UKC

I’m considering moving to NZ - definitely South Island. Looking for advice on where to be based. Any info on where has good climbing, year-round climbing (or at least almost), general good town/city vibes would be much appreciated! 

In reply to fritatas:

So I lived in NZ for a year but mostly in a van so maybe others would have differing opinions but when my wife and I talk about going back it would be Christchurch or Nelson. We only did sport climbing though as didn’t bridge enough for trad or mountaineering.

Christchurch probably has the best local climbing, mostly sport. It’s also a good location as it’s pretty central South Island and banks peninsula near by is really beautiful. It’s also good for mountain biking and surfing and there’s bouldering up near Arthur’s pass. The main draw back in my mind is the city its self I found a bit uninspiring. There’s definitely nice bits but lots of suburbs and since the earthquake there’s lots of chain shops and restaurants and it feels a bit generic.

Nelson has a bit more charm and is smaller but does have a bit of a sleepy, retirement feel. It’s a bit of a microclimate though and is always sunny. The climbing isn’t super local but it’s not too far (easy day trip) to paynes ford which has the best sport climbing (imo) in Nz. It’s also just a great place to hang out, swim and enjoy life. Nelson also has good mountain biking and excellent hiking (tramping as the kiwis say) around Nelson lakes, golden bay ect. 
 

Theses also Queenstown/Wanaka area, which has great climbing and lots more mountaineering and skiing. Not really cities though so probably harder to find work and are very touristy. 
 

Had some friends who lived in Dunedin and liked it but the weather is less good and the rock quality wasn’t amazing. 

My other generic advice would be take as much gear out as possible as it’s expensive and less choice out there. Also bring a clip stick as you can’t really buy them and a lot of the first bolts can be pretty engaging, not many people seem to use them over there though.

In reply to fritatas:

My advice would be, if you're moving somewhere for quality rock climbing, think twice about settling on New Zealand.  As a place for outdoor adventures it's undoubtedly great, but I wouldn't put it in my top 10 of places in terms of good rock climbing.  

In reply to fritatas:

Prepare for sandflies

In reply to fritatas:

Was going to settle there some years ago. Had sponsorship lined up but then had an ‘accident’ and couldn’t work and the sponsor fell through all in a short space of time…..

Anyways (!) it’s a great place, most notably for the mountaineering and alpine  opportunities. Overall the rock climbing is good but you’re not far from Australia for the better stuff!

Christchurch is very chilled, plenty of outdoor folk, easy to get to the bouldering/Arthur’s Pass and even some decent trad just out the city (Castle rock iirc?) Wanaka (my preference) Queenstown (v touristy) Dunedin (cool place imo) Nelson (sport crags and coast) few other towns  here and there that might be a novelty to be based in and generally speaking there’s always something within driving distance.

Good winter sports/skiing/ski touring in and around Wanaka/Queenstown etc

Good luck! 

In reply to fritatas:

Do you have any other requirements (boring as they may be) e.g. work, travel connections? And are you climbing requirements e.g. sport or alpine? I'm assuming no kids/school requirements etc?

Have you visited and if so which bits did you like best? As others imply, I wouldn't suggest moving here for the rock climbing - you would be much better off in the UK to be honest. But if you have an exploratory mountaineering and expedition type gene (and want to carry an 80l pack for self-supported week long trips) then it could be paradise. 

The SI is big and public transport generally poor. Infrastructure is generally more basic in much of NZ but works, on the whole. As a climber the chances are you will need a car as the majority of climbing areas will be very difficult to get to without one. Chch has the only international airport in the SI, if getting back to 'home' (wherever that may be currently) is required - e.g. if you need to get back in a hurry you could do so with two flights via US, Middle East or Singapore. Trains are essentially non-existent as a means of travel in the SI. Housing stock can be expensive and not great in the main centres, or very cheap indeed in places you might not want to live. The current coalition government are all in on tax breaks for multi home owners and funding this by reduced spend on essential services and infrastructure, so this might not get better soon. 

However, the SI is a vast and slightly dangerous outdoor playground, with more adventure possibilities than you can shake a stick at. The people are very friendly and helpful, there's some keen beans out there, and being outdoors and exercising is generally seen as normal (we always laughed about people asking what you did at the weekend here vs the NHS - "had a great weekend of climbing and mountain running" tended to bring a slightly shocked look in the UK whereas here they just go "cool! Where did you go?"). 

As others have said, Chch probably has the best balance of rock / snow / surf access locally but the earthquake has led to some changes that make it less fun than it was - the centre is a bit dead and there's a bunch of retail malls pulling in the punters in a way that feel a bit depressing. It is best placed for Castle Hill which is probably the only truly world class venue in NZ for bouldering. Dunedin (where we live) is great and the weather better than people give it credit for; it's also a relatively fun/young city in term time given the size of the university. Access to surf beaches, good walking, some OK climbing, and 3 hrs by road to alpine. QT and Wanaka are really expensive and a bit odd to live in (visitor numbers are huge and relatively few permanent residents). Nelson is warmer and beautiful but small and somewhat isolated.

Happy to discuss by pm if easier

cheers

b

In reply to GDes:

Yeah, we loved our brief time there for general nature, walking, work and quality of life ect and I often wonder if we should have just stayed. 

That being said if you just trad, boulder and sport climb (rather than mountaineering) there’s probably more quality rock in just the Peak District compared to the whole of NZ.

