Urgent advice required! Wellington v Auckland

[Boogie pants]

Hi everybody,

We are having a bit of a dilemma at the moment; my husband has already been offered a job in New Zealand. The contract finally arrived last week via email with the job due to start at the beginning of June and the location stated as Wellington. We were both ecstatic and about to send it all off signed etc. when he received an email last night advising us that they want to discuss moving to Auckland as a possibility. My OH called the recruitment consultant and asked what was happening; he told us that due to changes with staffing they were not sure where they wanted us to go. He then said that the HR guy from my OH's prospective employers will be calling tonight to chat to us about what we want to do and wher we want to go.

Neither of us have been to NZ and due to time constraints (need to know by tonight!! eek!!!) we are seriously stuck for time to research properly.

Basically I am wondering if you have any adivce for us? I know there is a big 'rivalry' between the two but would like to know what you all think?

If it helps here is a little about our interestes etc;
My OH is a keen surfer and big outdoors type, likes snowboarding and generally getting mucky outdoors when at all possible.

I love skiing, horse riding, diving, dog walking and am a big foodie.

We also have two Weimeraners that need lots of walking and we both like mountain biking.

Any advice or help would be very much appreciated!!

[ebianca]

Nothing like cutting it short.

I have never been to NZ myself but we are heading to Welli.

From what you say about your hobbies maybe Wellington as you are close to the South Island- good for skiing as well as having access to the North. There are certainly plenty of hills in Welli for walking.

One thing to bear in mind is that Auckland is more expensive to live than Welli when it comes to housing.

Sorry I can't be of too much help as I haven't been to either- can only advice on what my perspective of the areas is from speaking to people and looking on the web.

Beth

[ebianca]

Oh I forgot- congrats on the job offer by the way.

[Boogie pants]

Hi Beth,

I am thinking that Wellington seems more like where I would like to go. OH seems to be swayed a little by the "amazing surf breaks" that he has read about in Auckland. Both seem to have their merits though.

I am so excited but want to know where we are headed to in a few months!

Congrats on going at the end of March... I bet you cannot wait

Sarah

[MotherBear]

Hi Sarah,

Would it be possible that you could try out one of the cities first and, later on, be transferred to the other if you aren't that settled? It might be worth asking the HR person if that was an option seeing as they can't make up their own minds about where they want you. You could have 2 bites of the proverbial cherry then .

People seem to vary regarding their thoughts on Auckland. Some love it, some hate it. Probably the same goes for Wellie. As Beth says, Wellie is nearer to the SI and all that it has to offer. Both cities are on the water. I know there is snow in the centre of NI in winter but I'm not sure if there's skiing there.

Difficult choice and one I hope you can come up with an answer for. Good luck with it and well done to your hubby for landing his job AND a choice of which city to live in (although that may seem more of a curse at the moment than a blessing).

[muffin mum]

Ski New Zealand's largest skiing area - Mt Ruapehu.
The above is near Taupo. To be honest, I would say that where ever you end up for the job is where you will be. It is a way to get here. If you get to one of the cities, spend a couple of years there you will know where you want to be. Both have access to all the things you mentioned. I am probably late as I am on NZ time but all the best.

[Ginabridget]

I'm probably a bit late to reply too, but I'm biased towards Auckland, not the city itself but the surrounding areas, it would offer everything and more for the things you want out of the area you want to live your life. Amazing surfing at Piha and Raglan (a bit further south, but still do-able) and north at Managawhai. Saying that Wellington has an amazing coast surrounding it which will offer everything you need too. Mt Ruapehu is definitely the place to ski in the NI which is probably equal distances from Wellington and Auckland (bit of a guess, probably wrong about the distances). Loads of horse trekking and national park type areas all over the place.

As far as living in Wellington for access to the SI, I've found the inter-island ferry incredibly expensive with a car and family, I would probably choose to live a bit further north where there's less frost in winter (I don't do cold very well) and fly to whichever bit of the SI I wanted to see.

I'm a Northland girl at heart so am biased towards the 'winterless north' but wouldn't actually like to live in Auckland itself cos I'm more of a country-bumpkin.

I'm sure that where-ever you end up you'll have a fantastic adventure, I agree with Muffin Mum, once you've spent a couple of years in one place you'll know if it's for you, and you can always move again and have another advenutre.

Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Gina

[Boogie pants]

Thanks for getting back to me and offering your advice everyone. I thought I would update you all on what has happened with it so far;

They have said that they will probably move us to Auckland to begin with and then move us down to Wellington. We're not sure yet what the time time frames are for the propsed move to Welli but a year has ben bandied around.

We think this will suit us down to the ground as it will allow us to explore both areas and see which we like best in our own time. Also we have friends in Auckland which will be nice when we first arrive.

I really appreciate your comments.... it provided us with loads to chat about when trying to tackle the subject!!

Sarah x

[molly]

Hi Sarah

We started in Auckland as well and moved a year later down to the Kapiti Coast (near Wellington).

To make it short: I would NEVER move back to Auckland.

We have great outdoor options here and Wellington has everything (if not more) to offer that Auckland has.

Just one more remark: moving from Auckland to Wellington after one year, means that you have to start all over again. New friends, new environment, new everything. In the beginning I quite struggled with that. We just started to settle down, when we had to pack up and move down here.