Anyone been to Auckland? I need filling in on it.

jozi

I've been thinking of going away for quite sometime and as my latest contract was due to finish up by the end of sept I was going to do something about it then. However my contract suddenly got cut short and I'm back to being unemployed again. Just before this happened I was talking with someone about the possibility of moving to NZ (specifically Auckland). She works for a big architectural company and they can't get enough staff and are very busy. Then I was let go and decide no harm in sending my cv.

Only thing is I've had little to no time to really look into this and whats involved with visa's, salaries, what it's like over there etc and now they are talking about setting up a skype interview next week.

Can some one give me a bit of an in-sight as to what it's like over there to live, is it expensive (compared to Dublin), what constitutes a decent enough salary to live on (and maybe save some), whats accommodation like to find and is it expensive, whats the weather like, nightlife, etc there's prob more I just can't think of it now.

Cookie_Monster

Auckland is just like Dublin or any other big city IMO. It's not particularly nice, the traffic is horrific, the weather really good and it's REALLY expensive.

House prices are insane and heading the same way Ireland went and rent reflect this. Be prepared to either live a long way out, in an awful house (many NZ house are way way below standard) or pay a fortune in rent.

Salary wise... I suppose in AKL you'd want over $60-70k NZD a year to be comfortable from a professional career type role.

jozi

Thanks for your reply, thats not really giving me a very good outlook on what it's like over there but I appreciate your reply all the same (and not painting a pretty picture of it I guess).

Whats the city like for cyclists, is it comparable to Dublin in this respect? Public transport?

Would 60k+ be a unreasonable salary to be getting from most jobs or is it something hard got? I'll be looking for work as a architectural technologist, 70k seems to be the upper end really from what I can gather - these things are not easy to find out, or I havent found where to look for them!

Brussels Sprout

Have you considered Christchurch? Much smaller than Auckland. Completely flat so brilliant for cycling. Close to both the Alps (skiing) and sea. Should be loads of work as well given that they're rebuilding after the earthquake.

listermint

Didnt find Auckland terribly big. Also didnt like it, however i was only there over a week. The place felt a tad bleak and dull. I was there in the autumn time and it was obviously quite cold there which added to my outlook of the place.

Not big, very expensive, not a ton to do in the city itself. Couldnt wait to leave.

jozi

Not really looked into Christchurch really, not yet anyhow. Auckland because I got chatting to someone and there might be a chance of work there for me, thats the main reason I haven't really looked beyond Auckland.

drumswan

Christchurch was a dump before the earthquakes, avoid if at all possible. Wellington is streets ahead of every other city in NZ for quality of life. Its a fantastic city. The CBD is small enough to walk end to end in 45 minutes and the bus system is excellent.

Weather is rough enough through the winter, its windy and wet, but the summer is nice. Decent accommodation is hard to find and quite expensive. Housing is poorly built and doesnt come with central heating (!). The nightlife is vibrant and edgy, especially if you are into good food, music, the arts or craft beer.

The recruitment agencies produce annual reports of salaries for IT, maybe they do similar for your end.

MrCreosote

I would disagree with a couple of the posters. I find Auckland in general pretty nice, although it does depend on where you're living. In general the Eastern suburbs are better. Weather is pretty good, and there's great access to the harbour, beaches and outdoors. Not much going in in the city centre after 6, although it's much better than even 10 years ago. It's expensive though. Rent is the biggest problem at the moment, and the houses are generally unfurnished and of atrocious quality across the country.

You asked about cycling and public transport. Public transport in Auckland is poor but slowly improving, and depending on where you live and work can be ok. It's built for the car though. A 1k walk down Queen Street takes about half an hour because of waiting and waiting for the pedestrian lights. Beautiful green areas have been turned into 8 lane traffic jams.

Cycling is a disaster too considering how good the city should be for it. Zero cycling facilities, aggressive drivers, no harbour crossing and on and on. Recreational cycling can be ok at the weekend, but commuting is a real battle. Driving standards in NZ are pretty pathetic, and the level of aggression against cyclists is shocking. Even the mountain biking is out of town in Auckland. I think the Guardian featured Auckland as a city where cycling facilities were inexcusable poor a couple of years ago, and not much has changed since then.

I'd second what drumswan said about Wellington. Easily the most liveable city, good public transport, very walkable and the cycling is not too bad once you get over the wind and hills (character building you could say). The weather's not as bad as people made out. It's a bit separated from the rest of the country though, and as we were reminded this week, always the risk of a quake which would wreck the city as badly as it did Christchurch.

I wouldn't consider Christchurch myself, unless you're there for the rebuild. It's expensive, housing is hard to get and expensive after the quake and the city centre looks fairly forlorn with all the knocked buildings. It'll make a comeback for sure, but it's 5-10 years off yet.

