Anyone lived in Rotorua, NZ?

[Cousinit]

It looks like DH is going to be offered a job there. We have never been to NZ but lived in Australia (Adelaide) for a year and loved it. TBH Australia would have been my first choice but there do seem to be more job opportunities in NZ at the moment. The things I loved about Adelaide were the climate, friendly people, relaxed lifestyle, lots of things to do with children, always lots of events and cultural things to do, cleanliness, good food and wine. I could go on! My question is would we find a similar lifestyle in Rotorua? Currently there are no opportunities for him here in the UK (he's a doctor and struggling to find a permanent job) so from that point of view we have nothing to lose. I've been reading the recent threads on NZ with interest and am really uncertain whether it's for me or not. Would be really interested to hear from anyone who lives or has lived in Rotorua. I gather it's a stunning place to visit but have read mixed things about it as a place to live.

i'm from nz. never lived in rotorua but have been there. it has great thermal pools near by, taupo is close, people freindly, will be a lot smaller than what your used to,. but it does stink of sulpher

I have never lived there, but know it reasonably well.
It is very small with quite high unemployment and a reas

I have never lived there, but know it reasonably well.
It is very small with quite high unemployment and many social problems. That said, I know people who rave about the lifestyle it offers. That won't be many events (it really is too small) but if you like the outdoors it's a great part of the country to be in. Good climate. Access to Taupo, reasonably close to skiing in winter, the Bay of Plenty, fishing, mountain bike riding, sailing and it's only a few hours from Auckland.
If you like those things, you'll probably enjoy it and I'm sure you'llbe able to make friends quickly. I don't know, but suspect schooling is probably fairly average. But you can read reports about the schools on www.ero.govt.nz.
If, however, you like a more urban life, to be honest I'm not sure Rotorua is the place. Adelaide is a very large bustling metropolis by comparison! Are there any other options for locations in NZ?

There's a thread here about Rotorua on the Emigrate NZ forum which you might find useful.

I'm from NZ and my aunt and uncle lived there (doctors, emigrated from the UK 15 years ago).

I would agree with the other posters, but wanted to say that my aunt and uncle (who like the kinds of things you mention) seem pretty happy there. They do sometimes think of moving somewhere bigger but in the end decide to stay. Housing is a fair bit cheaper than it would be in Auckland or Wellington, so you can have a really nice house and in fact quite a few are heated geothermally (very cheap).

Re the schooling, at one point my relatives put their older boys into a boarding school in Cambridge (age 10 or so) and then on to a secondary boarding school in Hamilton - first one loved it but the second one eventually came back to Rotorua and is much happier there. Not sure what school he goes to (Catholic I think) but they are really pleased with it and it has been fantastic in giving him singing and acting opportunities. Their youngest child they've kept in Rotorua the whole time, and again the school has been good in supporting his dyslexia. So although my relatives are a bit yuppie-ish, they seem to have decided the schools were not too bad.

I'd also agree with the idea of looking at other locations in NZ though.

Hmmm, thanks for the replies. Kind of confirms the impressions I had already formed. It's going to be a difficult decision I think. If we wait a bit I think there will be other opportunities in NZ but highly unlikely to be in the larger cities as the vacancies are nearly always in the smaller towns. I know there is a job coming up in Tauranga. Would that be preferable to Rotorua?

Yes, from what you've described you're looking for, Tauranga is likely to be a much better fit. I think you'll still find it exceptionally small, but out of the two options, Tauranga definitely.

Thanks for the schools link Pavlovalover - that was v. useful. From what I've researched so far there seem to be decent primary schools but when you get to secondary level it's a problem apart from the catholic school, which I guess is the one you are referring to Weta. We're not Catholics though and not about to convert either so unsure whether we would be able to get in there. From what I've read Tauranga sounds a bit more up our street but I agree, still probably a bit small. If it has to be NZ would much prefer Auckland or Christchurch but beggars can't be choosers!

I agree Tauranga sounds better for you (have family there as well). My relatives aren't Catholic either - don't know the details about admission criteria etc but they obviously managed somehow.

I'm biased but I think Wellington is great especially if you are interested in cultural stuff. Weather less so but it's really not that bad, especially compared to UK.

If you start with Tauranga or Rotorua, maybe you could move somewhere bigger later on? possibly easier once you have NZ experience?

Yes, wouldn't mind Wellington either. Apparently most of the docs send their kids to the catholic school so perhaps its not that difficult to get into - I think we need to find out more about admission criteria. We now have a firm offer from Rotorua though but still waiting on further info on the job in Tauranga, never mind an interview. Would really like a bit more time but they've given us a deadline (middle of next week) to accept or decline the job offer. We just can't decide what to do!

I lived very near to Rotorua, I still remeber the infamous smell to this day.

