# Tauranga - are there any . net developers able to give advice please?



## Mizz (Jan 15, 2012)

Hi there

I was wondering if any . net developers/people with knowledge of this industry could give me an opinion as to where the natural choice would be after Auckland and Wellington for this kind of work? 

We aren't considering the south island and have been looking at Auckland and Tauranga but wondered if Tauranga would be the right third most likely place we could find this type of work. 

Can anyone suggest anywhere else other than Auckland, Wellington and Tauranga where there may be . net jobs?

Are there any . net developers out there in BOP who can comment on whether it will be difficult to gain this kind of employment in Tauranga as there don't seem to be many advertised. We know Auckland would be the best choice for us job wise but have read lots of conflicting info about the rat race and a smaller town does have the advantage for us.

Many thanks for reading


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## zxc2 (Mar 21, 2012)

Not sure if you ever visited NZ, being originally from Aus? 

Distances between towns in NZ are very short, so you can do a lot of sight seeing on a weekend. We drove up the Coromandel, then down to Tauranga, it's an area popular with holidaymakers during Summer, lots of quaint little villages along the way. I would class Tauranga as a 'holiday town', not really a place associated with IT employers. Apparently the word Tauranga means something along the lines of "a place where the canoes come to rest" (the romantic version).

Your major IT employers are based in the cities, Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and they tend to be Banks (ANZ, ASB, Westpac). "The Warehouse', a national distributor of cheap groceries and clothing, also has a large, modern IT center on the North Shore of Auckland. If you're looking to avoid Auckland Traffic yet do IT work in a place with a 'country feel' to it, a place like Albany, North Shore of Auckland, could be your answer. ASB Bank has a state of the art IT Center near Albany. Both are modern IT structures, complying with general IT contingency requirements such as backup power generators, essential during Auckland Winters, extended power blackouts are almost guaranteed once a year when the dams freeze over, NZ electricity supply is hydro based. Albany is a lovely, green hills in the mist, just like a rain forest, country hide out, sporting new, insulated housing developments within close proximity to all amenities.


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## zxc2 (Mar 21, 2012)

Well, looks like I have to eat my words! There are 4 jobs in Tauranga BOP listed for .net on Trademe.co.nz/jobs. States you must be legally entitled to work though, chicken n egg vs work n visa.
Hamilton is another place you could consider, couple hrs away frm Auckland but developed bus sector.


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## Mizz (Jan 15, 2012)

zxc2 said:


> Well, looks like I have to eat my words! There are 4 jobs in Tauranga BOP listed for .net on Trademe.co.nz/jobs. States you must be legally entitled to work though, chicken n egg vs work n visa.
> Hamilton is another place you could consider, couple hrs away frm Auckland but developed bus sector.


Ahh thanks for your help this is super useful! We really want to avoid the city type areas, we come from a metropolis and are looking for more of a lifestyle location that has employment opportunities as well. Im going to look into the places you've suggested now, and thanks very much again


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## cheeser (Jan 22, 2012)

Woah... I'm not the most observant of chaps I'll admit, but in my 37 years of living in Auckland (18 of which while working in IT) I've yet to notice a spate of prolonged power outages or anything freezing over due to an Auckland winter. 

Well there was that time about 12 years ago when some kind of power cable blew up and power was patchy for a few weeks/ months in the CBD.

Don't get me wrong, we have our share of outages, but I always put that down to our national love of driving our cars into power poles at every rainy day opportunity we get. 

I could be wrong though...


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## zxc2 (Mar 21, 2012)

Yes, the bit about frozen water causing power cuts is pitiful isn't it? The comment was made tongue in cheek as that is what I was told before I became wise to the frequent power cuts in Auckland, Northland, NZ for that matter. 

Has it’s fair share of power cuts? I think it’s a little more than that. Auckland’s power supply has design deficiencies. Let’s face it, it’s a hotly debated topic, brief google demonstrates people bit-hing about the unreliable power supply year in, year out.

Ok, we all know about the big one in 1998 :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Auckland_power_crisis

but has it really improved since then?


2006 – Scary one, Auckland even had incidents of looting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_Auckland_Blackout

The 2006 Auckland Blackout refers to the massive electrical blackout in Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand, on 12 June 2006. It started at 8:30 am local time, with most areas of Auckland regaining power by 2:45 pm local time. It affected some 230,000 customers had an impact on at least 700,000 people in and around the city.

Investigation of this incident found that maintenance of the electricity transmission system was not adequate and that this substation had major and minor design deficiencies.


2007, 2008 – Strong Winds + a Weather Bomb

http://www.bradheap.id.au/blog/tag/power-cut/


2009 – a case of déjà vu?

2 Feb
http://www.venturevoip.com/news.php?rssid=2101

30 Oct
http://www.bradheap.id.au/blog/2009/10/auckland-power-cut-another-case-of-deja-vu-of-deja-vu/

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10606290

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/major-power-cut-hits-auckland-northland-3101635


2010
Jan 25
http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/power-back-aucklanders-3341904

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3-MspHo7ZI

March 17
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/updated-power-outage-auckland-s-cbd-fixed-120199


2011

http://www.3news.co.nz/Power-outage...power/tabid/423/articleID/236429/Default.aspx



List mainly refers to the big cuts that made the news, the recent one you mentioned is quite funny (I guess) when you’re not the one sitting without power:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6330025/Power-cut-in-west-Auckland


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## cheeser (Jan 22, 2012)

Oh yeah, now that you mention it, I remember that 06 one, I was working in the CBD at the time and a colleague got stuck in a lift for an hour or so, oh how we laughed.

I guess I'm just lucky not to have been caught in all these outages, or asleep. 

I do enjoy an afternoon nap.


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