Looking to move in Central/Upper North Island NZ - any ideas?

[TheDancingHorses]

Hi, after a bit of advice on good places to live in the Central/Upper North Island of New Zealand, ideally within around 1.5 hours of Hamilton.

I emigrated over 7 year ago with my family and we are currently living in a rural-ish town about 30 mins from Hamilton. But - I've not really found my 'place' here. Most of my time since we emigrated has been spent trying to make sure everyone else is happy (mainly as the move was my idea!!), working and studying. I've not really made any friends and feel like I'm missing that sense of belonging.

My two older children have now finished high school and gone off to uni while my youngest is due to finish primary school in December. I've also had some big life stuff going on - my mum passed away in January and a week later my sister (who also lives in NZ) was diagnosed with cancer for the second time in just over a year. So, it feels like time to move and start living the life I dreamed of when we came here. I may be looking for a place that doesn't exist but I'm thinking of being near water where I can swim, somewhere with stuff happening but a chilled, friendly kind of vibe, decent schools and sports clubs for my DD, and a few mountains for my DH to run up.

I wfh so can be based anywhere but DH works in Hamiton, although he does have the option to wfh some days so isn't tied to a daily commute. Our budget is up to $750k which may well have a bearing on our options!

Any ideas would be really appreciated, thanks

Looking at the map - what about Raglan?
Nice place - visited there many years ago when we visited NZ.
Don't know what it's like to live there though.

Raglan is lovely but the drive over the hill can be quite slow with traffic commuting. Lots of new housing and they will need to start ipgrading their infrastructure soon with all the extra development.
Bay of plenty is lovely, still a drive over the hills to Hamilton but better capacity for the traffic and generally more driveable.
Cambridge is just out of Hamilton and is lovely too, also growing quite quickly, and no hills to navigate!

Taupō, but it’s 2hrs. My sisters live in Kinloch and love it there. great lifestyle

Te Awamutu? Down the road from Cambridge, quite near Lake Karipiro,lots of beautiful walks around the Waikato region. Plus the wonderful Finn brothers hail from here.

I would second Cambridge ~ or as my friends who live there call it, Calmbridge. It is a beautiful part of the Waikato. Great township, close to Hamilton, BOP and the motorways north and south. Large enough for schools and clubs but close enough to the nature you and your husband enjoy.

Cambridge has an excellent high school, and good services but lacks water. Raglan has a real community feel, but I would check that their senior school meets the needs of your youngest; if they are sporty it really might be great, with the option for the surf school! Otherwise you might be able to find a cheaper house somewhere in the Bay of Plenty; I'd recommend maybe Papamoa. Taupo is LOVELY and hits all your criteria (though it is BLOODY cold in the winter) but it is at least 2 hours from Hamilton. Would it be possible for your H to negotiate 2 days per week at work and rent a room in Hamilton one or two nights a week so you could have the Taupo lifestyle?

@CallItLoneliness what do you mean by Cambridge lacks water? I thought all of the Waikato was really wet?

OP wanted to be by a large body of water. Cambridge doesn't have one. The Waikato does indeed have lots of water... one of the reasons I no longer live there!

Cambridge is also good on the sporting front- cycling with the velodrome, rowing with the Maadi cup, horse riding, and the standard school sports too.
There are some great properties coming up around leamington which only go up in value given the upcoming developments.