Wellington or Auckland?

kelzer

I'm going to be hopefully moving to NZ in 2012. I'm a bit split by which city to move to - Auckland or Wellington. I've been to Auckland before for a few days in 2005 but found it a bit grey and bland. I was mightily jet lagged though!

I know Wellington has a reputation for being hip, trendy and generally a more livable city but I've never been there so don't have first hand experience. Auckland does have the lion's share of jobs in my field (IT), but from my research Welly has opportunities as well.

Would welcome people's thoughts and experiences of both places?

Cookie_Monster

What about anywhere else?

Wellington is windy as fuck. Most Kiwi's I know here think it's a million times better than Auckland though

Mrs OBumble

If you were moving to Ireland, would you go to Dublin or Cork? It's not the same, of course, but there are a surprising number of parallels.

pclancy

Wellington isnt windy every day But yeah it gets wild weather sometimes which makes it interesting for pilots I personally also thought Auckland was quite bland in some ways and without a defined nightlife centre. Its like its trying to be Brisbane but failing. I'd say its a lovely place to live and warmer then Wellington for a lot of the year. Also has easy access to the gorgeous tropical north with the Bay of Islands etc not that far away.

Wellys got a great music, art, theatre and cafe scene and is really easy and cheap to get around. Regarding IT jobs all the big boys are here: HP, IBM, Oracle, Unisys, Fujitsu, Microsoft, Datacom etc so there is always going to be work for you here and I got a job in no time.

I'd say why don't you just spend a bit of time in both cities for a while when you get here and check them out in personl its hard advise people which is better because different people want different things from their city. I personally love the fact there are amazing views all over Wellington and the harbour is close for watersports. Lovely beaches and scenic walks and its handy to jump on the ferry to go down to the South Island for the weekend.

kelzer

Thanks for your thoughts on Wellington pclancy. I'm planning on taking a trip down in early May to check both areas out. Would love to hear some positive thoughts on Auckland. I've heard the same negative comments usually from visitors, though not people who actually live there who might have a different view altogether.

Cookie_Monster

positive from me: only stayed a day on arrival but a quick trip around the CC and it was nice enough, lots of traffic but aside from that the port area is kinda cool, done up for the rugby and real trendy bars etc there now. It's a maritime city which I always like, decent transport suburban trains etc.

Can't say a whole lot more though as didn't hang around too long.

Mrs OBumble

Auckland can be very, very different depending on where you live and work. Find a job before you find accommodation, then you can match the two up and not spend forever commuting.

North Dublin = South Auckland in terms of, umm, diversity of neighbourhoods. If you get my drift.

Crumble Froo

Have to say I could be just overly influenced by too much time in the south island, but definitely not an auckland fan. I'd much rather live in Wellington, though I'm not a big fan of the place itself - more the people and vibrancy that the people bring than the place itself.

South Island fan, personally, I'd much rather live in Christchurch, Dunedin, or even Nelson (though too many flesh eating bugs for my immune system).