Locations Locations which one?

Thanks for that info Shelchie, We like the look of it from what we have seen on line. We will have to take a good look around when we visit in September.

Hi saraian,

My brother moved to Nelson 18 months ago, having been on a 6 week prospecting "holiday" previous. They were open to going anywhere North of Chch or anywhere on the North island. They chose Nelson for its climate & the character of the area. I think Mac's Brewery also had a bearing too!

As far as jobs fo Nelson seems quite healthy for the size of it, check out www.nelsonmail.co.nz for stuff. There is a low unemployment rate. As a place to live, we couldnt fault it (we went for Christmas). Abel Tasman NP is an hour away, skiing is the same, Nelson itself is a decent size, then you have stoke, richmond, wakefield etc heading inland. Our impression was that Nelson was laid back rather than sleepy. Plenty of good restaurants & bars. www.Harlequin.co.nz is a good guide with a fantastic mapping system for the whole area.

Property prices vary alot from areas to area. Elevated section properties in Richmond being the most expensive, $500k is common, while Motueka (midway between Nelson & Abel Tasman NP) under $100K for something that wont fall down when you sneeze is possible.

If your looking at Chch, I am told that the Oxford area (north west of Chch) is a good area.

It looks as though we will be heading out there too! in Sept 06 when my wife finishes her nursing course.

Good Luck


Nick & jacky

Thanks for the web site Nessie. There is some quite informative stuff on there.

Phill

Nick and Jacky

Thank you so much for all that information, I'm very grateful. We are much in the same mind as your brother then, anywhere north of Christchurch would work for us. Stay in touch and we could meet up in Neslon we will be there in September too!

Thanks again

Sara

Just realised you said Sept 2006 never mind we might still be there!

I think you will probably find the towns there a lot different to the pictures you have in your mind, we very surprised to find Westport which has a population of less that 4000 which is smaller than the village we live in (2 garages, 2 restaurants, 2 shops, 3 pubs), but it had dozens of shops, garages, campsites etc, it felt like a town many times larger. Same with Christchurch, the suburbs seem to go on forever. Although the towns are a lot smaller, there have much more facilities that a comparable British town.
Even a "town" as small as 400 you could expect a shop and a pub. Haast township has 300 and had a motel, shop, fish & chip shop, garage and probably a lot more that we didn't notice.

[quote:4e6b934ee9="moggy"]Same with Christchurch, the suburbs seem to go on forever. [/quote:4e6b934ee9] Oh Moggy, you make it sound so appealing! Urban sprawl is one thing I want to flee, so I doubt Xchurch is the place for me.

go to the west side of the South Island. :icon_lol: Hermit land!!! My dad wants to go there. :icon_eek: icon_exclaim.gif I'm sure the scenery is to die for, but I have to have people around me. :icon_eek: icon_exclaim.gif

I don't mind a moderate population center, or well done growth, but have been chased by urban sprawl since I was small. Been to the NZ west coast - it's even more remote than where we are now. You definitely need to look in the dairy shelf if you want some culture ;-) Gorgeous, though.

One of my tasks this week is to look into NZ's projected growth for the next 10 & 20 years. I know some areas are growing quickly, and hate to find myself adrift in asphalt & housing tracts yet again. If anyone's interested, I'll post a bit of info when I get it.

We have been in Nelson for just over a year now and have settled really well. We had a year up in Whanaparaoa (Nth of Auckland) prior to coming down south.

Nelson is just the right size. Lots to do, but you can escape to the countryside very easily. I regularly pop out on my MTB in my lunch hour and within 5 mins I cant see any houses just hills and trees. It is a real stress buster.

On career opportunities, there is little. Salaries are poor and it is very much a lifestyle choice to live here if you do not have the capital to be mortgage free. Sunshine wages are frequently mentioned with lots of people earning less than $30k (how do they cope??)

Nick and Jacky, I think that you need to look again at prices, lots of properties in Mot are leasehold and the ones under $100k are nearing the end of their lease.

There are hot spots around Nelson and less fashionable areas. There is a little bit of snobbery in Nelson as to where you live, with a little of the British mentality. I did not see this up North.

50,000 is the population of Nelson Stoke and Richmond. The airport serves the town very well with regular flights to all major NZ centres, but it can still feel a little isolated.

We love it here and feel very lucky to be able to live here.