It was quite a rough area to ive in when I lived in NZ, im not sure about now.

What sort of Dr is your OH? There are a lot of vacancies in South Auckland which allows you to live either in a village by the sea or central Auckland. Google Counties Manakua DHB.

Ok, so to round up, Rotorua smells, is rough and has crap schools . Perhaps not the best move we'll ever make?

He's an orthopaedic surgeon. Auckland would be great but the agencies haven't come up with anything there so far.

perfume of Rotorua - sulphur

Nice to visit, not sure if you get immune to the smell if you live there. Maybe it is not so strong everywhere, just near the hot pools etc

I lived in Rotorua for 4 years after uni, and still have friends who live there, so visit reasonably often. I would recommend Tauranga!!
Rotorua is very small community, quite a few social issues, schooling is okay (but not great). However does have lots of good cafes. Houses are cheap - not the geothermally heated ones, they are not in a nice part of town in general. I wouldn't go back to Rotorua now I have children.

There are some very nice parts of Rotorua, but in general Tauranga is better - better climate, better schools, not so many social issues (different ones I'm sure but not perhaps the poverty/drug/gang issues that you tend to get more of in Rotorua). Tauranga will seem small coming from the UK, good place if you like outdoor lifestyle, close to Coromandel, great beaches etc. Probably a much easier transition to NZ than Rotorua.

You do get used to the smell in Rotorua when you live there, but you end up with everything smelling of sulphur - my auckland friends used to complain about how my car smelt when I went visiting!
HTH

Have never lived in Rotorua but wasn't that taken with it when we visited it. I was 30+ weeks at the time which might have made me more sensitive to the smell though! My sister thought the smell was wonderful (she described it as smelling "clean").

I would imagine there are a fair few places in NZ where your husband could find work, they are short of doctors on the whole. Which agency is he with? If you're after work in Christchurch then I would recommend Accent - they're based there and know the DHB well.

A recruitment agent friend of mine told me that something like 40% of jobs in NZ are not advertised but go through word of mouth. I would suggest contacting the Clinical leads in the Departments he is interested in. I'm not sure how to use the whole personal message thing on MN but can give you some hints on relocation packages/DHB's if you are interested.

Thanks for the info everyone. DH is registered with several agencies. I think this job came through Latitudes. Not sure if he is registered with Accent so will pass that link on. Cheers.

Just wondering what you decided to do cousinit? Are you headed for Rotorua?

We are still undecided but will probably accept unless something better comes our way in the meantime. I can't see us staying there for long but we have nothing to lose by giving it a go and if we don't like it we can move elsewhere in NZ or come home (or head to Aus!). Luckily the children are still young enough for us to take this attitude. In a few years we really need to be settled somewhere though. Unfortunately the Tauranga job opportunity seems to have vanished. Hospital gone v. quiet on the agent. Strange as they were very keen to interview DH a couple of weeks ago.

Rotorua smells of sulphur
lots of kiddy activities but all along the vein of hot pools walks trout fishing etc

I don't know whether it's all or some but the catholic schools generally take a small % of non catholics (maybe 5%) however whether you get in or not will I guess depend on how popular it is

Is dh a consultant? Are they holding back on Auckland etc opportunities to try and fill the Rotorua ones? Have you contacted Auckland directly
Have you thought (seriously) as to whether it would be hard to move back to the UK career wise?

It will be his first consultant job. The problem with the UK right now is that there are hardly any consultant jobs available and a surplus of trainees ready to start their careers as consultants. If we stay here we could be looking at several years of him going from locum to locum job around the country. We have been told by agents in Aus/NZ that opportunities for Orthopaedic Consultants rarely arise in the large cities but there are plenty in the smaller towns. Do you think this is actually untrue not1not2? Good question re: moving back to the UK. It's one of the many reasons why we are hesitating to make a firm decision.

That's a tough call to make. I think if you treat it like a year or two adventure, and try to make the most of the whole country while you're here, it probably would be a good experience. And other opportunities may come up either in NZ or in the UK. Good luck deciding.

I'm not sure about the opportunities however an easily filled job would be advertised locally and filled before the agency stage surely?

If you want another centre I would ring or e-mail (actually I would prob e-mail and offer to follow up with a call to explore further) that centre and ask them whats coming up

Another way to look at what I said is that a good job will only be advertised when they have a suitable local candidate in mind to fill it.

I'm really not clear whether you are looking to move perm. or for a year or two, however I think dh really needs to explore with consultants at home what his chances are of going back. Surely the job is more likely to the locum who is there? Is he going to fly back every time there is an interview? are you keeping your house? if not where will you go back to? it would be a lot easier if he got his job before you go back because of schools etc etc.

Just putting in a few thoughts

have you seen our where to live in NZ thread?

Sorry to go to the locum in post