Auckland versus Christchruch to live in

jonnybravo

Heading to NZ on a WHV in July and trying to decide living in either of these two places. Auckland seems to have more jobs (am an accountant) but Christchurch seems like a nicer city to live in.

Anyone have any opinions?

mise

Wasn't that mad on either city. Lived in Auckland and it was ok, but found the city quite boring. Spent a couple of weekends in Christchurch and it wasn't much better.

If its an option for you, you should look into Wellington, which was by far my favourite city in NZ and regretted not living there rather than Auckland

Chet Zar

'Christchurch seems like a nicer city..' - interested to hear where you heard that?!

Granted I only spent a day there but I found it pretty dull - and seedy! The centre of the city is nice enough - statues everywhere and a park which is nice - but then when you walk away from the centre you start hitting massage parlours and fast food joints! There is a real English influence in terms of the statues of Captain Cook etc so it reminded me of an English town in the 1800s with 21st century life wrapped around it!

Other areas could be nice though but that was my impression.

FreeAnd..

Wellington is where its at...wouldnt wish being stuck in ChCh for too long on anyone

jank

Christchurch all the way!! If you come into CHCH on a bus, get off at the station and have a look around for an hour or so, you might be like, WTF? Is this it!

BUT CHCH isn't about how nice the city centre is (I agree it could do with a massive overhaul) or what the shopping is like (Riccarton is where the best shopping is), its about whats around it.

First of all you are on the coast with the south Pacific to the east. Get on a bus to summner and check it out. Surfing, fishing, sailing, you name you can do it there.

Secondly its the driest city in NZ. It rains a lot more in Welly and Auckland.
Sunshine hours too are higher than those other bigger cities.

Thirdly you are an hour and a half drive from more than half a dozen ski fields in winter. Cant do that in ANY other place in NZ (Maybe Queenstown!)

4th are the Post Hills, Awesome place to go hiking, mountain biking or just sit back and relax and take in the views.



5th, its flat, very flat so cycling is a dream for those who live there and commute to work.;)

6th Night life isn't as bad as its made out to be. Loads of cool little bars with different bands playing in each. If you want to drink vodka go to the Russian bar, if you like beer go to the German bar, they are right next to each other! You want metal, you can get that, you want Hard House you can have that too! Avoid most of the places on Manchester St.

7th Quality of life is second to none, a great place if you are thinking of living someplace long term.

8th Its the biggest city in the south Island. It has a pop of 350,000 so any service you want, you can get. Also South island > North Island!! So a great base to see other places

9th As above, you want to go away on weekend trips? right in a 3-4 hour radius you can be in a $hit load of places. West coast, Mount Cook, Wanaka, Kiakora, Dunedin $hit loads of ski fields.. etc

10th You wont met many plastic Paddy's. Now not trying to take anyone down but most of the Bondi crowd just want to get drunk and party, these are normally attracted to Queenstown or Auckland. Nothing wrong with that but if you want to do something different, experience NZ for what it is that you dont have to look far beyond CHCH.


As I said its not for everyone. If you just want to party then maybe its not for you but if you have an outdoorsy bone in your body or like to explore than let CHCH take you in and it will give you some great times (without the hangover!)

larsson7

Just arrived in Auckland and got permanent work, inwhich they will sponsor me, in first week.
I'm a recently qualified accountant, not sure on job market in Christchurch.
Just letting you know on job scene here anyway

Powerline

Most definately wellington is where it is at. A little bit windy but best city in New Zealand

danmanw8

I`ve only been to NZ as a Tourist and I didn`t like Wellington, I thought Christchurch was boring and Auckland was more interesting.

However....... Broadening the debate to North versus South Island I would go for the South Island every time! Therefore if you can get work in Christchurch it would be a better base for enjoying the wider New Zealand

WindSock

I never found trouble getting work in ChCh. It is quieter than Auckland but that's not too bad a thing. There are also less scumbags and trouble makers imo. There are always places and parties to go to. Kiwis love their BBQs at any time of the year and the city is a nice size, easy to get around.

There is more diversity of activities in the South Island and it's right on your doorstep in ChCh. I also love the botanical gardens in the city centre, and the Arts centre market. Oh I am missing the smells now

I couldn't live there for a long time as it is a bit quiet for me at times, but I did live there for 2 years and loved it for that time. I recommend it, but I haven't lived in Auckland, only visited so can't fully compare.

brendansmith

larsson7 wrote: »

Just arrived in Auckland and got permanent work, inwhich they will sponsor me, in first week.
I'm a recently qualified accountant, not sure on job market in Christchurch.
Just letting you know on job scene here anyway

OT: Whats the sponsering scene like in nz?

larsson7

Not fully sure as of yet. Only starting this week but they are only employing me on the presumption I will apply for 3 year work permit on top off WHV.
And to do so they will have to say they couldn't find anyone else for the job similar to Oz in that sense but apparently a lot easier to claim so here.
Whether I want to stay longer than a year or not is another story but to get the job I played along.

BraziliaNZ

Tauranga all the way, so much to see and do in the area, nice climate, ChCh gets really freezing as does Welli, and you can live in Mount Maunganui which is just outside T'ranga.. However jobs wont be as plentiful as it's not as big as the main cities.

Crumble Froo

Chet Zar wrote: »

Granted I only spent a day there but I found it pretty dull - and seedy! [

Seedy?!

Awesome post by Jank...

I've been living here 2 and a half years now and I love this place!

Particularly for me is the music, surf and skating scene, but im getting really excited about finally getting up the slopes this winter, spent the last few months using it as a base to do trips to timaru, nelson (gorgeous wee city) and dunedin (also awesome, but bloody cold. like living in the coldest parts of donegal, but closer to the arctic).

music-wise, there's usually something on at least 2-3 times a week that's interesting, there's quite active punk, thrash, metal, dub, r'n'b, drum'n'bass scenes...a nd i dont know much about any of the other scenes around here, but really, always something on, and a lot of talented artists around (the advantage of poor access to international musicians).

awesome city, i'd recommend it to anyone... my mate's over in a couple weeks from ireland (well, on her round the world tour) and i can't wait to show her round all the not-so-obvious spots that i know she's gonna love.

also, botanical gardens ftw! (though dunedin's are better)

jonnybravo

Thanks to everyone for getting back to me. Very helpful. Christchurch does sound like a cooler place to be cause of all the stuff that is so close to it but think Auckland might win cause it seems that theres alot more accounting jobs there. Thanks again. Can't wait to get to NZ now.