Hello,

I’m considering a move to New Zealand, partly for work, partly for the riding. Queenstown would be the ideal, but there isn’t much in the way of work there for a civil engineer (contractor), so looking for some other compromises.

Currently looking at Christchurch (plenty of work there) – has anyone had any experience of living/riding here?

Are there any other areas people would recommend for a decent work/riding balance?

Cheers,
Lawrence

Rotorua?

There are some good trails in Christchurch but they are currently building this:
http://readnow.isentia.com/ReadNow.aspx?1gKM8uyZtbD

One of the recruiters mentioned the Port Hills park, ideal situation would be a job building (and then surely testing…) that!

Wellington?

I envy you. Rotorua or Taupo would be my choices, but I’ sure most places would.be pretty cool.

I’m out here right now… though this is my ‘get over not emigrating here in 2014’ trip

I went to Woodhills in Auckland today, looks like a lot of fun. Different to the majority of UK riding. Heading to Rotorua on the weekend, where the riding looks ace.

Queenstown is my favourite place ever, but I can’t see much call for your skills there. Which is a shame as the riding looks like great fun.

Auckland has lots of construction work going on here, so you’d easily be picked up here

Christchurch. Good riding and a town that actually has soul.

STAY SOUTH!

The South Island is like they took Scotland and stretched it out and made it bigger and threw in a few thousand more bogans and rednecks. Lots of small towns. Very parochial.

Watch “Top of the Lakes” before you go.

The North Island cities are a bit more representative of Kiwiland as a whole. But at the end of the day, you are still 3 hours on a plane from the nearest alternative form of civilization, a role which in this case is filled as best as it can, by Australia.

Weird. I’d say Auckland is redneck central, especially West Auckland. Awful place. South Island is the real NZ.

It is THE South Island, the main islands don’t have formal English names, (although you can use the Maori names) hence the definite article. Get that detail right if you want to have any credibility that you have spent more than five minutes in the place.

Christchurch. Good riding and a town that actually has soul.

Had, previously.

For work/riding balance with job opps then you will find engineering ops in ChCh and Wellington mainly. Depends what type of engineering. Be aware ChCh is v expensive to rent in just now due to significant lack of accomodation and they had another 6.4eq yesterday so get used to that feeling. You’re likely to get work in any of the major cities if you have a work visa. Riding from the door = wellington.

*sigh* I do miss it in some ways

Taupo was my favourite place in the North and it’s not far from Rotorua. I wouldn’t want to live in Rotorua because of the smell. I only arrived on the South Island yesterday though, so not seen much of that yet.

Lar89 – Member

…Queenstown would be the ideal, but there isn’t much in the way of work there for a civil engineer (contractor)

are you sure? – there’s loads of building work around Queenstown, even i got offered a civil engineering job, and i’m not a civil engineer.

(i know ‘building’ does not equal ‘civil’, but there was loads of work focusing on river defenses, bridges, roads, pipelines, etc.)

Don’t tell anyone, but Nelson is going off on the riding scene.

Taupo was my favourite bit of civilisation in NZ when I visited, but the chances of you finding work there are smaller. Rotorua has some decent riding but as a town is grim, and not just for the smell.

Wellington is a truly fantastic city, with brilliant riding from the door regardless of where you are in the city, and it’s not that long a ferry ride to the top of the south island for some variety. My wife is on about living somewhere else for a few years and I’m trying to convince her that there or somewhere in western Canada would be best.

hels – Member

It is THE South Island, the main islands don’t have formal English names, (although you can use the Maori names) hence the definite article. Get that detail right if you want to have any credibility that you have spent more than five minutes in the place.
Posted 1 hour ago # Report-Post

Oh dear, what a tool. Someone has a different opinion and toys get thrown. Get the detail right about other peoples time in NZ and experiences if you want any credibility (if you need credibility from some random trying to own people on a forum) that you have engaged your brain and made assumptions about other peoples experiences and time there. You’d feel very at home in West Auckland I suspect..

Anyway back to the answer, my wife who is a civil engineer says that indeed you might get work in QT. It depends if you just want a job for money or a job for a career and what visa you have.

Thanks for the responses.

I’ll look into Wellington as that certainly sounds like a reasonable option.

I shall also look again at Queenstown if there’s work going on there. The recruiter I’ve been talking to thought it was unlikely but he just might not cover that area.

Visa wise I was recommended to get the year working holiday visa, as it’s easy to get and should be sufficient for what I want. I envisage myself going for 6-12 months, so I’m not looking to get into a serious career, but I do want something that gives reasonable experience and doesn’t look like a big hole in my CV. My main motivation is to experience somewhere different while not hindering my career (when I return to the UK) too much, so it needs to offer good riding/scenery and a reasonable job else its not worth doing.

Cheers,
Lawrence

Yep, I got that visa and it’s easy to sort. I was a field engineer so travelled around the country and took my bike with me.

I reckon Wellington will be your best bet. Access to North and South easily enough.

Try the trails at Taupo though. I helped build them.. Especially the main trail from Taupo to Huka Falls.

The only issue I found with working holiday visa etc was being taken seriously as they may look to people with more long term opportunities.

We really enjoyed that trail from Taupo to Huka Falls, ChunkyMTB. We didn’t ride much else as we went rafting and kayaking instead. Would have liked to have gone to Craters, might stop there on the way back up to Auckland. We’re in Nelson at the moment, only been here for 2 days and not found the MTB park yet, but enjoyed cycling out to Rabbit Island and along the river in the Matai valley, very scenic. I wasn’t a big fan of Wellington. Makara Peak was good, but some of the other stuff was just silly gradients (Mt Vic/Zealandia fence line), maybe I just need to get fitter. Plus it was too windy.

I had a decent ride in Wellington, although as Suzie says some of the gradients were silly steep, and I live in the Peak District

We stayed with a pleasant couple who were friends of a friend. The lady of the house got very defensive every time anyone mentioned how windy Wellington can be. We could hardly stand at one point, but apparently that’s not windy 🙂

Susie – Member

We really enjoyed that trail from Taupo to Huka Falls, ChunkyMTB. We didn’t ride much else as we went rafting and kayaking instead. Would have liked to have gone to Craters, might stop there on the way back up to Auckland. We’re in Nelson at the moment, only been here for 2 days and not found the MTB park yet, but enjoyed cycling out to Rabbit Island and along the river in the Matai valley, very scenic. I wasn’t a big fan of Wellington. Makara Peak was good, but some of the other stuff was just silly gradients (Mt Vic/Zealandia fence line), maybe I just need to get fitter. Plus it was too windy.

Craters of the Moon is a good little trail, if a little stinky in places sometimes. Loads more trails in the area since I was there.

The hot pools in Taupo are a good way to ease the muscles.

^^^^This.

What’s the easiest way to convince the other half to abandon ties and move there? Chloroform and a prebooked ‘plane ticket?

I live in Wellington and it’s a good mix of riding vs job opportunities. That said if you can score a job in Queenstown go for it. I was there over Christmas for 3 weeks (family has a bach there) and I saw two signs looking for engineers so worth a look? Try seek.co.nz and trademe.co.nz for job hunting.

Back to Welly, there’s heaps of riding literally from your front door. This is my commute:
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQmE-ZSrsTM[/video]

It’s a 5-6 hour drive to Rotovegas for a long weekend of shuttles/gondy action and internal flights are reasonably cheap if you book in advance to Queenstown.

As someone mentioned above Nelson is another great spot, much better climate than here, a great craft brewery scence and epic riding! If only they’ve built Wellington on that side of the cook strait!