Best Places to Live with Hiking Nearby?

What's the beach swimming like in the various South Island cities? Is the ocean too cold for swimming? Are there bays near the cities where people can take a dip during the summer?

Nelson is by far the best city for swimming, there is a popular swimming beach right next to the city... Plus several excellent rivers for swimming within a short drive of the city... It is safe to swim almost everywhere in Tasman bay... Hundreds of km of swimming beaches.... I do not know if people swim off Sumner Beach???? but most of the surf beaches are not safe for swimming around Canterbury. Its possible to find swimming spots in the braided rivers which are common on the Canterbury plains. Its also possible to go swimming in the sheltered bays of banks Peninsula but the water would be colder then Tasman bay. People would swim in Dunedin harbor.... I know of people who go for winter swims in Dunedin... just depends on how tough or insane you are.

Id have to beg to differ re swimming around Canterbury. The beach is packed in summer and in winter the surfies have no qualms about braving the cold in attempt to catch a wave or two. NZ is a small island surrounded by water so you'll never be too far from it. The west coast beaches are more rugged with black sand and the east coast beaches are golden sand. NZ is pretty safe for swimming anywhere, you just have to have some knowledge about what to do in a rip. Having travelled myself, I know that all the research in the world wont be enough answers for you. You set yourself expectations only to sometimes be disappointed or sometimes be pleasantly suprised. My suggestion would be to just do it! Half the fun is the discovery of the unknown! And if you are trying to plan for longer term, then it could be worthwhile to base yourself somewhere, have a looksy around and then decide for sure once you're here.

"base yourself somewhere, have a looksy around and then decide for sure once you're here." Yep, that's the plan exactly! All this research and opinion-gathering feels like "armchair traveling", and I'm not fond of it at all! I much prefer just picking a rough area and itinerary, and then diving in and judging places for myself. However, for the NZ move, there are a couple factors which are compelling me to operate differently: 1) IMMIGRATION INTERVIEW - My lack of firsthand experience w/ NZ is one of my application's biggest weaknesses. Therefore, I feel like I have to try to get as much information (objective and subjective) as possible, so that by the time I am interviewed, I will have done my best to educate myself about NZ without actually having gone there. 2) IMMEDIATE WORK - I plan to keep my existing (telecommuting) job, and will want to resume my work immediately upon arriving. Although I can work out of a hotel for a while, I'd like to have an apartment rented ASAP so that I can ship the rest of my working materials there. Since shipping takes a while, I need to pick a destination city long before I get to NZ, timing it so that my stuff gets to the right city soon after I arrive. I be scrambling to find an apartment quickly so that my work is not negatively affected by the move, so I won't have much time for sightseeing! So, I don't have the luxury of a "look-see", and have to keep fishing for clues as to what town is the best starting point. This brings me to some questions about practicalities: 1) Is Dunedin significantly CHEAPER than Nelson and Christchurch in terms of everyday life? I can see housing price differences online, but I'm wondering about things like the price of milk, admission to parks, public transport, etc. 2) Are there significant differences in BROADBAND speed or cost between the cities? 3) Which city requires the LEAST DRIVING? I'd prefer to walk and bike to stores, trails, and beaches on a daily basis, saving the car for weekend trips. Buses are ok, too, assuming they are safe. Thanks again!

I still stand by the fact that many of the deeply shelving surf beaches common on the eastcoast are not safe for swimming in normal conditions. The council even has warning sounds at the likes of Birdlings flat pointing out the danger. Most of the surfies are wearing wetsuits when they are out there over the winter months, it makes a enormous difference. Remove the wetsuits and few of them would be out there in the water over winter/spring. Wearing a wetsuit does allow for year round swimming, but typically it is only divers and surfers in the water over the winter months. The natural buoyancy of the Wetsuits also make it safer to swim in areas where swimming is not normally wise. 1) "Is Dunedin significantly CHEAPER" ... according to a survey done by a consumer magazine I believe grocery costs are slightly lower in Dunedin... but power bills would be higher during the winter months. But in general the largest difference would be the cost of accommodation. 2) Are there significant differences in BROADBAND? Christchurch (an wellington) does have a Cable network which Nelson and Duneiun lacks.... All the cities would have ADSL and the speed would depend on how overloaded the local exhanges are. The telecommuncations companies are currently in the process of upgrading the exchanges to ADSL2+ so depending on the order the exchanges are upgraded one city might have faster speeds then the other. In general Broadband is expenisve and you would be looking at between $1-2 per GB downloaded. 3) Which city requires the LEAST DRIVING? Nelson, small city, everything compacted. Christchurch is large and flat, has a good Bus network. Never lived in Dunedin so can not really comment.

I am in a similar situation to denalipop. I am doing all this "armchair travelling", which I hate, I just want to get there! The difference is I'll be packing in my telecommuting job for three months while I explore. I will be six weeks wondering the North Island from mid October, then heading south and Christmas in Dunedin. After that location consideration becomes serious, with where to spend next winter a concern. This thread has been great.

Know what you mean about 'armchair' traveling. No choice for the last 2 months. Bit like torture really viewing this site: this is what you could be doing if you weren't somewhere else, injured, etc. As for giving up telecom's: be careful, I did that 5 years ago, explored the South Island and never went back!

Sounds like heaven to me! ..and I'm certainly very glad I'm not going through your particular "armchair" experience. Hope the healing is coming along well.

Clusterpod, do you plan to resume your telecommuting after you are done exploring? Or will you immediately look for a job there in NZ?

denalipop: I am unsure to be honest. I'm tired of looking at a screen for ten hours a day!