In reply to fritatas:

I live in christchurch, sumner to be precise. Nice village feel but only 30mins pedal into city centre. Right by the beach for surf and running/bike trails from the front door. 10 mins drive to the better crags in the city limits. Rock quality is not great but quantity is big and saying that there are some awesome routes. Flights over to oz for arapiles, tasmania and the blue mountains are very feasible for short trips (world class quality rock).

Payne's ford  2 hours west of nelson is a great place to visit and nelson is an awesome wee city - probably has the best mountain biking in the south island. 

Wanaka has lots of rock although it's schist which is kind of like a poor man's slate and not the nicest to climb on. 

The Darrans in Fiordland have great quality rock inc single pitch sport (quite hard - starting from 22/6c+), multi sport and adventurous trad. 

If I was going to move somewhere purely for climbing I wouldnt recommend NZ either but as a general outdoorsy place with really nice people and lots of amazing adventures it's great. 

In reply to tom_lewis89:

Good points. Agree Sumner a great location (though we lived in Cashmere for a year pre-earthquake, but the trails started on our back doorstep). 

Mt Somers also good for basalt/rhyolite and easy from Chch. Skiing (piste) at Mt Hutt or the club fields up through Arthurs Pass for more of a DIY vibe. 

b

In reply to fritatas:

One point that's not mentioned much is that road safety isn't the best.

You have to drive to get anywhere, and that can often be very scary and occassionally incur the odd "close call" or "near miss".

There is a long history of a manic and often reckless driving culture. Mostly probably due to the view that historically SI roads were basically empty, and there were no cops...so you could hammer it, and cut any corner you choose.

With more traffic, the mentality is slowly being forced to change. But it's still not great.

Some people don't mind the situation. But for me, that's one of the biggest deal breakers. It is far less stressful driving in many other parts of the world.

In reply to BruceM: Yesterday I saw two people travelling on opposite sides of the road do a u turn at the same time entirely oblivious to each other… how the missed I have no idea. Add in fairly low quality vehicles, a sprinkling of absolutely appalling overseas drivers in rental cars taking videos out the window, and the current government’s desire to *increase* the speed limits and it can get pretty messy. 

Also hardly anyone in NZ will have had a driving lesson - everyone learns from their parents - and often from driving in paddocks from the time they can reach the pedals and see over the dashboard.

other than that it’s great though

b

In reply to BruceM:

This was one thing that slightly spoiled my trip there, I was hoping to do some bike touring but was warned against it by the locals who said that the roads were pretty dodgy.

In my few weeks there I didnt really see anything there that wasn't available in the uk or Europe. Even the weather was very UK as we had loads of storms come through that caused flooding, landslides and road closures.

In reply to gethin_allen:

Having said which if happy on gravel there are excellent networks of bike tracks across the South Island including the Alps2Ocean, the Central Otago Rail Trail network and many others. A friend took a road bike from Bluff to Cape Reinga and the only trouble he had was magpie attack…

b

In reply to ben b:

Yup. Mountain biking is where it's at.

I grew up commuting everywhere by bike, but about 15 years ago stopped biking through city/town streets completely after 3 near misses in the suburbs of Chch.

Worst one was a 40+ bloke doing a "boy-racer" move sliding around a corner, lost it, and fish-tailed straight towards me before ploughing into a parked car directly opposite me. Took quite a while to recover my normal heart rate!

Official line is that Police will not get involved with any traffic incident unless it causes injury to such an extent that you require a night in hospital.

The person who smashed into the back of my 80+ year old mother last week waiting at a roundabout and wrote off her car (minor head injury to her), just politely drove her home, after admitting he balls-ed up thinking she would take off when she didn't.

However, the mountain biking is awesome. Safe as you want it to be

In reply to BruceM:

When some guy walked out in front of me in Motueka he was lucky to escape with a couple of cuts.

The police and ambulance arrived within 5 minutes, statements, breathalyzers and traffic incident numbers issued.

Probably a much more efficient response than in the UK.

In reply to fritatas:

I’ll add my support to the opinions above, having lived in Christchurch for 12 years: it’s not great, but pretty good for lots of things. I wouldn’t go there for the climbing, but there’s plenty nearby if you need a fix. You can ski tour and surf in the same day (if you really want to!)

MTBing is probably the stand out that is really good, and very close, I could bike straight from home to a large number of good tracks. 

Mountaineering suffers from the NZ poor rock and inconsistent snow, but if you’re brave enough and after more overall experience rather than technical challenge it’s nearby.

Tramping (NZ term for hiking) is good, and varied, and close.

The city/town is better than made out above: plenty going on, lots good cafes, bars and restaurants, and easy to get around.

NZ negatives probably similar to other countries: fast rises in cost of living and stagnating salaries, one of the most expensive house markets in the world compared to average income, a disintegrating health care system, the highest car ownership in the world, of mostly old cars, driven unsafely but with much entitlement, with little tolerance to cycling or public transport. A right wing coalition government that has just started a program of public austerity.

So best to weigh up pros and cons, come with eyes open, and if not immediately planing on permanent move, come give it a try.

In reply to fritatas:

What sort of climbing do you want to do?

If I were choosing somewhere to live in South Island, I'd probably go for Wanaka. Good cragging nearby (good, not amazing), multipitch stuff available at weekends, excellent mountaineering and outdoor adventuring all year round in the near vicinity, and it is in a great setting. I also get the impression that the community is a bit more settled there than QT, where a lot of people come and go. If you can find work there that allows you to afford to live there, then it could be epic. As mentioned by others, Christchurch and Nelson might be more realistic options when work is taken into account.