Hi Caz
We moved to Tauranga in June 06, after a quick scoot round the North Island to decide on a location to base ourselves in. My hubster is also in IT (he specialised in network support) - we did initially think that we would need to settle in Wellington or Auckland for jobs, but neither place really appealed to us. We loved Tauranga on a fleeting visit to it on the scoot round, so decided to make that our home - there aren't lots of IT jobs available, but hubster found one within 4 weeks of being there, and he was on a bit more than the $20k Taffy got offered!! - he was on almost $70k, which is a very good wage for Tauranga. (sorry Taffy!!) He was working for IT side of Telecom. After 5 months he got offered a programming and development role with a small consultancy company in Papamoa, also for around $70k, which he took as he wanted to expand his experience. So there are decent IT jobs out there in Tauranga, but they probably are harder to find, and its often a case of being in the right place at the right time.
We loved Tauranga because it's not a really big city, you are close to the beach, mountains, etc. It's got easy access to places like Auckland, Hamilton, Rotorua, and to the rest of the North Island. We have 3 children (two of whom were with us in NZ - they were only 21 months and 5 months when we moved over there - the other one was born in UK a couple of months after we returned) Tauranga is a very child friendly place, and if you are into outdoor sports and actvities, you will have lots of opportunities right on your doorstep.
Obviously we are now back in the UK, as we felt that NZ wasn't right for us long term. I miss Tauranga, I miss my lovely spacious house with the gorgeous views (S'alright Taffy, I won't do any more shameless plugs for it - except to say its STILL for sale!!

) and I miss all my wonderful friends.
If you want any more info on Tauranga or the IT situation there, please feel free to PM me - good luck with your planning and preparation for NZ
Maggie xx
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