Moving to Wellington in 3 weeks

Gralus

Hi Guys, I'm a 29 yr old male moving to wellington next month for the year +. My girlfriend will be arriving the following month.

I was just wondering if anyone has advice/tips on accommodation? I like to surf so being close enough to Lyall Bay would be a benefit but would also need to be close to the city as I hope to be working there (eCommerce). I hear NewTown and Mount Victoria are good options? Is a bike the most suitable way to get around if you live within 30 mins from the city?

Is there anyone on this who is living there and would like to meet up for a pint when I arrive? I don't know anyone in Wellington unfortunately. Also, if there are any people out there who enjoy surfing, would be great to get a surf buddy early on into my new adventures.

I plan on using the trademe website for accomodation/jobs (seek.co.nz) and will try out meetup.com for meeting new people. If there are any other sites that people use in Wellington, would be great to know them.

Anyways, really looking forward to touching ground onto Wellington soil and jumping into the atmosphere straight away.

Thanks.

Matt Simis

Cant really add anything, but Im heading there myself in about 6wks.. you can show me the ropes.

Cookie_Monster

welli has a decent bus system and good trains - limited routes though.

The CC is flat but the rest of the city is hilly as hell so could be a bit of an effort if cycling everywhere, that said Lyall to CC via the airport and around evans and oriental bay is flat as.

Gralus

Hi Matt - that's great - pm me when ur in Welly and hopefully by then I can be of some help.

Thanks Cookie Monster for the tips - Completely forgot about the hills haha.

CatFromHue

The hills are great and bad at the same time. I used to live up in Northland and so the walk home was a bit of a pig, I used to get the bus or tram most days. The walk down to town was great though lol!

Our place had a great deck that you'd an amazing view off. If you are looking for a place try and get one that has the sun in the evening, ours didn't so could get a bit cold.

MrCreosote

Newtown/Berhampore, Mt Cook, Roseneath, Mt Vic, Hataitai are all pretty good, close to town and decent bus service to all, and none more than 10min drive to Lyall Bay. Newtown can be competitive to rent in with the hospital there.

Personally I wouldn't live in Lyall Bay/Rongatai unless it was a new house or up on the hill. It's a very windy spot and one of the few slightly grim areas in Wellington. The beach is nice though!

Wellington is great for cycling in, don't worry about the hills- the wind is more of a problem. Plenty of cycle commuters now, I'd say the numbers have doubled in the last 5 years.

As for the surf- Lyall bay can be good, but it's usually a pretty crowded close out, and very windy. There's often a good break over by the airport end. There's a few other decent breaks on the south coast, but the best surf nearby is the Wairarapa coast which is a weekend trip unfortunately.

Gralus

Thanks MrCreosote - those places to live seem to be repeated through a lot of people I have talked with. Roseneath and Newtown look like my favourites.

Don't mind the weekend trips. I'm used to them from living in Dublin. Although I was hoping Lyall bay would be a good choice especially coming into summer with the brighter evenings.

I'll attach a kite to my bike to get up those hills if the wind is right.