Napier is it really as great as it looks????

[smitjo]

Following our recce trip in October we managed to get an idea of the places that we fancied and could easily settle in! We had initially planned to move to Welly due to job prospects etc and loved it when we were there but we REALLY fell in love with Napier. We would love to live just outside Napier in the countryside (so I can get a horse again!) but obviously the most important thing is for us to get jobs. So the questions are really:
1. What's it like to actually live in Napier?
2. What are job prosepcts like in Napier and the surrounds?
3. Any reccommended areas to live?

Thanks guys!

[Jenny & Mark]

I can't really comment on job prospects and what it is truely like to live in Napier, but I did spend a week there while on my student teaching alternative practicum, and I concur. It is easy to love Napier.

Napier is simply an amazing place - the climate, the geographical area, the wineries, and the unique architecture and history. If it wasn't so far from Jenny's family, it would be number one on my list.

Mark.

[Xaviera]

Hi Smitjo

I've lived in Napier for nearly six years and often wonder why I didn't move here years ago.

As for the job market, it may depend on what you do and although it would not be as easy as Welly or Auckland for instance, you would also have the Hastings area .

Places to live... Taradale, Greenmeadows, Napier/Bluff Hill, Ahuriri, Westshore are all popular - just avoid Mareanui. Pirimi.

Good luck.

[Marco]

Hi,
I have not been living in the Napier area at all, but love the atmosphere although it may be too quiet for me - being more of a city girl.

What kind of jobs do you think would be available for foreigners in that area? Since I already had major problems to find a job in Wellington!

All advice is welcome from you who live/lived in that area,
Cheers,
Anita

[smitjo]

Thanks for your replies - I expected that Napier would be a great place to live as we really fell in love with it when we were in NZ. We have just got to start looking for jobs in that area (including Hastings) and see what happens!
Anyone else with any opinions on Napier would be greatly received!

[The Hodges]

Hi ya smitjo,

I can't answer too many of your questions, but when we visited in 2003 I quite liked it, although it was too quiet and small for us. When we arrived around 3:30 in the afternoon, some of the shops were closing or had closed. We had to think what day it was and it is was a Saturday. Half day closing on a Saturday!

For anyone wanting to know about opossums, there is Opossums World (www.opossumworld.co.nz) in Napier, which we though was a wildlife store explaining their habitat and conservation, until we entered the store and realised that they are considered pests and the kiwis make lots of products out of them. Must be the kiwi sense of humour striking again...

I'm not a big fan of the architecture, being art deco, but I can understand why some people love it. There was an advert on the London Metro (free paper) recently for the www.napierlife.com, which may be pretty interesting reading. Also, you may wish to try www.napier.govt.nz for some useful info etc.

I hope that this is a start and good luck.

[Debbie P.]

For anyone wanting to know about opossums, there is Opossums World (www.opossumworld.co.nz) in Napier, which we though was a wildlife store explaining their habitat and conservation, until we entered the store and realised that they are considered pests and the kiwis make lots of products out of them. Must be the kiwi sense of humour striking again...

We made that mistake too! Must have looked really stupid backing out of the shop

We visited in August 2003 and found it a bit quiet (but I guess it WAS the middle of winter), but it was the only place we went to on that trip which involved stripping down to t-shirts

It was also the only place on our trip where we actually felt a bit uneasy - drove up to the viewpoint on the hill and there were a group of teenagers hanging around and eyeing our car quite obviously, which made us reluctant to walk very far from it. We travelled all over the place between Auckland and Dunedin and that was the only place where we thought we might become victims of crime. I'm sure Napier's no hotbed of crime (!), but it did come across as a place where the kids didn't have a lot to do. I'm sure those who live there can challenge that perception, though.

Mussel Boys was still there then - I was devastated when I heard it had closed! Mind you, we were the only ones eating in there and it was a Friday night !?

[bob_the_engineer]

I’ve been living near Napier for a year now and I’m about to move out!

