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If you enjoy Santa Cruz, you may wish to consider Waiheke Island near Auckland. While it is no university town, it is a place blessed with a unique combination of bohemian roots, a relaxed island atmosphere, beautiful beaches, wonderful wineries and restaurants and convenient access to the urban offerings of Auckland via a 30 minute ferry ride. My partner and I established New Zealand residency a few years ago and have enjoyed spending time there annually, although we do not have the experience of living there full-time.
I have lived there and while I agree it is beautiful, beaches are wonderful etc, it is infested with drugs. Not just marijuana but methamphetamine is widely used and available. Even high school kids have access to it which is never a good thing.
Everything on your list except skiing is available in Coffs Harbour on the NSW Mid North Coast. It's about halfway between Sydney and Brisbane and has plenty of direct flights from Sydney.
It's beautiful, the weather is perfect, in the 70 and 80s all year round, only January in the middle of summer has high humidity but the rest of the year is great.
Coffs Harbour is a city, not a town. It has about 80,000 inhabitants. Hardly any high-rise (mostly houses and some blocks of up to 3 storeys).
There's 60 miles of beaches and coastline, around a dozen national parks including the stunning Dorrigo National Park with world heritage rainforests and many hiking trails, there are several cinemas, there's a theatre, national touring bands and musicians, an airport, a university (Southern Cross), loads of award-winning restaurants and cafes for casual or fine dining, many with water views, boutique shopping in the city centre and some surrounding villages (Sawtell, Bellingen, Woolgoolga), a large shopping centre on the edge of the city,
I'm European and have lived all over, but been in Coffs Harbour for the last 5 years and absolutely LOVING it - it's got everything we want and we're into hiking and biking too.
For some reason the above URL may not appear as a link, so please copy this URL into your browser: www.coffscoast.com.au
Merimbula a nice town on South Coast, great beach, only 2 hours to ski fields. Good school, coffee shops. No university though.
Also think Mt Eliza and Coffs worth considering
I spent a few days in Dunedin in July. Quite typical winter weather, I think. Temps about 3-9C, constant drizzle and cloud. Feels very clammy and chilly.
Spot sampling proves nothing. Dunedin winters are highly variable in conditions, but the same as or quite often better than the summers for cloud - about 40% of possible sun. 160+ hours of sun has been recorded in a couple of occasions in June and July.
Mean rainfalls: June 58mm, July 57mm, Aug 56mm (September driest month).
Mean daily max (sea level areas) JJA is 10.6C, mean daily min 3.8C.
I have lived there and while I agree it is beautiful, beaches are wonderful etc, it is infested with drugs. Not just marijuana but methamphetamine is widely used and available. Even high school kids have access to it which is never a good thing.
Typical of your negativity - I've never heard anyone I know who has associations with Waiheke to complain about this.
Typical of your negativity - I've never heard anyone I know who has associations with Waiheke to complain about this.
I did a Google and found an article that talked about the islands battle with drugs..
I personally think Davenport would be a lovely spot to live, but would trust the opinion of someone that can provide first hand experience living there
My wife and I have the opportunity to work either in Australia or New Zealand for a period of time (1-2 years). We need advice about where to move to. Here's what we are looking for.
1. Beautiful beach with beautiful weather; 70s-80s F, low humidity all year
2. Medium sized town, preferably a university town
3. Cultural stuff to do (theatre, movies, concerts, etc)
4. Great restaurants
5. Town needs to be a walkable town
6. Outdoorsy stuff to do with beautiful scenery (We're into hiking, biking, etc)
7. Mountains with skiing if possible, but not critical
In short, I'm looking for paradise on earth for 1-2 Would appreciate all advice given.
How about Wellington NZ? It not a University town yet there are universities there. There is ample cultural stuff to do. The city is hilly, and the mountains are a few hours for sking. The beaches there are great yet it not as hot as much of the Australian cities, it is a windy city and that is the only downside to it.
How about Wellington NZ? It not a University town yet there are universities there. There is ample cultural stuff to do. The city is hilly, and the mountains are a few hours for sking. The beaches there are great yet it not as hot as much of the Australian cities, it is a windy city and that is the only downside to it.
You certainly wouldn't like the weather, but points 2-6 are strongly met. Skiing is further afield, and better in the South Island anyway.
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Merimbula, Mt Eliza, Coffs
Can you help please?
