Auckland, NZ.
- Thread starter PacificRimJob
- Start date
13656992:Bread. said:
We're from the most diverse place on possibly the entire planet being from California. Auckland may actually be a reverse culture shock to me what with virtually no latinos and a smaller black population lol.
act.resist
Active member
In the case of NZ girls, I met 3 of em while working at a camp and they all hooked up with/dated some of the American guys. Everybody loves a foreigner...except for trump of course, but there's no way you'll find a problem there haha. Also everything is outrageously expensive in New Zealand, so make sure the amount of money you're making is proportionate to what you'll be spending.
13658222:butterslut. said:
Again, I live in Tahoe, and Nick lives in flippin Aspen... the cost of living in Auckland will be laughably easy to overcome.
13658223:philipc said:
I'd take any gig on the moon over a good job on Earth.
philipc
Active member
13659018:ThaLorax said:
Yes. I have worked boot fitting in Wanaka for the past 2 seasons. You won't be able to get a boot fitting job there, but you may in Queenstown which is a touch bigger than Wanaka. Auckland is a city with a bunch of punters who don't know what the fuck they are talking about, and I'm not only talking about the clientele. Do you really want to work with them day in and day out?
Unless you have worked in NZ before you can get a free year long visa and find a job when you get there, please let me know if you have any specific questions. Wintering in NZ is an awesome experience and i can't wait to go back and visit.
13659106:philipc said:
Because telling us it's expensive to live there and that we shouldn't be in Auckland isn't exactly an answer to anything we asked haha.
Negromancer
Active member
13658233:DingoSean said:
The cost of living in Auckland will not be laughably easy to overcome unless you're making bank at your job or bringing a lot of money over from the States.
Auckland is a good city and very pretty in places but is very expensive. You most likely won't be able to afford accommodation in the inner city suburbs as it's insanely pricey. Also remember just about everything is more expensive in NZ than it is in the States, food, gas, etc.
Negromancer
Active member
Also just about weed if your interested. In NZ it's all about who you know because it's illegal still and it will be far more expensive and worse quality (unless you grow yourself or know a good grower) than what you get in California. 1 gram (often called a tinny) will set you back $20, a $50 bag will weigh anywhere between 2.5 - 3.3g and OZ's go for $300 - $450.
Avoid "tinny houses" because the weed is shit most of the time, just mass grown outdoor bush weed by gangs (still much better than mexican brick weed though) just got to ask around and try find a good dealer.
Unfortunately most people are way more into drinking until they spew their guts out then smoking green here.
Avoid "tinny houses" because the weed is shit most of the time, just mass grown outdoor bush weed by gangs (still much better than mexican brick weed though) just got to ask around and try find a good dealer.
Unfortunately most people are way more into drinking until they spew their guts out then smoking green here.
ThaLorax
Active member
13659102:philipc said:
I'd much prefer to be anywhere in the South Island, especially Wanaka or Queenstown, but this job fell into my lap. I looked for work on that trademe website after getting the job offer, and couldn't find anything. I figure Auckland will be a good hub to travel out of, and a great place to meet people. im not a city person at all (I live in tiny Aspen), but Auckland,NZ will be better than no NZ at all. Plus, the shop is paying for 90% of our travel costs. I dont mind idiot gapers as long as they're not rude. I find ski instructor know-it-alls to be much worse than gapers a lot of the time. since Auckland doesn't get much winter, and Okahune ism4+ hours away, both of us are planning on either bringing or buying a mtn bike there, and riding more than skiing.
Maybe we can come visit you and you can show us around Wanaka?
philipc
Active member
13659182:DingoSean said:
What I meant was it may be worth looking for jobs on the south island because the skiing is much better. Sounds like you guys got offered a really good gig though.
13659478:ThaLorax said:
Haha nailed it with the ski instructors comment. Absolutely it will be a great place and there are tons of really cool beaches and mountain biking nearish to auckland. Bring your wetsuit and you could get some great surfing in.
If i'm back in Wanaka for sure but I may be staying in the US this summer. Working for 66c on the dollar gets old after a few years.
act.resist
Active member
13658233:DingoSean said:
Just go into it with a level head, you never know what is going to happen and you're going to be living in an entirely different country.
13659394:Negromancer said:
The answer to one, is yes haha.
And.. from what I'm picking up due to the few sites for rental properties in and around Auckland and it's nearby suburbs, Nick and I should expect to pay like 200-250 per week? Perhaps less? so 800-1000 NZD a month? that's like 550-650 a month or so in American dollars... Seems cheap as shit to me coming from tahoe where rent is even higher, the shortest lease is 9 months (which would suck if you had a seasonal job) and you NEED to drive everywhere (I'm going to be riding a bike to work like I'm used to doing in Sacramento so yay no everyday gas budget)
But, I guess I should ask if that's realistic.. should we expect to see way higher prices than I'm finding online?