I live in a town called Clive, that’s on the road smack bang in between Napier and Hastings, so its about 7 mins drive to either city centre. It’s a small town but we have 3 restaurants / bars, 2 fish and chip shops a dairy, a four squares, a bottle shop, a public swimming baths, sports ground, petrol station and domioes pizza deliver here (oh and a school, a church and so on) oh and of course you can walk to the ocean and play on the Clive river too. (did I mention the near by golf course, cafes, old kiwi neighbourhood anyway it’s a nice place)

If you fancy a night out then Napier, Hastings and Havelock north are all near by and a cab from Napier is $25.

Mid winter; and Napier is a nice quite friendly place, feb and the place is packed (still friendly) but the art decco thing draws a global audience. (must see thing the art decco weekend)

As far as the kids hanging around Napier goes I guess it’s a case of perception, I’ve never had a problem, I have a big gob and I’m not the type to walk away, having said that, the pleasantest surprise is just how decent a lot of the kids around here are. The kids are big (must be the good food) you can easily mistake a 14 year old in a hood top for a man! Its just odd to see a six foot strapping person behaving like a 14 year old, the truth is that’s because he’s just a kid.

If you park your car and a group of guys are hanging around its probably more to do with the giant children and the national obsession with cars than it is with someone trying to rob you.

Oh did I mention the array of vineyards, astonishing food, amazing beaches (really really amazing beaches, all a short drive away) fantastic weather, the weather oh yes.

Lets talk about the weather, summer is hot it’s really really hot, the height of summer hits 30C'ish here, but that’s not like 30c in Europe. I’ve happily wondered around southern Greece in the height of summer (40C) of course with a hat and lots of screen, but really enjoyed it. In Hawke’s Bay I’ve had to head for the shade! There is a hugh difference between air temperature and radiated heat, something you become accustom to if you live here.

In my opinion it compares to the UK like this

NZ autumn = mild UK Summer
NZ spring = mild UK Summer
NZ summer = HOT
NZ winter = UK autumn/spring, an occasional frost and quite wet.

The housing is relatively poorly insulated so a winters day at 12c can seem really cold.

Back to crime, yup things get nicked from cars, yup you get people getting drunk and having a fight on a Saturday night (particularly in some Hastings lively night life spots). I note your from Nottinghamshire so you probably know Nottingham City Centre (a place I really enjoyed). Look at it like this, I’d bet my last penny that you get more problems in Nottingham city centre than you get in Hawkes Bay, just remember I’m comparing an NZ region to a UK city centre, sort of like comparing Nottingham City centre to Yorkshire!

I started this post by saying I was leaving the bay, so as I guess I should explain why, it’s the sheep, I’m really scared of sheep LOL.
Ok it's work really, I’m an electronics engineer and sadly the local engineering companies were so innovative that the big players (from France and the USA) bought them out and closed them down before they caused a problem. kiwi ingenuity I’m afraid, a 200 strong company can actually threaten a global!

I’m sorry I’m leaving, but I’m really looking forward o my new Job so I have no complaints other than I’ll miss the many new friends I’ve made here.

Bob

P.S In answer to your question about recommend places to live, Clive is lovely, my neighbour has two horses and room is plentiful since the recent ban on small sections, as proposed by the Clive Plan. (ie the council put a stop to 500m2 sections that began to spring up here). There are two blocks that are quite dense but apart from that the newer developments have around 3 acres, and rules to stop sub-division.

You can still get a 500m2 bare plot (on the last of the new development) for $160k if your daft enough to stomp up the cash! Just look out for the older house with some land around them, its much better value for your buck

[willsken]

Lovely post thanks. I loved Clive when we visited and for a while thought that was where we would end up, until Waipuk came calling!

[smitjo]

Fantastic, fantastic, fantastic!!!

Thanks for your wonderfully informative post and for reiterating our thoughts and experiences of the place after spending a very short time there! We both got a great feeling from the place and I am so glad that you love it too!!! We actually stopped in Clive to get some bread and couldn't stop laughing about the name - I mean who would call a place Clive? It would be really funny if we ended up living there! We just need to look at the prospect of getting jobs in the area, but it is by far our top NZ location to live!
Thanks once again for your brilliant post, it has helped us loads.