My OH is a returning kiwi (wellington born) and he said he didnt want to live somewhere cold and so we took a month out last November and took a week in each of place (whakatane, tauranga, thames, paihia) going from the eastern end of the bay of plenty through and up to Northland. We tried each place out living in a rented fully furnished house like the locals not as a holiday and toured the towns and outer areas viewing property and streets, etc. Using supermarkets and local shops (love the grocers, bakers, butchers etc just like old times here in the UK) and cooked at home making each place our home for the time we were there. We found that out of all the places we saw and lived in ,Whakatane was the place for us in that its small enough to be a community but big enough to get everything you need. Also the climate was just what we are looking for and the networking was a lot easier as we joined in the community acitivities that were happening at the time and through that an our neighbours we came away with a number of friends who we talk to on a regular basis now that we are back. As we are retiring there it maybe is different reasons that we like it, but i may be tearing my hair out after a few months of lotus eating and will probably be looking for a part time job. I was offered work before i left by people we met at a leaving party that our neighbours had for us. Anyway when we get back to NZ (hopefully by September 2008) we will be moving in to the house we left as the owners (a great couple) have offered it to us to rent at much better rate than they charge for holiday let, for as long as we need it and waking up to face the Pacific Ocean every morning will not be an arduous task until our container arrives with all our furniture and we find somewhere more permanent to live.
