Hi Caz,
Welcome to the forum
You're right, IT jobs can be very hard to find in Tauranga, and the ones that are available come with terrible pay. The best job I got offered in Tauranga (i'm in IT too) was for $20k per year, so we moved to Hamilton instead!
Auckland is OK if you dont mind big city living, but Wellington is a good choice for IT, then Hamilton on the North Island. Christchurch is also a major IT centre if you fancy the South Island.
Haven't been to a jobs fair so can't help you on that one sorry
Good luck with your plans anyway, and hopefully we'll see you around on the forum