CommanderC

The weather in Wellington is terrible. Cold, rainy and windy from March through to November. I'm going back home to NZ in Feb and I just won't be going back to Wellington coz of this. Night life in Wellington is good but coz of Vic uni and Massey uni there are soooo many very young students about, to the point where I felt like my olds when I was out there at 23/24 years of age. There's lots of outdoor stuff to do in Wellington which is a plus (if you are into that kinda thing).

on_my_oe

I've lived in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, plus a few smaller places you'd struggle to locate on a map.
Auckland isn't great for cyclists, plus you'd pedal forever before you got where you wanted to go. If you do go there, you want to be careful on where you live, as you'll be socialising more locally than heading into the centre of the city. On the North Shore around Takapuna/Devonport, in the Centre, Ponsony, Herne Bay, Remuera, Mt. Eden or Newmarket, and or if you go out East, Howick/Dannemora.
Christchurch, I love, its my emotional home, but its gone from being very liveable (especially to cyclists) to crap, and its the fault of the earthquake. Oh, and some politicians that are dna matched to some of Ireland's less than finest. The CBD is broken and thats where most of Christchurch did their socialising, so the entertainment heart of Christchurch is more than dented. Workwise you should be great, but you'll feel like you've been mugged in Ballymun for the rent you'll pay there.
Wellington's great, but again, you need to be close to the CBD - I wouldn't recommend cycling there much. You'll do the Wicklows every day, and you'll have strong legs and lungs, but you'll be shattered.
I'm not sure what the job situation would be for you in Hamilton, but I'd suggest that - very liveable, great social scene, and you're able to go away for epic weekends on the Coromandel, or down Taupo, or the Hawkes Bay, or shoot through Auckland up north to the Bay of Islands.
Ignore Dunedin - its like a small version of Dublin or Edinburgh, and Invercargill has the dubious reputation of everyone being related to each other. In a bad way.
Oh, and you'll need a car and licence no matter where you go. NZ doesnt do public transport well.

joe90

I would recommend Hamilton aswell.

Cookie_Monster

joe90 wrote: »

I would recommend Hamilton aswell.

you'd be the only one :pac:

laserlad2010

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

you'd be the only one :pac:

Haha, don't know whether to agree with that or cry.

Hamilton isn't awful, it's a great location to stay in contact with Auckland (90mins), Raglan (30mins), Mt. Ruapehu (3hours) and Mt. Manganui (2hours ish).

Town isn't that bad, the Base matches any Shopping Centre at home, nightlife is grand and concentrated so if you don't like one pub you can leave for the next.

Would I choose it as a long term base?

No. But thats because I miss Ireland so bad I can't sleep

Mrs OBumble

laserlad2010 wrote: »

Hamilton isn't awful

Yeah, I guess it's better than Roto-vegas.


Mooo ......

DoozerT6

Seems to be a nation-wide phenomenon in NZ that the houses are not up to Northern Hemisphere standards, in other words, not insulated, no double glazing, very often no form of central heating. Which is weird because a lot of NZ can be quite temperate, like Ireland, especially the South Island. Wherever you go, definitely make sure the accommodation meets the standards YOU would like, otherwise it could be a cold, cold winter.....wearing thermals in bed!

kelzer

I found Auckland to be a mixed bag. The places that I enjoyed the most were mostly in the suburbs. These were Parnell, Mount Eden, Ponsonby, Takapuna. These all seem to be yuppish areas but fun.

The city has a very suburban feel to it. Urban sprawl has meant that there's no real heart to the city where people go to socialise. So there are many areas that people hang out. As a result I found that there's nowhere that really feels busy and there's a slow pace to most areas.

Transportation is average. It certainly is a city of car lovers with public transport an afterthought. It is improving though. I found the inner link bus service very good and reliable. Also there is a big electrification of rail project happening at the minute with old rail cars being replaced with brand spanking new ones. With the projected increase of population, public transport will keep improving but is still far behind comparable cities in Australia.

The housing there is really poor. Can't over state this enough. There are some great places to visit nearby like the Waitakere ranges if you're into hiking, Matakana village, Coromandel, Waiheke Island etc.

I'm considering a move to Auckland myself early next year, but torn between there and Wellington. I'm put off somewhat by Wellington's size, weather and distance from other areas.

Anyone living in Auckland currently that can sway me to the city of sails?

Matt Simis

I only spent a week in Auckland, but found it enjoyable and clean. However what you comment on the lack of a centre or heart is bang on, I asked some locals about it and they said like you did, its too large and spread out. Parnell is very nice indeed but clearly $$$$ area.
Wellington on the other hand is nicely compact and (again short term impression) instantly felt more familiar and city-like, just on a scale that means you can walk about it.

Auckland, while pretty, kinda felt like walking about a city after a major outbreak of some disease, even family commented on the photos, it was just that big and empty looking in parts (but not at all run down, very nice visually, just surreal).

Testament1

kelzer wrote: »

I'm put off somewhat by Wellington's size, weather and distance from other areas.

I'm in Wellington at the moment for a short visit before heading back to Aus. I definitely wouldn't let Wellingtons size put you off, it's a small enough place really and to be honest I found it a little underwhelming after coming here from Sydney. But I'm not a big fan of cities anyway, have always preferred the countryside.