Family of 4, oldest kid going to intermediate soon. We moved to NZ about 10 years ago from Europe.
We’ve been pondering with the idea to move somewhere within NZ. We love the outdoors and the beach, right now we’re not near a nice beach (Petone) For my work we have to be near a big city. Thought about CHC but there are much fewer IT contracts there. Auckland is an option but we think it’s too big for us.
Schools are also important, we want to live close to good intermediate / secondary schools.
While I like IT as it’s convenient and pays extremely well, it’s not super exciting. Then, I thought, what about a career change? A job as park ranger at DOC looks cool, however it would mean a big drop in salary. Could be manageable if we can get a cheaper house.
Also thought about starting my own business, but don’t have experience. I love making ice cream, not sure though I want to do that professionally.
Our latest idea is to move to Kapiti, as it’s a change of scenery and it’s close to nice beaches.
I still feel a bit stuck. Does anyone have tips?
Waikaenae could be an option, weathers better and not far away from welly. Another option could be try to get a fully remote job the move to anywhere you want :)
Yeah thinking about kapiti coast now. Ticks a lot of boxes. We were discussing Raumati and Paraparaumu, Waikenae is probably a bit too far from Welly for my liking.
I do IT work, mainly remote and the occasional business trip. Based near Masterton, so 1.5 hours to airports in either direction either Welly or Palmy. It’s big enough to have most of what I need, and close enough I can get anywhere quick enough. Housing is way cheaper. Quality of life and community feeling just way better for us. Recommended.
Thanks for your reply. We also like the Wairarapa, but we’ve now realised we’d like to be close to the sea. So think it will be the Kapiti Coast.
Fair call. Don’t think you can go too far wrong either way. Good luck.
Sounds like you’ve been going through many of the same thought processes we went through a year ago, we ended up moving to kapiti and brought a nice old place in paraparaumu. The commute into the city twice a week isn’t too bad (take a book) and the beaches are great, the weathers warm and there’s a few nice rivers for swimming around as well.
Easy access to the Tararuas and journeys north are much easier as well. There always seems to be crafty things happening, although we’ve been busy with Reno’s the last 6 months so haven’t had a ton of time to explore. Access to some of the best mountain biking in Wellington too if that’s your thing
Thanks! Looks like we’ve gone through the same process as we are now also looking at Kapiti. How are the schools, do you know?
Sorry don’t have kids so can’t tell you much about the schools!
We live in Hamilton now, but I think the scenery is better in the South Island. If you like the outdoors it’s worth considering the South Island. Christchurch is pretty well located to get out to a lot of outdoorsy places.
I’m pretty out of touch with the IT field now, but a few years ago there was a lack of experienced or senior level IT engineers in Christchurch. Lots of junior applicants but any good experienced senior level ones would get snapped up quickly. I’m not sure what it’s like now though.
Thanks for the tips. We’ve been exploring Christchurch and surroundings, and we prefer Wellington. Canterbury is quite flat when you go inland, and hiking areas seem to be sparse. We’ve lived in Welly for about ten years and still find new hiking trails.
I’ve quickly scanned Seek and there are only 15 or so open contract positions in CHC, and about 120 in Wellington. I’m not keen on permanent yet.
No worries mate, hope you find what you’re looking for!
Starting your own business is highly risky. If you are going to do that make sure you have a long runway so your family doesn’t suffer while you struggle to get off the ground.
I don’t know what IT field you are in but a lot of the fields would allow you to work remotely on a freelance basis. You can do that now while you are still working to get the hang of it. Once you are established then you can quit and move someplace else. Yes that will mean having two jobs for a while.
Thanks. Yeah, starting a business is probably not on the cards.
I have worked fully remote already via TopTal, and also worked fully remote in NZ. However it seems to become rarer as more companies ask / require people to come into the office more.
Rare sure but still thousands and thousands worldwide.
I’m running a small dev contracting company from the far north and we don’t have too much trouble finding remote-only work. My main client is 100% remote for their entire engineering and product teams.
Thanks, besides TopTal and Seek where would you recommend me to look for remote work?
I’ve used https://www.unicornfactory.nz in the past, have had most of our work from word of mouth though.
edit that is for contract work mostly. The other one is the Whose Hiring posts on hacker news - this website indexes them https://hnhiring.com
Awesome, thanks!
I love Waiheke. Housing had gotten expensive in last 10 years. But beautiful semi rural environment only 40 mins ferry from Auckland.
Thanks! Will look into it. How are the beaches? As we’ve concluded we’d like to live close to the sea.
Sorry for delay - beaches are great, and never far away on the island! There isn’t much surf but lots of ‘benign’ beaches.
Rotorua is awesome, the best place in nz for mountain biking. Close proximity to tauranga and taupo. I would live there if i could
