Queenstown

PaddyCar

My girlfriend and i have decided that we are gonna move to NZ for a year at least. Having done a small bit of research into the various cities we have decided that Queenstown is the place for us. Flights booked for Febuary. Can anyone enlighten us on what to expect here. Will it be hard to get work? i have a degree in Civil Engineering while she has a nursing qualification.
any information regarding the general standard of life out there will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Cmol

Queenstown is the most amazing city in the world! I absolutely love it, would live there if I could!

I don't know much about living there, but I know it has a high cost of living in relation to the rest of New Zealand and not neccesarily the wages to match.

I would say dont put all your eggs in the same basket at this point, go over in Feb, suss things out, see if it really is the city for you and what the work situation is like - www.trademe.co.nz or www.monster.co.nz for jobs would be your best bet, try trademe for apartments too, maybe have a look at kiwicareers.co.nz for average wages to give yourself a vague idea.

Don't know how much help this is but best of luck and I might see ya there next year

88show

PaddyCar wrote: »

My girlfriend and i have decided that we are gonna move to NZ for a year at least. Having done a small bit of research into the various cities we have decided that Queenstown is the place for us. Flights booked for Febuary. Can anyone enlighten us on what to expect here. Will it be hard to get work? i have a degree in Civil Engineering while she has a nursing qualification.
any information regarding the general standard of life out there will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

work should be relevantly easier with yr tickets.
queenstown turn over for rebuilding itself is unbelieved till you see it.
although its been a while since i've been home, building never seems to end in that little place.
if you think the weather here sux, winter is half the reason i love the place. won't get into double figures, along frankton road it never see's the sun during winter so is mainly icy all time.
summer rocks to and you don't have to be into the outdoors but it helps, and if you have friends with a boat!
it'll be loopy quiet season when you get there, but since you'll be fob's (fresh off the boat) you'll be in that group for a while till you find your feet.
loopy seasons are mainly snow and christmas when it seems either everyone in nz is holidaying round the lakes district or gone up to nelson bay.
most loopy's are either the japanese, euro's and the US which can be heard b4 seen.
but there is always something going on for such a little place. always

renting is dire, compared it's like living in any major city, over the top but when i go home I always take my little whanau round the lakes, arrowtown, wanaka etc

in a nutshell, the place rocks, got great atmosphere, festivals all the time and I'm heaps jealous.

Bearhunter

It's bloody expensive (and I say that as someone used to Auckland prices), but you'll have no problem getting work. Weather is good there, either snowing or roasting hot. It's a good enough spot, but it has been so overdeveloped that there's little charm remaining.

BraziliaNZ

when I was there the irish people in backpackers were rejoicing at finding jobs in the local New World supermarket or Countdown or whatever it was it was so hard to find work. Tonnes of English/Irish go there and work in the service industry. Also they either live in hostels or crammed into tiny flats, as accomodation is hard to come by. I would suggest spending a couple of months there if you want to ski and get a job in a bar but I hardly think it's a place for nurses and civil engineers in my opionion.

Jumpy

Its no city. Its bloody tiny.

dSTAR

Dude go to Bendigo where my current squeeze lives.

It cracks me up the way the locals refer to it as a city and talk about working or shopping in the CBD which is the whole of two streets

Bearhunter

Paddycar, you might have to travel to work from QT, but there are companies like GHD, Opus, SKM, Beca, Hawkins, Works INfrastructure etc who are crying out for engineers. Some of them will have offices in Queenstown.

Mrs OBumble

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

when I was there the irish people in backpackers were rejoicing at finding jobs in the local New World supermarket or Countdown or whatever it was it was so hard to find work. Tonnes of English/Irish go there and work in the service industry. Also they either live in hostels or crammed into tiny flats, as accomodation is hard to come by. I would suggest spending a couple of months there if you want to ski and get a job in a bar but I hardly think it's a place for nurses and civil engineers in my opionion.

New Zealanders who work in the service industries there live out of town, they simply cannot afford the rent (except perhaps for the real youngesters crammed into hostels etc).