What are the trains like there? Are they relatively affordable for traveling with skis or bikes?
13660127:Campeador said:
Pretty sure they have less of a soft spot for illegal immigration, and more of a realization that singling an entire people out as a common enemy is usually a pretty bad idea.
Also, what's wrong with foreign muslims? This idea that all muslims are terrorists is such a silly concept. Again.. 1.6 billion muslims in the world, all of varying degrees, and a select few are steaming bags of the worst kind of shit...
In any case, don't politicize this thread. Save that for someplace else.
13659394:Negromancer said:
The answer to one, is yes haha.
And.. from what I'm picking up due to the few sites for rental properties in and around Auckland and it's nearby suburbs, Nick and I should expect to pay like 200-250 per week? Perhaps less? so 800-1000 NZD a month? that's like 550-650 a month or so in American dollars... Seems cheap as shit to me coming from tahoe where rent is even higher, the shortest lease is 9 months (which would suck if you had a seasonal job) and you NEED to drive everywhere (I'm going to be riding a bike to work like I'm used to doing in Sacramento so yay no everyday gas budget)
But, I guess I should ask if that's realistic.. should we expect to see way higher prices than I'm finding online?
What are the trains like there? Are they relatively affordable for traveling with skis or bikes?
13660127:Campeador said:
Pretty sure they have less of a soft spot for illegal immigration, and more of a realization that singling an entire people out as a common enemy is usually a pretty bad idea.
Also, what's wrong with foreign muslims? This idea that all muslims are terrorists is such a silly concept. Again.. 1.6 billion muslims in the world, all of varying degrees, and a select few are steaming bags of the worst kind of shit...
In any case, don't politicize this thread. Save that for someplace else.
rozboon
Active member
13660420:DingoSean said:
$200-$250 a week should see you right for rent. Bearing in mind I have no idea how much you'll be earning but I honestly can't see your take-home pay being much more than $700/week.
Power/gas (when people talk "gas" here they mean for cooking/heating/BBQs not cars) will likely be around $80/month per person.
For internet (assuming you want it and the place doesn't have it already) you'll want to get what's called "naked broadband", meaning it doesn't include a voice line, which saves you maybe $10-20 a month. A lot of plans here have a data cap, typically around 80gb/month, although there are unlimited plans available. You'll probably be paying anywhere from $50 to $90 a month depending how fast you want it and how much data you need. We have a variety of not-very-good vastly overpriced pay-tv options, don't bother, use Netflix....
I have no idea about Auckland's local rail network.
For intercity travel there are trains but they're a bit shit. Kinda expensive and take forever to get anywhere, if you're not a shipping container or a load of coal there are better ways to get around. I've taken skis on the train before, wasn't a bit deal, no idea about bikes.
Every weekend there is a mass exodus from Auckland down to the snow (the "Friday Night Races", don't get snapped speeding by the po-po, they're everywhere)
which means it shouldn't be hard to score a ride with someone or to fill your car up with people prepared to split petrol costs - speaking of which, petrol is insanely expensive compared to the US, expect to pay $8/gallon, meaning a weekend round trip to the snow is going to be well in excess of $100 in petrol. Try snowpool.org.nz if you're looking for a ride, but working in a ski shop I'm sure you'll get some contacts fairly quickly.
There are a few intercity bus services which are actually kinda decent, usually very cheap, don't take 400 years to get there like the trains, and won't freak out about skis or bikes being carried. But generally speaking if you can get 3-4 people in a car, you're better off doing that.
Campeador
Active member
13660423:DingoSean said:
You didn't seem to have an issue with it earlier.
At minimum, 200-250 million of them are the worst kind of shit, I'm not taking any chances. Snakes in the grass.
And white Kiwis do a great job of singling out the entire Maori community, and I probably wouldn't judge them for it, they base it off of their experiences. But if I were clueless like our Kiwi friend there, I'd think Maori people are all wonderful because I saw Whale Rider.
13661088:Campeador said:
13661179:Campeador said:
I'm not upset. I'm annoyed. Again. This thread isn't for politicizing. FFS, it's that kinda bullshit that makes kiwis wary of us in the first place. So again, go away.
Negromancer
Active member
13661088:Campeador said:
Have you even met a Maori person or lived in NZ? What do you even mean by "singling out the entire Maori community"? If you are Maori in NZ the amount of opportunities and support you can get is insane, like if you are Maori you can get into Medical School even with average grades and get your hand held the entire way through.
Maori are singled out in a good way most of the time. They're singled out and given free benefits just for being Maori.
