Whangarei, a good place?

[Maha]

I lived opposite Whangarei (Dargaville) when I was teaching. Visited Whangarei many times - had a brother living there for a while.
Loved Norfland and would go back in a flash given the chance. And YES! it is warmer than the Waikato (most places are...) but don't believe the bullshit about the "winterless north" 'cause it AIN'T!
IMO, every city has its "elements"...but I can't say Whangarei appeared any worse than other places I have lived...

I dont think its called 'the winterless north' because we dont have winter, thats just stoopid. The climate is on average, warmer in some areas certainly, right now outside, its 14 degs.

[jaymzw]

My family are all from Whangarei or further North, when you grow up there, as i did for a while you know no different, however now i am 17 and semi independent i realise Whangarei is a shit hole.

In saying that it is where my roots lie, so i do have a soft spot for the area. It can be nice and the people there are very kind. An awesome ride out to Dargaville too!

[phill-k]

Bloody Great place mate, moved here five years ago from Albany AK, no more asian drivers, and most maori are good people, they not being city folks, generally friendly, just be aware of where you live no different to any other town or city, there are some real nice places around Whangarei, we live just out of Hikurangi, all our southern friends were horrified to here we we living at Hikurangi but like a lot in the North the legacy behind some of the areas is just that a legacy. Only thing you need to watch up here is traffic policing, a lot more than around Ak anyway, have been stopped for breathalysing / license / wof checks countless times only happened about 3 / 4 times in my last 15 yrs in Ak

[Ooky]

my olds live up there some awesome roads up that way! (so i guess no excuses not to visit) but they have been up there for several years love it and havn't had any problems

[Laava]

Whangarei is a shit hole.!

I believe that the shithole is where you live so horses for courses eh?
Having lived in big cities before and London in particular, Auck is the pits! IMO!

[Laava]

Hehe okay! There is a good uni at Whangarei so I'm looking into apply there. I like it is a bitter warmer then Waikato. The Maori is everywhere here also. Before we moved to Cambridge we lived in Matamata. My neighbor had Whanau every weekend and had "decorated" their garage into a pub! We did not have quiet Saturday for 6months!
So we are very very picky about where we will live in the future now!

Come up for a few days to familiarise yourself, is the only way you will really find out! Plus if you come on our TNR we will show you some choice roads!

[Maha]

Come up for a few days to familiarise yourself, is the only way you will really find out! Plus if you come on our TNR we will show you some choice roads!

You also have a Nurse on that ride.....
Who, if all going to plan, could end up working with Agyles fiance.

[spacemonkey]

I lived in Whangarain for a few years while working for the local rag.
Whangarei heads is my idea of heaven..... Had an amazing old cottage just over the road from the Parua bay pub. The road out the heads is a great ride and there is heaps of the best beaches in NZ (ocean beach rocks), but the town itself is pretty close minded and neophobic at times.
Housing is pretty cheap but there are some real shitty areas like Otangarei to avoid.
Wages also tend to be pretty poor (surprising considering all the local shops charge Ak prices).

Yeah I had some issues with how dull the town could be, but I still rate the place pretty highly.... And the Northland region is suburb!

I say go for it!
No way it could be worse than Hamiltron.


oh ps yes it's the winterless north..... winter was replaced for me by a monsoon season.

[slofox]

An awesome ride out to Dargaville too!

I always loved the road through Waimate North from SH1 to Sh10...

[slofox]

I dont think its called 'the winterless north' because we dont have winter, thats just stoopid. The climate is on average, warmer in some areas certainly, right now outside, its 14 degs.

Ahhhh (cough cough) Hamiltron had 20.4 yesterday...on my electromatronic weather recording thingummy device anyway...

We still had frosts in Dargaville...about three a year as I recall...used to turn all the Kikuyu brown...

[Boob Johnson]

I dont think its called 'the winterless north' because we dont have winter, thats just stoopid. The climate is on average, warmer in some areas certainly, right now outside, its 14 degs.

lol Warkworth is hardly considered part of the winterless north Mark

More a northern suburb of Auckland



Think you'll find the "winterless north" is roughly Kaitaia & above. Last winter it was reported by the met service that at about 1:30am they recorded 21 degree's. A freak wind off the pacific

[george formby]

I've lived oop north for 14 years, Ngunguru, Kamo, Doubtless Bay, Bay of Islands. I love the weather, 22c yesterday, off the main highway all the roads are a blast. The beaches, fishing, diving are stunning, some very cool people around too. I regard Whangas as a typical provincial town & for some reason rain clouds love to sit over it while the rest of the area is in sunshine. If it's lifestyle you want, you can't go wrong. Making money can be tough though, the North is not particularly affluent.

[Blackbird]

Thames also has a sizeable hospital, fantastic riding on the Coro Loop of course, good living by any of a considerable number of beaches and you don't have to ride through Auckland to get to most of the rest of NZ

[spacemonkey]

Making money can be tough though, the North is not particularly affluent.

Actually I'd say the north has a lot of low earners and quite a surprising amount of wealthy folk, but only a very small population (as a percentage) of middle income earners.

It always struck me as strange that there was such a gaping hole in the demographic up there.
But I guess it's also related to the fact that most business owners up there seemed to charge Auckland prices (or more in some cases such as cars) on half the overheads.

[DEATH_INC.]

the city itself is a shithole, the surrounding areas such as ruakaka, parua bay, whangarei heads and anywhere rural are much better places.

took me 30 years to move out, ive been away over 2 years and only been back once to visit and that was too much.

there are some good roads up there though, some of the best in NZ.

move to tauranga, the weather is way better than whangarainy

What he said, cept I got out a bit earlier....