The will probably be work for an engineer in the surrounding district. Not sure about a nurse though, jobs like that are tightly held in small-town NZ. Maybe in a elderly-continuing-care home in a surrounding town.

LoanShark

Jumpy wrote: »

Its no city. Its bloody tiny.

Thats What I Thought, I was doubting myself there for a second... forgot everytown that has more than three shops is considered a city over there..

I loved the place..Really cool spot..

I would Love a Fergburger right about now!
:rolleyes:

If your looking for work,,,Try being a street performer..Those Guys earn a freaking Bomb over there!!

pclancy

Be very carefull about being so sure you'll get work there, plan to have to move to Christchurch or Dunedin if nothing comes up, its a pretty small jobmarket and everyone wants to work there. I was there in April and met lots of people that couldnt find work, even in bars and stuff. The impression that NZ is desperate for immigration and has tons of jobs doesnt strech to the countryside. Kiwis will get the decent jobs first remember and in a small place like Otago there might not be enough to go around. Ye might end up having to come to a bigger city.

As others have said its TINY, you can walk around the whole place in 20 minutes. Stunningly gorgeous though and loads of sports and activities. Its totally geared for tourism, I hardly met any kiwis in Queenstown, just UK, German and American backpackers There's a great Maori guy playing rebel songs in one of the Irish bars....can't remember his name. Quality of life is going to be fantastic. I'm sitting on my deck looking out at Wellington harbour right now and its going to hit 21 today NZ rocks

Edit: Nobody has mentionned the best jobsite: www.seek.co.nz.

If you end up coming to wellington check out www.ccdhb.org.nz for nursing jobs. There are lots in the capital.

PaddyCar

Thanks very much for all the info. really helps. we just cant make our minds up about which place to settle down in first. if queenstown is so small then maybe we would be better try one of the bigger cities at first and get a decent job. Auckland is looking good at the min. what would the weather be like in nz around feb/march time?

LoanShark

Auckland would be a good place to work but other than that its not up to much, although as one girl in a shop put it to me "Why would you come here? It's a hole in the earth!" and that was from a local..

Go to either Wellington or Christchurch you would have better options there.. Dunedon is a nice spot you would have to a bit of research in to it, But I liked it when I was there..
I was there in Feb This year, and the weather was a bit of a mixed bag, Good Day, Bad Day etc. The weather in the north Island is a bit better than the south ( I thought so anyways) But we were unlucky with weather for our whole trip (in OZ for five and half weeks, with five of those having rain)..I envy you for going!! New Zeland is brilliant.

Bearhunter

Paddycar, tons of work in Auckland, wellington and Christchurch for CEs. There's a national shortage. The weather is set to be absolutley scorching this summer.

La La

i lived in Qtown for the winter seasons of '03 and '04. it was awesome, but i've heard many reports that it's sold out bad since then (and even then, it was well on its way).
hearing things like how fergburger moved from its little hole in the wall on cow lane to a flashy joint on one of the other streets didnt sit well with me. Queenstown was really cool; it's stunning, particularly in winter, and there's heaps of fun to be had up the hill. the terrain in coronet is great but it's ice up there. remarks gets better dumps and has some fun runs off piste.
aaaaaaanyway, if qtown's hotels and up-their-bums tourists get too much for you, pack up your life there and move to WANAKA, which is what qtown was like a few years ago. plus you've got treble cone, snowpark and cardrona in the area.
enjoy!

pclancy

Wanaka is amazing Paradiso cinema http://www.paradiso.net.nz/about_the_cinema.html

Yeah Wellington or Christchurch are far nicer then Auckland. Way nicer down here.

Mrs OBumble

PaddyCar wrote: »

Thanks very much for all the info. really helps. we just cant make our minds up about which place to settle down in first. if queenstown is so small then maybe we would be better try one of the bigger cities at first and get a decent job. Auckland is looking good at the min. what would the weather be like in nz around feb/march time?

If you're going to go to Auckland ... save yourself the bother and just stay in Dublin!!!!