ThaLorax
Active member
13660780:rozboon said:
Thank you for the constructive information. THIS is what we're looking for.
13661179:Campeador said:
You instigated it. Nobody asked for your opinion on racial relationships. Sean asked you to go away because you're like the NS version of that kid that nobody likes because you're an asshole... yet somehow ends up at the party every damn time even though you're not invited... and proceeds to piss everyone off just because it makes you feel confident in yourself to blow smoke smoke out of your ass to a bunch of people you mostly don't know.
MLB
Active member
From my personal experiences it's not actually that expensive. The public transit system in Auckland was super easy and cheep to use for me.
Also your phone costs are going to drop by a crap ton. I just got a SIM card from Vodafone and it was so cheap compared to what I pay at home.
The food was definitely more expensive but much higher quality then anything your going to get in the states. Still wasn't anything unreasonable.
If you want to get around the north island check out the railway system or naked bus. You can also do Van/car rentals with wicked camper/car rentals. They are cheep as fuck...but you get what you pay for.
Also if your looking for a good hostel to stay at while your figuring your shit out while down there, the Base Backpackers is right downtown and has resources for people starting out in town. Anything from local rental properties to job postings.
Hope this helps you out.
Also your phone costs are going to drop by a crap ton. I just got a SIM card from Vodafone and it was so cheap compared to what I pay at home.
The food was definitely more expensive but much higher quality then anything your going to get in the states. Still wasn't anything unreasonable.
If you want to get around the north island check out the railway system or naked bus. You can also do Van/car rentals with wicked camper/car rentals. They are cheep as fuck...but you get what you pay for.
Also if your looking for a good hostel to stay at while your figuring your shit out while down there, the Base Backpackers is right downtown and has resources for people starting out in town. Anything from local rental properties to job postings.
Hope this helps you out.
13666806:MLB said:
Hell yes. Awesome to know.
Yeah, from the research i've done, it's not all that expensive according to a lot of people. Some things costs more, like food, but phone plans and travel cost less... Hell, growing up in northern CA we have the BART train in the bay area, it's like 25 NZ$ for a 20 minute trip...
MLB
Active member
13667202:DingoSean said:
Another thing is if your going to be down there for a while you can even look into getting a car down there.
They have super cheap japanese cars for sale down there all the time. One of the guys that did winter to winter seasons there all the time just picked up a ride for super cheep.
Also most jobs pay pretty well compared to what your used to in the states. I made almost 9 bucks more operating snow cats down there then I did in North America.
philipc
Active member
13666806:MLB said:
Yeah i mean groceries are slightly more expensive in NZ but its because they don't have the extra cheap processed shit that you find at Hannaford's. Going out for a wild buck will cost 5 or 6 bucks but with tax and tip being included its really not any more expensive imo. Coffee is way more expensive but way, way better.
13668668:philipc said:
Okay, this is one that I have to question being how good the coffee seems to be here on the west coast in the states... That said, I'm not a coffee drinker, so I don't know personally, but I'd imagine it's just as good as any good coffee shop here - Note that starbucks is not decent...
I'd assume the tea is probably better being it's a commonwealth country in close proximity to where Tea actually comes from... Which is far more my, shall I say... cup of tea.
rozboon
Active member
13668675:DingoSean said:
Depends where you go, in Auckland the coffee is hit and miss, some really good some incredibly average.
In Wellington you can consistently be assured of a coffee somewhere between good and awesome.
Tea, yep tea is pretty popular, we have a couple of chains (T2 and T-Leaf Tea) which run large specialist tea shops (jeez that sounds pretty quaint doesn't it?)
13668962:erikK said:
Hrm Wellington is probably the pretentious hipster liberal capital (also the actual capital) of NZ. There are plenty of waxed-moustache sockless flannel-shirt-wearing folk. But for the most part they tend to keep to themselves. Some of them are actually really normal people who just like to dress that way. Many of this subset of hipsters also make incredibly good coffee, to go back to the original point....
Stadtski
Member
13668962:erikK said:
When I was there, people always thought I was from canada based on my accent (I am from Maine), the young people definitely preferred Canadians, but old people liked Americans more (I guess a little colonial rivalry? idk). But no one will hate you because you're canadian.
Negromancer
Active member
13668962:erikK said:
You moved to New Zealand's artiest city and the city which has parliament house/Beehive, what kind of people did you expect?
Move to a rural area if you don't want hipsters and hippies. In rural areas all you have is farmers and drunks.
13669059:rozboon said:
Haha I should move to Wellington.
13669345:philipc said:
We have not. We will leave May 3rd, and we're being hooked up with temporary accommodations till we find a place. Once we are there, Nick and I will be on the prowl.