We are on the move! Very soon we’ll be in Carters Beach, a small seaside settlement close to Westport on the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island. We don’t know anybody in Westport, we have not even visited Westport and so it will all be new for us. And a leap of faith.
Why Westport? Why Carters Beach? Well there are a number of reasons but the main wish was to be further north than Dunedin so as to be nearer family but also to escape the cold winters! We will still be close to the sea and have a bigger house with more land. Perfect!
We are looking forward to meeting new friends, to exploring the Coast and enjoying a more relaxed lifestyle. Check out our Buller/Westport page.
There are so many reasons that for us this move makes sense, as I think it would for many people.
The climate in Westport is good. Certainly more rain than we are used to but I for one will not miss having to water plants all year around, like here in Waikouaiti. Frosts are not common, especially by the sea so we’ll not miss having to rush out in the middle of the night to cover tender plants. Winds, from what we can gather are “moderate”. We’ll not miss the hot, dry and damaging foehn effect nor-westers, nor the bitterly cold south-easterlies. We shall see – but in general I think we’ll enjoy a climate much more like Nelson than Dunedin. Weather maps here.
Financially speaking, moving to Westport at the present time makes a lot of sense. Property prices are still affordable, unlike the silly prices being paid in the major cities, Wellington especially. Nice homes are readily available and with prices where they should be. Why prices are still low is a little strange. Certainly Westport has had a few hits with local industry issues but really, that’s no reason for comparatively depressed property prices. In the next 2 or 3 years the West Coast will be back!
Lifestyle, well that is a totally subjective advantage. If you thrive on big city lights, clubbing, tindering and enjoy desperately trying to be cool then probably Carters Beach is not for you. However if you prefer Crocodile Dundee cool, bush, mountains, surf and sunshine, then Westport should be on your bucket list of places to live. Sure beats the hell out of Queenstown.
Anyway, if you are a Westport local we’d love to hear from you! We’ll be there on the 2nd of Feb. and we really are looking forward to it! Catch up with you soon
