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1. jamesca - Member

   I know this has been covered many times before but what the hell one last time....

   I have a telephone interview on Tuesday for a highway engineer role in Hamilton; whilst I have looked into living in NZ I hadn't refined my search to a specific area.

   Anyway does anyone have opinions on Hamilton and surrounding area, what the biking like? cost of living? What areas should I be looking to live in, want something quite near the city but not too crowed. The job pays in the region of $90,000 is this a good liveable wage for NZ.

   Guess the most important question is what bike, my stiffee or demo 8.....might get both shipped but depends on cost.

   Thanks for any advice
   James

   Posted 2 years ago #
2. z1ppy - Member

   This forum is always mentioned if you want more info direct from NZ:
   http://www.vorb.org.nz/rez_display.php?c=3&mode=posts

   Posted 2 years ago #
3. trail_rat - Member

   spent a fair chunk of time around hamilton - girlfriends aunt and uncle work there and live in cambridge - which is a nice place !

   There are plenty towns round hamilton its self to choose from - just pick one near some riding

   have you got kids ? they will love it out there - and will be so much better off than in the uk for sport

   Posted 2 years ago #
4. pomona - Member

   Hamilton is the Chlamydia capitol of NZ.

   Posted 2 years ago #
5. Surf-Mat - Member

   It's near a World class surf spot! Not sure about Hamilton itself (only passed through) but the surrounding area is lovely.

   Posted 2 years ago #
6. hels - Member

   Thats not a bad wage by NZ standards, about 40K here and it goes a lot further in NZ, unless you have a habit of spending money on fancy imported goods.

   Hamilton tho - hmm, it's a biggish town, not too far from the biggest city Auckland, good climate, can get to the ski-fields at Turangi easily enough, lake Taupo and Rotorua etc. But in all honesty it's a toilet. NZ manages to take the small town mentality and when the towns get bigger it just gets magnified.

   I don't fancy it but you might find it exotic and interesting ! Best bits of NZ are the cities and the really really out of the way places.

   Oh yeah and it's inland so don't bother packing your surfboard.

   Good rugby team tho.

   Posted 2 years ago #
7. slimtubing - Member

   "the Tron" as we like to call it over here is a bit of a poor cousin to the other north island cities; this isn't to say its a bad place it just suffers from being close to the country's only real city Auckland.
   There is some good riding a cuople of hours from Hamilton and although I rarely go there I'm sure it has a vibrant Mtb scene like most other major NZ towns. on a personal note I'd go for the stiffee, not much mountainous stuff near there although Rotorua is not far away which has world class DH runs and miles of top quality singletrack.
   90 grand will keep you comfortably over here, cars are cheap and petrol is currently about 90p a litre. pint costs you about 3 quid so no change there, eating out is excellent value here compared to the UK with some seriously good restaurants offering a big rangre of cuisine.
   Super markets are currently dumping 2008 Villa Maria/ Montana/ 5 Flax chardys, pinot gris and savvy blancs for as little as 4.50 pouinds its rude not to buy a bottle every other night!!
   Coffee culture is massive over here as is awful american tv and sadly a rather unfortunate racist undercurrent.
   Still I love it here and will probably never return to the UK as its a great country to raise kids.
   Good luck, I'd say givr it a nudge, I've not met many who've3 come here and regretted it.

   Posted 2 years ago #
8. hels - Member

   Surf mat - near what major surf spot ? Coromandel ?? Still a fair drive...

   Posted 2 years ago #
9. anagallis_arvensis - Member

   Raglan is a the world class surf spot, my brother lives there, its a lovely little place. Hamilton itself just seems like a fairly dull large town. No idea about biking but would imagine its OK. I'd avoid the mining areas north of Hamilton as places to live (Huntley area).

   Posted 2 years ago #
10. hels - Member

    Is Raglan near Hamilton ? I could have sworn it was west of Auckland ? But I think I was drunk when I went there.

    Posted 2 years ago #
11. slimtubing - Member

    You're probably thinking of Piha.

    Posted 2 years ago #
12. trail_rat - Member

    raglan is about 1.5/2 hrs in the motor from cambridge - lovely place though

    Posted 2 years ago #
13. hels - Member

    Aye probably - did a tour of all the surf spots in the North Island when I was 16 with friends during school holidays. Its a bit of a blur.

    Posted 2 years ago #
14. Surf-Mat - Member

    Raglan is about 30 miles from Hamilton - yes the roads aren't the best but that's pretty close! Piha is just up the road.

    Had some classic waves at Raglan and it wasn't even crowded!

    Posted 2 years ago #
15. jamesca - Member

    sounds like it might be okay, but not sure if i should hold out for something in auckalnd.

    Chlamydia is not a big issue as i'm moving with my GF but it's always good to know. it being close to winter sports is a good thing.

    i guess the thing is if i don't like it i can always come back as i love old blighty anyway so nothing will be lost

    Posted 2 years ago #

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