necessarily organic, though. Being certified organic is horrendously expensive and a lot of paperwork, so small growers probably don't bother getting certified. Which doesn't mean that they farm any different....

[Juniper]

Regarding the market-I guess you would have needed to go to the 'real' Farmers Market', as far as I know it is on Wednesdays (maybe Sunday, too, not sure about that) and its at Morrison Square (Place? Not the big parking lot but behind Morrison cafe. Farmers Markets, according to their rules, can only sell local produce, even the distance where it is grown is quite restricted. That's where you will find fruit and vegetables grown in the area, not necessarily organic, though. Being certified organic is horrendously expensive and a lot of paperwork, so small growers probably don't bother getting certified. Which doesn't mean that they farm any different....

Thanks :-) And I did find one more business, Organic Green Grocer, which is really a small section of a hippie-type store. I found some good products there, such as some cottage industry chemical free cleaning products (rose castille laundry powder!), but still pretty limited on produce. I did like that they provided free jars to reuse for bulk foods/spices.

Someone else told me they tried a delivery service, it sounds like a CSA (community supported agriculture) box, which I have done and enjoyed before in Santa Cruz. The Nelson one is called Fresh2U.
http://www.fresh2u.co.nz/

[7Acre]

Juniper - Are they still offering 6 month visitor visas? When I spoke to INZ they said we could only come with a return ticket for 3months from Canada. With the new SMC rules I can’t get a visa without a job (I paid for and submitted my EOI without job offer last month) and need to be in NZ to get a job. We are planning on selling our house and then going to NZ. We have both owned houses for 20 years and no rental references. We can use my mothers address as our Canadian address for the bank, and we will have a large sum to transfer to NZ from the sale of our house. I am thinking of house sitting (no cost, furnished, satisfy my animal fix) until we get settled and have the time in that is now required to purchase or build. But I would love to get a 6 or 12 month visitor visa.
And thanks for the tip of contacting TradeMe. I’ve had an account several times, even with a NZ mobile number with registration but the account always ends up being cancelled. I wasn’t sure if it was my password problems or because they figured out I was not in NZ.

[JandM]

Yes, they will give longer visitor visas, depending on the circumstances. https://www.immigration.govt.nz/new-...t/visitor-visa

I wonder, did you ask about entering on a visitor's visa while you have an application under SMC being processed? That might make a difference (because some people try to pre-empt the outcome of their application, and overstay if they get rejected).

[Juniper]

Juniper - Are they still offering 6 month visitor visas? When I spoke to INZ they said we could only come with a return ticket for 3months from Canada. With the new SMC rules I can’t get a visa without a job (I paid for and submitted my EOI without job offer last month) and need to be in NZ to get a job. We are planning on selling our house and then going to NZ. We have both owned houses for 20 years and no rental references. We can use my mothers address as our Canadian address for the bank, and we will have a large sum to transfer to NZ from the sale of our house. I am thinking of house sitting (no cost, furnished, satisfy my animal fix) until we get settled and have the time in that is now required to purchase or build. But I would love to get a 6 or 12 month visitor visa.
And thanks for the tip of contacting TradeMe. I’ve had an account several times, even with a NZ mobile number with registration but the account always ends up being cancelled. I wasn’t sure if it was my password problems or because they figured out I was not in NZ.

JandM makes a good point about applying for a visitor's visa after you've already submitted an EOI. Was it selected from the pool, or did you come up short?

If you already have an ITA letter, I'm guessing you will need to submit that and wait for the result - are you expecting to get JSV result (i.e. SMC contingent upon finding a job?)

But to me it sounds like you didn't get selected, and are now planning to move to NZ on a visitor's visa, including selling the house etc. This might put up some red flags, and you will need to be sure to be clear about your intentions by writing a bona fide letter. We did that, saying it was our "look see decide" trip and part of a year of world travel with our kids. While we didn't have a house to go back to, we had the flexibility to work from anywhere and leave NZ without any problem. See what you can think of to assure INZ that while you will be looking at potential employers, you don't intend to overstay. Also, I believe there is a complication if you have any job interviews scheduled BEFORE arriving in NZ - then you would have to declare the purpose of your visit to be "business." Which is entirely different, I believe, than a true visit. You are allowed to look for, but not begin work. Just don't schedule your interviews quite yet.

It's a leap in the dark that somehow ended up working out for us, but make sure you have an exit plan :-) We still returned to the states for several months between our "visit" and starting work, because things always take longer than you estimate. 6 months goes fast!

House sitting worked out great for us, but do look into it well in advance - it's not always free and some sites have some sort of process to make sure you're trustworthy, and stringing together 6 months of cheap lodging while job searching is, let's say a fun challenge :-)

Let me know how things are going, and I'm here for further questions!

[JandM]

Also, I believe there is a complication if you have any job interviews scheduled BEFORE arriving in NZ - then you would have to declare the purpose of your visit to be "business."

Can you link to where you have this from, please? I don't THINK it's right, unless INZ have changed something recently, so I would like to get up to date.

[Juniper]

Can you link to where you have this from, please? I don't THINK it's right, unless INZ have changed something recently, so I would like to get up to date.

Sure, I will have to go digging a bit to see if I'm right, I just remember we had this in mind while scheduling our own reccie.

[jawnbc]

I don't think it's right either. Lots of candidates come to NZ for interviews before even completing an EOI. Seeking work isn't usually a problem: accepting work without the right to work is when it becomes a problem.