Im moving to NZ, any info welcome!

gonzalovilaseca

Hi all,
I've decided to spend a year of my life in NZ, still have to determine which city i will be going to, but Im thinking of Wellington. I would like to ask any of you for suggestions as which is the best city to live from a cyclists point of view (climate, riders..etc). I would also like to know of any bike related bussiness in NZ where I could apply for a job.
Best regards,
Gonzalo

jimmy kazimmy

I have ridden around Sth Island. I reckon Nelson would be my pick of places to live. Best climate and good rides to Farewell Spit and down West Coat for extended trips. Riding around Christchurch is probably most flat area on Sth Island.

Ritch

Yeah, wellington's got wickedly good mountainbiking, so does nelson, and im biased cos i live here, so does Christchurch. From anywhere in town pretty much you're looking at no more than a 20 minute ride across town to get to the hills, and there's hours of riding up there... upto 500 metres of altitude, and lots of sidling sweet singletrack... if ya do chose chch, look me up. i'll show ya some trails.

gonzalovilaseca

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I won't be able to choose, as I will live in the city where I can find a job....I thought it was easier to find a job in NZ....if any of you know of a vacancy for an IT engineer please let me know!
Thanks,
Gonzalo

Ritch

Keep an eye on the nz jobs websites, especially the Govt ones.
http://www.jobs.govt.nz

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scottmj

I've lived in Auckland, Taranaki and Wellington in my time and ridden a bike around those places. I ride currently in Auckland around the North Shore primarily for commuting but enjoy the odd trip out to the forest and try to avoid the big hills :-)
My comments focus on mainly the roads around the locations and not any bike parks or anything like that.
I try not to hold any bias to any one place here are my comments:

Auckland - One third of the NZ's population lives here. Much traffic. Long distances between locations (usually). Not too many hills on roads. Some good cycling as there are many places to go and much ways to get there.

Wellington - Compact City - Many hills - Central hub of city and then spans out to several suburbs some being many kilometres away from City. Wellington up the Hutt Valley (Check your map) is mainly flat but can get boring doing the same ride over and over) - Can also be VERY windy (quite often).

Taranaki - Medium City - Variation of hills and roads. Not a big city so don't think you will find IT job there. Not much traffic.

I've also biked around Christchurch for a weekend. Christchurch is VERY flat and very nice for biking. Usually has good weather but can get exceptionally cold. Also get very smoggy too.

Hope this helps, and hope I'm about right. Although I think you are right when you say that you will have to live where you find a job. IT jobs are a bit tricky to get here unless you have a specific specialty.

Cheers
Matt

niwatori

i cycled the length of both islands in 2002, and chose to live in dunedin for a year... but you have to like the cold weather.
i think the very north of the south island is the best (for people who don't want to freeze)... gorgeous, but maybe not the best for jobs.
my favourite place in the north island is 'king country'.

my advice is: *NZ is tiny, so do a lap of both islands before settling, even if you have to do it on buses. it doesn't take long.
*auckland sucks (compared to the rest)
*you'll love wellington, everyone does. it's like perth... everyone who has been there says it's lovely. (just ride into the storm so you'll have a tailwind on the way home)
*wear a cycling jersey so you look hard-core, otherwise friendly passing motorists tend to try to rescue you.
*go to mount cook national park, no matter what kind of bike you have. the road in from the east follows the lakes, so it's not very steep (only here and there) and there are channels linking the alpine lakes that you can follow north. stunning.
) bel
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if it doesn't have wheels, it's broken.

rtol299

Auckland sucks unles syou live in Papakura or close to it thats becuase that is the toen that is the gate way to the country side. Riding in Urban Auckalnd Ill never do it again I live in RamaRama which is in the country if you have to live in the biggest city live in Papakura. Auckland youll jsut get killed eithe r form some incodsidrate motorist or the polution

Bigbananabike

WEST AUCKLAND is Fine too.
Paulo

liquidatorwolf

I moved to auckland over a year ago from london. I cycle a total of 2 hours to work and back. The Traffic is not too bad I find, although, as everywhere, there is the occasional clown who seems to hate anyone on a bicycle, but mostly i find people give you space, you just have to be bold and keep up with the traffic. Living in West Auckland I go cycling in the waitakeres every weekend which is pretty cool

Bigbananabike

Hi. Good on you for commuting. I changed my job so now find it almost impossible to commute - but do when I can.
We've got a little group that does a ride up the Waitakeres on Sunday mornings. We leave from Parrs Park car park(it'll be on your map, it's on Parrs Cross road) at 7;30AM. We don't go particularly fast and the other guys just go to the radio transmission mast at the top - I ride down to Swanson and home.
Your most welcome to join us. We try to leave at 7;30am.
Of course you may be a MTB rider....I just thought.
Take care, Paulo

brettster

Hi there, I might be interested in this Sunday morning ride, I live in Glen Eden (just moved from UK a month ago)... is it a pretty relaxed group? (I don't like super-competitive cyclists!)... willing to accept a laggard????