We are heading back up north....

...well the North Island anyway!! We have decided after a week in Wellington that it really isn't where we see ourselves settling so we have decided to head to Tauranga which we really liked when we were staying there a couple of weeks back. Not sure what it is about Wellington that doesn't 'float our boat' apart obviously from the weather at the mo ::) (Joke! we didn't come here for tropical weather or anything, just could have done without all the unseasonable rain!) We have had a good look round the city and the suburbs, but neither of us can see ourselves living and working here - don't get me wrong its a wonderful city in a beautiful location, but to me its just that, a city, and that's not what I wanted from NZ - I had this rose tinted vision of us living in a rural location but being really close to city centre - while this is no doubt possible, in reality I think what I want is smaller town living.

I know Tauranga is a really up and coming city and likely to develop over the next few years but something about it just clicked for us. There is no way we want to head back to UK not having given the NZ life a go now that we have experienced just a fraction of it - we love it here! Got some viewings booked in for rental properties early next week (I'm flying up on Monday with the kids and hubby is driving our newly purchased car up - even buying that was a doddle - only problem was getting UK bank to do the transfer of funds!! NZ banks seem much more user friendly - had no hassle opening account here)

So are there any other folk on here in Tauranga/Bay of Plenty area? Would be good to find out some 'insider' info on the area.

No doubt I will 'ramble' on here again soon xx

Love n best wishes

The Moos xx

Great to hear from you, Maggie. ?Good luck with your decision to live in the BOP area. ?

I think Driver is there now, but she hasn't posted on here since she let us know she'd arrived. ?Guess she's got a lot on her plate with settling in and getting a business up and running. ?Perhaps if you walk around with a notice stating 'MovetoNZ' stuck on your forehead, she might just come up and introduce herself if you happen to be in the same spot one day. ?But there again, she might not if she's a bit reserved about being seen speaking to people who walk around with notices stuck on their forehead.

Taffy and WG used to live in that area when they first arrived in NZ. ?Thought it was lovely, but Taffy found it difficult to find a job in his line there, so they moved on.

Hi Maggie,

We loved the BOP area. Rental prices seem really good for your money.

We are hoping to settle round that area for a while when we get across, only thing thats going to stop us is work.

We're both in IT and want contract work and there isn't much of that going around.

I've registered with a few agencies and emailed a few of the bigger firms who are keeping our CV's on file.

When we were looking it seems there was more tradesmen work and specialised work.

This might change of course....

Good luck with the viewings, hope it all goes well for you :icon_biggrin: